To receive questions from members of the public who may wish to ask a general question of the Mayor, Cabinet Member or the Chairman of a Committee in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.
Minutes:
11 public questions had been submitted in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12:-
1. Mr Jonathan Smith: Madam Mayor, to reiterate my colleagues email to yourself in September can you confirm that you have formally requested, on our behalf, our cordial invitations to all the Rotherham MPs, Councillors, council officers and local dignitaries to the solemn occasion of Raising the Palestinian Flag at the Town Hall on Friday the 29th of November?
The Leader explained that the Mayor had asked him to respond on her behalf. It was confirmed that the Mayor had not received the information relating to the event, neither had the Leader. If that information was provided, it would be circulated but not to all Council officers.
In his supplementary, Mr Smith stated that Rotherham had a proud history in supporting humanitarian causes in South Africa, Chile and Ukraine. He asked the Leader to extend the historical precedent and to work with Rotherham residents, especially Rotherham Palestinians. Residents had invited the Mayor and the Leader to extend the invitation weeks in advance as a further step to developing a respectful working relationship. Mr Smith asked the Leader to confirm that those requested had been invited to the rising of the Palestinian flag for 5.30pm on 29 November as requested at the Cabinet meeting on 14 October? An email was sent but not responded to. Mr Smith also asked for how long the Ukrainian flag was raised on Council premises and asked for the appropriate documentation to be sent to their official email address. Finally, Mr Smith asked the Leader to confirm how the Council would be responding to the petition recommendations whilst involving the community.
The Leader reiterated that he had not received any information about an event people may be organising on the evening of 29 November and as such, could not send out an invitation. In relation to flag flying, the Leader explained that there were two separate processes. The first, which took precedence, was the guidance from the Government. The Ukrainian flag was flown in accordance with that guidance and was therefore flown for a number of weeks. The second process was that the Council could choose to make its own localised arrangements. Following the petition and recommendations from OSMB, the Palestinian flag will be flown on 29 November. This was a gesture of solidarity with the people suffering in Palestine. It was not helpful to anyone to compare how long flags flew for.
2. Mr A. Burton: How do you intend to proceed with the People's Palestine Petition recommendations whilst involving the community moving forward?
Mr Burton did not attend the meeting and, as such, would receive a written response.
3. Ms Carol Boote: Who is the Cabinet spokesperson?
The Leader stated that Councillor Sheppard – Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Social Inclusion was the Cabinet Spokesperson in relation to the Gaza Petition recommendations.
In her supplementary, Ms Boote referenced a letter sent from Councillor Read to her colleague on 24 October 2024 where he had stated that the Council would continue to engage in dialogue with the petitioners, where appropriate, and where this could practically and constructively contribute to the objectives of peace in Palestine and the wider Middle East region. Ms Boote stated that there had been requests for divestment in Israel on numerous occasions. The Council’s Solicitor had stated that this was categorically illegal. Ms Boote asked that, to ensure petitioners that this was not true, could Councillor Read commit to fulfil all the points of the petition in full and without delay? Could that written commitment be sent to the official email address? Yes or No?
The Leader said no. The commitments that Cabinet had made, based on the OSMB recommendations and legal advice, had been clearly set out in good faith. The Leader could not overrule that and there would be no further commitments.
4. Mr Sabir Hussain: Eastwood has a high crime rate, high unemployment, health, inequality, poor aspirations, low incomes and overcrowding. How would a cycle lane and bus lane resolve these issues?
Councillor Taylor explained that cycle lanes and bus lane would not address those issues in their entirety. No single issue would. However, studies on schemes that had been embedded for much longer than those in the Rotherham Borough had shown that road casualties and street crime were reduced. The reduced emissions and more physical exercise resulted in better health outcomes. There was no expectation that the bus and cycle lanes would fix every issue in Eastwood. However, the current active travel consultation that was open proposed to use £4.6m of government grant to improve public transport through the area, support more people to cycle, improve the public environment and close subways many residents felt unsafe in. There was also a further £11m confirmed investment in housing on three sites in the Eastwood area which would ensure better access to high quality, affordable homes for local residents. The showed that the Council was working on a transformational proposal for people in that part of the borough.
5. Mr Nasser Alam: Why is the council proposing cycle lanes along Fitzwilliam road which will create destruction for residents, local businesses and commuters alike, when with hindsight similar schemes along Wellgate /Broom have had woeful effect on all concerned. Why have cycle lanes not been incorporated into the new cinema development or into the new tram/ train station link road for Parkgate?
Councillor Taylor stated that he did not accept the premise of the question. These points made previously also applied to the schemes delivered on Wellgate and Broom Road, which had used external funding to deliver significant improvements to the roads and footways and general appearance of the area, without any significant loss of parking or traffic capacity.
Regarding cycle lanes into the new cinema at Forge Island, new cycle lanes had been provided along Wellgate and Westgate, which linked into the town centre streets connecting into Forge Island, with the previous ban on cycles on Frederick Street also lifted. This included the new bridge provided to the development which was open to cyclists. The old bridge had not.
Regarding the Parkgate Link Road, this was led by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority. This scheme was developed prior to the introduction of enhanced Government requirements in 2020 – had the development of the scheme started after then, SYMCA would have included cycling measures to meet the Government’s standards to access funding to deliver the scheme.
In his supplementary question Mr Alam asked if the Council had consulted the residents of Wellgate and Broom on how they feel about cycle lanes?
Councillor Taylor explained that he was not in post when the consultation for Wellgate and Broom was carried out. However, the current consultation for Eastwood was very significant. There had been a number of events and Councillor Taylor urged everyone to get involved with the consultation. Nothing had been imposed on anyone. The Council would consider all responses.
6. Ms Umamah Yusufi: During discussions with OSMB we suggested raising the Palestinian flag for the duration of the ongoing Genocide. What are your intentions for how long the Flag will be raised and do they comply with your legal obligations under the Equality Duty i.e. Will the Palestinian flag be raised for the same amount of time as the Ukrainian flag?
The Leader explained that the recommendation from OSMB was that the Palestinian Flag be flown on the United Nation’s International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (29 November 2024) and this is what had been agreed. The Leader had explained earlier the different processes that had been gone through in relation to this and the flying of the Ukrainian Flag. The Equalities Act did not apply in this situation as it was not a matter of service provision. There should not be a competition over how long a flag should be flown. The length of time that a flag was flown did not reflect the strength of feeling about a situation. The flying of the Palestinian Flag was the Council’s way of showing solidarity with those suffering. The Council was doing what was asked of it.
In her supplementary, Ms Yusufi stated that the petition process had taken far too long and that communication from the Council had not been good enough. Ms Yusufi stated that flying the flag for five hours on a Friday, when many Muslim’s would be in Friday prayers and many Jewish people would be starting Sabbath, was an insult to what the Palestinian people had had to endure. She stated that the petitioners should have been consulted on the timings and she questioned where the role of democracy was in this process. The Ukrainian flag had been flown without a petition and without the level of upset from the Rotherham people.
The Leader explained that there was no length of time that the flag could be flown that would reflect the suffering in the Middle East or atone for that suffering. Cabinet and the Council had agreed to do what was asked of them by OSMB. Councillor Sheppard was available to speak with the petitioners if they wanted to. The Leader reiterated the different processes for flying the flag and explained that flags could not be flown for every incident.
The “event” the Leader was referring to was the flying of the flag on 29 November. The gathering of people later in the afternoon/evening on 29 November was arranged by the petitioners and he had no further information on this.
Following a request from the Leader, the Mayor allowed Ms Yusufi to respond. Ms Yusufi agreed that this was a token gesture. She suggested that a better gesture would be to impose sanctions on Israel and have an arms embargo. She stated that arms were being produced in South Yorkshire which would kill children in Gaza. The flying of the flag was just the start to show that the people of Rotherham cared about what was going on. The response from the Council had been very disappointing.
The Leader was sorry that Ms Yusufi felt like that but he believed that the Council had been asked to do things and were doing the things that they were able to do. He recognised the strength of feeling but neither he nor the Council could impose sanctions on Israel or start an arms embargo. The Leader’s job was to run Council services in Rotherham and that had to be the top priority.
7. Mr Abrar Javid: What advantage has been seen in the Wellgate/broom bicycle lane scheme, that you think an expansion in Eastwood would benefit from it?
Mr Javid withdrew his question at the meeting as it had already been asked and answered.
8. Mr M Ashraf: Following Israel’s widespread, indiscriminate terroristic electronic devices bombing campaign which caused untold mayhem and civilian deaths especially among the Lebanese medical sector and even children. Will the Council Leader and Chief Executive condemn these actions and as it is in their power to do so, raise the Lebanese flag like they have done for other nations that suffered terrorism?
The Leader referred Mr Ashraf to the answers given previously. All war crimes and human rights abuses were condemned. The Council could not commit to responding to every act of violence that took place during the current war in the Middle East. There was no commitment to fly the Lebanese flag or the Iranian Flag or any other flag. Views had been expressed to the former Conservative Government and to the current Labour Government that they should use all available diplomatic levers to bring peace to the region.
In his supplementary Mr Ashraf stated that the Lebanese were again the wrong colour. He referenced the riot that took place in August in Manvers and asked for equality before the law. Mr Ashraf then talked about the definition of terrorism and suggested that Israel had links to ISIS. He asked the Leader whether he would provide a commitment to fully divest from the ISIS-funding Israel? He also asked the Leader for a timeline of when the IHRA definition of antisemitism would be removed. He asked every Rotherham Councillor to give a written commitment to fulfilling all the points of the petition and to send that commitment to the official email address.
The Leader explained that these were all points that were considered by OSMB as part of the petition process. No further commitments would be made in relation to the matters raised. A view in support of the Palestinian people had been taken. The Council would be the first in South Yorkshire to fly the Palestinian flag and were not doing anything actively that would support military aggression in the middle east. The Leader asked Mr Ashraf to accept the outcome and that the Council had acted in good faith
9. Mr Masood Hanif: What specific data or evidence supports the decision against a cycle lane on a busy major A road lead, particularly in terms of safety and traffic flow for all road user?
Mr Hanif did not attend the meeting and, as such, would receive a written response.
10. Ms Roswana Khan: Why has the Council Leader Read not flown the Palestinian flag after the horrendous Genocide we have all witnessed for the past 13 months? If you can raise it for months on end for the Ukrainians. You can have the decency to raise it for the Palestinians who have suffered unimaginable War Crimes, Ethnic-Cleansing and Genocide.
Ms Khan did not attend the meeting and, as such, would receive a written response.
11. Mr Tony Mabbott: Since the Israeli invasion of Gaza in October 2023, occupying forces have deliberately targeted infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, and water and electricity supplies, and continued bombing civilians, all against international law. Given this, will Rotherham Council support flying the Palestinian flag outside Council buildings for the same length of time as it flew the Ukraine flag after February 2022?
The Leader explained that he had nothing further to add as he had responded to similar questions earlier in the meeting.
In his supplementary, Mr Mabbott explained that the group had been in discissions with a teacher in Gaza who had stated that all the schools and some of the hospitals had been bombed as a part of a deliberate strategy. Tens of thousands of children had lost their lives. As Rotherham was to be the Children’s Capital of Culture, Mr Mabbott saw it as an international opportunity to raise the plight of children in Gaza. He asked the Leader to consider this.
The Leader explained that he would consider what could be done. However, a lot of the funding for the Children’s Capital of Culture did have rules and regulations regarding what the funding could be used for. The Council would have to ensure they adhered to all these rules and regulations.