Statement on our Chief Executive: committee begins work

A cross-party committee has been established following Kate Josephs’ statement about a gathering that happened in her former role at the Government’s Covid-19 Taskforce.

The committee began its work yesterday and is chaired by Cllr Julie Grocutt, with the following members: Cllr Penny Baker, Cllr Douglas Johnson, Cllr Shaffaq Mohammed and Cllr Sioned-Mair Richards.  It is proposed that the committee will meet again next week.

Cllr Terry Fox, Leader of Sheffield City Council, said: “I completely understand the strength of feeling that has been expressed in the city since Kate’s statement and apology on January 14. Over the last few days I have been taking advice, and we have now set up a politically proportionate cross-party committee to establish the facts of what has happened. While we cannot yet know how long it will take, we expect this to move at pace. I will be handing the process over to committee chair Cllr Julie Grocutt and the other members of the panel, and we now need to let them carry out this work. I want to reassure everyone that business continues as usual for the council, and we remain focused on delivering for Sheffield."

Additional information:

• The purpose of the committee is to establish the facts of what happened
• The committee is politically proportionate and will meet in private to decide whether there is either no further action, an informal warning, or further investigation required
• There is a prescribed statutory procedure when dealing with a role at this level in local government. This is not something that the Leader or Co-Operative Executive can deal with alone. That is why a cross-party committee has been set up.