Committee system | Sheffield Green Party

Sheffield’s Green Councillors have welcomed news of a Government concession on plans to force Councils to go back to the “Strong Leader” way of running the council.

Sheffielders rejected the Strong Leader and Cabinet model in a 2021 referendum – brought about by It’s Our City

Councillor Marieanne Elliot, deputy leader of Sheffield Green group of Councillors, said,

“This news is good for Sheffield, good for the Council and good for democracy in Sheffield.”

Government plans for “devolution” included taking powers away from communities and councils to decide their system of governance. People in Sheffield had exercised this power in the wake of the street trees scandal. 26,000 residents of Sheffield signed a petition to force a referendum in May 2021. The referendum ordered the council to replace the failed Leader and Cabinet system with the more transparent and accountable Committee system, where all 84 elected Councillors contribute to decision making. The vote was 2:1 in favour of change.

Under the draft English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, communities are to be stripped of these rights and councils will to be forced to convert back to the undemocratic Leader and Cabinet system.

Now, new Government proposals will allow some councils with Committee systems, including Sheffield, to justify their existence.

Sheffield's 14 Green councillors — Sheffield’s 14 Green councillors

Cllr Marieanne Elliot continued,

“The Government plans for all councils to have a Leader and Cabinet shows a complete distrust in democracy.

“Sheffielders voted two to one to change the system of governance to the Committee system.

“In Sheffield, we know how damaging it would be to force us back to the old system. The Council has worked so much better since the Committee system came in.

“Siân Berry MP (Green MP for Brighton Pavilion), spoke powerfully about Sheffield in Parliament’s Bill Committee, referring to the evidence provided by the Sheffield Green Group. In response to Siân’s arguments, the minister said she would “reflect hard” on what she had said.

“All 3 party groups on Sheffield City Council have made representations to the Minister. This includes a clear statement in support of the Committee system by the leader of the council. Representations were also made by Abtisam Mohamed MP and Olivia Blake MP – both were Sheffield Councillors under the old Cabinet system.

“I am pleased to see the Government has now proposed amendments to the Bill that will allow Sheffield to continue working in the more progressive, democratic way that it has established.
“However, I believe the Government should allow other populations to learn from Sheffield’s example in the future. Sadly, they still intend to entirely remove those rights from other communities and councils. There is still no reference to improving democracy or any real devolution.”

Siân Berry MP commented,

“The Government should not be interfering with well-chosen local council governance systems at all, but at least ministers listened to my arguments in the Public Bill Committee and will now be protecting areas whose residents came together to change their council to a more collaborative committee system through a democratic referendum process.

This includes the people of Sheffield, whose choice of a committee system will now be respected if the council wishes to keep it. I am very pleased to have helped the Government listen to local voices and see some sense on this.”

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Third Reading of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill is due to be heard from Monday 24th November 2025.
Sheffield’s Green councillors gave evidence to the Bill committee, which can be found at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cmpublic/EnglishDevolutionCommunityEmpowerment/memo/EDCEB36.htm
Sheffield City Council unanimously passed a motion from the Green councillors in July 2025 in support of the committee system, saying “it benefits nobody in Sheffield to return to the autocratic, top-down decision-making Cabinet system;” and that “Sheffield benefits from fairer, more representative governance arrangements, and that people expect the Councillors they elect to have a vote on the decisions that affect them.”

Sheffield Green Party Councillors have submitted evidence to Parliament about the Committee System making things better for people in Sheffield .

On 6 May 2021, the people of Sheffield voted by 65% to 35% to require the council to change to a committee system. Now the Labour government has announced it wants to change the law to set the system back to the discredited “Strong Leader” way of running councils. The new governance system came into force in May 2022.

The evidence will inform the Parliamentary debate on the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill that is proposing the abolition of the Committee System.

In the evidence, Councillor Douglas Johnson said,

“Abolishing the committee system would directly overturn the clear democratic mandate of the people of Sheffield. Abolishing the committee system is not simply removing powers from the council; it also takes power away from the local community to hold their council to account. In other words, it is not only the opposite of devolution; it is also the opposite of community empowerment.

The full text of the Green councillors’ evidence has been published on Parliament’s website. It says:

Written evidence submitted by Sheffield’s Green councillors (EDCEB36)

Clause 57 – proposed abolition of the committee system

This evidence is from the elected Green Party Councillors on Sheffield City Council, setting out our experience of the benefits of the committee system.

1.The first Green councillor in Sheffield was elected in 2004, over 20 years ago. The council then operated a Leader and Cabinet system. There are now 14 Green councillors and the council operates under a committee system. All three party groups on the council take part in the administration, with all 84 councillors having a clear role in the council’s decision-making.

2. Sheffield is a prime example of the committee system being a success and making things better for the residents of Sheffield.

Dissatisfaction of the people of Sheffield

3. Over time, the people of Sheffield became very dissatisfied with how the council ran things under the Cabinet model, in particular with its disastrous handling of the long-running street trees fiasco. This brought Sheffield into disrepute. The Lowcock Report in the eventual Independent Inquiry into the Street Trees Dispute found that while “a Strong Leader cabinet model with fewer checks and balances arguably gives authority to get things done, it can also, as in this case, enable the wrong things to be done without serious challenge.”

4. The ruling administration of Sheffield City Council never agreed to switch to a committee system. This was people power. Over 26,000 people signed a petition demanding a statutory referendum. On 6 May 2021, the people of Sheffield voted by 65% to 35% to require the council to change to a committee system. The new governance system came into force in May 2022, after a busy 12 months of preparation and configuration of the governance system.

5. The committee should be aware that abolishing the committee system would directly overturn the clear democratic mandate of the people of Sheffield. Abolishing the committee system is not simply removing powers from the local authority; it also takes power away from the local community to hold their council to account. In other words, it is not only the opposite of devolution; it is also the opposite of community empowerment.

6. We endorse the words of the Local Government Association (LGA): “It isn’t right for these democratic decisions to be disregarded. Councils using the committee system should be allowed to retain their governance system until they or their communities choose to move to a leader/cabinet model.”

Our observations of the benefits of the committee system.

7. We know from talking to our residents and our election campaigns that people wanted to see parties working together. They wanted to see an end to secretive decision-making behind closed doors and they wanted to see all the councillors taking responsibility for making decisions, not just a select few.

8. Under the committee system, this has been achieved. Since 2022, the council has made positive steps to improve its overall governance. All committees are cross-party and make timely and effective decisions with the benefit of open discussion.

9. There has been a culture shift, making working conditions better for staff, as well as improving outcomes for residents of the city. Even amongst those who were doubtful of the benefits of the committee system, very few argue for a return to the Cabinet regime.

10. The critical budget-setting process has worked better in Sheffield since the committee system was introduced, avoiding last minute wrangling and hasty deals between the parties. This is because the detail of the budget process is worked through each Committee in the months leading up to the budget, so all councillors are involved. This contrasts with the last budget brought under our Cabinet system where the budget proposal was voted down as the council meeting descended into chaos.

11. We note that none of the councils that have issued section 114 notices have been run under a committee system.

12. It might be said the committee system slows things down. We have proved this is not the case. For instance, Sheffield’s local plan needed reviewing. The previous Cabinet administration failed to make any progress each and every year from 2015 onwards. Once cross-party committees were established, it led to focussed work and a coherent local plan being progressed effectively.

13. The (Labour) leader of the council issued a statement with cross-party support in June 2025, to say,
“Since 2022 Sheffield City Council has been governed using a committee system, chosen by residents in a city-wide referendum.
“Since its implementation, and the publication of the Lowcock Report in 2023, we have been on an improvement journey to listen, change and rebuild trust with the city, a journey which was recognised in our recent nomination for Most Improved Council at the LGC Awards.
“We have worked hard to ensure decision making that reflects the needs of the people of Sheffield, to listen to our residents, and we have embedded the principles of openness, honesty and accountability at the heart of our system of governance.”

14. In July 2025, the council supported a cross-party motion and voted unanimously that the benefits of the Committee System demonstrated in Sheffield include: –
· greater collaboration across political groups in policy formulation and in decision making;
· overcoming party political tribalism and focussing on areas of agreement, not antagonism;
· improving the culture of the Council, with officers and Councillors focusing on what is best for the city;
· all Councillors being involved in the decision-making of the Council, and greater accountability to the electorate; and
· improved outcomes for the residents of Sheffield.

15. The Council also resolved, unanimously, that “it benefits nobody in Sheffield to return to the autocratic, top-down decision-making Cabinet system;” and that “Sheffield benefits from fairer, more representative governance arrangements, and that people expect the Councillors they elect to have a vote on the decisions that affect them.”

We trust the bill committee will find this evidence useful. We also endorse the more detailed evidence given by It’s Our City (EDCEB11) on the “largest citizen-led mobilisation for governance change ever seen in England” and agree with the recommendation to withdraw clause 57.

There is a lot of misunderstanding – not least from Star contributors and journalists themselves – about how Sheffield has been governed for the past year. After the successful referendum to abolish the anti-democratic “strong leader” or cabinet system where only 10 Councillors made all the decisions, in May 2022 Sheffield moved to a committee system, where all Councillors have a say.

There were then negotiations between the three largest parties resulting in a joint administration of Labour, the Lib Dems and the Green Party, with power shared proportionately by each, based on their respective number of councillors (39 Labour, 29 Lib Dem, 14 Green).

The Conservative and the one independent Councillor were not part of this agreement and not part of the administration.

A politically proportionate committee system – with no Party currently having a majority on any committee – has meant for better policy to be made on a more transparent and consensual basis. Yes, there are things to be improved upon: there needs to be more engagement with local communities, experts and groups impacted by policies. However, the committee system is something to be strengthened and developed. It allows politicians to concentrate on common goals rather than argue about what they disagree on, especially at a time of tough financial challenges.

The biggest threat to the committee system and to a Council which makes good decisions would be a Labour majority in the current local elections. The recent deselection of their candidate for Broomhill and Sharrow Vale for comments they made “about the need for reform, greater accountability and transparency at the council off the back of the Sheffield tree inquiry“* is a warning that the current Sheffield Labour leadership has no intention of learning the lessons of the Tree Dispute.

Cllr Angela Argenzio,

Green Party Councillor for Broomhill and Sharrow Vale

*Sheffield Star 6th April. https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/politics/sheffield-labour-local-election-candidate-deselected-over-tree-felling-comments-4095662

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