Annual Report of the Lord Mayor 2005-06

	LORD MAYOR’S ANNUAL REPORT 2005/06

1.0	INTRODUCTION

1.1	It was a great honour to serve Sheffield as Lord Mayor during the period 2005/2006.

2.0	THANKS

2.1	I wish to put on record my thanks to my fellow Councillors for their support. My thanks also go to the Office staff the chauffeurs and to the Mace Barer for the advice and dedication to their duties.

2.2	The Secretariat which includes the Lord Mayor’s attendants are first class and are to be commended on the diligent way in which they carry out their duties.

2.3	The security staff and those who work on the front reception desk also carried out their work with a smile and with the utmost courtesy to all who came into contact with them. They too provided an invaluable service to me as Lord Mayor.

2.4	Those who work behind the reception desk and the security staff who are always courteous and did everything with a smile. They too were very helpful to me.

2.5	The Events Team, the City Centre Management and all those in the background that made things happen.

2.6	I would also like to place on record my appreciation of the way in which Catherine played her part as Lady Mayoress. She gave the role dedication and enthusiasm that was appreciated by all who came into contact with her.

3.0	MY YEAR IN OFFICE

3.1	The year was packed with engagements and we did approximately 1,000 of them. The high regard in which the population holds the Office of Lord Mayor was evident wherever we went.

3.2	The Lord Mayor provides a vital link with many organisations and is in a position to bring groups together that might not otherwise know of the others existence, particularly small charity groups or social firms.

3.3	Overwhelmingly people and organisations respect the non-political position. It is important that the integrity of the Office remains, as there are a few organisations/groups that will try to use the Lord Mayor’s office inappropriately for their own agendas.

3.4	The Parlour is a grand and very impressive place in which to entertain and is used for the benefit of the City, people from all backgrounds both within the City and visitors to the City.

3.5	The engagements took us all over Sheffield and indeed sometimes beyond and it is wonderful to see all the activities that are taking place in both the voluntary and paid sectors.

4.0	PROMOTING THE CITY

4.1	It was an important part of my year to promote Sheffield both in an ambassadorial role and also in a pro-active role.

4.2	I hosted a conference together with the Master Cutler on the way forward in promoting Sheffield. The conference attracted people from a wide variety of backgrounds that had influence vis; both Universities, Chamber of Commerce, business people from the new sectors of Bio chemistry, the City Council’s Chief Executive’s Directorate, Street Force, tourism, the voluntary sector, retail and representatives from the exporters organisation.

4.3	There was an International Linking conference, hosted by me in the Town Hall. Those in the International Linking Group drove the initiative. An interesting point was made by both a German and a Japanese delegate now living in Sheffield that “the trouble with Sheffield is that it does not make enough of its history”. History defines what Sheffield achieved and it still has a worldwide reputation in steel and engineering. The current image is rather confused. There are many new industries emerging that can be taken on board. All visiting foreign students of whatever age (school or university) were knowledgeable about the history because they were eager to find out. We must tell those that have not been to Sheffield what we are achieving and there are opportunities to segment the markets to appeal to different sectors.

4.4	After a discussion with the Council’s Chief Executive early on in my period as Lord Mayor, there emerged a suggestion that Sheffield should take more advantage of the new Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield by offering a competition in each of the destination places .The winner of which would be transported to Sheffield, stay in a Centre Hotel, visit places in the City region, offered theatre tickets/football tickets (in other words an attractive package) and be entertained by the Lord Mayor in the Parlour with refreshments. The first of these I understand has been tried on the Dublin route.

4.5	I attended the Eurocities conference in the European Parliament to wave the flag for Sheffield. The visit was to Belgium and involved an overnight stay. I also attended the Entente Florale award ceremony in Hungary with a delegation from Sheffield to bring back the gold award. This is a good way of putting Sheffield to the forefront.

4.6	I put forward to the ‘Made in Sheffield’ Group that I would entertain any foreign visitor they had in the Lord Mayor’s Parlour. The offer was taken up on a number of occasions and I am sure this will continue and expand.

4.7	I was also on many TV programmes batting for Sheffield. BBC national news, Look North, Calendar, Channel Four, Sky television and was even interviewed on a National Chinese Television Station (direct from the Town Hall).

5.0	CHARITIES

5.1	Like my predecessors I chose to promote local charities. I decided that I would not only raise money directly for two charity areas but help promote others by raising their profile and also helping them indirectly to raise money. The chosen charity areas were The Carers Centre, helping those who are in desperate circumstances caring for family members who need constant attention. The other area was for those offering training and employment for people with learning difficulties, a growing need.

5.2	Money was raised in a number of ways; dinners, sky diving, climbing the fireman’s ladders onto the Town Hall balcony, Golden Ticket raffle in chocolate bars, as well as the more conventional ways. I would like to say thank you to all those who helped in any way, especially to those who donated or organised events.

5.3	The Edale Mountain Rescue Team was one charity that raised money by having a diner in the Town Hall and I went with them on a televised mock rescue in Derbyshire (I was the volunteer victim that was rescued from the rocks). Home Start also used the Town Hall for a ‘cakes and Tea’ money raising event.

5.4	The Town Hall presents an excellent cuisine and a beautiful setting. This is an area that could be promoted much more. The waiting staff are very good and offer excellent table service.

6.0	CELEBRATING ACHIEVEMENT

6.1	It is an important function of the Lord Mayor to give civic recognition to achievement at all levels where people have gone beyond expectations, or done something inspirational.
6.2	The Council therefore gave Michael Vaughan and Sebastian Coe freedom of the City (Local achievers) and one International woman of bravery and achievement San Suu Kyi .
6.3	Civic receptions were given to the two local football teams. Sheffield Wednesday in August 2005 for achieving promotion to the Championship and Sheffield United for achieving promotion to the Premier League in May 2006.
6.4	Smaller receptions were given for Sheffield Club (winners of two trophies), Sheffield Scimitars (amateur ice hockey champions) and the Special Olympics (learning difficulties) swimmers from Sheffield.
6.5	Receptions were given to people who had done well in the education field for example two 11 year olds that had 100% attendance throughout their school years (one from the Manor the other from Intake) . City School had done a project in an African Country to bring electricity to a village and their staff and students gave a presentation. The Girls High School who had been given the top National award for sporting achievement were also invited to the Town Hall to celebrate.
6.6	In addition to receptions, we visited many schools, both universities and two churches to celebrate achievements and/or centenary celebrations.

7.0	CONCLUSION

7.1	It was a wonderful year and it was a great honour to represent Sheffield, the City of my birth. Having been brought up in the City I was familiar with a lot of the folk history since the war as well as the general history. It was interesting to talk to people about firms and Sheffield characters of bygone years.

7.2	It would be useful to review some of the suggestions made by previous Lord Mayors and see what progress has been made. During my year a laptop computer was introduced and I thank the support of a fellow councillor and the Chief Executive’s office that carried this out. Sheffield’s budget for the Lord Mayor is less than that of most comparable budgets but we managed to make it stretch out to the end without hitting any snags. It is important that some senior officers of the Council who think they can pull the wool over new Lord Mayor’s eyes should know that past Lord Mayor’s, irrespective of Political Party, discuss certain points.

7.3	The Civic functions carried out by a Lord Mayor could not reach the same depth for an executive Mayor. The twin function of a Political Leader and a Civic Head is one that has the general support of across the Parties in Sheffield as well as beyond. Tradition does play a useful part in binding together the different communities in Sheffield.

7.4	In conclusion, I would ask that the Council Meeting notes this report and gives consideration to the issues raised within it.


	Councillor Roger Davison, Lord Mayor 2005/06

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