Sheffield politicians welcome government change of mind on overturning council referendum vote
Sheffield politicians have welcomed changes to government legislation which means that the city would not have to return to a system of decision-making that it rejected four years ago.
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill seeks to make a lot of changes to local government in England, including introducing more elected mayors and council reorganisation in many areas. It also aims to replace council committee-based systems of governance with a ‘leader and cabinet’ model.
The Bill is due to return to the House of Commons for its third reading next week (November 24 and 25) before heading to the House of Lords.
Sheffield in 2022 moved to a committee system following a citywide referendum in 2021 initiated by the campaign It’s Our City in the wake of the street tree scandal. It argued the committee system would increase democracy by involving all councillors in decision-making.
When news of the legislation was announced by the government in June, council leader Tom Hunt said on behalf of the council that the authority had not been consulted beforehand. He said the council was seeking urgent discussions with the government.
Protected
The legislation now refers to councils whose governance arrangements are “protected”, either because they held a referendum less than 10 years before the law comes into force or they voted for a committee system up to five years ago. Those councils “must undertake and publish a review of whether the local authority should move to a leader and cabinet executive”.
As all three main political parties sharing power at the council support the committee system, any review would almost certainly respect the wishes of Sheffield voters.
Today Coun Hunt and deputy leader Coun Fran Belbin, who are both Labour, said: “We have worked hard to change the culture in the council to be more inclusive, collaborative and to ensure all voices are heard.
“Ministers have listened and understood our commitment to continuing this work. Thank you to the residents and MPs who have worked with us.
“We will now continue our cross-party work to open up the council’s decision making and involve citizens more, in line with the democratic mandate for the committee system.” Sheffield Hallam MP Olivia Blake said: “This is a great win for the people of Sheffield, who decisively chose to adopt a committee system of governance.
Representations
“I’m very pleased that the government has heard our representations and amended the draft legislation accordingly. These changes will only strengthen our local democracy.
“My thanks go to the campaigners who worked with us to make the case.” Sheffield Central MP Abtisam Mohamed MP commented: “Our committee system has helped foster more inclusive decision-making and it’s vital that this progress is protected.
“I’m pleased ministers have responded to the case we put forward and I’ll continue working to ensure Sheffield’s governance reflects the needs and voices of our communities.”
Coun Marieanne Elliot, deputy leader of the council’s Green Party group, said: “This news is good for Sheffield, good for the council and good for democracy in Sheffield.
“Sheffielders voted two to one to change the system of governance to the committee system. The government plans for all councils to have a leader and cabinet shows a complete distrust in democracy.
Damaging
“In Sheffield, we know how damaging it would be to force us back to the old system. The council has worked so much better since the committee system came in.
“Siân Berry MP (Green MP for Brighton Pavilion), spoke powerfully about Sheffield in Parliament’s Bill Committee. In response to Siân’s arguments, the minister said she would “reflect hard” on what she had said.
“All three party groups on Sheffield City Council have made representations to the minister. This includes a clear statement in support of the committee system by the leader of the council. Representations were also made by Abtisam Mohamed MP and Olivia Blake MP – both were Sheffield councillors under the old cabinet system.
“I am pleased to see the government has now proposed amendments to the Bill that will allow Sheffield to continue working in the more progressive, democratic way that it has established.
“However, I believe the government should allow other populations to learn from Sheffield’s example in the future. Sadly, they still intend to entirely remove those rights from other communities and councils.
“There is still no reference to improving democracy or any real devolution.”
Climbdown
Coun Martin Smith, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, said: “Sheffield LibDems welcome this u-turn by the government. We submitted written evidence to the Public Bill Committee criticising the undemocratic proposals put forward by the Labour government.
“The people of Sheffield voted decisively for the committee system and that decision must be respected. We will continue to scrutinise the legislation and look forward to seeing more details.”
Coun Shaffaq Mohammed, who is a member of the House of Lords, added: “I welcome this climbdown from the government but we should never have been in this position in the first place.
“Sheffield voted to move away from the leader and cabinet model in 2021 due to Labour’s failures and the result of this democratic process should never have been under threat.
“I was due to meet with government ministers today to discuss this and will continue monitoring the progress of these new proposals closely. It should not be within the power of the Labour government to try and dictate how Sheffield should be governed.”