DEPUTATIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
A period of not more than fifteen minutes shall be allowed at each ordinary meeting of the Council for the hearing of deputations from members of the public. Each deputation may be heard for a maximum of five minutes following which one Member of the Council, nominated by the Mayor, may speak in response. It shall then be moved by the Mayor and voted on without discussion that the spokesperson for the deputation be thanked for attending and its subject matter noted.
Notification of five Deputations have been received. The spokesperson is entitled to speak for 5 minutes.
(1) Deputation concerning the Climate Change
Spokesperson – Alison Plaumer
Supported by:
Ruth Buckley –Salmon Ben Phillips
Tammie Cook- Duncan Alison Plaumer
Simon Hyde Sara Winnington
Richard Michalec Terezia Lengyelova
Ward affected: All
Councillor Clare, Chair of the Children, Young People & Skills Committee will reply.
(2) Deputation concerning the Hospital Trusts Merger
Spokesperson – Madeleine Dickens
Supported by:
Michael Foulkes Liz Williamson
Al Ferguson Sue Bowes
Linda Miller
Ward affected: All
Councillor Evans, Chair of the Health, Overview & Scrutiny Committee will reply.
(3) Deputation concerning Integrated Care Systems: What we can discern so far
Spokesperson – Ken Kirk
Supported by:
Taraneh Ahmadi Parker Ray Parker,
Clare Jones Janet Sang
Valerie Mainstone
Ward affected: All
Councillor Shanks, Chair of the Health & Wellbeing Board will reply.
(4) Deputation concerning Student Stikes and Student Accommodation
Spokesperson – Billie Krish
Supported by:
Roseanne Steffen Liam Pem
Aaron Williams Joan Laycock
Rachael Vowden Miles Ratcliff
Jacob Whitea Kit Gidley
Porya Caspar Pourandi Thaddeus Pawluski
Connor Moylett Daron Coaker
Ward affected: All
Councillor Hugh-Jones, Joint Chair of the Housing Committee will reply.
(5) Deputation concerning Homeless Bill of Rights for Brighton & Hove
Spokesperson – David Thomas
Supported by:
Jim Deans
Barry Hughes
David Croydon
Daniel Harris
Pauline O'Connor
Ward affected: All
Councillor Gibson, Joint Chair of the Housing Committee will reply.
Deputation concerning Climate Change
Spokesperson – Alison Plaumer
“Animal agriculture and fishing industries are leading causes of deforestation, ocean dead zones, water pollution, biodiversity loss, and species extinction. Not only that, intensive animal farming poses has a significant threat for the development of new pandemics, and for furthered antibacterial resistance to emerge.”
· Enfieldcouncil has stopped serving meat at its council events
· Lewisham council has voted to provide exclusively plant-based options at theirs.
· Leeds council have taken measures to introduce one meat-free day and another fully plant-based day per week across 182 schools.
Our request
We
request that B&H Council implement a carefully managed
transition to at least 2 plant-based days in all state-run schools
as soon as is practically possible. We also request that all
council run events be plant based (post pandemic) plus any other
council run establishments (e.g. day centres etc ).
In
addition, we also request that B&H Council lobby central
government to revise the current National food standards for school
children in line with sustainability targets, so they include up to
date scientific evidence, such as reducing the amount of animal
based foods, and increasing plant based foods to effectively reduce
personal carbon footprints.
We are a small number of signatories who represent a growing number of residents frightened of the approaching climate chaos, and want to do everything in our power to help reduce the impact for future generations.
Additional / supporting evidence
Please see below a small collection of evidence, from the overwhelming amount of evidence that supports this request.
1/ Climate emissions from food
A 2018 Oxford study stated that the biggest change we can all make to reduce our environmental impact is to adopt a plant-based diet
Schools need plant-based day (soilassociation.org)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lrJYTsKdUM&feature=youtu.be
The EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health - EAT Knowledge (eatforum.org)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/19C8-Zw-ScQDEMK0rvgPEkj8w8rtD9sCz/view?usp=drivesdk
2/ Children’s health
Lots of studies cite the negative health consequences of animal produce, please see a selection below;
The consumption of LDL cholesterol, only found in animal based foods, contributes to development of atherosclerosis. A Harvard Nurse’s Health study, showed that consuming the amount of cholesterol found in a single egg a day, appeared to cut a woman’s life short as much as smoking 5 cigarettes a day for 15 years. Studies also show that atherosclerosis begins in childhood, with nearly all western children as young as 10 being found with fatty streaks in their arteries, the level of which is directly correlated to the amount of LDL cholesterol found in their diet. Inflammation and stiffening of the arteries occurs within minutes of consuming the bacterial endotoxins found in animal products, predisposing children to the development of arterial occlusion and insulin resistance. The World Health Organisation categorises processed meat as a class 1 carcinogen and another Harvard health studyfound a single serving of processed meat a day increased a person’s risk of diabetes by 51%.
Additionally, there is no strong link between milk consumption and bone health, in fact scientific evidence points to the opposite, that increased dairy consumption is linked to osteoporosis and hip fractures. A 2020 study revealed that consuming one glass of milk a day increased a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer by 50% and 2-3 cups increased risk by 80%.
The current School Food Standards Guiderequire ‘a portion of meat or poultry on three or more days each week & oily fish once or more every three weeks.’ The reason given is that this provides ‘protein and essential minerals, including iron and zinc. Oily fish provides omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins A and D’. Similarly, the standards say that dairy products should be available on a daily basis as they are‘a rich source of energy, protein, calcium, vitamin A and riboflavin’.
As you know these can all be found in plant based foods, and the same guideline. We are lobbying to change this outdated guidance.
3/ BAME community
In addition, it is estimated 65% of the world’s population are lactose intolerant, the majority of whom are of BAME descent. As such, there is an inherent racism to have national food standards that, if followed, would make the majority of people of colour ill.
Plant based foods suit all diet types, as well as religious dietary guidelines e.g. halal
4/ Local Brighton community / parents
Lots of Brighton’s vegan parents want this to happen in schools (Please see recent campaign by a Brighton mum) Plant-powered Mum Launches Schools Campaign For Vegan-inclusion | Vegan Life Magazine .
I have a petition supporting this on the council website
5/ What children want
“People’s Climate Vote”, UN Development Programme, 27th Jan 2021
86% of young people (under 18) in the UK believe climate change is a global emergency.
Of the people that said climate change is a global emergency, 59% said the world should do everything necessary and urgently in response.
Plus 43% of people in the UK, said in this report, they believe we should promote plant-based diets to tackle the climate crisis
6/ Resilience in a changing world
Children learn habits at a young age.
Given the worlds resources have been, and are dwindling since 2008, learning to eat whole food plant based food as a much larger portion of daily food intake is a necessity, which is much less resource intense .
Plant based foods are cheaper
7/ Help from professional organisations
https://proveg.com/uk/ This fabulous organisation can help with this. They go, into schools, work with chefs, organise fun events for children, help those delivering more plant based meals with the importance of messaging, and much more.
They can provide menu consultation packages to suit the needs of each council. This includes menu planning, recipe ideas, chef training, impact assessments, parent communications, and PR support.
Home - Plant Based Health Professionals UK Health professionals who can help
Feed Our Future: Plant Based Meals In Schools Useful web site
8/ Our Local MP
We wrote to our MP Caroline Lucas in January 2021 about this. A quote from her email:
“I think we need to utterly transform our food production systems. In my work as your MP I will be using the remaining stages of the Environment Bill to advocate for a food production system designed to maximise human health, animal health and the health of our ecosystems.”
9/ Youtube video
Please wach the video - https://youtu.be/dcVC4RmEJZA
Deputation concerning Hospital Trusts Merger
Spokesperson – Madeleine Dickens
The proposed merger of the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust and Western Sussex hospitals NHS Foundation Trusts is intended to serve a population of 1.8 million people in the region extending from Emsworth on the Sussex/Hampshire border to Brighton and Hove and beyond. It will create a mega-trust involving five hospitals (with implications for those not included), employing some 20,000 staff, with a budget of £1.2 billion. The merger takes place in the middle of a pandemic. NHS staff are over-stretched and exhausted; hospitals still filled to capacity, patient waiting lists soaring, private sector encroachment rapidly increasing. Our publicly provided health services have never been more vulnerable.
We have asked for this deputation to Full Council for two main reasons.
1) Up to the last minute the merger plans have been developed in near-total secrecy – the full business case only just being released. The case is in fact nothing more or less than a replica of NHS England Long Term plan based on the long-discredited STP. The Trusts have refused calls for public or staff consultation on the grounds that the merger will not involve major service changes. We ask how such a mega-merger takes place without radical reconfiguration of acute health services?
2) The exclusion of the Local Authority from decisions around this merger raises grave concerns about the erosion of the LA role in the provision and maintenance of fully accessible, open to all health services in the city and the erosion of local democracy itself.
There are rumours of impacts on existing provision in the city. It is certain there will be serious implications for NHS staff with concerns about the undermining of Agenda for Change contracts and conditions. For patients and their families, with increased catchment areas for some services, and poor public transport connections, the most vulnerable and least mobile residents will be severely disadvantaged. See notes.
A King’s fund report (from 2015) examined 20 mergers of NHS trusts and foundation trusts. A total of £2bn was spent on 12 hospital mergers. In many cases there was “no clear rationale” for the merger. There were furthermore serious weaknesses in the assessment of alternative options and in the actual case of merging. Specifically -
- increasing evidence that Trust mergers do not deliver financial benefits
- “little recognition” of the disadvantages in creating larger, complex organisations which act as a barrier to comprehensive and fully accessible service delivery.
A main rationale given by the Trusts is that “A single trust provides a new certainty for patients, staff and the hospitals, paving the way for service improvements that deliver the ambitions of the NHS Long Term Plan and Sussex Integrated Care System”. This statement clearly illustrates the political and economic motives behind the merger. The NHS is a public service and as such, particularly with an initiative with such massive implications for health, treatment and survival of city residents there should be complete transparency. We therefore urge Councillors to agree to undertake the following actions:
1) The Leader of the Council, Chief Executive, Chairs of HWB and HOSC be authorised to write to the Chief Executive of both Western Sussex NHS Foundation Hospital Trust and BSUHT to demand:
- Full public consultation and the carrying out of impact assessments in relation to the impact of the merger on the city. That no further action should be taken towards implementation until both have been completed and the results published.
2) The Chair of the HOSC request that the Chief Executive and senior management team be called to answer questions about the detail and impact of the full business case.
NOTES
Link for the Hospital Trust merger business case - https://www.westernsussexhospitals.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/FBC-Merger-of-BSUH-with-WSHFT-FINAL-ABRIDGED-1.pdf
King’s Fund report - https://www.nationalhealthexecutive.com/Health-Care-News/nhs-mergers-cost-billions-but-dont-solve-issues-they-were-created-to-address--think-tank
Quote from the Kings Fund report - “Our review of the financing for recent mergers highlights both the huge size of the financing packages and the small amounts of funding allocated to activities related to the merger. It adds further weight to our suspicions that mergers are not needed and fail to address the root causes of providers’ difficulties in many cases. It also suggests that organisations might be pursuing mergers primarily as a route for securing large financing packages, rather than because of the supposed benefits of the transaction”.
Lack of meaningful consultation with staff or public Attempts by trade unions to raise substantive issues around the merger have been met the response that the merger will go ahead regardless. Many NHS staff are still unaware the merger is even happening, let alone the implications for their jobs. Western Sussex NHS Foundation Trust has been one of the major proponents in the English NHS of the “Lean (also known as the Toyota) Method” of operational organisation, collaborating closely with the US-based Virginia Mason Institute. Evaluation of “Lean” literature. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4833201/
Centralisation and so-called rationalisation of services will inevitably mean enforced staff re-deployments to different parts of the region and possibly redundancies. For some time NHS England has been promoting the importance of a more flexible workforce with all that implies. There are serious concerns that existing contracts and Agenda for Change conditions and pay arrangements will be undermined and limited notice transfers to other posts and parts of the merged region will become the norm.
Issues facing the public - catchment areas for main services and travel distances will be massively increased - made worse by the below par transport arrangements between the two counties. This has implications for patient care and is likely to put lives at risk. Those without cars or the money to pay for local transport let alone taxis, who are often in the most vulnerable categories, will be severely disadvantaged.
Down-grading of facilities, mergers and closures across the region and in Brighton and Hove. In one example, it has been strongly rumoured, not denied that the Sussex Eye Hospital will be moved from its present premises.
Private sector involvement Obviously the extensive, highly preferential distribution of contracts to private companies which has been taking place under the cover of the pandemic has accelerated the existing dependence of the NHS on private sector involvement. Given the state of non-Covid waiting lists and the need for Long Covid provision, locally and across the region such involvement is likely to become normalised. The proposed Integrated Care system and partnership arrangements will place private sector interests at the heart of decision making about health services across the city. As one of the most powerful players (if not the most) on those boards the merged Trusts (with already well-established private involvements) will be placed in a stronger position to promote the agenda for privatisation of local and regional health services.
Spokesperson – Ken Kirk
References to the D of H&SC recent White Paper are identified thus 5.6, in italics.
1. The end of a health service driven by patient demand. Under ICS, health services will be to limited by allocated financial totals.
2. The clear purpose is to bear down on cost. Control of funding is central to the idea of an ICS, see Supporting Note A.
3. Deficits currently accrued by hospital trusts owing to recent underfunding won’t be possible; hospitals will be forced to limit its work to allocated funding.
4. ICSs are based on US Accountable Care. Despite claiming to ‘integrate’ health and social care services for the benefit of patients there is little explanation of integration or how it’s to be achieved in the White Paper.
5. White Paper news headlines claimed an end to privatisation (see Supporting Note C). On the contrary, the Health Services Support Framework allows ICSs to contract without tender with hundreds of private firms (see Supporting Note B).
6. Commissioning will be removed from the scope of Public Contracts Regulations 2015. This law ensures the inclusion of social, ethical and environmental aspects, implying the move from a regulated to an unregulated market. 5.46 – 7.
7. There will be a Sussex-wide ICS NHS body and a separate ICS Health and Care Partnership. With CCGs will be abolished the ICS NHS body will be the sole commissioner. Its board will comprise a chair, a CEO, representatives from trusts and General Practice and local authorities. The board can appoint others, for example management consultants and executives from private firms but not members of the public it serves. 5.6 – 5.8 and 618 – 6.22.
8. Local authorities will lose the power to refer health issues to “avoid creating conflicts of interest” 5.84.
9. Exact local authority representation on the ICS NHS body isn’t specified in the White Paper.
10. The ICS Health and Care Partnership with promote planning for health and social care needs, members drawn from local H&WB Boards etc.6.20.
11. There’s no patient involvement in the provision of health services. The ICS NHS body will operate in secret, will be under no obligation to hold meetings in public, or to publish minutes.
12. The ICS will be to seek opportunities to bear down on costs, likely achieved by –
a. Limitation to the range of health services under the NHS. Already certain procedures are now denied under the NHS. (see Supporting note D). This is likely to be extended. Denial of care will become commonplace.
b. Rationing of care, when an allocated budget for a procedure is exhausted.
c. Diverting patients into cheaper procedures. (see Supporting Note E)
d. Extending care at home as an alternative to hospital care.
e. Using technology as an alternative to face-to-face consultations and widespread use of lower level of medical qualified clinician (see Supporting Note F).
13.An ICS will be allowed to “negotiate” local terms and conditions of their workers’ employment, the Agenda for Change is likely to be under threat.
14. Professional regulation is certain to be under attack. The Secretary of State will have the power to “remove a profession from regulation” (5.154) and will be able to “abolish a regulator by secondary legislation” (5.155).
A. The annual NHS budget is a large spend at around £130 billion. However UK spent the least per capita on healthcare in 2017 when compared with Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the US. The taxation burden is lower too.
https://www.bmj.com/content/367/bmj.l6326
The Health Services Support Framework is a list of accredited mainly private companies that an ICS can contract with, under specified purposes. Click on each Lot in https://www.england.nhs.uk/hssf/use-framework/ to see each list, many US based.
B. Section 75 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 is to be abolished, commissioners will no longer have to offer contracts to tender. However, under new legislation ICSs can contract without open tender to private firms listed in the HSSF, see Note B above.
C. The medical services recently excluded can be found by searching for “Sussex CCG Clinically Effective Commissioning Programme”.
D. Just as currently GP referrals to hospitals are interrupted into less-costly alternatives, e.g. physiotherapy, so an ICS will extend alternative referral pathways in pursuit of cost cutting.
E. The necessity of pandemic social distancing has introduced widespread use of phone consultations in both primary and secondary care, also introduced has been the electronic transfer of photos to clinicians to assist diagnosis. An ICS is certain to extend technological innovation, particularly where it cut costs, irrespective of whether it serves its public better.
Spokesperson – Billie Krish
This written summary is submitted in support of our deputation concerning student rent strikes and private student accommodation in Brighton & Hove.
We wish to raise your urgent attention to the specific situation facing students in halls of residence at the University of Sussex and the University of Brighton, as well as students with private landlords in our city.
Summary of events:
Council will be well aware that in the run up to the 2020/21 academic year, students across the country were encouraged to come to campuses and into private student accommodation on the promise of proper teaching programmes, delivered in person as far as possible. Council will also be aware that the Government released guidance just days before term which tossed these plans out of the window and resulted in thousands of students being misled into accommodation where they were more at risk of COVID-19, more likely to be isolated and face challenges to their mental health and where they would have to pay already unfair and extortionate rents but for accommodation which they did not require and for many, which they would actually be advised against taking up residence in.
Here in Brighton & Hove and following a lack of action from management at the University of Sussex to remedy the financial and welfare concerns of students, the Sussex Renters Union publicly called for a rent strike in December 2020.
The Sussex Renters Union has a list of six demands, some which include: allowing students to exit their tenancy contracts without penalty, a fifty percent rent reduction for the academic year and no COVID-19 job losses on campus. Sussex Renters Union voices concern towards the University of Sussex’s decision to increase rents for students in halls for the next academic year. This is in addition to the removal of Park Village, a £95 a week accommodation, leaving the next most affordable accommodation - Norwich House - at £118.50 a week. We believe the lack of affordability may drive some students away from living on campus. Sussex Renters Union was pivotal in applying pressure onto the University for a rent rebate for the 2021 lockdown period. However, we are petitioning for it to be applied to all students universally. Students have also faced a range of accommodation issues including mould, damp walls and ceilings, leaks, silverfish and rats. The slow response of the University to these issues has led to many students living in unbecoming conditions.
We ask the council to consider:
- What steps it may take in calling on the University of Sussex to maintain recent engagement and the University of Brighton to begin similar cooperation with student rent strikers.
- Requesting the appropriate persons at the council to write to the Minister of State for Universities demanding full and proper financial support for students, to call on universities to cancel rents and provide the necessary financial support our universities require so they need not exploit students in order to survive.
- Bringing a motion (similar to that already brought before Bristol City Council) requesting the appropriate persons write to student landlords and accommodation providers in Brighton & Hove imploring them to take advantage of Government aid that would enable rent reductions and contract releases for students in private accommodation who have not been in occupation during this lockdown.
- Referring this deputation to the Housing Committee for further consideration.
Spokesperson – David Thomas
We, Brighton & Hove Housing Coalition, very much liked the European Homeless Bill of Rights, which was drawn up in consultation with organisations of homeless people. It is a compilation of basic rights from European and international human rights law made highly specific to the situation of homeless people. It starts with Article 1, which is a restatement of the right to a home. It does not seek to accept or institutionalise homelessness; that there is homelessness is already a breach of this fundamental right. It also contains some highly specific rights. No-one should ever be forced to sleep rough. Everyone should have access to sanitary facilities and fresh water. Homeless people should have the same right of access to public spaces as everyone else. There should be respect for their privacy and data, and they should not be discriminated against.
After consultation with our local rough sleepers, with FEANTSA’s agreement, we amended the European document a little to make the English more colloquial without changing the meaning, and we added two extra Articles; the right to respect for belongings and the right to have the deaths of homeless people recorded and investigated.
On 28th October 2018 the Brighton & Hove Homeless Bill of Rights was launched, at the Sunday Street Kitchen and at Brighthelm Centre. All three local MPs and Arch Healthcare sent supportive messages and Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP joined us at the Street Kitchen. Our much missed chair, Steve Parry, chaired the launch, and Maria Jose Aldanas of FEANTSA and Jamie Burton of Just Fair came and spoke in support. Many of the councillors presently serving the city were present, from Labour, Green and Conservative parties.
Both the Green and Labour Parties pledged to adopt the Homeless Bill of Rights in their manifestos. Following the election, we presented a petition with more than 2,500 signatures to Full Council on 25th June 2019, which was welcomed by speeches from all three parties. Accordingly the Council Plan 2019-23 states that “We will … adopt a Bill of Rights for homeless people”. The Homeless Bill of Rights was incorporated into the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2020-25 as an aspiration and a standard against which the Council and its partners will judge its policies and practices.
The Homeless Bill of Rights comes before Full Council now for adoption. It has been accepted by officers, the legal department, and the Housing Committee. Last autumn, it had been adopted by nine European cities, including Barcelona and Santiago de Compostela in Spain and Gdansk in Poland. Since then, it has been sweeping through Greece, where 35 cities (including Thessaloniki and Korinthos) have so far adopted it; as they say, “for these municipalities, endorsing the bill is only a starting point for continuous commitment, improvement, and engagement to defend rights of homeless people”. Councillors, it is time for the City of Brighton & Hove to become the first UK city to adopt the Homeless Bill of Rights!
This appendix introduces the organisations involved in the Brighton & Hove Homeless Bill of Rights.
We are a coalition of activists and organisations campaigning on housing issues in Brighton & Hove. Our coalition includes people who have experienced homelessness and activists who work with rough sleepers on a daily basis, including Sussex Homeless Support, ETHRAG, and Opsafe. We are involved in campaigns including the Brighton General Hospital Campaign, AGHAST (Brighton Gasworks campaign), SHS’s homeless pods, and in support of Arch Healthcare’s plans for a homelessness hub.
And, of course, we launched the Homeless Bill of Rights for Brighton & Hove. The full story of that campaign may be found on https://homelessrights.org.uk.
FEANTSA is the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless. We are the only European NGO focusing exclusively on the fight against homelessness. Our ultimate goal is an end to homelessness in Europe.
Established in 1989, FEANTSA brings together non-profit services that support homeless people in Europe. We have over 130 member organisations from 30 countries, including 28 Member States. Most are national or regional federations.
FEANTSA launched the European Homeless Bill of Rights in 2017 in co-ordination with Housing Rights Watch.
Housing Rights Watch is an interdisciplinary European network of associations, lawyers and academics from different countries, who are committed to promoting the right to housing. The right to housing has been recognised as one of the most important fundamental human rights and what we seek is the realisation of every person’s right to live in dignity and to have a secure, adequate and affordable place to live.
Registered as a charity since 2011, Just Fair exists to realise a fairer and more just society in the UK by monitoring and advocating the protection of economic and social rights (ESR).
Just Fair is committed to increasing public awareness of international and domestic human rights law and the capability to use it. Just Fair is also devoted to the advancement of high-quality thinking, training and practice to ensure that ESR are respected, protected and fulfilled.
This appendix sets out a few of the endorsements our campaign has received so far, mostly around the launch and the presentation of the petition.
All three sent their endorsement and support to the launch.
Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP: “Hopefully, Brighton and Hove City Council can lead the way by adopting the Bill of Rights in full and set an example for other councils across the country to follow. I really congratulate the campaigners who have built support for this initiative, and well done to everyone here today - I will continue to support you in the fight for a just housing system across our city and our country.”
Caroline Lucas MP: “I support the Bill of Rights, not just because of its aims and the urgent need to change our housing policy and address the housing crisis. I support the Bill because we need to end the merry-go-round of local authorities absolving themselves of responsibility to provide accommodation by saying they have no legal duty. For too long, in both our national and local housing policies, moral duty has been starkly absent. … I hope that like other cities in Europe, Brighton and Hove leads the way in the UK by adopting the Homeless Bill of Rights.”
Freek Spinnewijn, Director of FEANTSA, wrote a letter to the Leader of the Council:
“On behalf of FEANTSA, the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless, I hereby invite you to endorse the Homeless Bill of Rights in Brighton and Hove. … We at FEANTSA strongly believe that cities must play a critical role in recognising and vindicating the human rights of all citizens. Endorsing the bill entails an explicit support by the city for the European campaign and the start of a change of policy in the city around homelessness. We encourage the City of Brighton and Hove to commit to the Homeless Bill of Rights and for it to be translated into firm actions to promote and respect its values.”
Koldo Casla, Policy Director of Just Fair:
“The reality of homelessness is the UK is a painful reminder of why, now more than ever, we need to secure the right to adequate housing and other social rights in law and practice. As observed by the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, Leilani Farha, “effective implementation of the right to adequate housing cannot be achieved without the proactive involvement of local and subnational governments.” We very much welcome the Homeless Bill of Rights of Brighton & Hove. Even within the limits of diminishing resources, local authorities have the opportunity and responsibility to fulfil the right to adequate housing and other human rights for all without discrimination of any kind.”