Sheffield Council more transparent than other cities

The council’s Cabinet is far more open than Birmingham, Newcastle and Liverpool.

A report by Birmingham Council looked at decisions made by Cabinets from October 2017 to September 2018.

Sheffield held 12 meetings with 76 reports. Only one report was held entirely in private and the decision was later published.

This compares to Newcastle where 38 per cent of decisions were taken behind closed doors, with 30 per cent in Birmingham and 19 per cent in Liverpool.

Leeds and Manchester were similar to Sheffield and had taken no decisions in private.

Sheffield Council Leader Julie Dore said councillors and officers were always as open as possible.

“We are committed to making sure that all decisions are taken with maximum openness and transparency.

“Our Cabinet decisions are made at public meetings. In addition, decisions by Cabinet Members are published on the council’s website and open to call in by scrutiny committees.

“We are also committed to engaging more widely to make sure that not only are our formal decisions made in an open and transparent way but we are listening to the views of local people as policy is being developed.

“We are committed to doing more work with specific stakeholder groups. This will ensure their views are being listened to as we addressing many of the challenges facing the city.”