To receive a statement from the Leader of the Council in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9.
Minutes:
The Leader stated his statement by acknowledging the families in Kiveton and Maltby who had lost their homes in fire during the previous days heatwave which was the hottest weather ever seen in the Borough. Council services and other partners were working to provide support to help those affected rebuild their lives. The Leader acknowledged the efforts of those members of the Council directly involved with supporting the emergency response and thanked the emergency services who had been working so hard in the heat to prevent even worse disasters. A major incident had been declared across South Yorkshire as the fire service, police and others were stretched by incidents across the area. The Leader stated that this was a reminder of not just the climate crisis faced and how it was not just some distant far-off challenge affecting other people, but also a reminder of how individual actions matter. He urged communities not to take risks with fire, keep themselves safe and do their bit to help the emergency services.
The Leader then focused on some of the great events that had been seen across the Borough recently including the Women’s Euros which had put Rotherham on the map for all the right reasons, showing off the New York Stadium to an international audience. The Women of the World Festival took place in Clifton Park and the Leader had also celebrated Eid with the Mayor in the Town Hall.
The Annual Social Value Event was held at Gullivers Valley which gave the Council and private sector partners time to reflect on the progress made to create more jobs and apprenticeships for local people. More than £7m of social value commitments had been made since the policy was introduced 3 years ago.
The Leader confirmed that the Member Survey had been sent to all Elected Members to complete. Only 30 out of 59 Members had responded as yet so he encouraged those that had not provided comments to do so by getting in touch with the Head of Democratic Services or the Head of Neighbourhoods.
With regards to the comments on Social Value, Councillor Bennett-Sylvester stated that residents were seeing some of the benefits in Dalton and Thrybergh from the Chesterhill development. Most people would physically see it in the new bench that has been put in Thrybergh Country Park. That development alone has created local apprenticeships and supported existing ones. Councillor Bennett-Sylvester asked, roughly, how many apprenticeships the Council’s Social Value Policy has helped create and support?
The Leader confirmed that he did not have that information available during the meeting and as such, a written response would be provided.
Councillor A. Carter echoed the Leader’s comments regarding the fires and the work done by the emergency services. He wished to place on record the Liberal Democrat’s sympathy with those that had lost their homes. Councillor A. Carter asked a question regarding Doncaster Sheffield Airport and whether action would be taken to safeguard its future? The Liberal Democrats believed that the Council should be doing everything it could to ensure South Yorkshire kept a commercial airport for the foreseeable future.
The Leader explained that the potential closure of Doncaster Sheffield Airport was the single biggest economic blow faced across South Yorkshire for some time. The Leader had met the previous week with the Mayor of South Yorkshire and other South Yorkshire Council Leaders to discuss the potential response. He believed this was the correct avenue to go down to make representations to Government. A meeting between the Leaders and the owners of the airport was taking place during the Council meeting to discuss the proposals. Leaders wanted to do everything they could to keep the Airport and maintain the benefits that the Airport brought. Given the scale of the numbers that the owners were talking about, the Leader believed Central Government would have to step in. The Leader hoped that the situation was not one of a private developer attempting to lever in public money to support their business or to extort public money in order to maintain that business. He urged the owners to get involved with the discussions that were taking place. The Leader would not promise to write a blank cheque.
Councillor Ball wished to echo the comments regarding the work of the emergency services during the heatwaves in the day prior to the meeting. He particularly thanked the Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service who had been the first to respond to the calls in Maltby as other Services were that stretched. He also thanked Dronfield Fire Station. Councillor Ball asked if conversations could be held about who Elected Members could call in these situations. He noted that himself and Councillor Tinsley had been on the ground in Maltby and had tried every number they could but there was no specific contact number at that time. Councillor Ball thought it was worth a conversation for all Elected Members to have to get that contact number circulated? He also thanked Councillor Hoddinott for answering his calls on the matter.
Councillor Ball also referenced climate change and noted the large amounts of plastic in the Council Chamber. He stated that everyone had to start doing the small things and that there should not be this amount of plastic.
The Leader thanked Councillor Ball for his question and for the calls that he had made. It was confirmed that the emergency number would be circulated to all Members after the meeting. In relation to plastic, there was a commitment to phase out single-use plastic in the Council. Discussions were ongoing about whether removal of single-use plastic was the most carbon friendly way of providing packaging due to the energy that went in to providing alternatives. However, that was a wider discussion to be had and the Council were committed to doing less with single-use plastic.