Sheffield council faces Labour minority vote as Local Plan delays loom

Sheffield’s Local Plan could face further delays if a proposed change in the city council’s leadership leaves Labour running a minority administration, according to The Star.

Council leader Fran Belbin intends to end Labour’s partnership with the Greens. A motion is expected at the full council meeting on Wednesday 4 November, when all councillors attending will be able to vote. The outcome is not yet confirmed.

Labour holds 26 of Sheffield’s 84 council seats. If the proposal wins majority support, Green councillors would lose their leadership roles and committee chair positions.

What would change?

Replacement committee chairs are expected to be proposed and named at Wednesday’s meeting. Where Labour and Green councillors share a chairing role, including on the Planning and Highways Committee, the Labour councillor is expected to take over.

Labour spokespeople on committees chaired by Greens could also become chairs, drawing on their experience of those committees.

The transition to new responsibilities could slow major decisions. A minority administration would also give parties outside the leadership greater influence over votes, raising the possibility of further delays to the Local Plan, The Star reports.

Why is the partnership under pressure?

The proposed split follows national Labour’s demand that local Green groups denounce their party’s ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion or face an end to working arrangements. Of 18 councils with Labour-Green power-sharing agreements, 11 are set to end those partnerships.

The Liberal Democrats are expected to back a Labour minority administration, having criticised the motion and called for the Green councillors who proposed it to resign. Reform UK is also considered likely to support the change.

Source: The Star