Protesters call on Sheffield Council to set a needs budget and fight for more funding

Isabelle France presented a 14-name petition to the annual budget-setting meeting of Sheffield City Council on Wednesday (March 4).

She told councillors: “As you’ll know, Sheffield has suffered one of the highest real-term cuts to local council funding, losing nearly 50% of funding since 2010. Fourteen years of Tory austerity has cut our services to the bone.”

Ms France said that outsourcing companies such as Veolia and Amey employ staff who work long hours for low pay in bad conditions. The range and quality of services they are paid to do has also declined.

She said that the proposed above-inflation council tax increase and small rise in government funding would not reverse “the devastating damage done to our public services”.

She added: “For years when we’ve asked the Labour councillors to fight for us as they’re elected to do, we’ve been told that we have to wait until a Labour government and there is nothing to be done.

“We have to accept the cuts to our disability services, to our libraries and to our green spaces and we have to grit our teeth, bite our tongues and understand there is nothing to be done.

“Eighteen months into a Labour government and it’s remarkably clear that under Labour’s fiscal rules there is still no alternative to austerity.”

The petition calls for the council to stop passing cuts to services, using reserves and borrowing powers to help deliver those services in the short term by setting a budget based on needs.

That would then allow the council space to lead a campaign involving communities, trade unions and other councils to demand the government to restore council funding to pre-2010 levels.

Ms France said “there’s always money for bombs, we know the money is there, it doesn’t have to be like this”.

“And to the Greens I say: you rightly criticise Labour for not being anti-austerity but are you prepared to actually vote against the cuts?

“This city deserves better. Please fight for it.”

The petition followed on from a conference held last month which was initiated by Sheffield Your Party, the new left-wing party led by Jeremy Corbyn and Zara Sultana. It discussed how to stop the council tax rise and cuts in services.

Chair of the finance and performance policy committee Coun Zahira Naz responded: “To be clear, this is not a cutting budget as you described – the proposed budget for 2026/27 is a balanced budget.

“It includes a council tax increase of 2.99% for council services and 2% for adult social care, an increase helping to pay for care for older people and adults with complex needs, which is essential given the number of adults who need care is increasing.”

She said the council tax increase would keep up with inflation and give staff a fair pay increase. “Not doing so, as the petition requests, would put people in care at risk and damage public services.

“The recent local government funding settlement provides a more stable and fairer funding environment for cities like Sheffield, with core spending power increasing by over 8%, reflecting the government’s commitment to linking funding with deprivation and needs.

“Therefore, unlike previous years, the council is not having to make the damaging savings that we saw under Conservative-led national government.”

The council has used reserves extensively in previous years to deliver services, said Coun Naz, but it can now invest in services to avoid future overspending.

There will also be less need to rely on one-off funding to plug the gaps.