Agenda item

The purpose of this report is to consider the response of Cabinet (following its meeting of 16 September 2024), to the recommendations arising from OSMB’s consideration of the petition referred from Council “Rotherham’s Commitment to a Permanent Ceasefire and To Promote Peace in Palestine and in the Region”.

The Chair invited Councillor Sheppard, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion & Neighbourhood Working to introduce the report. The report outlined that a subgroup of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board (OSMB) met with representatives of the petition prior to the local elections. His thanks to those members of OSMB who were involved in this work were noted.

The recommendations from the subgroup were approved by OSMB on 24 July 2024 and it was noted that consideration of the report was delayed due to the pre-election publicity restrictions in place at that time. Following a request from the Chair of OSMB, Cabinet agreed to amend the usual timescales and process and Cabinet’s response to those recommendations was provided alongside the formal receipt at the Cabinet meeting on 16 September 2024.

The response included in the agenda pack included Appendix 1, which was a detailed letter to the Chair of OSMB. Appendix 2 detailed the 13 recommendations, of which five were in progress and eight were completed. 

Chair invited questions but highlighted the report was presented for members of OSMB to note it’s content.

The Vice-Chair noted that recommendation 1D and 1E along with a couple of others used officer time and resources and queried if a breakdown as to how many hours work would be undertaken to discharge those recommendations and if an estimate as to what the cost to the authority would be. It was noted the information was not available however it was clear that OSMB felt strongly that it needed to be in the recommendations and Cabinet were happy to act on OSMB’s responses in that instance.

The Chair reminded members that this was Cabinet’s response to the recommendations, and it was understood that a meeting was being arranged with the lead petitioner to discuss the outstanding recommendations.

The vice-Chair reiterated his query regarding how many hours and staffing hours this was going to use and asked if that information could be provided. It was explained that enquiries could be made regarding what the time and cost implications were however the Vice-Chair was referred back to the previous statement whereby it was noted that OSMB had referred the recommendations to Cabinet and Cabinet had accepted them.

The Chair reiterated that the report was presented to be noted. It had gone through the usual processes, had been submitted to Cabinet and Cabinet had provided a written response back to OSMB, it was not about the costs of carrying out those recommendations, which had already been agreed.

Councillor Marshall noted that the target completion date for some actions was 30^th September 2024 and sought an update. It was noted that there were some elements of the recommendations that were still in progress, one such element was the meeting with the lead petitioner that was being arranged and would take place within the next few weeks.

Councillor McKiernan noted Action four agreed that the Cabinet spokesperson continued to hold dialogue with petitioners to continue to seek peace in Palestine and the region and sought an update as it did not appear there could be a completion date for that and expand on how that task would be completed. It was explained that this was to ensure there was a continued dialogue with communities in Rotherham and whilst it was not suggested that the Council would be able to have any direct impact, in terms of a resolution of the horrific situation over there, it was important that the Council met with members of it’s community, especially those most affected by the current problems over there to ensure the Council was responding wherever it could.

Councillor McKiernan sought clarification if a meeting had been held and what was discussed. It was reiterated that a meeting would be arranged in the next few weeks. As per the recommendations an updated would be provided within six months.

Councillor A Carter felt that the recommendations were not specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) recommendations. Disappointment was expressed that the discussion with the lead petitioners had not taken place to determine how to display the Palestinian flag on 29 November 2024. This was an issue that many residents felt strongly about.

The Chair noted that the Leader had responded to this at Council and Cabinet were speaking with the lead petitioners regarding the flag. The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion & Neighbourhood Working noted that there had been lots of ongoing discussions which the Leader had highlighted during the Council meeting. Regarding the point about the recommendations being SMART, it was highlighted that recommendations were received from the subgroup and Cabinet were happy to support them.

Councillor Tinsley noted the recommendation to fly the Palestinian flag and understood from discussions at the Council meeting that there may be an event at the same time. Were those discussions taking place with the lead petitioner to ensure everything was in place. It was clarified that discussions were still taking place with the group to understand their requests and the decision had been taken to fly the flag.

Upon a vote the following was resolved:

Resolved: That the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board:

1)    Noted the Cabinet response to the petition as outlined in Appendix 1.

2)    Noted the progress made in discharging those recommendations requiring action, as outlined in Appendix 2.

3)    Agreed that progress on discharging any outstanding actions arising from its recommendations be reported to OSMB in six months.