And, he is prepared to take the radical step of outsourcing the department's work, if that is the only way of ensuring change happens.

"It's been done elsewhere and proved successful. We are not going into uncharted territory," Coun Scriven told Star Business.

"The issue is culture change. What's becoming clear to me - and has been said by businesses both inside and outside Sheffield - is that our planning department is not business friendly, not customer focused and needs a significant culture change.

"We cannot sit by, hear what is being said and just ignore it. If we do that, Sheffield will not reach its full potential.

"We are looking at a number of options and one of the options, which is quite radical, is outsourcing commercial planning, but no final decision has been made."

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Coun Scriven is also taking up another issue raised by local business leaders, who say that while the completion of the inner ring road is a major benefit, there are substantial concerns about poor road links to the northbound M1 and to Manchester, slow rail links to Leeds, Manchester and London, and poor access to airports serving international business destinations,

Although Coun Scriven accepts there is no quick fix for those issues and a satisfactory solution will require funding from national government, he believes a Lib Dem led council might fare better with the Labour Government than the previous Labour administration.

"It may be that we can push a bit harder and embarrass them into providing the investment," says Coun Scriven.

"We shall push, in particular, for an improvement in links from the west to the east - from Liverpool to Hull - and better rail links with London. These are key priorities for the Sheffield economy."

'Can't-do planners could face axe'

Coun Scriven says business people attending the recent Grant Thornton round table discussion, where he outlined the options for the future of commercial planning in Sheffield, had said how refreshing they found it to get the Council leader to listen to them, but adds that he sees that as one of his core jobs.

Grant Thornton plans to host another round table discussion later this month, which will be attended by Lib Dem cabinet member for employment and enterprise, Coun Sylvia Anginotti.

Coun Scriven is working on plans to set up a Business Advisory Panel which will involve 30 invited local business leaders and meet every three months in the Town Hall, so that he and Coun Anginotti can continue to keep abreast of business sentiment in the city and make the council more business friendly.

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