Where text has no background, that part of the motion or amendment was carried (voted through) by Council

 

That this Council: -
 
(a)       notes that, since the local elections in May, this Council has been working towards a two school solution, a new school for Myers Grove and to stop the closure of Wisewood;
 
(b)       notes that, unlike the previous Labour administration, the new Liberal  Democrat administration has listened and worked towards a two school solution which is what local people overwhelmingly said they wanted democratically via the ballot box;
 
(c)        therefore condemns the Labour Government for threatening to withdraw around £100 million worth of investment for other local schools if the school closures don't go ahead, an act which was described in the local media as ‘blackmail’; 
 
(d)       notes that this is even more deplorable given that the Liberal Democrat administration made a £25m offer to fund the extra investment required to deliver a two school solution, just as the Liberal Democrat Group said they would do whilst in opposition and the Labour Group said wasn’t possible;
 
(e)       is dismayed that the local Labour Party, including all five local Labour MPs, opposed a two school solution ignoring the democratic wishes of local people;
 
(f)         regrets that due to the new barriers put up by the previous Labour administration and the Labour Government, before and after the local elections, it has become impossible to halt the closures without other local schools incurring unacceptable penalties due to the decision from the Labour Government;
 
(g)       regrettably accepts that the original outline business case for Building Schools for the Future funding is submitted to Government which would mean Wisewood School closes; and
 
(h)        thanks local parents and young people for campaigning to save their local school and is saddened that they have been blocked by the local Labour party and the Labour Government.

 

That the Motion now submitted, be amended by the deletion of all the words after ‘That this Council:-’ and the substitution of the following words therefor:-

(a) now accepts that a single site school to be built at Wood Lane, to replace Myers Grove and Wisewood schools will best meet the future educational needs of the children in the North West of the city;

 

(b) notes that this has been the Council’s position since 25th July 2007;

 

(c) notes that the report of the Chief Executive of the Council and the Executive Director, Children and Young People’s Service, of 25th July 2007 demonstrated that this solution is the only viable model;

 

(d) notes that both the Headteacher of Myers Grove School and the Headteacher of Wisewood School have supported the merger of the two schools as the only long term and viable solution to the problems of falling rolls in this area of the city and inadequate buildings at the two schools;

 

(e) notes, in fact, that all 32 Headteachers of Sheffield’s secondary and special schools are unanimous in supporting the merger of Myers Grove and Wisewood schools;

 

(f) notes that the former Labour administration has at all times been straightforward and honest in its view;

 

(g) regrets that the Liberal Democrat Party campaigned in the Wisewood area during the last local election for a model of provision which it must surely have known it could not deliver;

 

(h) notes that following the election, the new Liberal Democrat Council did make every effort to fulfil its promise;

 

(i) notes that the new Liberal Democrat Council now accepts that the two-school option which was promised to the electorate was only available if the Council was prepared to put at risk very significant investment in educational provision throughout the city, an issue which has been made clear to the Council on innumerable occasions including:

 

(i) in the report of the Chief Executive and the Executive Director, Children and Young People’s Service, of 25th July 2007

 

(ii) in a letter from Russell Andrews, Partnership for Schools Director of Education and Planning, to the Executive Director Children and Young People, on 31st May 2007 which stated:

‘… we would not expect local authorities to bring forward proposals for rebuilding/refurbishing two small schools close to each other in the manner that you have enquired about’;

 

(iii) in a letter from Partnership for Schools, to the Executive Director Children and Young People, on 22nd June 2007, which stated that the £250 million Building Schools for the Future programme for Sheffield cannot proceed unless the Council has a convincing plan to tackle the fall in pupil numbers, and also stated:

‘As was previously explained in a letter from Russell Andrews, Director of Education and Planning, we do not expect local authorities to submit plans to retain and rebuild separate small schools in such close proximity as it is not a good use of Building Schools for the Future resources’;

 

(iv) in a meeting that the Council had with Partnership for Schools (PfS) on 3rd July 2007, at which PfS confirmed the view that a plan to maintain Myers Grove and Wisewood schools as two separate schools would not receive funding from the Building Schools for the Future programme;

 

(v) in a letter from Partnership for Schools, to the Executive Director Children and Young People, on 5th July 2007 which confirmed, once again, that PfS would not fund the rebuilding of Myers Grove and Wisewood schools through the Building Schools for the Future programme because they do not believe that this would be a good use of BSF funds;

 

(j) therefore regrets and apologises for the distress caused by the Liberal Democrat’s decision to pursue a course of action which they had repeatedly been informed was not deliverable;

 

(k) further regrets that the Liberal Democrats have not been able to be ‘open and honest’ with the electorate in this matter;

 

(l) regrets the delays which this action has engendered;

 

(m) apologises for the uncertainty and upset which has been caused to the proposing group by the unfortunate pledges which were made;

 

(n) resolves to now put an end to the uncertainty, and move forward as swiftly as possible with the proposing group, to whom the Council is profoundly grateful;

 

(o) is relieved that an end has been put to the uncertainty for other schools across the city, who have been deeply concerned about the significant financial implications for their own schools of a departure from the proposal to merge Myers Grove and Wisewood schools; and

 

(p) agrees that any political party should ensure that, before it makes a promise to the electorate, it should make absolutely certain that the promise is capable of being fulfilled.

 

That the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

1. The deletion of all the words in paragraph (d);

2. The re-lettering of existing paragraphs (e) to (h) as (d) to (g); and

3. The addition of the following words as a new paragraph (h):-

“(h) notes, however, that building a new school on the Myers Grove site is also dependent on planning approval, including an assessment of safety, pollution and congestion at Malin Bridge”

 

 

That this Council:-
 
(a)       notes the rapidly rising fuel prices and the related problems of energy security, economic stability and fuel poverty;
 
(b)       further notes that Sheffield has a Regional Spatial Strategy target of 10.6 megawatts of renewable energy generation by 2010 and a Sheffield Development Framework commitment of 12 megawatts by 2010;
 
(c)        also notes and accepts the decision of the Cabinet at its meeting on 13th February 13th 2008 relating to Developing Westwood Country Park for Wind Energy:
 
(d)       believes that high energy prices have the greatest impact on the most vulnerable residents of our city;
 
(e)       also believes that renewable energy is an important part of the solution and that wind power is a large and vital component of the necessary mix of such energies;
 
(f)         resolves to continue the feasibility study into the wind farm project at Westwood Country Park, High Green and make an objective decision based on the findings of this study;
 
(g)       believes that to reject proposals for the above wind power project without proper consideration will send a signal to developers that this Council would be unfriendly to future schemes and that this runs contrary to the current administration's claims to support business;
 
(h)        directs that consideration be given to allocating 5% of Council profits from this and future renewable energy projects to the local community; and
 
(i)         resolves to encourage financial investment by members of local communities in future projects.

 

That the Motion now submitted, be amended by:-

1. The deletion of all the words in paragraphs (c) and (f) to (i);

2. The re-lettering of existing paragraphs (d) and (e) as new paragraphs (c) and (d); and

3. The addition of the following words as a new paragraph (e):-

“(e) is committed to pursuing and developing renewable energy generation at appropriate sites in Sheffield.”

 

 

That this Council:-

(a) notes that the £2.4m was a reimbursement for costs already incurred by the Council, however notes that adult care services are known to experience funding difficulties due to the continuing pressure of dealing with an ageing population and other demands on this service from disabled service users, who have rightly come to expect an increasingly better quality of service;

 

(b) notes that although the £2.4m was a reimbursement, this was a windfall which the Council was not expecting and had not accounted for it;

 

(c) therefore resolves that the £2.4m continuing care repayment from the Primary Care Trust be ring-fenced to provide additional provision for older and disabled people in Sheffield, which could include improvements to a range of services, for example by:-

 

(i) providing extra talking books for the blind;

 

(ii) providing more aids and adaptations to enable elderly people to remain in their own homes; and

 

(iii) responding faster to older and vulnerable people who await assessment for care packages.

 

That this Council:

(a) notes the breathtaking hypocrisy displayed by the Labour Group over their calls to ring fence the repayment by the Primary Care Trust for costs incurred by the Council in 2007/08;

 

(b) notes that, whilst in control, during their budget discussions in February of this year the previous administration took the decision not to ring fence the £3 million from the repayment by the Primary Care Trust for costs due to be incurred by the Council in 2008/09;

 

(c) notes that we have financial pressures upon our budget including services for many worthy groups such as older people, children in care and disabled individuals of all ages;

 

(d) therefore believes that we have to consider the entire Council's budget rather than each part in isolation, so to ring fence this investment and ignore the needs of these other groups would be wrong;

 

(e) notes the advice of the recent national Audit Commission report, ‘Don’t stop me now’, which says: “Councils need to take a two-tier approach to understanding their expenditure on the wider older people agenda”;

 

(f) condemns the Labour Group for misleading elderly people and trying to play politics with services to some of our most vulnerable people in society;

 

(g) furthermore condemns the local Labour MPs who have signed an Early Day Motion tabled by Clive Betts MP on this issue, the wording of which is misleading;

 

(h) notes the failure of the Government’s key strategy for an ageing population, ‘Opportunity Age’ and their failure to engage with and support local Councils and give them clear outcomes, as outlined in the recent Audit Commission report, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’;

 

(i) calls upon local Labour MPs and Council Members to turn their attention to addressing these failings and to stop trying to make political capital out of such an important issue;

 

(j) believes that this Government has failed older people and remembers their 75p pension increase and the fact they are closing down the Post Office network; and

 

(k) directs that a copy of this motion be sent to all Sheffield MPs and all appropriate older people groups in Sheffield.

 

 

 

That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet of 30th July, 2008 be amended by the deletion of all the words after ‘RESOLVED:‘ and the substitution of the following words therefor:-

“That this Council:-

(a) wholeheartedly endorses the principle behind the Community Assemblies project in supporting stronger and more involved communities;

 

(b) commits to ensuring that the Council and its services are responsive to the needs and requests of residents;

 

(c) has concerns that the number of areas is being reduced from 12 to 7;

 

(d) notes that each of the 7 Assemblies would serve a population of approximately 75,000, which is the size of a large town;

 

(e)  suggests that, with Assemblies of this size, it would be important and indeed necessary to maintain or establish much more local arrangements, for example area forums, similar to those which exist in some areas at present;

 

(f) has concerns that the infrastructure necessary to create dynamic community Assemblies might be very expensive, despite the commitment to no extra cost;

 

(g) further notes that there will not be any transfer of powers to the Assemblies and that final decisions will still rest with the Council, within existing standing orders, and is therefore unclear as to how the assemblies are different in legal terms from the existing Area Panels:

 

(h) notes with regret that to date there has been no community consultation on the Community Assemblies agenda;

 

(i) also notes with regret that to date there has been no cross-party consultation on this agenda;

 

(j) notes the establishment of a cross-party Working Group, and resolves that the development of the Community Assemblies would be best served by widening the membership of the group to include community representatives in order to ensure that all interested parties have their say about how this important agenda develops;

 

(k) resolves that the Leader of the Council (Councillor Paul Scriven) and the Deputy Leader (Councillor David Baker) attend the next round of Area Panel meetings, to explain the new policy on Community Assemblies and consult with local communities on this agenda;

 

(l) however, supports much of the detail of the Cabinet report, subject to:-

 

 (i) a further report detailing staffing arrangements;

 

(ii) clarification of the decision making structure;

 

(iii) clarification of any proposals regarding future delegations;

 

(iv) receiving funding proposals for the necessary infrastructure; and

 

(v) receiving further details on the possible distribution of resources.

 

 

That this Council:
 
(a)       notes that the discussions that have taken place regarding the future of Myers Grove and Wisewood schools over the past two years have been extremely difficult and emotive;
 
(b)       notes that the priority has always been to find a long term and viable solution to the problems of falling rolls in the North West of the city and inadequate buildings at the two schools, so that better educational outcomes can be secured for local children;
 
(c)        believes that educational attainment is a top priority for the Council, and considers that now that the position regarding Myers Grove and Wisewood is unequivocal, all Councillors in Sheffield must work together to achieve the best educational outcomes for local children;
 
(d)       feels that this issue, which has been going on for a very long time, must now be resolved so that local parents and members of the community, as well as teachers and governors at the two schools can have some certainty about the future;
 
(e)       would like to thank local people, parents, teachers, governors and the Proposing Group for all the time, energy and dedication they have committed to this important issue.

 

 

 

That the Motion now submitted be amended by the addition of the following words as new paragraphs (f) and (g):-

“(f)  notes the concerns of the local community in relation to the Wisewood site and therefore proposes that the site should not be sold for housing or any other development, and that this site be retained for the use of the local community;

 

(g) however, notes that this proposal will be considered as part of the capital and revenue budget process.”

 

 

 

That the Motion now submitted, be amended by the deletion of all the words after the words “That this Council” and the substitution of the following words therefor:-

“(a) notes that, since the local elections in May, this Council has been working towards a two school solution, a new school for Myers Grove and to stop the closure of Wisewood;

 

(b) notes that, unlike the previous Labour administration, the new Liberal  Democrat administration has listened and worked towards a two school solution which is what local people overwhelmingly said they wanted democratically via the ballot box;

 

(c) therefore condemns the Labour Government for threatening to withdraw around £100 million worth of investment for other local schools if the school closures don't go ahead, an act which was described in the local media as ‘blackmail’;

 

(d) notes that this is even more deplorable given that the Liberal Democrat administration made a £25m offer to fund the extra investment required to deliver a two school solution, just as the Liberal Democrat Group said they would do whilst in opposition and the Labour Group said wasn’t possible;

 

(e) is dismayed that the local Labour Party, including all five local Labour MPs, opposed a two school solution ignoring the democratic wishes of local people;

 

(f) regrets that due to the new barriers put up by the previous Labour administration and the Labour Government, before and after the local elections, it has become impossible to halt the closures without other local schools incurring unacceptable penalties due to the decision from the Labour Government;

 

(g) regrettably accepts that the original outline business case for Building Schools for the Future funding is submitted to Government which would mean Wisewood School closes; and

 

(h) thanks local parents and young people for campaigning to save their local school and is saddened that they have been blocked by the local Labour party and the Labour Government."

 

 

 

 
That this Council: -
 
(a)       welcomes the positive impact that the new Liberal Democrat administration has already made through delivering on local people’s priorities;
 
(b)       supports the commitment to make it easier for local people to recycle, in stark contrast to the previous Labour administration, including the provision of free green waste sacks, a trial for a recycling scheme to deal with kitchen waste and the introduction of segregated recycling bins in district shopping areas;
 
(c)        supports action to protect and enhance our local environment including protecting local parks from development, extra cleaning to improve our main rivers, extra action to tackle graffiti and the planting of 5,000 extra trees, which is in stark contrast to the previous Labour administration who were keen to build on our key local parks;
 
(d)       supports the new commitment to making tackling pupil attainment one of the key objectives of this Council, but recognises the magnitude of this task due to pupil attainment being allowed to fall to unacceptably low standards compared with the national average under the previous Labour administration;
 
(e)       supports the funding of 15 extra Police Community Support Officers in order to make local people feel safer and welcomes the roll out of free activities for young people in order to give them something positive to do, and notes that this approach is in contrast to the previous Labour administration whose short term strategy concentrated on gimmicks;
 
(f)         welcomes the decision to scrap the ‘favoured areas’ policy for basic services so that services like filling in potholes, repairing street lights and unblocking gullies will be prioritised on a worst first basis, unlike the previous Labour administration who wanted to unfairly skew basic services;
 
(g)       welcomes the new commitment to become business friendly and notes the positive reception from businesses themselves who want to see a local Council that starts to support them rather than hinder them as was the case under the previous Labour administration;
 
(h)        welcomes the fact that the new Liberal Democrat administration have already demonstrated they are committed to giving local people more power through new plans for Community Assemblies, allowing Area Panels greater control over budgets and the introduction of ballots on changes to local school status;
 
(i)         supports the action taken to try and make it easier to get around Sheffield including making bus and trams gates clearer, starting a huge new programme to replace and repair road and street signs and asking local people to suggest changes to improve the road network, and notes that this in stark contrast to the previous anti-car Labour administration; and
 
(j)         looks forward to further action on these and other priorities over the coming months and years.
 

 

 

That the Motion now submitted, be amended by:-

1. The deletion of all the words in paragraphs (a) to (i);

2. The addition of the following words as new paragraphs (a) to (g):-

“(a) supports making it easier for people to recycle as part of a coherent regional waste strategy, which encompasses domestic and commercial waste, focuses on all “3Rs” (reduction, reuse and recycling), prioritises the most carbon-saving waste streams (such as plastics and textiles) and which is funded from within the Veolia contract; and looks forward to seeing the evaluation of the bring bank pilots in Darnall and Central wards;
 
(b)  supports action to protect and enhance our local environment including protecting parks from inappropriate development, extra cleaning to improve our main rivers, extra action to tackle graffiti and the planting of 5,000 extra trees;
 
(c) supports the new commitment to making tackling pupil attainment one of the key objectives of this Council, but also recognises the importance of supporting children to be healthy and happy and to become rounded citizens interested in life-long learning;
 
(d) supports the funding of 15 extra Police Community Support Officers in order to make local people feel safer and welcomes the roll out of free activities for young people in order to give them something positive to do;

(e) welcomes the commitment to be business friendly and notes the positive reception from businesses themselves who want to see a local Council that supports them;
 
(f) welcomes giving local people more power but is concerned about the size of the proposed Community Assemblies and hopes that the new arrangements will be compatible with opting into the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 and with the exercise of Participatory Budgeting;
 
(g) supports the action taken to try and make it easier to get around Sheffield including making bus and tram gates clearer and looks forward to robust measures to support walking, cycling and public transport: and

 

3. The re-lettering of existing paragraph (j) as (h).

 

 

That this Council: -
           
(a)       notes that Derek Dooley is one of Sheffield’s favourite sporting legends and one of the city’s best-loved citizens;
 
(b)       notes with sadness that Derek Dooley passed away this year, aged 78;
 
(c)        also notes that the Council has been working with the Dooley family looking at a number of ways to make a fitting tribute;
 
(d)       welcomes the decision to rename a section of the Inner Relief Road ‘Derek Dooley Way’ which will mean Derek Dooley remains a part of the fabric of Sheffield forever;
 
(e)       believes it is a fitting tribute to a man who was revered by fans at both Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday given that the road provides a link to both clubs; and
 
(f)         thanks the Dooley family for working with the Council to see this idea come to fruition.
 

 

 

That this Council: -
 
(a)       is concerned that the current challenging economic climate may be having a negative effect on local businesses in Sheffield city centre;
 
(b)       believes that the City Council should support local businesses in any way possible;
 
(c)        with that aim in mind, suggests that the Council:
 
i.          investigates the possibility of providing free public transport to all on Saturdays and Sundays;
 
ii.         suspends any increase in car parking charges for a period of at least 12 months;
 
(d)       notes that this policy would:
 
i.          meet the City’s aims to support people to be more environmentally friendly, by encouraging people to use public transport;
 
ii.         minimise the financial costs for hard-pressed motorists who do choose to bring their cars into the City centre;
 
iii.        offer support to businesses in the City during the current challenging economic climate, by encouraging more people to come into the city on weekends;
 
(e)       believes that this policy could be funded for the current year from the Council’s underspend as outlined in the 2007/08 Financial Out-turn Report; and
 
(f)         directs the Chief Executive to investigate the feasibility of this policy and the cost of such a policy and report back to the Council within 2 months with a plan for taking this idea forward.

 

 

 

That the Motion now submitted, be amended by the deletion of all the words in paragraphs (d) and (e) and the re-lettering of existing paragraph (f) as (d).

 

 

That this Council: -
 
(a)       is pleased that the 2008 British Transplant Games and the accompanying cultural and social programme are to be held in Sheffield on 7th to 11th August;
 
(b)       welcomes all the competitors, and their families and friends to the city, and wishes them every success;
 
(c)        believes that the Transplant Games will raise awareness locally of the ongoing need for organ donation by demonstrating the benefits of transplantation;
 
(d)       congratulates The Star newspaper for their commitment to promoting the organ donor campaign and for their support for the Transplant Games;
 
(e)       notes that there are currently over 15 million people registered in the United Kingdom on the NHS organ donor register but is concerned that about 1000 patients still die each year before receiving the organ transplant they need ;
 
(f)         therefore, encourages all staff and Members of the City Council who are not yet on the organ donor register to give serious consideration to registering and directs officers to include such a message on the next payslip possible; and
 
(g)       directs that a copy of this Notice of Motion be sent to the charity Transplant Sport UK which organises the Games and the Editor of The Star newspaper.
 

 

That this Council:
 
(a)       believes that feeling safe in their communities is one of the most significant concerns for local residents in Sheffield;
 
(b)       is concerned that only months after taking control of Sheffield City Council with an election pledge to put more uniformed officers on the beat, the new administration has turned down an opportunity to provide 10 additional Police Community Safety Officers (PCSOs) for Sheffield’s streets;
 
(c)        notes that the new administration has recently announced the provision of funding for 15 PCSOs, and is disappointed that a golden opportunity has been missed to increase this number to 25;
 
(d)       notes that at a meeting of the Successful Neighbourhoods Scrutiny and Policy Development Board on Monday 14th July 2008, Councillor Tony Damms put forward proposals to use un-prioritised funding of £300,000, identified within the Finance Plan for the Safer Communities Partnership, to create a rapid response team of 10 PCSOs to be deployed in hotspots around the city;
 
(e)       is disappointed that the proposal put forward was defeated by councillors from the majority group, as both the two main political groups have made pledges to Sheffield people to increase the number of uniformed officers on the streets;
 
(f)         reconfirms that people want to see more of a police presence in their local communities, because they want to feel safer on the streets, and therefore appeals to the new administration to reverse their decision and support the use of un-prioritised funding of £300,000, identified within the Finance Plan for the Safer Communities Partnership, to create a rapid response team of 10 PCSOs to be deployed in hotspots around the city.
 

That the Motion now submitted, be amended by the deletion of all the words  after paragraph (a) and the addition of the following words as new paragraphs (b) to (h):-

“(b) therefore welcomes the new long term commitment to fund an extra 15 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and notes that as a result every single area of Sheffield will see a boost to the numbers of officers patrolling their streets making local people safer;

 

(c) notes that this brings the total number of PCSOs funded by the Council and the Safer Communities Partnership up to 25;

 

(d) notes that this commitment is a change to the budget set by the previous administration, which didn’t take the wishes of local people into account, and welcomes the change in policy brought about by the new administration;

 

(e) notes that providing just one year’s funding from the Safer Communities Partnership response budget to employ extra PCSOs, as suggested by the Labour Group, would be counter productive and deemed unacceptable by the Police as the PCSOs would have to be made redundant after just one year;

 

(f) notes that Councillor Chris Weldon, as former co-chair of the Partnership, didn’t include this new proposal in the Safer Communities plan in the first place and therefore concludes that it is a cynical “party political”  move rather than a common sense way of making local people safer;

 

(g) supports a sustainable long term approach to tackling anti-social behaviour and crime rather than a short term sticking plaster approach that concentrates on gimmicks as was seen under the previous administration; and

 

(h) regrets that the Labour Government are forcing our local Police to cut the number of front line officers and calls on the Government to take a leaf out of this Council’s book and put more officers on the street to make people safer. “

 

That the Motion now submitted, be amended by the deletion of all the words after paragraph (a) and the addition of the following words as new paragraphs (b) and (c):-

 

“(b) notes that the main value of Police Community Safety Officers is that they know the community well and that a ‘rapid deployment team’ of PCSOs is a contradiction in terms; and

 

(c) notes the recent experiences in Burngreave, Pitsmoor and Broomhall show that different crises in different communities require different responses and that it is prudent to retain some un-prioritised funding within the Safer Communities Partnership in order to be able to respond flexibly to community needs.”

 

That this Council:
 
(a)       welcomes the Government's consultation on a £100bn renewable energy plan, albeit a plan that is conservative in its aims and unclear in its details;
 
(b)       regrets that the Government continues to rely on the Renewables Obligation scheme, which has resulted in the United Kingdom having one of the lowest rates of investment in renewable technologies in Europe, rather than adapting the scheme to reflect a feed-in-tariff that would encourage innovation and change from the ground up, benefiting people across the United Kingdom and tackling climate change;
 
(c)        notes the proposal of Good Energy Ltd that would adapt the Renewables Obligation scheme to a Feed in Tariff model, allowing for a smooth transition between the schemes; and
 
(d)       therefore directs officers to:-
 
(i)         respond to the Renewables Consultation, specifically Question10, making clear the Council's support for a Feed in Tariff at levels comparable with successful schemes elsewhere, based on actual energy generation rather than export to the grid;
 
(ii)        write to the Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks MP, calling on the UK Government to act with urgency and to ensure the Energy Bill, currently delayed over summer, will allow for a Feed in Tariff to be introduced;
 
(iii)       write to Sheffield Members of Parliament urging them to push for necessary changes to the Energy Bill to allow for the introduction of a Feed in Tariff; and
 
(iv)       write to Friends of the Earth and the Renewable Energy Association informing them of the Council's support for their campaign on this issue.
 

 
 That this Council:
 
(a)       notes that Kingsnorth Coal fired power station in Kent, if built, will emit between 6 and 8 million tonnes of CO2 every year, more than the entire yearly emissions from Ghana;
 
(b)       fears that, if this development goes ahead, the power company E.ON will build another six coal fired power stations in the next five years, collectively emitting around 50 million tonnes of CO2 a year;
 
(c)        recognises that the United Kingdom has to cut its emissions by more than 40% by 2020 and more than 80% by 2050 if it is to do what scientists say is necessary;
 
(d)       notes that Jim Hansen, Director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York and top climate science adviser for the United States Government, wrote late last year a letter to the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown stating "If we continue to build coal-fired power plants without carbon capture, we will lock in future climate disasters associated with passing climate tipping points."
 
(e)       notes that modern coal fired power stations are slightly more efficient than old ones but are still responsible for a quarter of current global CO2 emissions;
 
(f)         also notes that there are 200 years left of coal at current rates of consumption, but burning it will push levels of CO2 in the atmosphere at well over what is recommended as safe;
 
(g)       further notes that carbon capture and storage is a method of capturing and compressing the waste CO2 from power stations and then pumping it into salt aquifers or old oil wells for long term storage, but that it is not yet ready for use for large coal fired power stations and that the industry itself say this is at least 10 years away, with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, admitting it may never work;
 
(h)        is committed to reducing the carbon footprint of Sheffield in line with sound scientific evidence;
 
(i)         considers that, arguing that China and India should stop building coal fired power stations when we the Government is intent on building its own is not leading the world by example, especially when the average emissions for each person is significantly lower in China than in Britain;
 
(j)         notes that there is no projected energy gap because, from the Government’s own figures, the amount of electricity generating capacity reduction by 2027 from closing old coal and nuclear power stations is 35% and that the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has said the country will be generating 40% from renewables by 2020;
 
(k)        suggests that, instead of employing people to burn coal, an energy system should be built, installed and run, based on renewables (wind, marine and solar) and notes that, in Germany, this is already employing 250,000 people;
 
(l)         notes that Martin Temple, Chairman of the Engineering Employers Federation, has said: "Moving to a low-carbon economy will create significant business opportunities for the UK, but we will need to move quickly and decisively. Businesses around the world are alive to the massive opportunities and a number of governments are making their exploitation a national priority", and that such a change would be a potential boost for manufacturing and engineering in Sheffield;
 
(m)      regrets that the Government presently has no specific policies on coal fired power stations other than to encourage carbon capture and storage;
 
(n)        believes that the Government is mistaken in the belief that:-
 
(i)         the European emissions trading scheme will be sufficient to make the energy market reduce carbon emissions;
 
(ii)        the market should change and should not rule out the use of any fuel; and
 
(iii)       the UK does not have to reduce emissions domestically because it can offset overseas; and
 
(o)       therefore, directs the Chief Executive to:-
 
(i)         write to Business Minister John Hutton, with copies to all Sheffield Members of Parliament, conveying the Council’s demand that the proposed Kingsnorth coal fired power station be subject to a public enquiry and that no new coal fired power stations are built without fully operational carbon capture and storage; and
 
(ii)        send a message to the Climate Camp at Kingsnorth conveying the Council’s support for their campaign for the Government to halt plans for an expansion of coal power.