Sheffield Council to return to Town Hall after spending tens of thousands on alternative venues

It comes after two consecutive full council meetings were postponed due to the council failing to find a suitable venue in time, firstly when the meeting clashed with university graduations that had been planned months in advance and secondly, when it clashed with university staff strikes which had been planned weeks in advance.

Full council is the biggest meeting of the month for the local authority, in which members of public question city leaders and all 84 councillors debate key issues and make important decisions.

Why has Sheffield Town Hall not been used for full council meetings?

The council held meetings virtually throughout the height of Covid-19 but was ordered by the Government to return to in-person meetings in May.

Instead of the Town Hall council chamber, where full council was held before Covid-19, the council decided to use Ponds Forge so attendees could be socially distanced.

The authority considered Sheffield City Hall, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United football grounds, St Mary’s Church, the Salvation Army, the English Institute of Sport and the Quaker Meeting House but said they were unsuitable.

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The total cost of holding full council at Ponds Forge – which is run by Sheffield City Trust (SCT), whose main funder is the council – between May and September was £42,927.

What has opposition said?

Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed, leader of Sheffield Liberal Democrats, said: “It’s a scandal that the council has not managed to hold the meetings using its own Town Hall meeting rooms. They could have saved the council thousands.

“We are told Town Hall meeting rooms can accommodate less than the current 84 councillors in a Covid-safe manor and therefore have been offering for months to sort out arrangements for meetings so that they could go ahead with reduced numbers by ‘pairing’ councillors.

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"This is done in parliament, whereby some members do not attend meetings in person. In this arrangement for every member of the ruling group missing a meeting, a Lib Dem would not go to the same meeting, so that votes were unaffected.

“We are relieved that the Labour and Green Party have finally seen sense after the recent chaotic council meeting which residents are rightly angry about.

"The venue cost thousands to rent and was booked after the strike had been called. If they were not going to turn up, they should have said before the council spent taxpayers money on the venue.

“Obviously, in the end this is also a failure on the part of the Government who have since the summer been demanding that meetings occur only in person rather than continuing to do so online as had happened during corona up until then.

"This is an extremely short-sighted political choice on their part. Of course, meetings in person are better when they can be held safely, but online meetings would continue to work for now.”