Sheffield Greens oppose council return to “autocratic, top-down, behind closed doors decision-making”
Sheffield Green Party councillors are calling on the government to honour a city referendum that rejected a “top-down” model of decision-making that was discredited by the street tree scandal.
Green councillors are putting forward a motion opposing a return to the leader and cabinet model of governance for the city council that they refer to as “autocratic, top-down, behind closed doors decision-making”.
They have also written an open letter to the city’s six Labour MPs, urging them to oppose a move for all councils to adopt the leader and cabinet model, which was proposed last week (June 24) by local government and English devolution minister Jim McMahon.
This would overturn the May 2021 referendum held in Sheffield, which rejected the cabinet and leader model in favour of a system that would give a greater say to all 84 councillors and their political groups.
The motion will be proposed at the next full council meeting on Wednesday (July 9) by Coun Paul Turpin and seconded by Coun Peter Gilbert.
It says that Mr McMahon’s statement “overturns the wishes of Sheffield people who voted 65% to 35% in 2021 to change from a leader and cabinet system where a small handful of councillors took all the decisions, to one where all councillors play a part in the decision-making process.
Challenge
“Sir Mark Lowcock’s report into the street tree scandal said: “While a strong leader cabinet model with fewer checks and balances arguably gives authority to get things done, it can also, as in this case, enable the wrong things to be done without serious challenge”.
It argues that the people of Sheffield people “expect all councillors to take part in making decisions that affect the city, and it is clearly wrong that a system that has been working well in Sheffield should be abolished without any form of consultation”.
The council, which is currently under no overall control by a political party, makes key decisions at a series of policy committees where political groups and independents are represented on a basis proportional to their size.
Labour, LibDems and Greens collaborate in a joint administration.
The motion states that the benefits of the committee system demonstrated in Sheffield include greater collaboration across political groups in policy formulation and in decision making and “overcoming party political tribalism and focusing on areas of agreement, not antagonism”.
It says this has improved the culture of the council, with officers and councillors focusing on what is best for the city. All councillors being involved in the decision-making of the council gives greater accountability to the electorate, the Greens say.
Lobby
The motion proposes that the council should write to Sheffield MPs to ask they lobby the government to abandon the proposals, seek support from the Local Government Association and write to the minister, asking him to honour the 2021 referendum vote.
Green Party leader Coun Angela Argenzio wrote the open letter to MPs. She said: “The Sheffield tree scandal showed what can happen when only a few councillors can vote on important decisions that affect local people.
“These plans by the government disrespect the views of Sheffielders who voted 65% to 35% to get rid of the unaccountable and less democratic cabinet system. It appears that it is now government policy to overturn the result of a democratic ballot.