3 Minutes of the Meeting of the Council of the City of Sheffield held in the Council Chamber within the th Town Hall, Sheffield, on Wednesday, 5 May 2010 pursuant to notice duly given and Summonses duly served. PRESENT THE LORD MAYOR (Councillor Graham Oxley) THE DEPUTY LORD MAYOR (Councillor Alan Law) 1 Arbourthorne Ward 10 Dore & Totley Ward 19 Mosborough Ward Julie Dore Colin Ross David Barker John Robson Mike Davis Chris Tutt Tim Rippon Keith Hill 2 Beauchief /Greenhill Ward 11 East Ecclesfield Ward 20 Nether Edge Ward Louise McCann Colin Taylor Ali Qadar Simon Clement-Jones Vic Bowden Colin France Clive Skelton Pat White 3 Beighton Ward 12 Ecclesall Ward 21 Richmond Ward Chris Rosling-Josephs Sylvia Dunkley Lynn Rooney Helen Mirfin-Boukouris Mike Reynolds John Campbell Roger Davison Martin Lawton 4 Birley Ward 13 Firth Park Ward 22 Shiregreen & Brightside Ward Bryan Lodge Joan Barton Jane Bird Denise Fox Chris Weldon Peter Price Mike Pye Peter Rippon 5 Broomhill Ward 14 Fulwood Ward 23 Southey Ward Paul Scriven John Knight Tony Damms Shaffaq Mohammed Andrew Sangar Leigh Bramall Alan Whitehouse Janice Sidebottom Gill Furniss 6 Burngreave Ward 15 Gleadless Valley Ward 24 Stannington Ward Jackie Drayton Frank Taylor Arthur Dunworth Ibrar Hussain Denise Reaney Vickie Priestley Steve Jones Garry Weatherall David Baker 7 Central Ward 16 Graves Park Ward 25 Stocksbridge & Upper Don Ward Robert Murphy Peter Moore Jack Clarkson Jillian Creasy Ian Auckland Martin Brelsford Bernard Little Bob McCann Alison Brelsford 8 Crookes Ward 17 Hillsborough Ward 26 Walkley Ward Brian Holmes Joe Taylor Diane Leek John Hesketh Steve Ayris Penny Baker Sylvia Anginotti Janet Bragg Jonathan Harston 9 Darnall Ward 18 Manor Castle Ward 27 West Ecclesfield Ward Mary Lea Pat Midgley Kathleen Chadwick Harry Harpham Jenny Armstrong Alan Hooper Mazher Iqbal Jan Wilson Trevor Bagshaw 28 Woodhouse Ward Mick Rooney Ray Satur Council - 5th May 2010 2 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Marjorie Barker, Ian Saunders and Gail Smith. 2. DECLARATIONS OF INTE REST There were no declarations of interest from Members of the City Council. 3. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING RESOLVED: On the Motion of Councillor Clive Skelton, seconded by Councillor Jack Clarkson, that the minutes of the meeting of the City Council held on 7 th April, 2010, be approved as a correct record. 4. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS Petitions (a) Petition regarding the Poor Condition of the Pavement on Birley Moor Road The Council received a petition, containing 21 signatures, objecting to the poor condition of the pavement outside numbers 2 to 34 Birley Moor Road. Representations on behalf of the petitioners were made by Bill Carline who referred to the poor condition of the pavement surface and to problems with water laying on the pavement surface which affected people wishing to board buses from the bus stop. The Council referred the petition to the Cabinet Member for Sustainable Transport and Street Scene (Councillor Ian Auckland) who referred to the Highways Private Finance Initiative (PFI) which, he stated, was intended to restore all roads and pavements in the City to a good condition. Meanwhile, he suggested that the petitioners’ concerns be brought to the attention of the local Community Assembly, which had a budget to address certain highways issues. The petition would be presented to the Cabinet Highways Committee and would then be passed to the Community Assembly, where the Assembly had a budget to deal with it. Public Questions (a) Public question concerning the START Federation of Tenants and Residents Jean Gleadall asked if the Leader of the Council agreed that there should be an investigation into complaints she had raised regarding issues relating to START. She referred to time limits to such requests and asked when she would receive an answer. Shirley Frost asked if the Council would now apologise for derecognising START without good cause, declare its support for a new federation and pledge its support, including financial support from the Housing Revenue Account which was how such organisations were supported elsewhere in the United Kingdom. She also referred to a number of things that had gone wrong in relation to START, including the lack of separation between the City Council and START and between the bank and the auditors. Winnie Smith asked whether the START money had gone in with the residential levy money and if it had, she requested a copy of the residential Council - 5th May 2010 3 levy account. Pat Molloy referred to the mishandling of finances of the START Federation of Tenants and Residents and asked if the Council would apologise for the mishandling of the START account by Council officers and the need for a proper investigation. He also asked if the Council would reimburse START for the amounts withdrawn from that account. Peter Chapman asked who has the authority to spend tenants’ residual levy and why, in Sheffield, there was not a federation of tenants and residents associations. Sylvana Mansell asked for assurance that, when the people of Sheffield that had been community activists for years were asking for an investigation to hold officers accountable and apologise for the misery they had caused individuals who had been vilified and used as scapegoats to justify bad practice, an investigation was undertaken. In response, the Leader of the Council (Councillor Paul Scriven) stated that he recognised that volunteers for START were grieved and the circumstances referred to by the questioners had led them to feel that their good work and reputation had been affected. He stated that the Council needed to get to the bottom of the issue and that he therefore proposed that a meeting be called between the Chief Executive of the City Council, the Leader and relevant Members and the Executive Director, Communities, to agree terms of reference for an investigation in order that all parties could be happy with the proposed process for an investigation. He proposed that Council work with members of START as part of the investigation. The Cabinet Member for Housing and Sustainable, Safer Communities (Councillor Bob McCann) stated that in relation to the residual levy money, a new group was to be established comprising tenants and Councillor representatives. Ways were being sought of engaging with tenants in an improved way and accounts were available for people to look at should they require sight of them. (b) Public question concerning Birley Spa Woods Christine Titmuss asked why Birley Spa Woods were so severely underfunded. She referred to a small area of ancient woodland and important flora and fauna and to Birley Spa House. She stated that there were seven access points and only one of these was safe to negotiate. People who visited the area were disappointed that it was in a poor condition, whilst this area was within the City Council’s portfolio. The pond was silted and full of rubbish and paths in the woods were potentially dangerous and had not been maintained for approximately 10 years. In addition, wooden steps in the wood were rotting. In response, the Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Local Environment (Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed) stated that he would take up the issues raised by the questioner with the Director of Parks and Countryside to see what could be done. He added that, as a Council, £10,000 had been allocated to Community Assemblies in relation to which local Members were able to prioritise spending. He would ensure that as well as notifying this matter to the Director of Parks and Countryside, it would also be raised with the Community Assembly Manager and local Members. Council - 5th May 2010 4 (c) Public question concerning Participation in the North East of Sheffield Mick Ibbotson asked why people in the north east of the City were not being encouraged to participate in the political process and elections. He stated that no leaflets or canvassers had been visible in the north east. In response, the Leader of the Council (Councillor Paul Scriven) stated that he would speak to the questioner separately as some of the issues raised were of a party political nature. In relation to City Council services, he stated that the north east was not a forgotten area of the City and, with the establishment of Community Assemblies, concerns in relation to service provision could be addressed to the Community Assembly directly. (d) Public question concerning Potential Loss of Car Parking – Application for Children’s Centre in Low Edges Mr Crooks made reference to a planning application relating to the development of a children’s centre in Low Edges. He asked why there was not a clearly displayed notice, informing local residents of the potential loss of the car park at the tenants’ and residents’ meeting rooms. He stated that a notice was displayed some distance from the site. In response, the Cabinet Member for Employment, Enterprise and Development (Councillor Colin Ross) stated that a public notice should have been clearly displayed in relation to the planning application and, whilst he was not clear on the detail in this particular case, he would ask Council officers to investigate as to whether the procedures had been properly followed in relation to notification in this case. (e) Public question concerning Common Purpose Martin Brighton referred to questions and issues he had raised for the last 18 months concerning a third party called Common Purpose and decisions affecting the Council, bypassing local democracy, which were secret and did not make statutory declarations of interest as well as costing the ratepayer money. He referred to guidance from Common Purpose relating to seniority and leadership. He stated that the Council had done nothing about the situation to which he had referred and asked why not? In response, the Leader of the Council (Councillor Paul Scriven) stated that Mr Brighton had continually made reference to generalisations and not given specific cases where the kind of practices he had outlined could be shown.