Decisions

11.1

The Assistant Director Finance and Accounting presented a report that brought the Committee up to date with the Council’s General Fund revenue outturn position for 2024/25 as at Quarter 2.

11.2

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Communities, Parks and Leisure Committee notes the updated information on the 2024/25 Revenue Budget Outturn as described in this report including the detailed committee budget monitoring information and management actions provided.

11.3

Reasons for Decision

11.3.1

To record formally changes to the Revenue Budget.

11.4

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

11.4.1

The Council is required to both set a balance budget and to ensure that in-year income and expenditure are balanced. No other alternatives were considered.

9.1

This report seeks Committee approval for a 2% increase in allotment rent and water charges for the period 2026-27. The report summarises allotment law and explains how the rent increase enables the Council to work towards the outcomes of the Council Plan and continue its statutory duty to provide allotment sites for people to grow their own food. Tenants must be given 12 months’ notice (usually in January) of any increase in rents. Committee approval allows the service to give legal notice.

9.2

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Communities, Parks and Leisure Policy Committee:-

1.     notes the contents of the report; and

2.     approves a 2% increase to allotment rents for 2026/27.

9.3

Reasons for Decision

9.3.1

The recommendation to the Communities, Parks and Leisure Committee is to increase the rents by 2% in 2026/27, this protects the staffing levels within the team to continue to provide support to allotment holders and their allotments and maintains a small site improvement budget. It takes in to account the results of the 2018 consultation, increasing rent by a relatively small proportion.

9.4

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

9.4.1

Alternative Option 1: Rents remain at 2025/26 levels for 2026/27.

This option was rejected as the proposal would significantly decrease the level of service and site improvements that can be undertaken. Following previous years of below-inflationary rent increases, this would represent a reduction to the budget for the service.

9.4.2

Alternative Option 2: Rents increased by an amount greater than inflation.

This would allow much needed investment in the estate's attainment of ‘Sheffield Standard; by 2030. Additional budget could be allocated to those plots that are currently unlettable due to their unviable condition, reducing extensive waiting times for allotments and increasing revenue.

This option was rejected as the proposal may impact on those in our communities who rely on allotments to live healthy, fulfilling and sustainable lives. With the lasting effects of the ‘cost of living crisis' those existing tenants may face financial hardship and allotments would become unaffordable.

10.1

Tackling anti-social behaviour in the city centre is key to delivering the priority for high quality neighbourhoods which are clean, green, resilient and safe, and where people can live healthy lives and be happy with where they live, work and play.

Evidence demonstrates that, within the city centre, there is behaviour that is having a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality, is persistent and continuing in nature and is unreasonable.

A decision by the Communities, Parks and Leisure Policy Committee was taken in January 2024 to consult on making a Public Spaces Protection Order covering the city centre.

Following that consultation work, this report recommends that the making of a Public Spaces Protection Order is approved to give officers additional powers to tackle anti-social behaviour in the city centre

10.2

RESOLVED: That the Communities, Parks and Leisure Policy Committee:-

1.     having taken into account the outcome of the consultation, approves the making of a Public Spaces Protection Order on the terms attached at Appendix A for a period of 3 years. This Order shall be known as the ‘Sheffield City Council City Centre Public Spaces Protection Order 2024’;

2.     initiates a review of the implementation of the Public Spaces Protection Order to be presented to the Committee 6 months after the implementation of the PSPO on the 1^st April 2025. This review will seek the views and experience of organisations representing city centre businesses, voluntary and faith sector organisations, South Yorkshire Police and Sheffield City Council regarding the Public Spaces Protection Order, its impacts, successes and consequences.

This will be presented alongside verbal evidence from the above groups at the Committee meeting;

3.     agrees that the planned target date of implementation of the Sheffield City Council City Centre Public Spaces Protection Order 2024 shall be in April 2025;

4.     grants delegated authority to the Director of Customer Experience and Communities in consultation with the Chair of the Communities, Parks and Leisure Policy Committee to agree the exact date when the Sheffield City Council City Centre Public Spaces Protection Order 2024 shall take effect;

5.     grants delegated authority to the Director of Customer Experience and Communities to undertake all necessary further steps and actions required in order to formally implement the making of the Sheffield City Council City Centre Public Spaces Protection Order 2024; and

6.     initiates work into an overarching, cross committee strategy to reduce through positive behaviour change and provision, rather than displacement, the key types of ASB that the Public Spaces Protection Order aims to target.

10.3

Reasons for Decision

10.3.1

Everyone wants a safe and inviting city centre and Sheffield, like all major towns and cities, is working to make sure that its city centre is the very best that it can be so that local residents and visitors always have positive experiences when they visit.

Public Spaces Protection Orders provide additional powers for enforcement agencies to deal with a particular nuisance or problem in a specific area that is detrimental to the local community’s quality of life, by imposing conditions on the use of that area which apply to everyone. They are intended to help ensure that the people can use and enjoy public spaces, safe from anti-social behaviour.

The evidence and feedback from the consultation and partners, satisfy, on reasonable grounds that the activities identified in the proposed PSPO are having or are likely to have had a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality and are or are likely to be of a persistent or continuing nature justifies the restrictions imposed by the proposed Order.

The Council is satisfied that the prohibitions imposed by the proposed Order are reasonable in order to reduce the detrimental effect of these activities.

10.4

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

10.4.1

Alternative Option 1:

To approve the making of a PSPO without the additional requirements to give personal details and leave the area when asked to do so.

This is not the preferred option as the requirement to leave provides an additional layer of intervention that will help to avoid more formal intervention such as issuing an FPN. Without this, the level of intervention could end up higher than is necessary in a given situation.

Alternative Option 2:

To approve the making of a PSPO with the draft wording that was proposed in the January CPL committee report.

This option was rejected based on the feedback received during the consultation period. The original wording of the alcohol restriction could be applied too broadly and might restrict responsible alcohol consumption particularly in green spaces in the City Centre. Equally, the terms ‘nuisance’ and ‘annoyance’ in the begging and loitering restrictions could be more subjective and ambiguous. The removal of these terms creates a higher threshold for breaching the PSPO.

Alternative Option 3:

To consider the outcome of the consultation and to decide not to proceed.

This option is reserved to the Communities, Parks and Leisure Policy Committee under Part 3.3.1 of the Constitution and is the ‘do nothing’ option in relation to a PSPO. This option has been rejected based on the evidence presented in this report.

The consultation has demonstrated that people are experiencing harassment, alarm or distress from the behaviours that would be restricted with the PSPO. It has also demonstrated that the majority of individuals and organisations support the restrictions that would come from the PSPO. The PSPO is another tool that can be used to tackle ASB in the city centre and, combined with the Enforcement and Support Protocol will allow earlier intervention to provide support to vulnerable individuals.

8.1

This report provides an update to the Committee on the outcome of the Leisure procurement. The report outlines the opportunities offered by the new contract with Everyone Active (EA) in terms of achieving Sheffield City Council’s (SCC) ambitious Council Plan and City Goals. The report supports the accompanying presentation to be given by EA at the Committee meeting.

8.2

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Communities, Parks and Leisure Policy Committee:-

1.     notes the contents of this report;

2.     notes the accompanying presentation from Everyone Active; and

3.     notes that future updates will be provided to this Committee outlining the developing partnership between SCC and Everyone Active and the achievements of outcomes as set out in the contract specification.

8.3

Reasons for Decision

8.3.1

A new partnership with Everyone Active will ensure there are robust contract arrangements in place (from January 2025) to continue to operate Sheffield’s Sport and Leisure facilities when the current arrangements with Sheffield City Trust end.

8.3.2

Our partnership with Everyone Active presents an opportunity to build on the excellent work of Sheffield City Trust over the last 30 years by providing opportunities for engagement on a range of health and wellbeing outcomes.

8.3.3

Our work with Everyone Active will continue the work of Sheffield City Trust’s community team which contributes to a whole-system approach to the promotion of physical activity for adults and children, both in our built facilities and in our parks and open spaces.

8.4

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

8.4.1

Alternative Option 1 - do nothing

This option was discounted as the current arrangements with SCT will end in January 2025 and the arrangements with Places will end in August 2026. The Council is therefore unable to continue to operate under existing arrangements.

8.4.2

Alternative Option 2 – Not enter contract in a new contract with Everyone Active and either bring the Facilities back in-house or create a Local Authority Trading Company (LATC)

If the Council had chosen not to appoint a new operator to run the facilities, the alternatives would be either bringing the facilities in house to be run by the Council or, creating a Local Authority Trading Company. Both these options were explored as part of the early procurement development, and both were discounted because they were more expensive and present higher financial risk to the Council. They would not allow for the level of investment needed for the Council to offer significantly improved leisure facilities.

9.1

The committee considered a report of the Executive Director Neighbourhood Services providing an overview of housing and repairs performance for a range of services within its remit. The report covered the period up to quarter 2 2024/25 (July – September 2024).

A detailed appendix report was included with comparative data against other landlords where available and regulatory performance. The report enabled the Committee to understand and comment on the performance delivery of housing and repairs services to both tenants and citizens.

9.2

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Housing Policy Committee:-

1.    Notes the performance report update provided for quarter 2 2024/25 (July - September 2024)

2.    Notes any issues of concern that they wish to receive focussed analysis on in future performance reports.

9.3

Reasons for Decision

9.3.1

The Housing Policy Committee has delegated authority to monitor the

performance of Housing and Repairs services to ensure that:

•       The service is delivering for tenants, and that tenant satisfaction in

closely monitored

•       Limited resources are maximised due to budgetary pressures

•       The Council is delivering on corporate priorities

• Performance information is shared with external organisations such as the

Regulator of Social Housing and the Housing Ombudsman for scrutiny.

9.4

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

9.4.1

The Housing Policy Committee has delegated responsibility for the regular

monitoring of data including performance and financial information, and

the performance monitoring of Housing (public sector, private sector, and

related functions) services. Therefore, no alternative options to the

production of this report have been considered.

8.1

The Finance Manager presented a report that brought the Committee up to date with the Council’s General Fund revenue outturn position for 2024/25 as at quarter 2.

8.2

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Housing Policy Committee: -

1.    Note the updated information on the 2024/25 Revenue Budget Outturn as described in this report including the detailed committee budget monitoring information and management actions provided.

8.3

Reasons for Decision

8.3.1

To record formally changes to the Revenue Budget.

8.4

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

8.4.1

The Council is required to both set a balance budget and to ensure that in-year income and expenditure are balanced. No other alternatives were considered.

12.1

Members considered a report of the Executive Director, Neighbourhood Services seeking approval from the Housing Policy Committee to review the Council’s Allocations Policy. The report summarises the challenges faced by the Council with how the current policy operates and highlights key areas where change should be considered to improve outcomes for some of the most vulnerable residents of Sheffield. It was recommended that Committee approve a review of the current Allocations Policy and agree the approach which should be taken.

12.2

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Housing Policy Committee:-

1. Approves the proposal to commence a review of the Council’s Allocations Policy.

2. Approves the approach to consultation as set out in Section 2.3 of this report.

12.3

Reasons for Decision

12.3.1

The Allocations Policy has not been fully reviewed since it was agreed in 2013. Reviewing the Allocations Policy will ensure the Council is making best use of its, and Registered Providers social housing stock and reflect the current demand for social housing. It will ensure that rehousing outcomes are improved for those with a recognised housing need and owed legal duties by the Council.

12.3.2

The Allocations Policy does not reflect the implementation of Introductory Tenancies, or the likely introduction of Flexible Tenancies, it also requires review to ensure it is legally compliant.

12.4

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

12.4.1

Alternative Option 1: Do nothing. The Council could choose to not review the Allocations Policy. However, not reviewing the policy would mean that the policy remains no longer fit for purpose and not legally compliant.

12.4.2

Partial review; only amend the Allocations Policy so that it is lawful. Whilst this would resolve the issues of legal challenge the broader issues highlighted in this report would remain. Residents of Sheffield in a Reasonable Preference category would see the waiting time to be made an offer continue to increase, adapted properties would not be let to those with the most need for those adaptations and more households would be placed into emergency accommodation.

11.1

Members considered a report of the Executive Director, Neighbourhood Services seeking approval of a Domestic Abuse Policy for the Housing service. The Policy includes clear standards that set out our response to domestic abuse. It sets clear expectations and provides clarity for partners agencies, tenants and residents of the city. Approval of the Policy is essential to continuing work with the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) and is of benefit to our tenants.

11.2

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Housing Policy Committee:-

1.     Approves the Housing Domestic Abuse Policy in the form attached at Appendix A.

2.     Notes that approval of the Housing Domestic Abuse Policy is essential to continuing work with the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA).

11.3

Reasons for Decision

11.3.1

The recommendation is for the Housing Policy Committee to approve the

Policy for use.

11.4

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

11.4.1

Alternative Option 1: Continue to use the Domestic Abuse

procedure only. The Housing Service currently has a Domestic Abuse procedure in

place.

Limitations/why this option was rejected: This would not satisfy the requirement of the Regular of Social Housing, who detail that registered providers must have a Policy for how they recognise and effectively respond to cases of domestic abuse. Furthermore, by producing and publishing a Policy, the Council is committing itself to openness and transparency regarding the Housing Service’s commitment and response to Domestic Abuse.

10.1

The committee considered a report of the Executive Director Neighbourhood Services providing an update on the current national and local housing context, regulatory requirements, the priorities for Committee to action alongside capital and revenue spending plans for 2025/26.

10.2

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Housing Policy Committee:-

1.    Notes that the HRA Business Plan report for 2025/26, the HRA Business Plan priorities for 2025/26 and HRA Revenue Budget 2025/26 as set out in the Financial Appendices included in Appendix A to this Report, will go to the Strategy and Resources Policy Committee at its meeting in January 2025, for recommendation to Full Council for approval

2.    Notes that once adopted by Full Council, monitoring delivery of HRA Business Plan priorities will be within the remit of the Housing Policy Committee

3.    Notes the recommendation for increasing Council rents 2025/26 in line with the Regulator of Social Housing’s Rent Standard

10.3

Reasons for Decision

10.3.1

This report and its recommendations, sets out the scale of the challenge ahead, the limited resources available and the difficult decisions that now need to be taken to deliver a balanced HRA budget for 2025/26 and for the overall 30-year viability.

10.4

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

10.4.1

The Council is required to both set a balanced in year HRA budget and to ensure that in-year income and expenditure are balanced over 30 years. No other alternatives were considered.

20.1

The minutes of the previous meeting held on the 1^st October 2024 were agreed as a correct record.

19.1

To enable decisions to be taken quickly and to respond to emerging issues, in September 2021 the LAC granted delegated authority to the Community Services Manager to make certain decisions on expenditure. At its meeting on October 1^st 2024 this delegation was reviewed in order to enable financial decisions to be made more quickly, given the delays caused by the two pre-election periods (local election and general election). The Community Services Manager is now authorised to make decisions on expenditure from any budgets allocated to the Local Area Committee provided that:

•The decision is taken in consultation with the Local Area Committee Chair

• Spending is in line with any specific purposes of the allocated budget

• The decision may not approve expenditure of more than £10,000 per item. 

• A report detailing the delegated spending decisions taken by the Community Services Manager is presented to the next Local Area Committee meeting.

19.2

Funding delegated by Full Council to LACs in 2024/25 amounts to £100,000 per LAC.  At its meeting on October 1^st 2024 the South LAC agreed to use its £100,000 allocation to provide £25,000 per ward to develop projects in line with the South LAC Community Plan

19.3

Since the previous LAC meeting the following expenditure has been approved under the delegation set out above:

Based on this expenditure the total expenditure to date is £44,432 leaving a balance of £55,568

Nether Edge & Sharrow has an additional £2911 to reallocate from 2023/24 funds carried forward into 2024/25.

19.4

At the South Local Area Committee meeting on the 3^rd December 2024 the Local Area Committee Manager advised that the Nether Edge and Sharrow Councillors wished to allocate their remaining budget of £20,000 for local parks improvements.

19.5

RESOLVED:  That the South Local Area Committee

1.    Notes the funds spent under delegated powers since the October 2024 South LAC meeting.

2.    Agrees to allocate the remaining £20,000 of the Nether Edge and Sharrow budget to local parks improvements.

19.6

Reasons for Decision

The South LAC is asked to note delegated decisions in respect of LAC funding to address the identified local priorities within the South LAC Community Plan.

19.7

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

The South LAC is asked to note delegated decisions in respect of LAC funding to address the identified local priorities within the South LAC Community Plan.