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Council Meeting 28th July 2004

COUNCIL SUMMONS

Notice is hereby given that a Meeting of the Council of the City of Sheffield will be held in the Council Chamber within the Town Hall, Sheffield, on Wednesday, 28th July, 2004, at 2.00 p.m.

THE FOLLOWING BUSINESS IS PROPOSED TO BE TRANSACTED-

1. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS COUNCIL MEETING

To receive the record of the proceedings of the meeting of the Council held on 7th July, 2004 and to approve the accuracy thereof.

2. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS

To receive any questions or communications from the public, or communications submitted by the Lord Mayor or the Chief Executive and to pass such resolutions thereon as the Standing Orders permit and as may be deemed expedient.

3. MEMBERS' QUESTIONS

(a) Questions relating to urgent business - Standing Order No. A18(4).

(b) Questions on the discharge of the functions of the South Yorkshire Joint Authorities for Fire and Civil Defence, Passenger Transport, Pensions and Police - Section 41 of the Local Government Act, 1985 - Standing Order No. A18(4).

(d) Supplementary questions on Written Questions submitted at this meeting - Standing Order No. A18(1).

(e) Verbal questions to Cabinet Members and Chairs of Scrutiny Boards and Regulatory Boards - Standing Order No. A18 (3).

4. REPRESENTATION

To consider any changes to the memberships and arrangements for meetings of Boards etc., delegated authority, and the appointment of representatives to serve on other bodies.

5. ITEM REFERRED TO COUNCIL

CITY COUNCIL FINAL ACCOUNTS 2003/2004

To consider a decision which was referred by the Cabinet at its meeting held on 14th July, 2004

6. OBSERVATIONS

To receive observations on the minutes of the meetings of the various Council bodies for the period 19th June to 9th July, 2004.

7. NOTICE OF MOTION GIVEN BY COUNCILLOR JAN WILSON

That this Council:

(a) believes that the results of the local elections demonstrate that the people of Sheffield agree that ‘closing the gap’ will benefit the whole City;

(b) notes that the minority group’s proposals to scrap the closing the gap policy were wholeheartedly rejected by voters in all parts of Sheffield;

(c) recognises that closing the gap, the creation of jobs, attracting inward investment and supporting new and existing businesses are all important aspects of the social and economic regeneration of the City;

(d) therefore welcomes the recent creation of ‘Creative Sheffield’, the UK’s first city-wide regeneration company of its kind;

(e) looks forward to working with this new organisation and all our partners to keep Sheffield ‘on the up’; and

(f) calls upon all elected representatives of the City to take every opportunity to promote the City as a good place to live, work, invest, learn and play.

8. NOTICE OF MOTION GIVEN BY COUNCILLOR IBRAR HUSSAIN

That this Council:

(a) welcomes the Prime Minister’s June request to US President George W. Bush to send home the remaining UK detainees from the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay;

(b) further welcomes the fact that five Britons have already been returned to the UK in March and freed without charge;

(c) is concerned that Feroz Abbasi and Richard Belmar, both 23 and from London, Moazzam Begg, 36, from Birmingham and Martin Mubanga, 29, of London, are all still being detained without charge;

(d) requests that the British Government keeps up the pressure on the American Government to release the remaining detainees immediately; and

(e) directs that a copy of this Motion be sent to all the Sheffield Members of Parliament, the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and the Foreign Secretary.

9 NOTICE OF MOTION GIVEN BY COUNCILLOR STEVE JONES

That this Council:

(a) welcomes the increased turnout at the recent local elections;

(b) acknowledges the efforts of the people of Sheffield in their participation in the all postal vote pilot;

(d) thanks all the staff who worked so hard in the election period to ensure the count was carried out so effectively;

(e) notes that the electronic voting pilot in 2003 also increased turnout;

(f) shall continue taking part in innovative projects that increase participation in the democratic process, whenever the opportunity arises; and

(g) believes that in principle, voters should be offered a choice of how they vote as new technology allows.

10. NOTICE OF MOTION GIVEN BY COUNCILLOR ANNE SMITH

That this Council:

having regard to the importance of regeneration for Sheffield, and in particular, the facts that:-

(a) Sheffield’s roads, apart for a few major trunk routes and inner city roads in recently regenerated areas, are poor by national standards and badly in need of maintenance and improvement;

(b) the poor roads in Sheffield provide a sad and sorry contrast with regenerated areas in the City centre and elsewhere, and because of this, present a poor image of Sheffield, act as a disincentive to inward business investment and have an adverse effect on public confidence; and

(c) £15 million has been provided to Sheffield City Council by Central Government since 2000 specifically for road maintenance and improvement under the Local Transport Plan:-

calls on the administration to ensure that all funds received from Central Government for road maintenance are used solely for that purpose, and that the administration approach Central Government as a matter of urgency to seek additional funding for the maintenance and improvement of Sheffield’s roads to avoid prejudicing the essential regeneration programme.

11. NOTICE OF MOTION GIVEN BY COUNCILLOR MICHAEL WATERS

That this Council:

(a) is of the view that there is currently little, if any, opportunity for opposition Members to have any real input into the democratic decision-making processes of the Council, other than through the formal time-limited opportunities at Council meetings, which have become little more than pre-determined exchanges of political rhetoric;

(b) believes that this situation is to the detriment, not only of the Members concerned, but more importantly, to the quality of the Council’s decision-making process and to the City as a whole;

(c) believes that all Councillors are elected, not only to represent their Wards, but also to work for the benefit and well-being of the whole City, and that this lack of opportunity for anyone, other than a small group in executive positions within the current Administration, to make a contribution at an early stage, without commitment, leads directly to a lack of trust and support for major initiatives such as the regeneration of the City, which should enjoy cross-party support; and

(d) therefore call upon the current Administration to put in place effective arrangements to ensure the greater involvement of all groups on the Council, at an early stage, in the formulation of major policies which affect the City.

12. NOTICE OF MOTION GIVEN BY COUNCILLOR JANICE SIDEBOTTOM

That this Council:

given the widespread public concern over the effects of the proliferation and siting of third generation telecommunications masts: -

(a) determines to reinstate the moratorium on the erection of telecommunications masts on Council land and property which was put in place by the previous Administration;

(b) requires that submitters of all planning notifications for masts which give rise to public concern, and are not to be refused, should be required to apply for full planning permission;

(c) in light of the recent expansion of 3G planning applications, requires that all planning applications for telecommunications masts should be referred to the appropriate Planning Board;

(d) determines to inform telecommunications operators that they should, where possible, share masts and seek out sites that are not situated in residential areas and, where necessary, use measures to disguise the masts to reduce their visual impact;

(e) due to the potential health risk to local communities, especially young people, and the non-conclusive evidence of the Stewart report, determines to take a precautionary approach to the placement of telecommunication masts which is evident in other European countries such as Sweden and the Netherlands; and

(f) determines to lobby the Government in order to demand a change in legislation which considers health risks, aims to protect communities and particularly looks at exclusion zones around schools.

13. NOTICE OF MOTION GIVEN BY COUNCILLOR IAN AUCKLAND

That this Council:

(a) deplores the broadscale, dogmatic deregulation of bus services by the previous Government and the failure of the present Government to address the problems caused by this;

(b) notes that the short-term planning, driven by high profits, of the bus operators has meant services in the UK as a whole are substandard when compared to other similar European countries;

(c) is unhappy with the level and quality of bus services in Sheffield, which has meant that many communities across the City no longer have the reasonable choice to use public transport for their day to day travel needs;

(d) supports the move by the present administration to consult communities on the lack of bus services across the City, but notes:-

(i) that limited bus services are being drawn into the “Inner-North Sheffield Better Buses” scheme, which this Administration supports, at the expense of other parts of the City;

(ii) along with the present administration’s failed request to postpone proposed First bus service changes, the move represents an admission by the present Administration that their bus strategy is flawed and seriously failing the people of Sheffield; and

(iii) that the present Administration’s refusal, so far, to stand up to their own Government on this issue fails to reflect the views held by the vast majority of bus users in Sheffield; and

(e) concludes that only a cross party agreement on a solution, such as the franchising model used in London, can remedy the present problems, and therefore calls for an urgent joint visit to Government by representatives of the two main parties to press for immediate permission to test out in Sheffield the licensing of routes, services and fares.

14. NOTICE OF MOTION GIVEN BY COUNCILLOR MOHAMMAD AZIM

That this Council:

supports the principles promoted by Fairtrade, and undertakes to:-

(a) progressively introduce Fairtrade products in all its Directorates/Services, and dependent organisations (such as Residential Homes, Schools, Libraries, etc);

(b) underpin Fairtrade awareness through its publications and other outlets;

(d) allocate "Fairtrade City" responsibilities to a member of staff to ensure continued commitment to Fairtrade status;

(e) erect signs denoting Sheffield as a "Fairtrade City" once this status has been achieved; and

(f) instruct the Chief Executive to report back to full Council within the next two months with a plan of how this Motion will be enacted through the Council and its partner organisations.

15. NOTICE OF MOTION GIVEN BY COUNCILLOR BRYAN LODGE

That this Council:

congratulates the Sheffield Ladies Water Polo Team on their victory over trans-Pennine rivals, Manchester, to finish top of the ASA National League and their recent cup victory, the first time the City has won the double of both the League and Cup.