Sheffield City Council's actions in trees saga were 'serious & sustained leadership failure'
That's what an independent inquiry into the controversy has revealed
Last updated 6th Mar 2023
An independent inquiry into a Sheffield street trees controversy has concluded that the city council's behaviour "amounted to a serious and sustained failure of strategic leadership".
Sir Mark Lowcock's investigation into the sometimes bizarre events surrounding the felling of thousands of trees between 2016 and 2018 was published on Monday with a 100,000-word analysis of how the operation resulted in daily confrontations in some of the city's leafiest suburbs.
Speaking as his report was published, Sir Mark said: "Our conclusion is that the council's behaviour amounted to a serious and sustained failure of strategic leadership.
"Responsibility for that ultimately rests with the political leadership, in particular the relevant cabinet member and the council leader - they were responsible for setting the direction and tone."
Sir Mark added: "The council did not, between 2016 and early 2018, adequately consider whether its strategy of facing down the campaigners would work.
"Nor did it adequately consider whether the increasingly drastic action it was taking, and was seeking from both Amey (the contractors) and the police, was wise."
"It is the inquiry's view that the council stretched the proportionate use of its authority beyond reasonable limits."
Sir Mark said the council "lacked transparency and repeatedly said things that were economical with the truth, misleading and in some cases were ultimately exposed as dishonest".
He also said the council misled the courts, adding: "The inquiry did not find perjury or criminality but misleading the courts is a serious matter."
Police were deployed in vans and a number of people were arrested during the long-running dispute.
The saga included two pensioners being arrested during an early morning raid in scenes described by former deputy prime minister Sir Nick Clegg as more like a well-planned anti-terror operation than a morning of tree maintenance.
There were also allegations from contractors that protesters had poisoned them with cups of tea and a middle-aged woman was arrested in the suburban setting of Rivelin Valley Road for blowing a toy trumpet.
At one point, Sheffield City Council unsuccessfully attempted to have a group of demonstrators jailed for the actions they took.
The controversy was rooted in a 25-year £2.2 billion private finance initiative agreement Sheffield City Council signed with the contractor Amey in 2012.
The contract included a huge programme to resurface thousands of miles of Sheffield's pothole-ridden road system and, as part of this, Amey was tasked with maintaining roadside trees.
The council announced a wide-ranging independent inquiry into the whole saga and appointed Sir Mark, a former United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, as its chair.
According to Sir Mark's terms of reference, the aims of his inquiry have been to "support the ongoing recovery in Sheffield from the dispute" and to "help minimise the risk of the dispute re-emerging in future".
The terms of reference said the inquiry would be guided by the need for "truth and reconciliation" in the city.
Sir Mark has looked at issues including the background and implementation of the Amey contract, the emergence of the opposition and how the council, the contractors and other agencies responded to the protests.
In response to the inquiry, Sheffield City Council have issued the response below:
"The council has already acknowledged that it got many things wrong in the handling of the street trees dispute, and we wish to reiterate our previous apologies for our failings.
"We have taken huge steps already to ensure past mistakes are not repeated and we hope the release of this report will further help us to learn lessons as we move forward from the dispute.
We are committed to doing better in the future, to ensure that we are an open, honest and collaborative organisation, as we continue our work with our partners and with the people and communities of Sheffield to create the successful, thriving and inclusive city that we all aspire to."