Agenda item

5.1

Petitions

5.1.1

Petition Requesting the Council Not to Sign Contracts with G4S

The Council received a petition containing 702 signatures and requesting the Council not to sign any contracts with G4S.

On behalf of the petitioners, Hilary Smith addressed the Council. She referred to the petition which was submitted to Council in July 2014 and which had expressed concerns with regards to the record and conduct of G4S. These concerns included alleged breaches of international law and grave misconduct relating to imprisoned Palestinians and the provision of security in Israeli jails, human rights abuses, non-payment of tax, fraud relating to the tagging scheme, involvement with the Israeli prison service and the Work Programme.

Subsequent to the Council meeting, the Petitioners had been informed by the Cabinet Member that the Council did in fact have some contracts with G4S. She had appreciated that Councillor Curran had informed the Petitioners of the correct information and had met with them.

In bringing the Petition to the Council’s attention once more, the Petitioners wished to restate the position that the Council should ensure that a company with the record of G4S should not conduct business on behalf of the Council. The Notice of Motion on the agenda for this Council meeting concerning ethical procurement and given by Councillor Curran was welcomed and was an indication that the Council took its responsibilities in this regard seriously.

The Petitioners wished to bring the following points to the Council’s attention:

·         It was requested that there would be a speedy and robust timescale in relation to the actions outlined in the Notice of Motion.

·         The Council should give a commitment to universal human rights at a both a local and international level, which should be at the heart of its approach to procurement.

·         The council should examine steps it would take with regard to companies that may be violating human rights.

·         Once such concerns about companies were in the public domain, the Council should make sure it scrutinised them and it was the Council’s duty to be pro-active in such circumstances.

·         To welcome the reference in the Notice of Motion to UN guiding principles on human rights and request that this and the subject of breaches to human rights be included in the new policy and to pay attention to compliance in the drawing up of contracts.

·         To welcome the opportunity to include petitioners in discussions and the consultative process relating to the drawing up of a policy and its implementation.

The Council referred the petition to Councillor Ben Curran, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources. Councillor Curran clarified that, at the Council meeting of 2 July, he had said that the Council did not have any contracts with G4S and that was the information which he had been given at the time. However, he was misinformed and discovered the next day that the Council did have some contracts with G4S. These were: a cash collection service, for school meal and milk cash collection; key holding services and other security work, which mostly related to Sheffield International Venues.

Councillor Curran apologised that the incorrect information had been given at the meeting of Council in July. The correct information was subsequently provided to the Petitioners. The cash collection and keyholding services would be retendered in the new year as part of an open procurement process.

Councillor Curran thanked the Petitioners for comments relating to the Notice of Motion and stated that the Motion had been influenced by the questions and petition which had been submitted. The Chief Executive was requested to produce a report on the matter.

He stated that he would not wish for the Council to contract with a company which had a grave human rights record. The issue would be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee, which was a meeting held in public, prior to a decision being made.

5.1.2

Petition Requesting that Sheffield Becomes a Scooter-Friendly City

The Council received a petition containing 265 signatures requesting that Sheffield becomes a scooter-friendly City.

On behalf of the petitioners, Jonathan Marsden addressed the Council and he stated that people were not able to securely lock their scooters to a designated point. He pointed to the example of places in Europe, where scooters were parked on pavements and outside cafes.

The petition requested that secure parking, with ground anchors and designated scooter parking be provided, which was in full view and not hidden. People would like to park on pavements and chain scooters to lamp posts and in areas around the City Hall, Town Hall, the Moor and Fargate and use bus lanes and bus gates. Use of scooters was something which would assist in reducing congestion and because journeys were relatively short, would contribute to using less fuel. Matlock Bath was seen as an example of where bikers were attracted and Sheffield could become likewise, but in relation to scooterists. Scooters were considered to be a good way for young people to travel independently and may promote interest in engineering.

Mr Marsden referred to a parking fine which was imposed on someone who had parked on the pavement.

The Council referred the petition to Councillor Leigh Bramall, Cabinet Member for Business, Skills and Development. Councillor Bramall stated that parking was one of the most difficult issues for the Council and he had sympathy with people using scooters for the lack of spaces in which to park. The Council was investing in more parking places for scooters. However, he did not necessarily agree with the idea of chaining scooters to lamp posts as this may come into conflict with other users of pavements and especially people who are visually impaired, who would wish to see less clutter on pavements. In respect of the receipt of a parking fine, this was most likely to be because the vehicle was parked on a pavement adjacent to double yellow lines.

Councillor Bramall stated that he recognised that more accessible parking was something which contributed to a neighbourhood or environment becoming more vibrant and dynamic and said he would ask officers to look at whether more could be done.

5.1.3

Petition Requesting Extension of the M92 Bus Service to Serve Grenoside Crematorium

The Council received a petition containing 616 signatures requesting the extension of the M92 bus service to serve Grenoside Crematorium. There was no speaker to the petition.

The Council referred the petition to Councillor Leigh Bramall, Cabinet Member for Business, Skills and Development. Councillor Bramall stated that this was also the topic of a Notice of Motion at this meeting of the Council. The matter would also be referred to the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority, the meetings of which were open to the public and at which people could put their case. 

5.1.4

Petition Requesting that Sheffield Half Marathon Ltd. be Prevented from Running Future Half Marathons in the City

The Council received an electronic petition containing 12 signatures requesting that Sheffield Half Marathon Ltd. be prevented from running future half marathons in the City. There was no speaker to the petition.

The Council referred the petition to Councillor Isobel Bowler, Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport and Leisure. Councillor Bowler stated that the Sheffield Half Marathon company had been disbanded and a new organiser would run the event, which would take place on 12 April 2015.

5.2

Public Questions

5.2.1

Public Question Concerning South Yorkshire Pensions Authority

Joan Miller asked if was possible for the Council to require the South Yorkshire Pensions Authority to take certain actions with regard to the Pensions Fund such as to conduct a full carbon audit and review of the social responsibility policy to ensure it covers all matters pertaining to the environment, including global temperature.

Councillor Jack Scott, the Cabinet Member for Environment, Recycling and Streetscene, responded and stated that he understood that South Yorkshire Pensions Authority had also previously replied to the questioner. There was a move away by public sector and university pension funds from investment in fossil fuels, although this was for economic reasons.

Councillor Scott suggested that a meeting be arranged with Joan Miller, himself and Councillor Ben Curran, the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, and the Members of the Council who were Members of the South Yorkshire Pension Authority to hold further discussions. He stated that the Pension Fund needed to be both economically and environmentally sustainable.

5.2.2

Public Questions Concerning Winter Gritting

Grace Windle asked why Blindside Lane is not included in the re-instated list of roads included in winter gritting scheme. She stated that Blindside Lane was one of the worst roads in Bradfield with a steep hill and a bend where water collects together with a short steep bridge which will be impossible to get up without gritting and very dangerous.

There were 27 people who needed access on Blindside Lane, including children needing to get to the school bus route, pensioners and young ladies working at the Strines and Ladybower public houses to fund their further education.

All of the properties need access for fuel deliveries without which they will have no means of heat, hot water or cooking facilities. The gritting vehicle and driver will already be out passing both the top and bottom of Blindside Lane, so she asked what the saving was in not gritting the road.

Sandra Butler stated that, whilst she lived on a road which had been re-instated, her concern was for access by emergency services to the outlying areas of the village, such as Blindside Lane. She said that comparison with other areas of Sheffield is not applicable as the temperature could be five degrees (or more) colder, with more ice and snow than in nearby Hillsborough, for example.

Parishioners in Bradfield already suffer from lack of such facilities as street lights, pavements, a school and toilets were under threat. Cutting the gritting routes is yet another blow to the rural community. She asked what exactly were people paying their Council Tax for and where was the Council’s duty of care for Council Tax payers?  

Bob Helliwell stated that, by knowing the length of a road, the spreading rate of the gritter and the price of grit, the cost of treating individual roads can be calculated. At the public gritting consultation meeting in Bradfield earlier this year, the Council representatives were asked ‘How much does grit cost?’. The reply was that the information is commercially sensitive. He asked why the information was commercially sensitive and, if it was not, how much did grit cost; or how much did it cost to grit 1 mile of road.

Bob Helliwell also stated that the non-collection of Council Tax in Sheffield was running at £38 million and asked if the target saving of £100K by the reduction of gritting been achieved. 

Lynne Russell, on behalf of Monica Naylor, asked the following question:

“I am in the middle of my GCSE exams and this is an important year for me. I would not like to miss school because we can’t get out of our Lane. My sister is at Hillsborough College and if she has more than 3 days absence it will jeopardize her finishing the course. The College will not take account of absence because of bad weather as most students have access to regular public transport or can walk, unlike students in Bradfield.”

Susan Hunt stated that she was a tenant of the Council and had a farm. In the winter of 2013, she lost over 90 in-lamb ewes and was unable to access land along Sugworth Road for over 5 days and she did not want this to happen again. She said that in 1986, there was a longer period of severe snow but all of the roads were ploughed and gritted every day. If people could not come down Blindside Lane, there was not access to the farm.

S Shepherd asked why Blindside Lane is not included in the list of roads which will be gritted and said was it not the responsibility of the Council to keep the road open.

In response to the questions, the Cabinet Member for Environment, Recycling and Streetscene, Councillor Jack Scott, stated the reason that Blindside Lane would not be gritted was that it did not meet the relevant criteria, which included the presence of public facilities, a school bus or public transport route, a busy road or steep road, or because it was part of the City’s western access route.

However, five additional grit bins would be added at locations on Blindside Lane. He recognised that people had legitimate concerns about this matter and stated that this was not something which the Council wanted to do. However, the funding which the Council received had reduced by £230 million and this was considered to be unfair as cuts in government funding disproportionately affected cities in the north.       

The Council had a duty to take reasonable steps, taking into account the resources available. 59% of roads in the City were gritted before the changes and 53-54% would be gritted after the changes to the service. It was correct that temperatures were generally lower in the west and north west of the City. The Council did grit Bradfield up to eight times more than other areas in Sheffield.

In relation to costs, some routes were expensive to grit due to frequency and fuel use and cost per mile would be affected by factors including gradient, ice and temperature.             

The Council Tax collection rate was 99% over the past 2 years. However, the Council was pursuing £38 million Council Tax which it was owed and this had not been written off. Council Tax represented some 13-15% of the Council’s income. Therefore, the amount of Council Tax which the Council was owed did not have an impact upon the decision regarding winter gritting. The decision regarding winter gritting had been forced by a reduction in Government funding to the Council.

There was not a proposal to change ploughing routes. The changes related to precautionary gritting. He noted that, at temperatures below minus 7 degrees centigrade, gritting was not effective.

Roads which were not adopted did not get gritted and the Council was aware of the risks and potential dangers relating to the issue of winter maintenance. The difficult choices which the Council had to make and the changes and cuts being brought about were as a result of Government funding cuts, which were particularly affecting cities in the north of the country. Councillor Scott stated that he hoped that people could work together to keep the City moving.

5.2.3

Public Question Concerning Smithy Wood

Nigel Slack stated that the decision concerning Smithy Wood ancient woodland in the North of the City was balanced between two competing decision systems. Planning, with the decision over permission to destroy the woodland in favour of a motorway services facility and Licensing, who have passed a decision on Village Green status for the woodland to a further inquiry.

He referred to a quote by the Chair of the Licensing Committee in the Star newspaper which indicated that it was in the ‘interests of natural justice’ to hold an inquiry. In reference to the quote, Mr Slack stated that if an inquiry is a matter of 'natural justice' and in 'everyone's interest', it must follow that to take the planning decision before the inquiry reports would be contrary to both natural justice and everyone's interest. He said that it may also save the Council some money in planning processes and asked if the Council would therefore undertake to ensure that the report into the Village Green decision is held before the planning application for the woodland is brought before the Planning Committee.

5.2.4

Public Questions Concerning Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)

Nigel Slack stated that many people believe that the TTIP is a direct assault on the ability of democratic bodies, nationally and locally, to direct their affairs to the benefit of their communities rather than to the benefit of Transnational corporations.

He said that, in many of its clauses, it will place in the hands of international lawyers the power to prevent legislation or to compensate corporations for legislation that “may” affect their profit. In Australia with Philip Morris and in Egypt with Veolia, these types of international trade agreements are being used to prevent health regulations and poverty relieving measures.

Mr Slack commented that in Sheffield the City Region Local Economic Partnership (LEP) hosted today a roadshow sponsored by British American Business, a trade association that is dominated by the world's biggest banks, accountancy practices and hedge funds. The very corporations that precipitated the economic meltdown of 2008. This roadshow's literature emphasises the positive aspects of the TTIP with no comment as to the inevitable downsides of the treaty.

He asked that, to redress the balance, in the interest of transparency and accountability, and to help inform the public about the TTIP, will the Council undertake a similar event, inviting the same guests, but inviting speakers with an alternative view on the treaty and suggested that perhaps the LEP would contribute to the funding of the event.