Brighton & Hove City Council
Council
(Reconvened from 17 December 2020)
4.00pm22 January 2021
Virtual
MINUTES
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Present: Councillors Robins (Chair), Mears (Deputy Chair), Allcock, Appich, Atkinson, Bagaeen, Barnett, Bell, Brennan, Brown, Childs, Clare, Davis, Deane, Druitt, Ebel, Evans, Fishleigh, Fowler, Gibson, Grimshaw, Hamilton, Heley, Henry, Hill, Hills, Hugh-Jones, Janio, Knight, Lewry, Littman, Lloyd, Mac Cafferty, McNair, Moonan, Nemeth, Nield, O'Quinn, Osborne, Peltzer Dunn, Phillips, Pissaridou, Platts, Powell, Rainey, Shanks, Simson, C Theobald, West, Wilkinson and Williams
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PART ONE
60 Declarations of Interest
60.1 Councillor Grimshaw declared a personal but not prejudicial interest as a founding member of Brighton Heritage Commission in Item 80, a notice of motion concerning the register of heritage assets.
60.2 No other declarations of interests in matters appearing on the agenda for the reconvened meeting were made.
61 Mayor's Communications
61.1 The Mayor thanked the Members for attending the reconvening of the Council meeting held on 17 December 2020. The Mayor noted with sadness the death of Sue Addis. The Mayor congratulated the Lord Lieutenant, who is now Sir Peter Field a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO).
79 Public Health and Social Care Funding
79.1 The notice of motion as listed on the agenda was proposed by Councillor Shanks on behalf of the Green Group and formally seconded by Councillor Nield who reserved her right to speak later in the debate.
79.2 Councillor Evans moved an amendment on behalf of the Labour Group which was formally seconded by Councillor Childs.
79.3 Councillors Bagaeen, Janio, McNair, Knight and Childs spoke on the motion and Councillor Shanks thanked them for their comments and confirmed she was happy to accept the amendment.
79.4 The Mayor noted that the amendment had been accepted and that the Council was happy to move to a vote on the motion as amended, and therefore put the revised motion to the vote:
79.5 The Mayor then put the motion as listed to the vote:
The Council asks the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for Health, requesting:
That ministers reconsider spending review proposals that offer no new funding for public health teams during this public health crisis; requesting long-term, sustainable public health funding, and includes further public health spending in the local government financial settlement, expressing concern that public health funding has reduced by over £700m in real-terms in the past five years;
· this should include a budget to promote local take up of vaccination. While vaccines are delivered by the NHS, council recognises the vital role played by public health teams in promotion of immunisation against disease, and requests funding to support public health promotion work to ensure resources are available to deliver the broadest possible community engagement and take-up of a Covid19 vaccine;
· this should further include specific measures to address the stark, systematic health inequalities that have negatively impacted Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, that Covid has clearly highlighted;
· this should also include specific measures to address the health inequalities that have negatively impacted upon low-income groups;
· that Government publish a long-term strategy for Adult Social Care as part of a comprehensive service alongside the NHS to ensure security in old age.
79.6 The Mayor then called on each of the Group Leaders to confirm their position as well as the Groups in turn followed by each of the Independent Members:
Councillor Mac Cafferty stated that the Green Group were in favour of the motion as amended and this was confirmed by the Green Group Members;
Councillor Platts stated that the Labour Group were in favour of the motion as amended and this was confirmed by the Labour Group Members;
Councillor Bell stated that the Conservative Group were against the motion as amended and this was confirmed by the Conservative Group Members;
Councillor Brennan confirmed that she was voting for the motion as amended;
Councillor Fishleigh confirmed that she wished to abstain from voting on the motion;
Councillor Janio confirmed that he was voting against the motion as amended;
Councillor Knight confirmed that she was voting for the motion as amended.
79.7 The Mayor confirmed that the motion as amended had been carried.
80 Register of Heritage Assets
80.1 The notice of motion as listed on the agenda was proposed by Councillor Nemeth on behalf of the Conservative Group and formally seconded by Councillor Mears who reserved her right to speak later in the debate.
80.2 Councillor Grimshaw moved an amendment on behalf of the Labour Group which was formally seconded by Councillor O’Quinn.
80.3 Councillor Ebel moved an amendment on behalf of the Green Group which was formally seconded by Councillor Littman.
80.4 Councillors Peltzer Dunn, Janio, Theobald, Hugh-Jones, Mac Cafferty and Nemeth spoke on the motion and Councillor Nemeth confirmed that he was happy to accept the Labour amendment and he would not accept the Green Group amendment.
80.5 The Mayor noted that the Green Group amendment had not been accepted and therefore would need to put each in turn to the vote. He then put the amendment from the Green Group to the vote and called on each of the Group Leaders to confirm their position as well as the Groups in turn followed by the Independent Members:
Councillor Mac Cafferty stated that the Green Group were voting in favour of the amendment and this was confirmed by the Green Group Members;
Councillor Platts stated that the Labour Group were voting against the amendment and this was confirmed by the Labour Group Members;
Councillor Bell stated that the Conservative Group were voting against the amendment and this was confirmed by the Conservative Group Members;
Councillor Brennan confirmed that she was voting for the amendment;
Councillor Fishleigh confirmed that she was voting for the amendment;
Councillor Janio confirmed that he was voting against the amendment;
Councillor Knight confirmed that she was voting against the amendment.
80.6 The Mayor noted that the Green Group amendment had been lost.
80.7 The Mayor noted that the Labour amendment had been accepted and that the Council was happy to move to a vote on the motion as amended, and therefore put the revised motion to the vote:
This Council:
1. Expresses regret over recent incidents relating to the loss of historic lanterns from the Brighton seafront;
2. Praises the actions of local investigative journalists for identifying said missing items; and
3. Calls for an officer report to the Tourism, Equalities, Communities & Culture Committee to explore options for setting up an independent group of volunteers to assist the relevant officers in the work of establishing a list of all heritage assets – including those in situ, in storage and undergoing repair elsewhere – for which the Council has responsibility;
4. For that report to explore:
· the option of valuing and certifying items that for any reason would require replacing, first offering them to Brighton or Hove Museum, then either for display in an alternate Council setting or for sale via a dedicated Council website;
· for local residents to be offered a prior chance to purchase these items before they go on general sale;
· the enhanced value that certification of these items can ensure;
· ring-fencing the funds raised from these sales to be allocated for the restoration of items in the public domain and to fund the storage space for such items and items which may be put up for sale.
80.8 The Mayor then called on each of the Group Leaders to confirm their position as well as the Groups in turn followed by each of the Independent Members:
Councillor Mac Cafferty stated that the Green Group were in favour of the motion as amended and this was confirmed by the Green Group Members;
Councillor Platts stated that the Labour Group were in favour of the motion as amended and this was confirmed by the Labour Group Members;
Councillor Bell stated that the Conservative Group were in favour of the motion as amended and this was confirmed by the Conservative Group Members;
Councillor Brennan confirmed that she was voting for the motion as amended;
Councillor Fishleigh confirmed that she was for voting for the motion as amended;
Councillor Janio confirmed that he was voting for the motion as amended;
Councillor Knight confirmed that she was voting for the motion as amended.
80.11 The Mayor confirmed that the motion as amended had been carried.
81 Field Officers
81.1 The Notice of Motion as listed in the agenda was proposed by Councillor Bell on behalf of the Conservative Group and formally seconded by Councillor Lewry.
81.2 Councillor Barnett formally moved a motion on behalf of the Conservatives which was seconded by Councillor Nemeth.
81.3 Councillors Powell, Williams, Simson spoke on the motion and Councillor Bell noted the comments and accepted the amendment to the motion.
81.4 The Mayor then put the amended motion as listed to the vote:
This Council:
1. Seeks urgent confirmation that all 7 FTE Field Officer positions are now filled as set out at TECC Committee on 19th November 2020;
2. Requests assurance that social housing tenants will not be charged for the Field Officer service through the Housing Revenue Account during periods of nonservice through the summer;
3. Notes that a report on the Field Officer programme was presented at TECC Committee on 14th January 2021, after this Notice of Motion was originally scheduled to be discussed; and
4. Calls for a further report at the next meeting of TECC to include (i) a full explanation as to why only 2.5 of the 7 FTE Field Officer positions were filled during the summer and (ii) proposals to address concerns over the effectiveness of the service generally with respect to remit, hours of operation, allocated resources, and ability to respond urgently to unfolding incidents.
81.5 The Mayor called on each of the Group Leaders to confirm their position as well as the Groups in turn and each of the Independent Members:
Councillor Mac Cafferty stated that the Green Group were against the amended motion and this was confirmed by the Members of the Green Group;
Councillor Platts stated that the Labour Group were against the amended motion and this was confirmed by the Members of the Labour Group;
Councillor Bell stated that the Conservative Group where in favour of the amended motion and this was confirmed by the Members of the Conservative Group;
Councillor Brennan confirmed that she was voting against the amended motion;
Councillor Fishleigh confirmed that she was voting against the amended motion;
Councillor Janio confirmed that he was voting for the amended motion;
Councillor Knight confirmed that she was voting against the amended motion.
81.6 The Mayor confirmed that the motion as amended had been lost.
82 Commitment to Helping Those With Hidden Disabilities
82.1 The Notice of Motion as listed in the agenda was proposed by Councillor Powell on behalf of the Green Group and Labour Group and formally seconded by Councillor Williams.
82.2 Councillors Simson and Brennan spoke on the motion and Councillor Powell thanked them for the comments and hoped that the motion would be supported.
82.3 The Mayor then put the motion as listed to the vote:
This Council calls upon:
· All Councillors to officially recognise the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower logo, and to officially promote what it stands for, and its importance in breaking stigma;
· To ask the city council to promote the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower logo, and to promote the message to local businesses to encourage them to formally recognise the scheme;
· To illustrate that the council is supportive of this initiative and that it is ‘Hidden Disability Friendly’, by promoting the Sunflower logo on its buildings so that residents and visitors can identify the council as ‘Hidden Disability Friendly’;
· That further to continued work to ensure improved engagement and support for people with disabilities, to request that TECC commissions an action plan to ensure that the city council sets a strong standard of support for those with disabilities.
82.4 The Mayor called on each of the Group Leaders to confirm their position as well as the Groups in turn and each of the Independent Members:
Councillor Mac Cafferty stated that the Green Group were in favour of the motion and this was confirmed by the Members of the Green Group;
Councillor Platts stated that the Labour Group were in favour of the motion and this was confirmed by the Members of the Labour Group;
Councillor Bell stated that the Conservative Group were in favour of the motion and this was confirmed by the Members of the Conservative Group;
Councillor Brennan confirmed that she was voting for of the motion;
Councillor Fishleigh confirmed that she was voting for the motion;
Councillor Janio confirmed that he was voting for the motion;
Councillor Knight confirmed that she was voting for the motion.
82.5 The Mayor confirmed that the motion had been carried.
83 Close of Meeting
83.1 The Mayor thanked everyone for joining the meeting and formally closed the meeting.
The meeting concluded at 5.39pm.
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Signed
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Chair |
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Dated this |
day of
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2021 |