Minutes of the City Council Meeting held 5th July 2006

Minutes of a Meeting of the Council of the City of Sheffield held in the Council Chamber within the Town Hall, Sheffield, on Wednesday, 5th July, 2006, pursuant to notice duly given and Summonses duly served.

PRESENT

THE LORD MAYOR (Councillor Jackie Drayton)

THE DEPUTY LORD MAYOR (Councillor Arthur Dunworth)

1 Arbourthorne Ward	10 Dore & Totley Ward	19 Mosborough Ward
Tim Rippon	Anne Smith	Sam Wall
Julie Dore	Mike Waters	Mike Peat
John Robson		David Barker

2 Beauchief/Greenhill Ward	11 East Ecclesfield Ward	20 Nether Edge Ward
Clive Skelton	Graham Oxley	Ali Qadar
Anthony Holmes	Vic Bowden	PatWhite
Simon Clement-Jones

3 Beighton Ward	12 Ecclesall Ward	21 Richmond Ward
Helen Mirfin-Boukouris	Roger Davison	Liz Naylor
Ian Saunders	Sylvia Dunkley	John Campbell
Chris Rosling-Josephs

4 Birley Ward	13 Firth Park Ward	22 Shiregreen & Brightside Ward
Denise Fox	Alan Law	Peter Rippon
Bryan Lodge	Joan Barton	Jane Bird
Mike Pye	Chris Weldon	Peter Price

5 Broomhill Ward	14 Fulwood Ward	23 Southey Ward
Shaffaq Mohammed	John Knight	Gill Furniss
	Andrew Sangar	Tony Damms
		Leigh Bramall

6 Burngreave Ward	15 Gleadless Valley Ward	24 Stannington Ward
Steve Jones	Garry Weatherall	David Baker
Ibrar Hussain	Terry Fox	Vickie Priestley
	Rosemary Telfer

7 Central Ward	16 Graves Park Ward	25 Stocksbridge & Upper Don Ward
Bernard Little	Bob McCann	Martin Davis
Jean Cromar	Peter Moore	Martin Brelsford
Jillian Creasy	Ian Auckland

8 Crookes Ward	17 Hillsborough Ward	26 Walkley Ward
Sylvia Anginotti	Alf Meade	Jonathan Harston
Brian Holmes	Robert MacDonald	Diane Leek
John Hesketh	Janet Bragg	Veronica Hardstaff

9 Darnall Ward	18 Manor Castle Ward	27 West Ecclesfield Ward
Mazher Iqbal	Jan Wilson	Trevor Bagshaw
Mary Lea	Pat Midgley	Kathleen Chadwick
Harry Harpham	Jan Fiore

		28 Woodhouse Ward
		Ray Satur
		Marjorie Barker
		Mick Rooney

1.	APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
	Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Pat Fox, Martin Lawton, Mike Reynolds, Paul Scriven and Andrew White.

2.	DEATH OF FORMER COUNCILLOR DORIS ASKHAM
	The Lord Mayor (Councillor Jackie Drayton) referred in sympathetic terms to the recent death of former Lord Mayor and Councillor Doris Askham, also known as Doris Riley, and, after a number of Members of the City Council paid tribute to her, a minute's silence in her memory was observed.

3.	COUNCILLOR JAN WILSON, CBE
	The Lord Mayor (Councillor Jackie Drayton) referred to the fact that Councillor Jan Wilson had been awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List and Members joined her in congratulating Councillor Jan Wilson on her achievement.

4.	MINUTES OF PREVIOUS COUNCIL MEETING
	RESOLVED: On the motion of Councillor Pat Midgley, seconded by Councillor Jean Cromar, that the minutes of the meeting of the City Council held on 7th June, 2006, be approved as a correct record.

5.	PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS
5.1	Petitions
	(a) Petition concerning Stocksbridge College Nursery
	The Council received a petition containing 1,265 signatures of parents and supporters of Stocksbridge College Nursery, and heard representations made on their behalf by Jane Banks, requesting the Council to do all within its powers, in conjunction with Sheffield College, to save the Nursery from closure and allow consultation to take place and all possible options to be explored.
	In response, the Cabinet Member for Children's Services (Councillor Harry Harpham) pointed out that the decision had been taken by Sheffield College and that the City Council had not been consulted. He undertook to take up the matter with the Council's representative on the College's Board of Governors and to pass on details of correspondence that he had been involved in and to respond to the petition organiser in due course.

	(b) Petition concerning Bus Services in South Yorkshire
	The Council received a petition containing 1,750 signatures expressing concern at the recent fare increases and service cuts by First Bus, noting that, since deregulation, bus journeys had fallen by two thirds, whilst profits had increased five times over and calling on the City Council and the Passenger Transport Authority to demand that the Government gives powers and funding to enable local public transport to be taken back into public ownership and control.
	The Council heard representations made on behalf of the petitioners by Calvin Payne, who referred to his meetings with the Cabinet Member for Transport (Councillor Terry Fox) and his involvement in the Passenger Transport User Group meetings and asked who would be taking the final decision on Quality Bus Contracts and what possibility there was for an improvement in bus services and a reduction in bus fares.
	In response, Councillor Jan Wilson (the Leader of the Council and Council spokesperson for the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority) confirmed that it would be for the Passenger Transport Authority to take a decision on Quality Bus Contracts and the Passenger Transport Executive to carry out that decision. However, she referred to the complicated nature of such a measure and the legislation that required the Authority to demonstrate that this was the only way that the bus strategy could be delivered. In relation to the ability to influence the level of fares and frequency of bus services, she referred to the difficulties being experienced as a result of bus operators not sharing with officers the information held by them. Whilst she felt it might be possible to achieve more reliable bus services, it was difficult to envisage, in the short term, an overnight improvement in the frequency of bus services and the lowering of bus fares. She emphasised that she took every opportunity available to lobby the Government about public transport issues.

	(Note: Councillor Ray Satur declared an interest in the above matter, as an employee of First Group and did not speak or vote thereon.)

	(c) Petition requesting Traffic Calming Measures on Chapel Road, Chapeltown
	The Council received a petition containing 147 signatures of local residents calling for the introduction of traffic calming measures as soon as possible on Chapel Road, Chapeltown, and referred the petition for consideration by the West and North Planning and Highways Area Board.

5.2	Public Questions
	(a) Public Questions concerning the Future of Council Housing
	Norman Sellars referred to a recent meeting of the National Federation of Arms Length Management Organisations (ALMO) attended by a Sheffield delegation and asked what the Council's position was on the management of homes by ALMOs after the Decent Homes Programme has been completed in 2010. He also asked about the future funding of Council housing and policy on affordable housing.
	In response, Councillor Chris Weldon (Cabinet Member for Safer Neighbourhoods), commented on the lengthy consultation arrangements that were carried out with Sheffield tenants to determine the best route for bringing investment into Sheffield's Council housing and that approximately 80% to 90% of participants voted in favour of the Arms Length Management arrangements and he did not envisage a move away from that. He stressed that tenants would continue to be placed at the heart of the decision making process. He added that the Council was awaiting the outcome of Government consultation concerning the post 2010 situation and undertook, at the appropriate time, to call a meeting with all Tenants' and Residents' Associations to ascertain if there was any change of mind over the current arrangements.

	(b) Public Question concerning South Yorkshire Trading Standards Unit
	Martin Brighton referred to the alleged losses associated with the South Yorkshire Trading Standards Unit and questioned whether it was appropriate, when considering the Statement of Accounts 2005/2006 later in the meeting, to debate matters relating to that in view of the many indeterminable factors and absence of information needed to give full and fair consideration of all the consequent issues.
	In response, Councillor Jan Wilson (the Leader of the Council) stated that, as the matter was the subject of Police investigations, she was unable to respond to the questions. However, she confirmed that, on advice from the Chief Executive and the External Auditor, the Council had used some reserves to accommodate within the accounts the potential losses that might arise and that this was a one-off liability that would not impact on services.

6.	CREATING SUCCESSFUL NEIGHBOURHOODS
	Joanne Roney, Executive Director, Neighbourhoods and Community Care, Evelyn Milne, Neighbourhoods Renewal and Partnership Service Director, Paul Broadbent, Chief Superintendent, Sheffield One District Commander, John House, Sheffield Two District Commander and Andy Buck, Chief Executive, North Sheffield Primary Care Trust attended the meeting to give an update on various aspects of creating successful neighbourhoods in Sheffield. Also in attendance were Peter Morton, Chief Executive, Sheffield Homes and David Barrett, Neighbourhoods Renewal and Partnerships Service (SNIS).
	Joanne Roney began the presentation by explaining that one of the five ambitions for the City was to make every neighbourhood a Successful Neighbourhood. She stated that in furtherance of this and the Council's "Closing the Gap" policy, the intention was to identify areas for focused attention and to identify transformational projects within those areas. In order to do this, a method of measuring progress had been devised to facilitate a review of services provided by the Council and a range of partnerships to ensure that they were making a difference. She then elaborated on the ambitious activity required to achieve this, which involved capital investment programmes of over £1billion by 2010, with over £100million community regeneration funding. She commented on the community engagement and service improvement, with a co-ordinated approach to neighbourhood services linking physical, community and economic renewal and the creation of jobs. Of the 21 transformational projects in progress, she stated that two had been completed and she referred to examples of such projects including the Tinsley Children's Centre and Recreation Ground, Burngreave Vestry Hall, Sorby House and projects in Arbourthorne and Gleadless Valley.
	She then displayed a slide illustrating the Housing Market Renewal area and Neighbourhood Development Frameworks, pointing out that £2billion had been spent, including private sector investment on an extensive new house building programme and regenerating existing stock and investment in parks and open spaces to improve the environment. In order to make all these developments sustainable, work was being done with a network of Community Regeneration Organisations and examples of this included the Lowedges Community Learning Campaign, the Sharrow Clear-up and environmental improvements and the provision of multi-cultural facilities and events in Burngreave. She stressed the need to facilitate work between community and service providers in influencing delivery and working to sustain organisations beyond current funding, as was the case in Brightside/Shiregreen, Manor/Castle and Southey/Owlerton Area Regeneration.
	Evelyn Milne continued the presentation by explaining the Sheffield Neighbourhood Information System (SNIS) which comprised a suite of 45 measures or indicators, grouped under domains and which were used to produce an analysis of each neighbourhoods' relative deprivation and/or success. She stated that the system generated a local index of deprivation, which was capable of assessing and ranking neighbourhoods with respect to either a single domain or the full index and could be updated annually and longer term trends identified. She then displayed a map to show the 2005/06 index scores by neighbourhood and then commented on the overall domain headlines, as follows:-.
	· In relation to Economic Activity, there had been a small drop in levels of benefit dependency from 18.1% to 17.8%; fewer under 5s were living in Income Support dependant households, down from 21.6% to 18.9%; and unemployment data confirmed the existence of an employment gap. · In relation to Education, there were improvements in GCSE performance City wide with, Closing the Gap areas improving but still struggling to catch up; the City average at Key Stage 2 was steady, with the gap closing; and consistent improvements were being experienced in primary and secondary school attendance. · In relation to the Environment, there was increased number of enviro-crime incidents recorded City wide, but a reduction in the worst affected areas of Burngreave and the City Centre was being experienced. · In relation to Housing, house price inflation fell substantially in 2005; vacancy rates fell faster in the Closing the Gap areas and there was less turnover across the City, with a faster fall in the Closing the Gap areas. · In relation to Community Safety, she explained that the change methodology in crime reporting had impacted on figures, although burglary rates were down thanks to a fall in the Closing the Gap areas and there was evidence of the impact of targeted initiatives. Whilst the gap was not closing on community safety, she referred to the new whole City approach that was now in place, which John House would expand on later.
	She went on to explain how SNIS was used to gauge local need/circumstances to confirm critical issues, plan the response and set the right targets through Local Action Plans and then track, evaluate and report on progress of the whole City. In summarising the changes from 2004 to 2005, she stated that the year's overall score for the City was slightly lower than the previous year, although 29 of the 51 Closing the Gap Neighbourhoods had improved their score and that, according to SNIS, the gap between the City average and the Closing the Gap area had reduced. To explain how the neighbourhood profiles could be used to identify changes in neighbourhoods over time, she displayed profiles of Woodseats, which was ranked 63 on SNIS (1 = least successful, 100 = most successful) and Woodthorpe which was ranked 15 on SNIS and explained the key changes that were taking place in the areas, as demonstrated by the outputs of the SNIS profiles.
	John House continued the presentation by explaining how the Police Force in Sheffield had been restructured into two Command Districts, within which Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs) had been established. He explained that, by working with communities and partners, the aims of the SNTs were to identify quality of life issues, respond with problem solving tactics, bring long term solutions and restore confidence, thereby reducing crime and disorder and providing greater public reassurance. He referred to the presentation that was given to the Successful Neighbourhoods Scrutiny and Policy Development Board in July, 2005, and confirmed that all the goals for the introduction of Safer Neighbourhood Teams that were shared with the Board had been met. He then went on to explain what had been implemented through Team Sheffield with two Basic Command Units having one approach, which was unique within England and Wales. Safer Neighbourhood Teams had been established in the 10 SNA areas identified with over £8m invested in Safer Neighbourhood Policing and over 230 Officers ringfenced for neighbourhood issues. He stated that each SNA had one Inspector, who held day to day responsibility, with each SNT having a team profile to match demand. He added that analysis was assisted by the Sheffield City Council systems. Leadership and direction was provided through the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership and the Performance Board and tactical links developed with partners and the public through Neighbourhood Action Groups and Joint Action Groups, which fed into Area Panels.
	He concluded the presentation by illustrating what performance the SNTs had helped to deliver. He stated that in the performance year to date, there had been 5.5% fewer victims of crime, violent crime was down by 3% and very low levels of serious violent crimes were experienced when compared to other Cities. Criminal damage, particularly high impact crime, was down 7%, anti-social behaviour was being afforded appropriate investment with more of the right feet on the right street and more working in partnership to improve quality of life issues. He stated that the SNTs were bedding in and would continue to make a difference in performance, with the aim of achieving further reductions in crime, less victims of crime and communities feeling safer.
	Andy Buck continued the presentation by looking at the health of neighbourhoods. He displayed a graph showing the difference in life expectancy between Sheffield over the five years to 2004, which demonstrated that health in Sheffield was improving, especially in the deprived areas, with life expectancy for men having increased by two years and for women by one year. He then displayed a graph of circulatory disease mortality rates which demonstrated that there had been a 40% reduction in such death rates over the last five years in the most deprived communities and had contributed to narrowing the health gap, with Sheffield being on track to reduce such rates below the national average. He explained that this had been achieved by adopting national standards, which had been enthusiastically embraced by health professionals, with support targeted at neighbourhoods that had the highest mortality rate and measurement to support continuous improvement. He stated that the challenge for the next few years was to produce public health plans for all priority neighbourhoods, focusing on ensuring access to core health services, with evidence based interventions focused on the major diseases.
	In summarising the presentations, Joanne Roney stated that good progress had been made on a big delivery agenda and that early indications were that the gap between the least and most successful neighbourhoods was closing, with vulnerable people and inclusion issues being addressed and work being targeted within the freedoms and flexibilities of the Local Area Agreements. However, she pointed out that significant challenges remained in relation to combating anti-social behaviour and providing economic opportunities to contribute to people continuing to live longer in a safer, greener and cleaner City.
	A lengthy question and answer session then ensued, following which the Deputy Lord Mayor (Councillor Arthur Dunworth) thanked the participants for their comprehensive presentations and answering the many questions asked.

	(NOTE: During the presentation the Lord Mayor (Councillor Jackie Drayton) left the meeting and the Deputy Lord Mayor (Councillor Arthur Dunworth) occupied the Chair for the remainder of the proceedings.)

7.	REPRESENTATION, DELEGATED AUTHORITY AND RELATED ISSUES
	RESOLVED: On the motion of Councillor Jean Cromar, seconded by Councillor Pat Midgley that (a) approval be given to the following changes to the memberships of Boards, etc. and the appointment of representatives to serve on other bodies:-

	Children and Young People Scrutiny and Policy Development Board	-	Councillors Alf Meade and Liz Naylor to replace Councillors Denise Fox and Pat Midgley

	Culture, Economy and Sustainability Scrutiny and Policy Development Board	-	Councillor David Baker to replace Councillor Simon Clement-Jones

	Health and Community Care Scrutiny and Policy Development Board	-	Councillors Leigh Bramall, Peter Rippon and Sam Wall to replace Councillors John Campbell, Martin Lawton and John Robson

	Broomhill, Central and Nether Edge Area Panel	-	Councillor Janice Sidebottom to replace Councillor John Knight

	South West Area Panel	-	Councillor John Knight to replace Councillor Janice Sidebottom

	Corporate Parenting Panel	-	Councillor Leigh Bramall to replace Councillor Veronica Hardstaff

	Environmental Performance Working Party	-	Councillor Garry Weatherall to replace Councillor Terry Fox

	Planning Policy Advisory Group	-	Councillor Jillian Creasy to replace Councillor Bernard Little

	Fir Vale Strategic Partnership	-	Councillor Ibrar Hussain to replace Councillor Alan Law

	Sheffield Conservation Advisory Group	-	Councillor Mike Peat to replace Councillor Garry Weatherall

	Sheffield Lyceum Theatre Trust Ltd – Directors and Members	-	Councillor Veronica Hardstaff to fill a vacancy

	Southey/Owlerton Area Regeneration Board	-	Councillor Ibrar Hussain to replace Councillor Steve Jones

	Upperthorpe and Netherthorpe Healthy Living Centre Trust	-	Councillor Veronica Hardstaff to replace Councillor Robert MacDonald

	(b) Councillors Harry Harpham, Leigh Bramall and Keith Hill be appointed to serve on the new Building Schools for the Future Strategic Board.

8.	QUESTIONS RELATING TO URGENT BUSINESS
	There were no questions relating to urgent business under the provisions of Standing Order A18(6).

9.	ITEMS REFERRED TO COUNCIL
9.1	Member Development Charter
	RESOLVED: On the motion of Councillor Jan Wilson, seconded by Councillor Steve Jones that the following decision taken by the Cabinet at its meeting held on 14th June, 2006, relating to a Member Development Charter be approved:-

	"RESOLVED: That authority be given for the City Council to sign up to the Member Development Charter as now circulated."

9.2	Financial Outturn Position 2005/06
	It was moved by Councillor Steve Jones, seconded by Councillor Jan Wilson, that the following decision taken by the Cabinet at its meeting held on 14th June, 2006, relating to the Council's Financial Outturn Position for 2005/06 be approved:-

	"RESOLVED: That (a) the City Council’s Financial Outturn Position for 2005/06 as set out in the report now submitted be noted; and
	(b) approval be given to a request to carry forward a £187,000 underspend relating to the Grant Aid budget which is to be earmarked to support local voluntary and community sector organisations."