Brighton & Hove City Council
Tourism, Equalities, Communities & Culture Committee
4.00pm15 September 2022
Brighton Town Hall - Council Chamber
Minutes Extract – Item 32
Present:
Councillors: Osborne (Joint Chair), Powell (Joint Chair), Rainey (Deputy Chair), Evans (Opposition Spokesperson), Grimshaw (Opposition Spokesperson), Bagaeen (Group Spokesperson), Ebel, Littman and Robins.
Co-Optees: Stephanie Prior, Joanna Martindale, Harpreet Kaur
17 Procedural Business
a) Apologies were received from Councillor Simson and Chief Superintendent Justin Burtenshaw.
b) Councillor Powell declared a non-prejudicial interest of her ongoing employment with Sussex Police, and that her partner has recently taken on the role of the Business and Partnership Development Officer with Community Works, starting in October 2022.
18 Minutes
The Minutes of the meeting held on 16 June 2022 were agreed as an accurate record.
19 Chairs Communications
The Chair gave the following communications:
We’re holding this committee during a period of national mourning and today we join with people around the nation and the world in noting with sadness, the death of Her Majesty The Queen.
Queen Elizabeth II was our country’s longest reigning monarch and has shown remarkable dedication as the head of state over many decades.
The Queen succeeded to the throne before most of were born and that’s true for many residents in the city.
The Queen has given a life of dedication and public service. As we know, she worked right up to her final days with the appointment of a new Prime Minister.
This is a historic moment in our nation’s history as we remember the passing of The Queen and witness the start of the new reign of King Charles III.
As elected politicians we recognise many people will be saddened by the news and wish to pay their respects.
For that reason, I ask the committee and assembled officers and members of the public to join me in a minute’s silence.”
I am happy to take any comments from members of the committee either in remembrance of the Queen or any questions about procedures, during this period of mourning.
The loss of Her Majesty may bring up feelings of personal grief and mourning: grief for those who have had a significant impact on our lives, whether we knew them personally or not. I wish both the Queen’s family and everyone who loved her my sympathies at this time. If you are experiencing complicated feelings of grief and need support, Cruse, the bereavement charity have a free helpline as well as some helpful advice on their website.
Since the last TECC we’ve had Trans Pride, which was incredibly well attended with 1000s of attendees. A great day.
Likewise, I did the Pride march last month with Green Party colleagues, and attended the park afterwards. Another wonderful day.
During the summer I attended the LGBT+ Housing Summit run by the Switchboard. A really insightful day, and we have a presentation today by the Switchboard which will highlight some of that discussion.
I present the PSVWG paper to P&R last month, and I’m glad to say that it was agreed. . Again, I thank the members for their excellent work over the past year on this important work.
I attended the South Coast Jewish Seminar in Hove a few weeks back. A really important and interesting learning day, and I thank the organisers, including Fiona SHARPE for it.
I also attended the launch of the third party reporting centres on 7th September. This is a pilot that has been set up to encourage and support those communities who may not feel comfortable reporting hate incidents to statutory agencies - to have a place where they can report and receive support if they have been subject to a hate incident or crime. They will be jointly run by the Racial Harassment Forum, Possibility People and the Rainbow Hub.
Community safety – somegood news - BHCC in conjunction with East and West Sussex County Councils and the Office of the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner, have successfully bid for nearly £1.5 m of safer streets four money from the Home Office for work across Sussex to address violence against women and girls, ASB and neighbourhood crime. The money will be used in the City, amongst other things, to increase police patrols, extend the taxi marshals deployed in the city centre on a Friday and Saturday night and continue the delivery of positive relationship lessons in our schools.
20 Call Over
The following Items were reserved for discussion:
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Item 25 |
Anti-Racism Pledge Update |
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Item 26 |
Brighton & Hove’s Response to Refugees and Asylum Seekers |
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Item 27 |
Development of an Accessible City Strategy |
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Item 29 |
Short Term Lets |
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Item 30 |
Tourism Recovery and VisitBrighton |
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Item 31 |
Adoption of the Brighton and Hove City Plan Part 2 |
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Item 32 |
Local Enforcement Plan and Proactive Enforcement Projects |
The following items were therefore agreed as per the recommendations in the reports:
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Item 28 |
Pool Passage Public Space Protection Order 2022 |
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Item 33 |
Street Naming and Numbering Service – Introduction of Charges |
21 Public Involvement
21.1 Christopher Hawtree was invited to ask his question on page 23 of the agenda.
21.2 The Chair gave the following response:
Thank you for your question, Chris and always good to see you. I can confirm that the Council has always had full time cover for the Head of Libraries post, which currently is through a job share arrangement that has been in place now for some years. I confirm that going forward, we will continue to have a full-time Head of Libraries post in place.
21.3 Christopher Hawtree asked if the Chairs of the TECC Committee would be given a place on the interview panel and selection process if a new head of libraries post was being recruited
21.4 The Chair responded that if it were the case that a new head of the libraries service, she would hope that members of the Committee would be included in the recruitment process.
21.5 Mark Strong was invited to ask his question on page 23 of the agenda.
21.6 The Chair gave the following response:
Thank you for your questions and comments Mark. As the report notes it appears that no other council is taking a council wide, integrated, holistic, best practice led approach to accessibility. The strategy is seeking to put accessibility at the heart and at the front of service planning and delivery, policy development and community engagement.
Discussions are underway with each directorate of the council about what this would mean for their services and their priority area for year one of the strategy. Bearing in mind, akin, to our anti-racism strategy, it will take some time to achieve our goal. I would have envisaged that public realm would be one of these priorities without a doubt. Obstructed pavements are a major issue for disabled people and cannot be overlooked. I would say that the detail of the strategy is still being worked through to ensure that the priorities we commit to can be delivered. I have been informed that the external stakeholder feedback during this set up phase for the strategy included concerns about the public realm and that this feedback is being used to inform the strategy, as well as engagement with the Disability Panel and the wider reference group.
Teams across Directorates within the Council have been working closely together when taking into account this proposed strategy. For example, the council has been lobbying central government for powers to tackle pavement parking where there are no enforceable parking restrictions, similar to the powers that have existed in London since the seventies. The Department for Transport carried out a consultation on providing these powers to councils outside London in November 2019. We have been told that the government has reviewed responses to this consultation and will be making an announcement about powers to tackle pavement parking for councils outside London shortly.
I appreciate your expertise in transport matters, so in short Mark, I think you have made some cogent points which I fully take on board and support.
21.7 Mark Strong asked a supplementary question regarding the fact that the Council’s local plan for inclusive mobility has been superseded by national policy guidance, giving the green light for developers to continue making sub standard footway obstructions, and asked if it would be possible for the Council to amend their local plan to ensure inclusive mobility.
21.8 The Chair responded that she took on board the comments and that the Council would do what it can, and to keep this important conversation going.
22 Items referred from Council
Deputation – Gender Equality
22.1 The Chair introduced the gender equality deputation:
At Full council in July members agreed that this committee would request officers to bring forward a report, in consultation with residents who self-define as a woman or another marginalised gender identity, and women’s organisations and other organisations such as youth services and public sector partners in the city, that outlines a new Gender Equality Strategy.
And that the report includes information on work already ongoing, alongside any new proposals to work in partnership to tackle gender inequality to focus on four key areas;
Poverty (to consider distributing free sanitary products at community centres and youth clubs)
Health (including requesting that the NHS to consider a public health awareness campaign to improve cervical screening rates)
Safety (including improvements to support services for victims of VAWG, and a Night Time Safety Charter and a consultation to hear from women and girls on improving street safety)
Education (including rolling out further commissioned services such as anti-misogyny and gender equality training)
Staff capacity is currently fully allocated to the development of the council's first anti-racism strategy and accessible city strategy. Therefore, the development of a gender equality strategy will be timetabled for the new civic year (from May 2023),
The timeline for strategy does not mean that work on gender equality is not happening or stops for example the council is undertaking a range of activity to tackle gender inequality with the VAWG strategy, work in schools, and in health. This will of course continue.
22.2 Committee then noted the deputation.
Notice of Motion – Take Action to Tackle Gender Inequality in Brighton and Hove
22.3 The Committee agreed to note the Notice of Motion on Gender Inequality on page 7 of Addendum 1 and called for an officer report to come to a future TECC Committee.
Notice of Motion – Licensing Scheme for Short Term Holiday Lets and AirBnBs
The Committee agreed to note the Notice of Motion on Short Term
Holiday lets on page 9 of Addendum 1.
23 Member Involvement
23.1 Councillor Childs was sent the written response to his question on page 29 of the Agenda.
24 LGBTQ+ Housing Manifesto Presentation
The presentation was deferred to the next Committee.
25 Anti Racism Pledge Update
25.1 Jamarl Billy introduced the report starting on page 63 of the Agenda.
25.2 Councillor Grimshaw was informed that the mentors, for the mentorship and training programme for the Council’s Black and Ethnic Minority staff, were chosen from the Leadership Network, meaning that most of them were in Executive Director, Assistant Director, of Head of Service positions. Jamarl Billy confirmed that he would send over more information about the names and ethnicities of the mentors to Councillor Grimshaw.
25.3 Councillor Rainey was informed that:
· £110,000 has been reallocated from the World Reimagined fund.
· The Council are working with an external organisation to gauge community engagement to decide how and where the money will be spent.
· More information about the adult education hub would be included in the next report.
25.4 Stephanie Prior raised that the Racial Harassment Forum initiative won’t work without the full support of the Council and Police, and that legal support for the forum would be needed to ensure all issues are dealt with accordingly. Jamarl Billy confirmed he would take up further conversations with Stephanie Prior outside of the meeting.
25.5 Cllr Bagaeen was informed that:
· The Anti-Racist Community Advisory Group minutes aren’t accessible due to the fact that it is a safe space to share experiences, and having the minutes public would not protect that safe space for Black and Ethnic Minority members of the public.
· The world reimagined funding was £160,000 overall, with £50,000 of that going to the cultural recovery plan and the remaining £110,000 is being used for communities in the city via the Communities, Equalities, and Third Sector teams.
· The funding allocation will be brought back to TECC Committee in future reports.
· More information about the outcome of the HR diversity recruitment training would be provided in future reports.
25.6 Joanna Martindale was informed that the timelines for the spending wouldn’t be known until the allocation was decided, but the Council would be looking to be as flexible as possible to achieve the maximum impact with the funding.
25.7 Councillor Evans was informed that in 3.7.2, a small part of funding refers to amounts that are a maximum of £10,000.
25.8 Stephanie Prior was informed that more information about housing would be included in the Anti-Racism Pledge Update at the next meeting.
RESOLVED: The Committee noted the report.
26 Brighton & Hove's Response to Refugees and Asylum Seekers
26.1 Lucy Bryson introduced the report starting on page 71 of the Agenda.
26.2 Councillor Grimshaw was informed that:
· Colleagues in Housing and the Community Hub are working hard to check in with guests and hosts to ensure sustainability moving forward into the winter.
· In the first instance, efforts will be made to sustain the hosting arrangements either via advice or financial assistance, and if not, new hosts are looked at.
· If hosting arrangements aren’t working, refugees will be helped into the private renting sector, with temporary and emergency accommodation an absolute last resort.
· Anyone who has entered the country on the Homes for Ukraine scheme or the Family Visa Scheme is entitled to public funds through Universal Credit as well as the right to work.
26.3 Harpreet Kaur raised that globally displaced communities including Ukrainian Refugees are an NHS plus group to tackle health inequality.
26.4 Councillor Robins was informed that wrap around support gives funding for:
· The community hub
· The helpline
· The community and voluntary sector
· Events for the Ukrainian community
· Any other needs that might arise such as housing crises
26.5 Councillor Osborne was informed that:
· Ukrainian guests and hosts are being surveyed to identify any patterns and to keep on top of the situation.
· The Job Centre are helping Ukrainian Refugees into employment by running job fairs and helping with English Language teaching.
· The BIPC centre is working to help refugees to run Businesses in the city.
Lucy Bryson then agreed to feed back some more information to Cllr Obsorne and the Committee about the outcomes of the jobs event.
Harpeet Kaur added that the NHS are looking to fill gaps in the workforce with Ukrainian Refugees.
26.6 Councillor Grimshaw was informed that:
· There are numerous Ukrainian Refugees that have come into the Country not on one of the above schemes, and the Council wouldn’t have any information on them or their qualifications for employment.
· A refugee employability scheme will be set up in the Autumn to be a subgroup of the Adult Learning and Skills Partnership.
26.7 Emma McDermott introduced the newly appointed Ukrainian Refugee Programme Coordinator, Aime Claude Ndongozi.
RESOLVED:
That the Tourism, Equalities, Communities and Culture Committee:
1. Noted the council’s work related to refugees and asylum seekers.
2. Noted the Homes for Ukraine funding received by the council to date and its expenditure as detailed in paragraph 3.17 and the detailed breakdown at Appendix One.
3. Noted the priorities for the council’s support of refugees and asylum seekers (paragraph 3.60) for the coming year.
4. Recommended that the Policy & Resources Committee notes the Homes for Ukraine funding received and expenditure defrayed to date to fulfil the obligations placed on local authorities by the government’s Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme.
5. Recommended that the Policy & Resources Committee notes the priorities for the council’s support of refugees and asylum seekers for the coming year as set out in the report.
6. Recommended that the Policy & Resources Committee gives delegated authority to the Executive Director Housing, Neighbourhoods & Communities, in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer, to defray unallocated current and future resources in accordance with the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme requirements and conditions and to fulfil the council’s obligations under the scheme.
27 Development of an Accessible City Strategy
27.1 Emma McDermott introduced the report starting on page 101 of the Agenda.
27.2 Councillor Bagaeen was informed that:
· The use of utilities by the public realm is governed by specific legislation and practise, and the work completed with the accessibility strategy will help to use the Council’s powers more effectively, without superseding the powers already there.
· The annual stakeholder event will come after the strategy, which will be developed by working with the disability panel and the wider reference group. This will then be presented to Committee in March 2023.
27.3 Councillor Rainey was informed that the Equalities teams are having conversations with the Beach Access Team and other teams across the EEC directorate to ensure they know how the principles in the strategy will affect their work going forward.
27.4 Councillor Grimshaw was informed that Emma McDermott would have a conversation with HASC regarding a lack of respite and feed back to Councillor Grimshaw.
27.5 Councillor Evans raised the importance of taking action against cyclists on pavements for the disabled community.
27.6 Councillor Robins raised that it is important to have a main point of contact for accessibility on the seafront and in parks such as installing paths, so they can be enjoyed by everyone.
27.7 Councillor Bagaeen recommended that the Accessible City Strategy should go to the ETS Committee.
RESOLVED:
That the Tourism, Equalities, Communities & Culture Committee:
1. Notes the report and agrees to receive further update reports.
2. Recommends to Full Council that it agrees that the Council should sign the Disability Impact Pledge.
That Full Council:
3. Agrees that the Council should sign the Disability Impact Pledge.
28 Pool Passage Public Space Protection Order 2022
RESOLVED: That the committee grant the Pool Passage Public Space Protection Order (See appendix 1)
29 Short Term Lets
29.1 Julia Gallagher introduced the report starting on page 187 of the Agenda.
29.2 Councillor Evans moved the Labour Amendment on page 5 of Addendum 2, which was seconded by Councillor Robins.
29.3 Councillor Ebel raised that she sympathised with the Labour Amendment and that a voluntary registration scheme would probably not help with the worst offenders of tourism accommodation, but waiting for a Government-led registration scheme would come with more powers to shut down problem houses more quickly.
29.4 Councillor Osborne raised that there would be resource implications if the Amendment was passed, and in the consultation response it says that the Council would like to go further than just a registration scheme, for example putting caps on the number of AirBnBs in the city.
29.5 Councillor Grimshaw raised that this Amendment would be a chance to send out a powerful message that work is being done to combat short term lets in the city.
29.6 Councillor Littman raised that he didn’t know how long the Government would take to act, and introducing a voluntary scheme for Brighton and Hove would have resource implications, and wouldn’t necessarily be successful.
29.7 Councillor Bagaeen raised that a voluntary registration scheme wouldn’t affect the impact of short term lets in the city.
29.10 The Committee voted against the Labour Amendment.
RESOLVED:
That the Tourism, Equalities, Communities, and Culture Committee:
1. Agreed that officers should submit a response to the government’s call for evidence to inform the development of a tourist accommodation registration scheme. (see Appendix 3).
2. Noted the updated information in this paper following the previous report to TECC in March 2020.
30 Tourism Recovery and VisitBrighton
30.2 Julia Gallagher introduced the report starting on page 209 of the Agenda.
30.2 Stephanie Prior was informed that the work of VisitBrighton is to promote what is already being held in the City, so it is important that the Council keeps working with cultural organisations such as the Brighton Festival, the Fringe, Pride, the Christmas Market and numerous other organisations.
30.3 Councillor Grimshaw raised that the Royal Pavilion should be utilised more as there is global interest in the royal family.
30.4 Councillor Bagaeen was informed that:
· 2019 is used as a benchmark for performance as this was the last normal trading year before COVID.
· The figures are all derived from the Economic Impact of Tourism Assessment which is commissioned each year.
· Julia Gallagher would go back and tidy up the wording of the discrepancy pointed out by Councillor Bagaeen.
30.5 Councillor Robins raised that even though a large percentage of tourists have stopped coming to the city for numerous reasons, it is important to keep faith that tourism will grow again especially with attractions such as the royal pavilion.
30.6 Councillor Ebel raised that the repeated raw sewage discharge will further reduce tourism to the city which would have a devastating impact on some small businesses that rely on tourism.
30.7 Councillor Osborne raised that local media often talk down Brighton and Hove when in fact there are numerous good aspects of the city, and is known across the UK for holding events.
30.8 Councillor Bagaeen raised that hosting Eurovision at a venue at Black Rock would have been great for tourism but, the Council has yet to build.
RESOLVED:
That the Tourism, Equalities, Communities & Culture Committee noted and acknowledged the work of VisitBrighton in supporting tourism and the wider visitor economy of Brighton & Hove.
31 Adoption of the Brighton & Hove City Plan Part 2
31.1 Helen Gregory introduced the report starting on page 257 of the Agenda.
31.2 Councillor Littman raised that:
· The recommendations in this report would allow the Planning committee greater control over what gets built in the city.
· More weight can be given to local concerns and to benefit tourism, business, and culture.
· Requisite infrastructure can become part of the requirement for development.
· The plan protects some of the green spaces in the city instead of giving free range to developers for all greenfield sites.
31.3 Councillor Ebel raised that:
· The plan will give protection to local shopping parades and community facilities.
· The plan protects the city’s heritage.
· The plan will provide new housing to combat the housing crisis.
· The plan contains policy to manage HMOs better.
31.4 Councillor Robins raised that the reason the Council is not developing brownfield sites is because it doesn’t own them, so green spaces have to be utilised.
31.5 Councillor Rainey raised that:
· The plan is a necessary response to a requirement to provide housing in the city.
· Landscaping is considered early in the design process ensuring the retention of trees and opportunities for pollinators.
· The plan will help the Councils objective to become carbon neutral by 2030.
· The requirement for measured biodiversity net gain as a result of new developments will be in place ahead of the Government mandate.
31.6 Councillor Bagaeen raised the following points:
· 5 or 6 years ago the data was telling us to build on the urban fringe.
· The Census 2021 data was mentioned which doesn’t support any of the arguments for extra building.
· There are local authorities up and down the country pulling local plans in the face of inspected decisions because they are waiting on the Government position.
· A number of petitions have been submitted with upwards of 1000 signatures each that haven’t been given a voice in this process
· If the 930 homes in the City Plan Part 2 were taken out, the plan would have remained intact and above housing targets.
· The Council does not need to take this position on taking allocated land for small number of dwellings.
31.7 Councillor Littman raised that an officer has been appointed to find out why brownfield sites aren’t being developed on, and that the city plan isn’t a conscious choice to build on the urban fringe, it is a necessary step to protect more green spaces than without a plan.
31.8 Sandra Rogers confirmed that there was a clear direction from the City Plan part 1 inspector that all sites need to be looked at which included the urban fringe.
RESOLVED:
That the Tourism, Equalities, Communities & Culture Committee recommend to Full Council:
1. To agree to adopt and publish the Proposed Submission Brighton & Hove City Plan Part Two, as amended to include all the main modifications required by the CPP2 Examining Inspector to make the plan sound, in accordance with Section 23 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and Regulation 26 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012. This includes changes required to the adopted Policies Map, together with other additional (minor) modifications already noted by the 16 March 2022 Tourism, Economy, Culture & Communities Committee (including any consequential and other appropriate alterations for the purposes of clarification, improved accuracy of meaning or typographical corrections, being necessary).
2. To agree amendments needed for planning application validation requirements.
3. To note that on adoption of the City Plan Part Two the policies in the retained 2005 Brighton & Hove Local Plan will be superseded. These superseded policies are listed in Appendix 5 of the City Plan Part Two.
32 Local Enforcement Plan and Proactive Enforcement Projects
32.1 Marina Brigginshaw introduced the report starting on page 425 of the Agenda.
32.2 Councillor Bagaeen raised that it is important to keep public confidence in the enforcement system by taking action on complaints so that members of the public continue to engage.
32.3 Councillor Littman raised that the document it intuitive in explaining the limitations of the Council and most importantly why things can or cannot be done, which makes members of the public more informed about the process.
32.4 Councillor Grimshaw expressed support for the document.
RESOLVED:
That the Tourism, Equalities, Communities & Culture Committee:
1. Approved the Planning Local Enforcement Plan, included at Appendix 1 of this report, subject to any minor grammatical, non-material text and formatting agreed by the Head of Planning in consultation with the Chair of the Committee prior to publication.
2. Noted that proactive projects are to be introduced as and when resource capacity is created.
33 Street Naming and Numbering Service: Introduction of Charges
RESOLVED:
That the Tourism, Equalities, Communities & Culture Committee:
1. Agreed the introduction of charges for the discretionary elements of the Street Naming and Numbering function.
2. Agreed the schedule of charges set out in Appendix 1, to be applicable from 1st October 2022 (subject to the necessary changes to the ICT systems and procedures.)
3. Agreed that the schedule of charges in Appendix 1 be subject to its first review as part of the annual process in Winter 2023
34 Items referred for Full Council
The Committee to refer the Disability Impact Pledge to Full Council to sign.
The meeting concluded at 7.05pm
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Signed
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Chair |
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