Agenda item

Sorby House, Forum House and Vestry Hall

It was moved by Councillor Andrew Sangar, seconded by Councillor Ian Auckland, that this Council:-

(a)       notes that since Sorby House, Forum House and Vestry Hall came under the Council’s ownership more than £1.2 million has been spent by the Council on the premises in just two years;

(b)       further notes with concern reports that another £330,000 has been allocated to the buildings within the 2013/14 budget;

(c)       believes the Burngreave New Deal for Communities was another example of a costly New Labour project, which delivered poor value for money and almost no economic benefit for the city;

(d)       regrets that at a time when the Administration claim they have been forced to withdraw funding from libraries, yet more Council funds are being wasted on another Labour ‘white elephant’; and

(e)       urges the Administration to ensure no further funds are wasted on these buildings and focus on saving treasured local libraries instead.

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Ben Curran, seconded by Councillor Harry Harpham, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of all the words after the words “That this Council” and the substitution of the following words therefor:-

(a)       regrets the continued irresponsible scaremongering of the main opposition group and reminds them that they made the decision to bring Sorby House, Forum House and Vestry Hall back into the Council in December 2010 and is therefore shocked at the hypocrisy of the main opposition group;

(b)       welcomes moves to put in place plans to ensure that the buildings are sensibly used as part of the Council’s accommodation strategy which aims to save £30 million over 10 years by consolidating Council departments in fewer buildings;

(c)       regrets that the main opposition group continue to carp and criticise from the sidelines attempting to mislead local people, when the decision to bring these buildings into the Council was taken by the previous Administration and they are now being used to contribute to savings to the Council’s accommodation costs;

(d)       continues to oppose the present Government’s, of which the Liberal Democrat MP for Sheffield Hallam is Deputy Prime Minister, unfair cuts to Sheffield as they continue to slash Council budgets which is regrettably impacting on Council services; and

(e)       believes that the main opposition group should stand up for Sheffield at a time when the Council faces unprecedented cuts from the Coalition Government and believes this is the latest example of the main opposition group having absolutely no credibility and remembers that only a few months ago the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party and Leader of the Council’s main opposition group were written to by the Chief Executive of the Council to correct numerous misrepresentations that had been made about the Council’s budget.

On being put to the vote the amendment was carried.

The original Motion, as amended, was then put as a Substantive Motion in the following form and carried:-

RESOLVED:  That this Council:-

(a)       regrets the continued irresponsible scaremongering of the main opposition group and reminds them that they made the decision to bring Sorby House, Forum House and Vestry Hall back into the Council in December 2010 and is therefore shocked at the hypocrisy of the main opposition group;

(b)       welcomes moves to put in place plans to ensure that the buildings are sensibly used as part of the Council’s accommodation strategy which aims to save £30 million over 10 years by consolidating Council departments in fewer buildings;

(c)       regrets that the main opposition group continue to carp and criticise from the sidelines attempting to mislead local people, when the decision to bring these buildings into the Council was taken by the previous Administration and they are now being used to contribute to savings to the Council’s accommodation costs;

(d)       continues to oppose the present Government’s, of which the Liberal Democrat MP for Sheffield Hallam is Deputy Prime Minister, unfair cuts to Sheffield as they continue to slash Council budgets which is regrettably impacting on Council services; and

(e)       believes that the main opposition group should stand up for Sheffield at a time when the Council faces unprecedented cuts from the Coalition Government and believes this is the latest example of the main opposition group having absolutely no credibility and remembers that only a few months ago the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party and Leader of the Council’s main opposition group were written to by the Chief Executive of the Council to correct numerous misrepresentations that had been made about the Council’s budget.

(Note: Councillor Robert Murphy voted for paragraphs (b) and (d) and abstained on paragraphs (a), (c) and (e) of the Substantive Motion and asked for this to be recorded.)