Content

5.1

The Chief Executive submitted a report asking
Strategy and Resources Committee to agree a suite of actions and a
budget to respond the findings and recommendations of the Sheffield
street trees Inquiry, published by Sir Mark Lowcock KCB on 6 March
2023.
 
The Inquiry report contains detailed findings,
observations and 11 recommendations for the Council and their
Streets Ahead contractor, Amey.
 
The Council published a statement on 6 March,
welcoming the report, and a further statement on 7 March setting
out an initial apology and the intention to implement all
recommendations and learn lessons. On 15 March at the Strategy and
Resources Committee, the Council made fuller apologies, accepted
all the Inquiry’s conclusions and recommendations and asked
the Chief Executive to bring a report to this Committee to respond
to each of the recommendations. Apologies were repeated at the
Extraordinary General Meeting on 10 May and a motion passed which
included a request that a timescale for implementation be published
no later than the end of June 2023

 

 

5.2

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That
Strategy and Resources Policy Committee:-
 
(a) agrees to set aside £200,000 from
reserves to cover the remaining costs of the Inquiry and to
facilitate the actions to meet its recommendations set out within
this report;
 
(b) agrees the 36 actions (and their
accountability and monitoring arrangements) recommended to
implement the recommendations of the Sheffield street trees
Inquiry, set out within this report and summarised in Annex A;
 
(c) notes the apologies from Amey and
Sheffield Tree Action Groups (STAG);
 
(d) endorses the bespoke approach to
supporting those who were found in breach of the injunctions and
ordered by the Court to pay costs;
 
(e) agrees that there should not be a dispute
related compensation scheme;
 
(f) agrees that improving the standard of
roads outstanding from 2018 is a priority for the Council;
 
(g) notes that the Council has shared the
Inquiry response and this report with its auditors and will comply
willingly should the auditors choose to recommend further action;
and
 
(h) notes that this report does not recommend
commissioning additional reports or investigations into the street
trees dispute beyond the work with the Information
Commissioner’s Office and the liaison with the Local
Government Ombudsman and the Council’s auditors.

 

 

5.3

Reasons for
Decision

 

 

5.3.1

The recommendations will support the ongoing
recovery and reconciliation following the dispute, help ensure
strong management of the Streets Ahead contract for the next 14
years and support the aims of the Council’s Strategic
Framework 2023/24. They will also enable the Council to meet its
commitment to accept and have a plan to implement all the
Inquiry’s recommendations no later than the end of June
2023.

 

 

5.4

Alternatives
Considered and Rejected

 

 

5.4.1

The Council has already committed to accepting
all the Inquiry’s recommendations and learning lessons. Full
Council reiterated and endorsed this through the motion which was
passed at the EGM on 10 May.

 

 

5.4.2

The actions within the report are the Chief
Executive and her team’s advice for how best to implement the
Inquiry’s recommendations. There is strong alignment between
the actions and the 6-month review of governance, City Goals and
the Strategic Framework for 2023/24. As such, the option of
rejecting some, or all, of the actions, or recommissioning this
work, is not advised and would delay implementation.