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Public questions, statements and petitions at Council meetings

People in Sheffield can have their say on the city through public questions, statements and petitions. These are presented at decision-making meetings.

Our Full Council and Committee meetings

We have Full Council meetings and various kinds of Committee meetings. 

Full Council

All Sheffield Councillors attend this meeting, and it takes the major decisions on the Council's:

  • budget
  • key policies
  • procedures

Policy Committees

Most of the important decisions that affect the whole of Sheffield are made by our Policy Committees. They're responsible for implementing the policies of the Council.

Local Area Committees

Every community in Sheffield is covered by one of our seven local area committees. They're the best way for people to get involved in local issues. 

Planning and Highways Committee

You can see how to make representations at Planning and Highways Committee on Democracy Sheffield.

Questions and statements for Full Council and Committee meetings

In a bid to encourage more citizen involvement in Sheffield’s democracy, Councillors have approved proposals to alter how the public interact with our committees.

To improve public access to committees and decision making, committees will now allow members of the public to join remotely to ask questions or read statements. This is in addition to being able to attend committee meetings in person.

Livestreaming of Full Council and Committee meetings will continue as usual through our Webcast Portal.

Members of the public will also have the option to have their questions or statements read out by someone else on their behalf. This will either be a nominated person or a Council officer.

The following arrangements apply to all types of question and statements:

  • your written question, supplementary question, verbal question or statement must not exceed 200 words
  • a question may have multiple linked parts, which will be considered as one question (as long as it is within the 200-word limit)
  • any pre-amble or introductory remarks must be included in the 200-word limit

How you can participate

To provide members of the public more opportunities to engage, there are several ways to participate in a Full Council or Committee meeting.

These include:

Questions that are in the remit of the Committee

These must be submitted by 9am and 6 clear working days before the scheduled meeting.

Clear working days does not include the day of the deadline or the day of the meeting. For example: for a meeting on a Wednesday, the deadline would be 9am on the Monday in the week before the meeting.

Written questions will be responded to and published 1 clear day before the relevant meeting. There's no requirement for questioners to attend the meeting. However, they can if they wish.

At Full Council meetings, questions must be about matters relating to Sheffield or Council services. 

At Committee meetings, questions must relate to the remit of the relevant Committee. Our Council and Policy Committee Responsibilities, 2024 to 2025 detail this.

Supplementary questions

These arise directly from the original written question and/or the response.

These must be submitted in writing by 9am on the working day before the relevant meeting.

Supplementary questions can be asked verbally (in person or on screen) by a nominated person or read out by a Council officer.

The Leader of the Council or Committee Chairs at Full Council meetings or Committee Chair at Committee meetings can reply to supplementary questions.

Written responses to questions will be published within 10 working days of the meeting.

Agenda item questions

These can be submitted relating to items on the published agenda for a specific Full Council or Committee meeting.

These must be submitted by 9am and 2 clear working days before the scheduled meeting. For example: for a meeting on a Wednesday, a supplementary question will need to be received by 9am on Tuesday of that week.

Clear working days does not include the day of the deadline or the day of the meeting. For example: for a meeting on a Wednesday, the deadline would be 9am on the Friday in the week before the meeting.

Questions can be asked verbally (in person or on screen) by a nominated person or read out by a Council officer.

The Leader of the Council or Committee Chairs at Full Council meetings or Committee Chair at Committee meetings can reply to questions.

Written responses to supplementary questions will be published within 10 working days of the meeting.

Statements

These can be submitted on matters within the remit of Full Council,  or the Committee or in specific reference to agenda items.

Statements relevant to the remit of Full Council or a specific Committee must be submitted by 9am and 6 clear working days before the scheduled meeting. For example: for a meeting on a Wednesday, the deadline would be 9am on the Monday of the previous week. 

Statements relevant to items on the published agenda for the specific Full Council or Committee meeting must be received in writing by 9am and 2 clear working days before the scheduled meeting.

All statements will be published online the working day before the relevant meeting and circulated to all Members of the meeting.

Statements may be read in person or on screen by a nominated person or by a Council officer (if time allows).

There is no commitment to respond to statements, but the Lord Mayor or relevant Committee Chair reserves the right to reply at Full Council meetings. 

At Committee meetings, the Committee Chair reserves the right to reply.

Petitions

You must submit your petition in writing by 9am at least 2 working days in advance of the date of the meeting to committee@sheffield.gov.uk or through the e-petition facility on our Current ePetitions web page.

Which meeting to submit your question or statement to

If you're asking a question at one of our committees, your question must be within the remit of that committee. 

Details of Committee remits are available in our Council and Policy Committee Responsibilities, 2024 to 2025.

Full Council can take questions on any matter that is within the our responsibility or that affects the city or its citizens.

Dates of Full Council meetings can be found on the Council Meetings calendar. 

Deadlines for questions and statements

There are deadlines for submitting questions and statements. You can select the meeting you are interested in on our Dates of Meetings and Deadlines page.

Submitting a question or statement

Submit your questions or statements to publicquestions@sheffield.gov.uk.

Contact Democratic Services

Town Hall
Pinstone Street
Sheffield
S1 2HH

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Supporting information

Scheme for Public Involvement in Council Meetings
Previous questions and statements
Examples of Typical Deadline Dates for Questions and Statements

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