University students in Sheffield are being warned to be vigilant as a wave of tax scams are circulating using fake university email addresses. HM Revenue & Customs has received thousands of fraud reports from students across the UK with emails telling students that they are owed money and encouraging them to send their personal details. Sheffield Live! reporter Baillor Jalloh spoke to Sherriff Muhammed, education officer at Sheffield Hallam University Students’ Union.
Train commuters are set to be hit by a series of strikes in the run-up to Christmas in a long-running dispute over guards on trains. Northern members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union have agreed to continue industrial action every Saturday through December. Sheffield Live! reporter Baillor Jalloh spoke to Steve Hedley, senior assistant general secretary of the RMT Union.
A special silverware commission has been unveiled at Sheffield Town Hall to celebrate one hundred years since women first voted in a British general election. Azz Mohammed reports for Sheffield Live!
Fewer trees are to be felled by Sheffield Council and private contractor Amey following talks with Sheffield Tree Action Group to end the long running dispute. Sheffield Council have put forward new plans to reduce the number of trees to be removed from Sheffield streets following a mediated dialogue chaired by the Bishop of Sheffield. Sheffield Live spoke to Councillor Lewis Bagnall, cabinet member for environment and streetscene and Paul Brooke, co-chair of Sheffield Trees Action Group.
A Sheffield taxi drivers association have welcomed the engagement of police and local authorities to address issues affecting the trade. Hundreds gathered at the annual general meeting of Sheffield Eagle Taxi Association to hear from Crime Commissioner Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire Police chief Stuart Walne and members of the Sheffield Council’s licensing committee. Issues discussed included driver safety, private hire regulation and clean air zone plans. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
Dozens staged a protest on Monday outside the Home Office South Yorkshire immigration centre at Vulcan House over the deportation of Zimbabwean asylum seekers. Protestors claim that representatives of the Zimbabwean government were invited to be involved in questioning asylum seekers in the UK as part of a plan to return 2500 failed asylum seekers to Zimbabwe. A Home Office spokesperson said: “Routine re-documentation interviews take place regularly at Home Office sites across the UK”. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
Completion of the first phase of a £20m student accommodation scheme in Sheffield’s St. Vincent’s Quarter has been announced by developer Future Generation. The topping off ceremony follows years of planning for the Hollis Croft site with accommodation for 350 students and a roof top common room. Sheffield Live! reporter Azz Mohammed spoke to Andrew Sutton, chair of Future Generation.
The Crucible Theatre hosted a gathering of human rights campaigners to mark 70 years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Speakers at the event, which was organised by local human rights activists, included Lord Alf Dubs who spoke about the rights of child refugees and his own experience of coming to the UK from Czechoslovakia as part of the Kindertransport rescue effort before the Second World War. The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948 and is the cornerstone of modern human rights. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
As part of a community consultation S1 Artspace hosted a weekend exhibition at its gallery in Park Hill with development plans for the site due to be submitted for planning approval later this month. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
Rotherham Councillor Emma Hodinott, cabinet member for community safety, told Sheffield Live! she found deeply upsetting the local authority’s involvement in offering a convicted rapist parental access to the victim’s child. Rape victim Sammy Woodhouse, who waived her anonymity to speak out on the issue, said she was “extremely distressed” when she found out Arshid Hussain, who groomed, raped and impregnated her when she was a teenager, was offered a chance to be involved in her son’s future. The authority was criticised for their approach but say they acted within the law. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!