Everyone has the right to attend Full Council meetings and Committee meetings, including Cabinet meetings, unless confidential or personal information is being discussed.
You can find out details about the different types of meetings at the Council and view a calendar of upcoming dates, as well as contact details if you want to attend a meeting.
Public Questions and Petitions at Council Meetings
Sheffield City Council enables and encourages those that live and work in Sheffield to have a say in their work by allowing public questions and petitions to be presented at formal, decision making meetings.
Council Meeting
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All Councillors attend this meeting and it takes the major decisions on the Council's budget, key policies and procedures.
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Policy Committees
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Most of the important decisions that affect the whole of Sheffield are made by the Council’s Policy Committees. They are responsible for implementing the policies of the Council.
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Local Area Committees
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Every community in Sheffield is covered by one of the Council's seven local area committees. They are the best way for people to get involved in local issues. Details of the Local Area Committees can be found here.
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Planning and Highways Committee |
Details on how to make representations at Planning and Highways Committee can be found here.
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How do I attend a meeting to ask a question or present a petition?
If you wish to attend a meeting and ask a question or present a petition, you must submit the question/petition in writing by 9.00 a.m. at least 2 clear days in advance of the date of the meeting, by email to the following address: committee@sheffield.gov.uk. E.g., For meetings held on a Wednesday, questions/petitions will need to be received by 9.00 a.m. on the Monday of that week. Questions submitted after the deadline will be asked at the meeting subject to the discretion of the Chair.
For Local Area Committees you are encouraged to submit your questions in advance and priority will be given to those submitted in advance, however, time permitting, the Chair will permit questions on the day.
What information do I need to include?
You must give your name, contact email and/or telephone number as well as details of your question/petition. (Details of how we will use and keep your information can be found here).
We will provide advice on the most appropriate Body to receive the question/petition, but you have the right to choose the meeting at which the question is to be asked. If you are unsure, you can ask for advice by emailing committee@sheffield.gov.uk
Will my question be answered at the meeting?
A period of up to one hour shall be allocated at each ordinary meeting of the Council for questions/petitions from members of the public on matters relating to the City of Sheffield or the services provided by the Council. Thirty minutes is allocated for questions/petitions at Policy Committees.
The Chair of the meeting has discretion as to how questions and petitions are presented at the meeting and as to whether you are invited to ask your question or present a petition at the meeting, or they are read out at the meeting. A response to the question or petition will be given by the Chair or Council officer. If you are not able to attend the meeting, your question/petition may be referred to the Chair, and a written answer/response will be provided to you.
Where a submitted question or petition cannot be answered because time does not allow, or where a Member undertakes to provide a written answer/response, the written answer/response will be provided to you within ten working days of the meeting and will be published on the Council website.
Please note that the Chair of the meeting may not accept petitions or questions which relate to:-
- matters not being within the responsibility of the Local Authority or which affects the City or its inhabitants;
- judicial or quasi-judicial matters;
- individual planning/licence/grant applications or appeals;
- named officers or Members of the Council;
- confidential matters of the type referred to in Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972; or
- matters of an irrelevant, repetitious, defamatory, frivolous or offensive nature or a general misuse of the opportunity.
How are the rules about public questions determined and where can I find them?
The rules are contained in the Council Procedure Rules, which are part of the Council’s Constitution.
Please email committee@sheffield.gov.uk for more information.