At Wednesday’s Council meeting a Labour amendment to a Green motion titled ‘Hope Beyond Austerity’ said that Labour,
“Does not accept that there has been a return to austerity under the current Government”
Following the Council meeting Green Councillor Alexi Dimond who represents the Gleadless Valley Ward said,
“I am glad the council voted this statement down.”
“Is Austerity continuing? Ask someone in receipt of benefits. In her Spring Statement Rachel Reeves introduced £5 billion in welfare cuts. This is expected to push a further 250,000 people into poverty. So not only is austerity continuing for people in receipt of benefits, it is getting worse under a Labour Government.
“There is still no movement yet from the Government on whether the 2 child benefit cap will be lifted. Lifting the cap is estimated to take 400,000 to 470,000 out of poverty but Labour continues to ignore calls to lift it.
“So for the most vulnerable Austerity continues and for the public services that people rely upon it isn’t any better, in fact it is getting worse.”
“In their submission to Rachel Reeves ahead of the budget the Local Government Association said;
‘While funding levels have increased in recent years, the cuts of the 2010s are far from fully reversed. Core Spending Power remains 16.4 per cent lower in real terms in 2025/26 compared to 2010/11.
Cost and demand pressures are unrelenting, particularly in key demand-led services such as children’s social care, adult social care, homelessness and home-to-school transport for children with special educational needs. Despite budget growth in these areas in recent years, annual spending pressures continually outstrip budgeted resources, leading to annual overspends:’
They go on to say,
‘Prior to the 2025 Spending Review the LGA estimated that councils faced a funding gap of £8.4 billion by 2028/29, compared to 2023/24.’
“That is not the end of austerity, it is the expansion of austerity under a Labour Government.
“So in Sheffield if Austerity is over as Labour say. I expect we won’t be asked to make any savings, efficiencies or cuts in the next Council Budget? The reality is very different.
“For the 2025/26 budget, the council has a target of achieving £58.5 million in savings. Overall, the council is working to close a four-year budget gap of approximately £69 million by identifying savings and additional income to offset rising cost pressures.
“But not in Labour’s world. Looking through their red-rose-tinted spectacles everything is rosy and austerity is over.
“Only when the last foodbank closes, when we don’t have to cut our budgets every year, when the government stops cutting vulnerable peoples benefits, when we no longer have thousands on council house waiting lists and in homeless accommodation. Then come back and try telling us that austerity is over.”
Resolution passed at Full Council 5/11/25
Hope beyond Austerity
RESOLVED: That this Council:-
(a) believes privatisation, deregulation and austerity have stripped public assets, weakened public services, and entrenched social and economic inequalities – leaving many communities across Sheffield disconnected and without hope;
(b) notes this Government’s first Budget introduced a ‘National Wealth Fund’ to invest in green industries, infrastructure and jobs;
(c) welcomes that local government core spending power increased last year, which meant that this Council saw an increase in its funding;
(d) welcomes the upcoming multi-year funding settlement and commitments to fair funding changes so that funding reflects need and deprivation, reversing changes made by the previous government;
(e) welcomes government action, including increases to the National Minimum Wage, universal free breakfast clubs in primary schools, expansion of free childcare, largest ever increase to carers allowance, ban on no-fault evictions, and the forthcoming employment rights bill – representing direct investment in households and communities;
(f) notes that under the ‘NHS investment plan’ waiting lists have fallen, five million extra NHS appointments have been delivered, and an extra 2,000 GPs hired nationwide since October 2024;
(g) welcomes the launch of the Warm Homes Plan and the creation of Great British Energy, which will reduce bills, create clean-energy jobs, and enable local energy schemes;
(h) further believes the Chancellor’s Budget on 26th November is a chance for the Government to address austerity and deliver the changes that Britain needs and that the Chancellor should commit to real action to:-
(i) invest in good quality council housing, with funding for repairs and new homes;
(ii) end the two-child benefit cap and reinstate winter fuel payments for all pensioners;
(iii) provide adequate care for those who need it and end private finance in the national health service; and
(iv) give asylum seekers the right to work with dignity, allowing them to use their skills and qualifications to earn income and contribute to the UK’s economic prosperity;
(i) nevertheless recognises the city still faces the real prospect of continued austerity under this Government, and therefore believes the Council should invest in:-
(i) harnessing the large number of rooftops on council homes and other buildings for solar power, to reduce bills and raise more money for tenants and for public services; and
(ii) maximising the opportunities for nature recovery through building a pipeline of Biodiversity Net Gain projects in underfunded green spaces;
(j) resolves to ask the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee to consider adding the above to its work programme;
(k) notes the work of the MP for Cheltenham and his ‘Sunshine Bill’ which has resulted in proposed plans to fit new build homes with solar panels by default in a change to the Future Homes Standard;
(l) supports the work of the Housing Policy Committee in creating a Solar PV Strategy for Council housing stock and regrets that it has taken so long for this to be explored; and
(m) asks the Chief Executive to send a copy of this motion to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in good time before the Budget.
