Story:Carrie Hedderwick
The Burngreave Messenger interviewed Talib Hussain, the Burngreave Councillor, a week before he becomes Lord Mayor of Sheffield for the next year.
Talib said he is excited and a little nervous. He wants to do his best for the city but could not divulge which charities he intends to support. Talib has lived and worked in Sheffield for the last 20 years. He has been a councillor for the last 5 years and has served on various committees. This experience will help him when, as Lord Mayor, he chairs full council meetings.
The outcome of the general election came as a shock to Talib. He believes councils should be given proper powers and funding to cater for the needs of their communities, instead of the increasing budget cuts from central government that make it impossible to deliver adequate services.
His priorities are for job creation and for supporting and giving opportunities to young people. Local councillors’ surgeries are shared with Councillors Ibrar Hussain and Jackie Drayton and take place monthly at Burngreave Library, Bishopholme, Norwood and the Pakistani Advice Centre.
We discussed the Selective Licensing of accommodation in Page Hall. Talib described the dangerous housing conditions in some private rented accommodation and thought that the licensing scheme was certainly starting to make a difference. He felt also that there was a
lot of good work going on in Page Hall to integrate different communities. You can contact Talib on 0114 273 5588 or at talib.hussain@shefield.gov.uk