Green policy actions will make Sheffield better

Sheffield’s Green councillors are proposing a raft of policies to Sheffield City Council, to make the city a better place to live.

The motion has been submitted to Council today, in advance of the full Council meeting on Wednesday 6th November. Douglas Johnson, Green Councillor for City Ward, said,

“Now that the Council has declared the climate emergency that Greens asked for, it is time for some wide-ranging policy changes to make the council serve the city better.

“The Green Party has the answers – it’s the Green New Deal. The Green approach will tackle the climate crisis and make life better for everyone in society, including the poorest.”

“That’s why one of our demands is to adopt alternative measures of wellbeing, not just economic measures. The Green Party’s Caroline Lucas was part of the original group that launched the Green New Deal as far back as 2008, in reaction to the Labour government bailing out the banks with millions of pounds of public money.

Cllr Paul Turpin added,

“We’re sick of motions from Labour which are either self-congratulatory or not specific to Sheffield and don’t have any actions for the betterment of the city.”

The motion text is:

Motion on “Actions for the betterment of Sheffield and those who live there”

Proposed by Cllr Douglas Johnson and seconded by Cllr Paul Turpin

That this council endorses the following policies and actions designed to make life better for the people of Sheffield:-

1. To Implement a Workplace Parking Levy for Sheffield, raising funds to improve public transport, walking and cycling routes, making it easier for people to choose to leave their cars at home;
2. To consult the public on the draft local plan at the earliest opportunity, including stronger policies on building more affordable housing and tackling the climate emergency;
3. To establish a climate emergency committee to develop strategies, and implement actions to bring about the necessary changes to meet our zero carbon emissions target by at least 2030;
4. To introduce an effective climate change impact assessment, for every formal decision of the council;
5. To adopt a “Wellbeing Economy” for Sheffield: placing the health and wellbeing of the people of Sheffield at the heart of all decision-making, and measuring the success of Sheffield’s economy not just by GDP, but by how the economy has improved people’s quality of life, through measurements like the Happy City Index and Free Time Index;
6. To reduce inequality by introducing a maximum 10:1 pay ratio for all City Council employees;
7. To establish a properly resourced team of sustainability officers to work on real progress towards making Sheffield carbon-neutral;
8. To recognise the ongoing value of the city’s library service and reward the hard work of volunteers who have supported their local branch libraries by providing funding for a paid, professional librarian in every branch library;
9. To improve democracy in Sheffield City Council by developing the long-standing Green Party campaigns of creating a modern committee system and webcasting, by further improvements including publishing the answers to public questions and members supplementary questions.