Local Democracy Week Events

Posted: October 11, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Events | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment »

Sheffield Speaks logo

Sheffield Speaks

Many events are being held as part of Local Democracy Week, which runs from Monday 15th October to Sunday 21st October and below is a list just some of the events which make up the Sheffield Speaks programme during Local Democracy Week.We’ve indicated which are open to the public and provided links to further information.

Entry to all open events is free.

Monday 15 October

  • Speakers’ Corner in front of the Town Hall: 10.45am-2.00 pm, hosted by Sheffield City Council and Churches Together
    • to book your 60 second slot, please call 2734072
  • Councillors visit Youth Clubs – organised by the South Community Assembly, Councillors visit different youth clubs, every evening of the week

Tuesday 16 October

  • Speakers’ Corner at Hallam Square: 12.00 -1.00 pm Tuesday
  • Primary School visits and activities at the Town Hall
  • Illuminating Our Democracy? The Role of Free Speech and a Free Press– lecture and discussion led by John Steel, lecturer in Journalism Studies at Sheffield University – Council Chamber, Town Hall 6.00 – 8.00 pm
    • Open to the public – for more information, please call 2734072

Wednesday 17 October

  • Primary School visits and activities at the Town Hall
  • Youth Forum Launch (Woodthorpe/East): Woodthorpe Youth Centre, Chadwick Road
    • Open to the public – for more information, please contact April Ellis (Locality Involvement Lead – East) at april.ellis@sheffieldfutures.org.uk or telephone 0114 201 2782
  • Dragon’s Den at the Young People’s Building – Council officers pitch their ideas for community engagement for young people to judge
  • Health & Community Care– an opportunity to listen to and participate in the Council’s Scrutiny Committee’s meeting on these key issues: Town Hall 2.00pm
  • South Community Assembly Community Roadshow  – public services and local organisations welcome engagement with the community: Common Ground/St Peter’s (Woodstock Road) 4.00 – 6.00 pm
  • Northern Community AssemblyMeeting – the Northern Youth Forum presents its community action plan: Ecclesfield Primary School 6.30 pm

Thursday 18 October

  • Speakers’ Corner at Hallam Square: 1.00 – 2.00 pm
  • Our Sheffield – older people visit a local primary school to discuss their city with a group of eight year-olds in an initiative organised by the Sheffield Star
  • Cabinet in the Community at South West Community Assembly– the Council’s Cabinet goes out into the community at Banner Cross Methodist Church, Ecclesall Road South: 5.00 pm Cabinet in the Community / 7.00 pm Community Assembly Meeting
  • Police Commissioner Hustingsorganised by Sheffield Third Sector Assembly / Voluntary Action Sheffield for local groups involved in community safety and crime reduction
    • Open to voluntary and community groups – for more information, please contact Paul Harvey at  p.harvey@vas.org.uk or on 0114 253 6614
  • The Sheffield Past, Present and Future debate- Town Hall 5.00-7.00pm – organised by Sheffield 50+ and Sheffield Futures; in Local Democracy Week, can young and older people agree how best to make their voices heard?
    • For more information, please contact Julie Berrisford on 0114 273 5426
  • Participate – a talk and discussion organised by the Workers’ Educational Association about why people do or do not participate in the democratic process (the taster for a course starting in January 2013): Town Hall 6.00-8.00 pm

Friday 19 October

  • Speakers’ Corner at Hallam Square: 1.00 – 2.00 pm
  • City Talks – The Great Debate – a day of debate at the Town Hall designed to give 11-18 year-olds the opportunity to express themselves, exchange views, gain confidence and boost engagement, organised by the Council’s Every Sheffield Child Articulate and Literate programme

Tuesday 23 October

  • Community Assemblies: the Way Forward?- A meeting organised by Sheffield for Democracy, for community organisations and activists to share ideas on how community assemblies might develop: Town Hall, 6.30-8.30 pm

Event: “Community Assemblies – the Way Forward?” – 23rd October

Posted: October 5, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Events | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment »

“Community Assemblies – the Way Forward?”

Sheffield Speaks logo

Sheffield Speaks! is an initiative to promote the importance of democracy.

A meeting organised by Sheffield for Democracy, for community organisations and activists to share ideas on how Sheffield’s Community Assemblies might develop.

This event is part of the Sheffield Speaks! programme, an initiative by the Speakers’ Corner Trust to help promote the importance of democracy and to encourage greater local participation.

This event is free and open to all. There’s no need to book in advance.

Date: Tuesday 23 Oct  6.30pm – 8.30pm
Venue: Sheffield Town Hall

For more information please contact Vicky Seddon on info@sheffieldfordemocracy.org.uk.

Comment: Somes ideas for creating truly independent local government

Posted: June 16, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Comment | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment »

Richard ShawThe consultation on the proposals for codifying the relationship between Councils and central government in Westminster is well under way and registration for our latest public event, “Renaissance of Local Government?” is now open for registration. Entry is free, however book in advance as places are limited! In this post, Sheffield for Democracy activist Richard Shaw offers some thoughts on how to create strong, independent local government, which is controlled not by central government, but by local people.

I think that this consultation is very important and that all people interested in local democracy should consider responding to it. It is important because currently we don’t actually have a right to have a council or any local government, as they are not constitutional bodies, they are merely statutory. This means that Parliament could radically change or abolish any or all councils should it be minded to do so, centralising power and making decision making even further removed from the people those decisions affect. We should respond to this opportunity to safeguard and strengthen our existing councils and to seek to bring decision making even closer to the people where practicable and so I have decided to write about my thoughts on how local government and representation should look and operate. I hope to comment on the individual proposals within the draft code itself in a future post.

The Sustainable Communities Act 2010 and Localism Act 2011 have both tried to make decision making more local, offering a bit more power and responsibility to local government and communities. This is to be welcomed, however any genuine re-invigoration of democracy must begin with all current arrangements and institutions being available for reform, abolition or replacement. The default position must not be with one person or body making all decisions but with all decisions being made by every person directly. What institutions we build and their powers must be derived from thereon, with the express consent of the people. What follows are my suggestions for a new democratic settlement between government, be it local or national, communities and individuals.

Read the rest of this entry »

Event: Renaissance of Local Government?

Posted: June 7, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Consultation, Events | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Renaissance of Local Government?

Friday 22nd June 2012, 6.00pm – 7.45 pm at Town Hall, Sheffield

View of Sheffield Town Hall clock tower

Isn't it time for councils to be more than agents of central government?


In collaboration with Sheffield City Council, Sheffield for Democracy is hosting an event to discuss proposals to strengthen the independence of local government.

The last fifty years have seen a growing centralisation of power in England with local government having less autonomy and becoming more and more local administration of central government policy.

The Westminster Select Committee on Political and Constitutional Reform has made some radical proposals which could change this and are consulting on them. This meeting is an opportunity to hear about these changes and their implications, and to discuss how they might improve our democracy.

Speakers include:

  • Clive Betts MP,
  • Howard Sykes (Local Government Association and ex leader of Oldham Council), and
  • Peter Facey (Director of Unlock Democracy) will help us explore the proposed changes.

Both Sheffield City Council and Sheffield for Democracy will be making (separate) submissions and this discussion will inform our thinking.

You are invited to attend. Entry is free, however places are limited. 

To reserve a place, please contact Richard Cannon either by email via richard.cannon@sheffield.gov.uk or telephone 0114 2736992.

Further information on the draft code for central and local government can be found at http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/political-and-constitutional-reform-committee/inquiries/parliament-2010/prospects-for-codifying-the-relationship-between-central-and-local-government/.

 Sheffield for Democracy  welcomes supporters of all political parties or none. We want to engage and encourage greater participation of the public in democracy at a local level in Sheffield and encourage young people to become more interested in politics by making them aware of how relevant it is to their lives.

FPTP delivers an enlarged majority for Labour in Sheffield… at the cost of voter representation

Posted: May 7, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Comment, Letters | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Is this really democracy? This comparison of vote cast with the number of seats held shows how our electoral system is failing voters.

Last year I wrote about the problems with how we currently elect councillors and England & Wales, about how First Past The Post allows parties with a minority of support to get a majority of seats, undermines accountability and contributes to lower voter turnout. I suggested how we could fix all these problems, by electing our councillors using the same system used in Scotland and Northern Ireland: The Single Transferable Vote (STV). Well after another round of local elections we have a yet another set of results which show how our democracy is being undermined by our “winner takes all” electoral system. Read the rest of this entry »

Link: Electoral Reform Society hits out at democracy deserts in the UK

Posted: April 27, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Link | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment »

Over at the Electoral Reform Society blog, Stephen Brooks (Director ERS Wales) attacks the undemocratic nature of our local elections, which allow people to be elected uncontested and for parties to win all the seats in some areas with only a minority share of the vote.

Next week voters across 21 of Wales’ 22 unitary authorities will head to the polls to decide the political make-up of their local councils.  Voters will express a view on where they want to see their council head for the next five years.  The direction of travel on a range of critical issues like council tax, social services, schools, transport and economic development will all be set.

But for nearly 140,000 the opportunity to express a view has been stolen from them by an unfair and outdated electoral system.  For them, next Thursday won’t be Election Day.

Across Wales, 95 individuals have already been elected unopposed.  The simple task of submitting nomination forms was all it took.  No need especially to phone canvass, knock a single door, or attend a hustings.   In one ward, no one submitted nomination forms.  Residents there will go unrepresented until a by-election is organised.

Electoral Reform Society Wales research shows that across the country, 12 of the 21 councils up for election contain uncontested seats.  The worst, Powys is home to an estimated 32,132 residents denied a vote.  Gwynedd has approximately 22,861 residents robbed a voice; and in Pembrokeshire its 20,038.

This is not just a problem for rural Wales. Voting won’t interrupt the daily routine of 7,085 residents in Bridgend county borough next Thursday.  Nor the 7,524 taxpayers who live in local government minister Carl Sargeant’s own constituency.

Is this a sign of a declining interest in politics?  A sign that fewer and fewer people are interested in standing?  Or is it an illustration of how our ‘winner takes it all’ First Past The Post system is crowding out competition, particularly in single-member wards?

Read the full post: 140,000 reasons for reform.

Links: NO to Mayors

Posted: April 3, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Link | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment »

As part of our coverage of the Mayoral Referendums across the country (especially Sheffield) I’m posting links to each of the local NO to Mayors campaigns (see here for YES to Mayors links). There isn’t a website for the Sheffield No campaign that I am aware of but hopefully Sheffield readers might find the information on the other sites useful even if it they may not be entirely relevant to Sheffield.

If you know about any other “No to Mayors” websites (especially Sheffield ones!) please get in touch with us via the comments section or email info@sheffieldfordemocracy.org.uk.

Links: YES to Mayors

Posted: April 3, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Link | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments »
Yes to Mayors

Yes to Mayors campaign logo

As part of our coverage of the Mayoral Referendums across the country (especially Sheffield) I’m posting links to each of the local YES to Mayors campaigns (see here for NO to Mayors links). There isn’t a website for the Sheffield Yes campaign that I am aware of but hopefully Sheffield readers might find the information on the other sites useful even if it they may not be entirely relevant to Sheffield.

If you know about any other “Yes to Mayors” websites (especially Sheffield ones!) please get in touch with us via the comments section or email info@sheffieldfordemocracy.org.uk.

Link: Independent Local Government (Unlock Democracy)

Posted: March 4, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Consultation, Link | Tags: , , | Leave a comment »

Graham Allen MP, Chair of the Parliamentary Select Committee for Political and Constitutional Reform, has posted an article on the Unlock Democracy blog about the importance of local authorities being independent enough of central government, having the freedom to act in the interests of those that elect them and codifying the relationship between local and central government. He says:

Localism which is gifted by central government is a sham. Pretending to give “freedoms” while deciding in Whitehall how many times your bin is emptied  is not enough. Any localism worth the name has to be codified and protected by constitutional guarantee. For this to work in the UK would require not only powers to be devolved to local government but financial autonomy too.

Given the reduction of local government over recent decades to little more than an agent of central government, this proposal would amount to the largest denationalisation ever undertaken and the restoration to the public of their ownership of their own local government.

The Select Committee has issued an illustrative consultation document outlining example rights that a council might have.  Their consultation runs until October 2012.

Sheffield for Democracy campaigns for the decentralisation of power and as such supports the view that local authorities are there to act as local government rather than merely local administrators, local agents of a centralised government.

Link: Independent Local Government

Community Assemblies – Take part in our online survey

Posted: December 8, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Consultation | Tags: , , | Leave a comment »

Sheffield City Council’s 28 wards are divided into 7 Community Assemblies (4 wards per assembly) which “aim to bring decision-making closer to local people”. Each assembly has a budget to spend on local projects and things like road improvements. The decisions of the assemblies are made by the 12 Councillors from its constituent wards based on reports drawn up by Council Officers and submissions made by the public.

The Labour administration in Sheffield are considering the future of community assemblies, however to the best of our knowledge there has never been a thorough review of the function and effectiveness of Community Assemblies.

We believe no decision can legitimately be made about their future without such a review and consulting the people of Sheffield – the people whom the assemblies are meant to serve.

We have launched an online survey to find out what you think about the Assemblies so that we can put a proposal about the future of Community Assemblies to Sheffield City Council to make sure that local people have a proper say in any changes. To complete the survey please select the link below.

Take part in the survey

← Older Entries