Born in Redruth, Dr Mike Sheaff has lived in Plymouth for most of the past forty-five years. He is Associate Professor in Sociology at the University of Plymouth, and was previously a lecturer at the University of Exeter, and a tutor with the Workers' Educational Association in Devon and Cornwall. He was a Plymouth City Councillor from 1991-2000, and a NHS Non-Executive Director from 2001-2011. He has been a trade unionist throughout his working life, and is currently Acting Chair of University of Plymouth University & Colleges Union. A keen allotment gardener, Mike is Chair of Swarthmore Allotment Association, Plymouth's largest allotment
In early 2021 Plymouth’s “Look II” sculpture by Sir Antony Gormley was in the headlines. Opinions on the sculpture varied, but publicity focused on its price. I welcomed new grant-funded public art to the city, but because Plymouth City Council refused to disclose the cost of the sculpture, I shared other people’s concerns about secrecy. […]
In August last year I explained why I was seeking information about NHS Property Services (NHSPS). The organisation ‒ landlord to many NHS properties in the south west and nationally ‒ introduced ‘market rents’ in April 2016, described by the British Medical Association in evidence to the House of Commons Health Committee as “unjustifiable and […]
In April 2016, Poltair Hospital near Penzance was sold to a property developer for £500,624. The site’s limitations were widely acknowledged, but there was a strongly expressed local view that the capital receipt should contribute to alternative local provision. The owner, NHS Property Services (NHSPS), would give no such commitment. In December 2016, NHSPS took […]