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Subject: |
Open a New Homeless Shelter in Morley Street Brighton - Petition for Debate |
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Date of Meeting: |
22 October 2020 |
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Report of: |
Executive Lead Officer for Strategy, Governance & Law |
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Contact Officer: |
Name: |
Mark Wall |
Tel: |
01273 291006 |
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E-mail: |
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Wards Affected: |
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All |
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For General Release
1. SUMMARY AND POLICY CONTEXT:
1.1 Under the Council’s Petition Scheme if a petition contains more than 1,250 signatures and is not petition requesting officer evidence, it will be debated by the Full Council.
1.2 The e-petition has resulted in triggering a debate at the council meeting, having exceeded the threshold with a total of 4,519 signatures confirmed at the time of printing the report.
2. RECOMMENDATIONS:
2.1 That the petition is noted and referred to the Policy & Resources Committee for consideration.
3. RELEVANT BACKGROUND INFORMATION / CHRONOLOGY OF KEY EVENTS:
3.1 The Petition:
Open a New Homeless Shelter in Morley Street, Brighton
Purchase the unoccupied building known as 'PsychoSocial' 1-2 Morley Street BN2 9RA and open it as a permanent shelter for women and men who are homeless or about to become homeless.
Lead Petitioner – Barry Hughes
The building will make a big advance towards ending rough sleeping in Brighton & Hove by 2020 and be self-financing with housing benefits and volunteers.
The building at 1-2 Morley Street, known as 'PsychoSocial', is currently unoccupied, meaning it would be easy for the council to purchase. It is also in a great location, as it is close to an excellent health centre, thereby lightening the load on A&E at the hospital.
We've had two major successes so far in improving and increasing the amount of night shelters for Brighton's homeless. First of all in 2017, we won a campaign for Brighton and Hove Council to commit to opening night shelters for rough sleepers. Then we won a campaign for Brighton and Hove Council to have shelters open 365 days a year. These achievements only cam after thousands of us signed a petition. Brighton Centre should be open this November (2018) but by the middle of winter users will have to relocate to other venues. Now, we need a permanent shelter for Brighton's homeless, and Morley Street is the perfect location.
4. PROCEDURE:
4.1 The petition will be debated at the Council meeting in accordance with the agreed protocol:
(i) The Lead petitioner will be invited by the Mayor to present the petition and will have up to 3 minutes in which to outline the prayer of the petition and confirm the number of signatures;
(ii) The Mayor will then open the matter up for debate by councillors for period of 15 minutes and will first call on the relevant Committee Chair to respond to the petition and move a proposed response. The Mayor will then call on those councillors who have indicated a desire to speak in the matter, before calling on the relevant Committee Chair to respond to the debate;
(iii) An amendment to the recommendation in paragraph 2.1 of the report or to add additional recommendations should be submitted by 10.00am on the day of the meeting; otherwise it will be subject to the Mayor’s discretion as to being appropriate. Any such amendment will need to be formally moved and seconded at the meeting;
(iv) After the 15 minutes set aside for the debate, the Mayor will then formally put:
(a) Any amendments in the order in which they are moved, and
(b) The substantive recommendation(s) as amended (if
amended).