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Meeting of the City Council to be held Wednesday 1st February 2006
CITY OF SHEFFIELD
METROPOLITAN DISTRICT
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, 1st February, 2006, 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 4th January, 2006, 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(6).
(b) Questions submitted at this meeting – Standing Order A18(2)
(c) Supplementary questions on questions submitted at this meeting - Standing Order No. A18(4).
(d) Questions on the discharge of the functions of the South Yorkshire Joint Authorities for Fire and Rescue, Passenger Transport, Pensions and Police - Section 41 of the Local Government Act, 1985 - Standing Order No. A18(6).
(e) Questions on the discharge of the functions of the Yorkshire and Humber Assembly –Standing Order No. A18(6).
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. ITEMS REFERRED TO COUNCIL
AUDIT AND INSPECTION ANNUAL LETTER 2004/05
To consider a decision which was referred by the Cabinet at its meeting held on 11th January, 2006.
HOUSING REVENUE ACCOUNT, REVENUE BUDGET AND RENT INCREASE 2006/07
To consider any decision which may be referred by the Cabinet at its meeting to be held
25th January, 2006.
6. OBSERVATIONS
To receive observations on the minutes of the meetings of the various Council bodies for the period 15th December 2005 to 13th January, 2006.
7. NOTICE OF MOTION GIVEN BY COUNCILLOR ANNE SMITH
That this Council:
(a) welcomes the progress made on the Heart of the City regeneration projects;
(b) notes that:
(i) these projects would bring £778 million of private sector investment into the City;
(ii) an economic analysis and an economic assessment underpins all activity on these projects in which the private sector plays an integral role;
(iii) a total of £950 million of investment activity will be generated under the Heart of the City Master Plan;
(iv) the City Council’s commitment is for the sum of £6.3million only, which represents an exceptionally good return for Sheffield; and
(v) the Sheffield Urban Regeneration Company (Sheffield One) is a World leader on Urban Regeneration, having followed best private sector practice, serving as an example to other urban regeneration companies in Britain, Japan and New Zealand;
(c) welcomes the provision of new accommodation for the Cathedral’s Homelessness project and new accommodation for Voluntary Action Sheffield as part of the Master Plan; and
(d) calls on all Members of this Council, to put aside political differences and work together to support this once in a lifetime opportunity, to ensure the Economic and Social Regeneration of the City so that all people will benefit both now and in the future, from the increasing prosperity this major investment will bring to Sheffield.
8. NOTICE OF MOTION GIVEN BY COUNCILLOR PAUL SCRIVEN
That this Council:
(a) believes it is important for this Council to actively support and promote local businesses in order to help boost the local economy, support local jobs and promote the ‘made in Sheffield’ brand, and therefore believes that it is vital that local businesses are involved in high profile projects within Sheffield in order to showcase the vast amount of talent and ability businesses in Sheffield possess;
(b) is therefore outraged that the present administration have overlooked the Sheffield business community and awarded the contracts for two major pieces of steel street art, the ‘Cutting Edge’ at the station and the ‘Spheres’ at the new Millennium Square, to firms in Bristol and the North East;
(c) is astonished that the Council have turned down the offer of a prominent local businessman to provide funding to ensure that ‘the Cutting Edge’ is made by a firm in Sheffield;
(d) condemns the present administration for continually damaging our local business community and believes this is just another example of how the present administration’s ‘anti-business’ attitude is to the detriment of the people of Sheffield and this Council’s social justice agenda;
(e) agrees with the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Attercliffe, Clive Betts, when he said on the 30th December 2005, in the local media “There should be an investigation into why a Sheffield firm could not have been found to do a project of this kind. Perhaps the City of Steel should be making sure the steel it displays actually comes from Sheffield”, and therefore directs that the Chief Executive carry out an investigation, to be considered at the next meeting of Council, which outlines the reasons why the Council did not seek to commission street art which Sheffield businesses could have created, why the offer to provide funding so that ‘the Cutting Edge’ could be made by a Sheffield business was turned down by the Council, and to evaluate the decision making process in both of the above instances; and
(f) instructs that this Council adopt a ‘buy local’ policy, as promoted by the major opposition group and used by other Councils in the UK, as it will ensure the Council actively supports local business in terms of actual work and confidence within our business community.
9. NOTICE OF MOTION GIVEN BY COUNCILLOR TERRY FOX
That this Council:
(a) recognises that improving the environmental and energy performance of homes is a key element to the Local Authority’s contribution to an environmentally sustainable future for Sheffield;
(b) notes the work that has already gone into driving up the energy efficiency of Council owned housing as part of a key strategy to tackle fuel poverty over recent years, including spending of over £50 million in the last 6-7 years on improving the energy efficiency of Council dwellings;
(c) notes the innovative pilot schemes that are taking place in Sheffield to identify environmentally sustainable energy sources, for example converting two community heating schemes to burn woodchips, a ‘carbon neutral’ fuel;
(d) notes that further work will be done to improve individual and community heating standards through the Decent Homes programme;
(e) welcomes the work that has been undertaken in tacking fuel poverty in private housing, including dedicated promotion of the Government’s Warm Front grant, which has quadrupled take up of this grant, bringing in over £2 million per year in grant income;
(f) believes that the Council should promote the highest possible standards of environmental performance when advising housing developers; and
(g) looks forward to the forthcoming Environmentally Sustainable Housing Strategy which will ensure that housing developments play a full part in meeting our objectives to promote environmental excellence and reduce Sheffield’s impact on climate change, which are set out in the City Strategy 2005-10.
10. NOTICE OF MOTION GIVEN BY COUNCILLOR MOHAMMAD AZIM
That this Council:
(a) believes climate change is one of the most significant global challenges facing the World today;
(b) believes that local authorities have an important role in delivering reductions in greenhouse gas emissions at a local level;
(c) notes that the ‘Nottingham Declaration’ is a voluntary pledge to address the issues of climate change and, if signed, will commit the Council to:
(i) work with Central Government to contribute, at a local level, to the delivery of the UK Climate Change Programme, the Kyoto Protocol and the target for carbon dioxide reduction by 2010;
(ii) within the next two years develop plans with partners and local communities to progressively address the causes and the impacts of climate change securing maximum benefit for our communities;
(iii) publicly declare, within appropriate plans and strategies, the commitment to achieve a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from our own Authority’s operations;
(iv) assess the risk associated with climate change and the implications for our services and our communities of climate change impacts and adapt accordingly;
(v) encourage all sectors in our local community to take the opportunity to adapt to the impacts of climate change, to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions and to make public their commitment to action; and
(vi) monitor the progress of our plans against the actions needed and publish the results;
(d) notes that so far over 100 local authorities have signed the ‘Nottingham Declaration’, each pledging to actively tackle climate change within their area;
(e) therefore directs that this Council take up the challenge and sign up to the ‘Nottingham Declaration’ pledging to take action at a local level; and
(f) resolves that a Cabinet Member is designated as a ‘champion for climate change’ who will produce an annual report and whose role will be to promote pro-active measures to combat climate change within the Council and to consider how the Council’s decisions affect the climate change agenda
11. NOTICE OF MOTION GIVEN BY COUNCILLOR MICK ROONEY
That this Council:
(a) acknowledges the distressing and oppressive circumstances that are faced by many people in countries which are devastated by civil unrest, war or poverty;
(b) reaffirms that Sheffield, in common with other towns and cities across the World, takes seriously its shared responsibility to relieve the suffering and distress of those seeking refuge from oppressive conditions;
(c) reaffirms its commitment to working on a cross-party basis through the Refugee and Asylum Working Group both to address issues within Sheffield and, where appropriate, to raise issues at a national level;
(d) notes the achievements of the Working Group in overseeing programmes such as the Gateway Programme, the United Nations resettlement scheme which has seen 51 Burmese refugees and 69 West African refugees resettled in Sheffield;
(e) recognises the enormous contribution of the community, voluntary and faith sectors who work within the diverse communities in Sheffield;
(f) notes that on 25th January, on Holocaust Memorial Day, various faiths and communities in Sheffield joined together to reflect as a City how we can ensure that the prejudice that swept the continent over 60 years ago does not happen again; and
(g) believes that as a City we have always made a firm commitment to oppose victimisation and racism in all its forms and believes that we must always continue to do so.
12. NOTICE OF MOTION GIVEN BY COUNCILLOR SHAFFAQ MOHAMMED
That this Council :-
celebrates the decision to grant Mohammed Arrian the right to remain in the UK indefinitely and thanks all those involved with the successful campaign.
13. NOTICE OF MOTION GIVEN BY COUNCILLOR CHRIS WELDON
That this Council :-
(a) has an overarching policy of ‘Successful Neighbourhoods’ which includes the aspiration of mixed tenure, mixed value housing in all parts of the City;
(b) recognises that affordability is a serious issue for many residents of Sheffield, particularly for those whose incomes fall below the national average;
(c) acknowledges that the City Council is uniquely placed to influence future housing development;
(d) believes that it is imperative to secure the new affordable housing that the City requires, including social housing for rent and low cost housing for sale; and
(e) requests the development of Interim Planning Guidance on Affordable Housing in order to assist with the provision of an increase in new affordable housing to:
(i) meet the identified housing needs and demand of the City’s residents;
(ii) support regeneration initiatives seeking to transform the quality and popularity of neighbourhoods;
(iii) support the City’s economic and social regeneration objectives; and
(iv) meet demand for affordable housing in rural areas, where rising house prices may ‘price out’ local residents.
14. NOTICE OF MOTION GIVEN BY COUNCILLOR JILLIAN CREASY
That this Council :-
(a) notes the Council’s excellent work in supporting refugees and asylum seekers through the Gateway projects and contracts with the National Asylum Support Service and thanks all the Council officers, partner agencies, local press, voluntary groups and citizens that have made this possible;
(b) Is deeply concerned about the number of destitute asylum seekers in the City, whose applications have failed and whose housing and benefits have been removed, but who cannot or will not return to their countries of origin;
(c) joins the Greater Manchester Local Authorities, the four Children’s Commissioners, the British Association of Social Workers and the Association of Directors of Social Services in calling for the repeal of Section 9 of the Asylum and Immigration Act, which allows Local Authorities to remove children from asylum-seeker parents who have exhausted their right of appeal and been made destitute;
(d) welcomes the Government’s proposals for a New Asylum Model with a “case management” approach to dealing with asylum seekers which, if properly resourced, would speed the decision making process, offer consistent support and advice from arrival to decision, and avoid long periods of destitution and detention;
(e) believes that asylum seekers should have the right to paid work or financial benefits (not food vouchers), education, health care, and properly funded legal advice; and
(f) instructs the Chief Executive to send a copy of this Motion to the local Members of Parliament, the Minister for Immigration and the Home Secretary.
Dated this 24th day of January, 2006
Bob Kerslake
Chief Executive
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