Thank you Lord Mayor.

Sheffield deserves better a better settlement than this.

Nobody should underestimate the impact this Local Government Settlement will have on Sheffield and its citizens. And nobody should doubt that these cuts will hit front-line services and cause massive job losses in both the public and private sectors, risking a double-dip recession.

These eye watering cuts will create a barren, economic wasteland and devastate the fabric of our communities. Sheffield deserves better.

Cuts in local government are being made deeper and faster than in any Whitehall department or any other area of Government spending.

Is this because local government is the most wasteful? No.

Is this because local government affects peoples’ lives the least? No

It is because the Government are determined to balance the budget on the backs of the poorest, quietest and most vulnerable people in our society.

It is not a coincidence that the poorest areas have the greatest cuts. It is a deliberate, ideological choice and it is your choice to protect your favoured areas like Dorset, Buckinghamshire and Surrey.

The ConDems would have made cuts whatever the financial situation. It is in their blood.

The ConDems are doing what they enjoy most: shrinking the state and shifting the blame. Your ammendment and your acquiescence with this Tory-led Government speaks volumes. Sheffield deserves better.  

The non-political Fawcett society has said the local government settlement will damage the prospects of women.

The impartial Association for Directors of Childrens’ Services says the cuts will have deeply worrying consequences for young people.

Every week, we see how this coalition is bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase “women and children first”.

The government have used devious smoke and mirrors to try and mask the extent of the cuts: By mixing in our own council tax and some recycled NHS money to create a new “spending power” definition, they hope to obscure the fact that Sheffield City Council will receive £48m less next year in core revenue grants alone.

The government’s tricks didn’t fool us and they won’t fool the people of Sheffield whose support, services, jobs and prospects have been sacrificed on this rash, extremist and dangerous altar of ideology. Sheffield deserves better.

There is no support to help with redundancies, no money to stimulate our economy and no money to help us redesign services, which the LGA said were all vital.

Does anyone believe that these cuts will boost Sheffield’s economy? [Lib Dem silence]

Does anyone believe that these cuts will create jobs for the future? [Lib Dem silence]

Does anyone believe that these cuts will improve services? [Lib Dem silence]

Why don't you tell Nick Clegg that when he comes later? [Lib Dem silence].

Is anyone of you proud of what your government is doing? [Lib Dem silence] No. Me neither. Sheffield deserves better.

These cuts will cripple our economy. PWC have shown that 10 public sector job losses result in 8 private sector job losses. For every £1 that a local government worker earns, they spend 70p in the local economy. When these wages are taken out of the Sheffield economy, we will see local businesses close, a spiralling welfare bill and public services under more strain. Sheffield deserves better.

I want to finish by saying that what Sheffield desperately needs is a Council that has a plan for jobs and growth.

But this administration has given up, rolled over and is playing dead for its Tory masters: No answers, no plan, no vision and no empathy for the peoples’ lives that your party and your chums are going to ruin.

Sheffield deserves better. And that is why the people will never forget what you have chosen to do to them and they will never forgive you for it either.