BRIGHTON & HOVE COUNCIL

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 one Deputation has been received. The spokesperson is entitled to speak for 5 minutes.

(1) Deputation concerning Housing

Spokesperson Jim Deans

Supported by:

1. Charles Harrison 2. Dave Croydon

3. David Thomas 4. Jan Pawluk

5. Barry Hughes

Ward affected: All

Councillor Gibson, Co-Chair of the Housing Committee will reply.

(2) Deputation concerning PAN School Consultation

Spokesperson Abby Kinslow

Supported by:

1. Esther Garibay 2. Craig Watters

3. Emma Watters 4. Reyna Kothari

5. Nicola Alexander Claber 6. C. Alexander Claber

7. Shirley Marsh 8. Laura Bissonnet

9. Adam Brain

Ward affected: All

Councillor Clare, Chair of the Children, Young People & Skills Committee will reply.

(3) Deputation concerning Council Finances

Spokesperson Laura King

Supported by:

1. Peter Harland 2. Gary Ayling

3. Andy Maclay 4. James Forbes

Ward affected: All

Councillor Gibson / Hugh-Jones , Co-Chair of the Housing Committee will reply.

(4) Deputation concerning Elite and Community Use Sports Arena, Brighton & Hove

Spokesperson Ricky Perrin

Supported by:

1. Harriet Cavanagh 2. Dean Coussens

3. Tom Goodridge 4. Phillpa Hodge

5. Melanie Stewart

Ward affected: All

Councillor Osborne / Powell , Co-Chair of the Tourism, Equalities, Communities & Culture Committee will reply.

(1) Deputation concerning Housing

Spokesperson Jim Deans

On 22^nd October 2020 John Hadman’s petition came before you, it has been supported by 4,519 signatures.(It now has over 6000) It was agreed by a majority of councillor members that a 24 x 7 shelter for the homeless would be put in place, yet here we are 13 months later with a more fragmented service than ever.

There is plenty council could be applauded for with an increase in many services at a huge cost we must add but genuine increases in service. Many more organisations including from the voluntary sector have committed to providing services in the city for the homeless, rough sleepers and now refugees. Many millions have been spent yet here we are still no shelter, the reason the shelter is so important is pretty straight forward we function as a hospital without an Accident & Emergency dept. there is no triage, people are left to wander the streets, the current answers just do not work. We have a "Secret SWEP" an emergency protocol that does not have a "turn up location" when SWEP is called people cannot just turn up and get life-saving shelter, they need to go into a data system their details need to be recorded, locations should be found prior and then a small search party is sent out looking for them. Already the council has agreed a few may be missed, is there any justification in leaving people to freeze when a much simpler answer was in place.

SWEP was working the council claimed it was far too popular, is that not a success. The public was made aware at around 12noon voluntary groups went out, social media was used the community joined together and supported the Emergency.

John Hadman’s petition which had councillors support this was months ago and would be a solution if only we take a more proactive and preventative approach. The shelter would be a triage, regardless of who, when or why, It would be there, a focus for the services to work from a secure area supported by "the city". In the City of Sanctuary" where we are welcoming refugees, men. women and children who have travelled thousands of miles to get safety are finding it in Brighton & Hove yet if you are a victim of domestic violence on a Friday night you have nowhere to run to, this is why so many victims return to the perpetrator or are picked up in a worse state by emergency services.

A few days on the street are all it takes to introduce you to cheap drugs or even cheaper alcohol anything to take the mental anguish away for a few hours. Make no mistake every professional I have ever spoken with understands the importance of early intervention, preventing one night is the solution and we must go further.

So Brighton and Hove City Council we urgently call upon you again to ask that you live up to those commitments made toward John Hadman's petition and to your agreement to open a 24 x 7 shelter of safety. As the founder of Sussex Homeless Support, and as a Founder Member of the Brighton & Hove Housing Coalition I will be taking your response back to these organisations and every other Professional & Voluntary groups to mobilise them and achieve what was promised all those months ago.......

(2) Deputation concerning: School Admissions Consultation – reducing PAN at seven Primary Schools across Brighton

Spokesperson Abby Kinslow

Brighton and Hove City Council’s plan for 2020 to 2023 is titled “a fairer city, a sustainable future”. In January, the Children, Young People and Skills Committee will vote on proposals to change primary school admission numbers that contradict that title. There is nothing fair or sustainable about the changes proposed.

· Attempts have been made to reduce larger schools in well-served areas and who knows how far discussions have got with the 40% of schools included in the figures over which the Council has no jurisdiction. But without any success thus far, the Council has now turned to a short-sighted solution – shaving small amounts from smaller schools around the edge of the city where other walkable options do not exist and the residents are less likely, or less able, to object.

· This is not a healthy, long-term strategy for our city… I will briefly suggest that there could be some alternatives.

· If approved, this proposal will increase the attainment gap and fracture local communities – both of which are specifically mentioned as targets for investment in the Council’s plan for the city.

· The larger and more central schools have to be persuasively re-challenged to play their part otherwise many who want to live locally and sustainably soon won’t have a school choice within walking distance at all.

· Pupils will be forced to travel to larger schools further from home because the ones that serve their local communities will have been cut to death, which will continue to exacerbate the problem for years to come.

· Making Brighton Carbon Neutral by 2030 will become impossible.

· Was an Equalities Impact Assessment done in relation to these proposals? As ever, those disproportionately affected by this decision would be those most in need. As an example, Carden’s intake is more diverse than Brighton’s overall population in terms of ethnicity and language.

· Whitehawk, Moulsecoomb and Hollingbury are named in the council’s report as the three areas of highest concentration of deprivation. The first two now have Academy schools. In Hollingbury, Carden remains part of the LA’s family of schools but we feel let down by that family when this proposal is not supported by the Council’s own data, which has not been well applied.

· We would rather support this Council in challenging the Government and the Schools’ Adjudicator head on, than take this reduction without objection.

· This is not a solution that works for Brighton as a whole. The Council’s own priorities are being trampled on. We would urge the Council to ask the CYPS Committee to delay this decision, examine wider data, seek further counsel, and find another way. The path of least resistance is not an acceptable way to serve Brighton and Hove.

Supporting information Item 4 (3)

Financial

As if the pandemic has not crushed the people of Brighton and Hove enough they have seen a 5% Council Tax rise in 2020-2021, (above national inflation rate of 3.8%), including £26m to tackle ‘climate crisis’ when, along with other initiatives, this is not an item listed as part of statutory goods and services so it should not be taken from Council tax, particularly with the risk that statutory goods and services could face cuts as a result.

Rather than have a 2-3 year council tax freeze to recover, the people of Brighton and Hove are now being told they will face another exorbitant 4.99% Council Tax rise for 2021-22 in the post-pandemic recession (also above national inflation rate of 3.8%).

Meantime taxpayers have seen their residential parking permits rise by up to 9% in 2021 (50% extra if they own a vehicle deemed ‘high emissions’ by the city council) and permit renewals have been months late in being issued, resulting in many wrongful parking tickets being issued to residents.

There is confusion over whether the council has a £10m surplus from 2020 or not. It has predicted a £14.839 million and £13.039 million shortfall for 2021-2022 budget www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/news/2020/setting-council-budget-and-council-tax-2021/22-during-covid-19 Or was the £10m surplus used to plug the black hole that is the i360 (estimated to be around £10m) following further payment failures on top of the £36m public works loan.

Why is nearly £400k currently being spent on recruiting travel and transport employees and where is this money coming from? This is in addition to more than £250k of such roles being advertised earlier this year.

A £1.17m loan was taken to invest in Bikeshare (which has removed at least 40 x paid parking spaces around the city, often unnecessarily when a hub could have been sited off-street). BHCC has asked for sponsors yet public bike schemes are proven to be loss-making and have been discontinued in a number of international cities as a result. Who will pay for BikeShare’s planned expansion into Adur and Worthing? Have Adur and Worthing councils agreed to foot the cost for their areas?

New street cycle hangers have been procured (each holding 6 bicycles), which will again result in the loss of paid visitor and resident parking spaces. £500,000 was allocated by the council to provide 100 (which would make them £5k each. Actual cost checked with manufacturer finds they are £3,945 each including installation for single hanger order, (discount for bulk order). But where did BHCC get this money from and where is the surplus money going?

Why are people who walk/cycle already being bribed to do so under BHCC ‘Move for Change’ human tracking scheme and who pays for this? A scheme which discriminates against those unable to walk or cycle and does not meet council EDI commitments.

Meantime we understand that the cost of each new EV dustbin cart is likely to be four times the cost of a diesel dustcart, but further investigation is going on separately.

How much did bin strike cost city and where is that money coming from?

Madeira Terraces restoration fund appears to be missing from Statement of Accounts 2020-21. Where is it and why

are seven teams of consultants needed to use up a large chunk of the £11.2m?

Are Environmental/any bicycle pressure groups acting as council consultants and are they receiving any payment from Council?

Economy

Brighton and Hove is a visitor destination, yet more and more people are swearing never to visit or shop here again. What is BHCC doing to welcome visitors and encourage them to spend their money in the city versus rival towns and cities, particularly now most people are holidaying in the UK?

Visitor parking prices have continued to rise making Brighton and Hove the most expensive city to park in outside London. Furthermore hundreds of paid parking spaces are being removed throughout the city. We now see plans of the Madeira Terraces restoration showing none along that stretch.

What is being done to reinvigorate the night time economy such as minimal or free parking?

Why is Churchill car park now closing at 8pm each night?

How does bus gate profiteering 310 x tickets in one day x £60 each x 365 days = £7,789.000.00 support or attract visitors?

How do planned emissions aka ‘Clean Air Zone’ charges support or attract visitors?

What evidence-based studies have been done on ULEZ’s and re-allocating roads to cycle lanes to prove environmental and user benefit over creation of additional gridlock and pollution?

Conclusion

It is vital that Brighton and Hove citizens see their Councillors working for the city and not against it, particularly if our Councillors keep telling us that central government funding continues to be reduced. In which case BHCC need to account for every penny of our public money and spend it wisely. There must be no more hypocrisy and eco-bullying of us either if we are prepared to draw a line under the following:

Green Council leader Phelim MacCafferty leading by example by taking unnecessary internal flights.

Green Councillors Druitt and Phillips with their second home in France necessitating regular driving and/or flying to and from their property.

Green Councillor Steve Davis working as a Driving Instructor.

Green Councillor Jamie “Cyclists need to reclaim the road from cars” getting caught driving through the bus gate.

Green Councillor Hills driving her child to and from school each day while vigorously endorsing other people’s streets be turned into ‘pocket gardens’.

From now on, all projects need to be accountable and evidence-based with impartial and meaningful resident consultations and surveys to either back them or otherwise.

(4) Deputation: Elite and Community Use Sports Arena, Brighton & Hove.

Spokesperson Ricky Perrin

We aim to provide the community of Brighton and Hove with a sport and leisure arena in the city that can:

• Provide a home court for top flight British Basketball in Brighton & Hove.

• Organise, promote and develop various indoor sports leagues to maximise sport participation, with a centre that opens 363 days a years, from 7am-11pm, and to offer residents access to it at an affordable cost.

• Sponsor and support a range of sports and community events each year.

• Provide a regional development facility for basketball with the capacity to stage high profile under-age Internationals, regional events, and Basketball England finals.

• Provide a base for Bears Basketball elite programme for boys & girls, men & women, currently scattered across a multitude of sites across Sussex.

• Provide a centre for the Sussex Bears wheelchair basketball and aid their increased participation, talent development and games for disabled participants.

According to Sport England’s report in 2019, Basketball is the second biggest team sport after football in the UK - ahead of rugby. 58% of basketball adult players are from BAME backgrounds, the most for any major sport. Basketball has also seen an increase of 15% in participation in 2019 amongst young people and enjoys considerable participation in our existing facilities – both indoor and outdoor.

The arena will enable additional access and opportunities of a major team sport, with all the positive modeling of a team environment, to more of the cities schools. Further provision wil allow us to expand our existing partnerships with schools, universities, and colleges: community groups, disability groups, crime prevention and minority groups – basketball reaches parts of the community that other sports do not reach!

Brighton is in dire need of modern sports facilities. In July 2021 the Councils “Sports facilities Investment Plan” report showed that they needed investment and improvement, In the Councils July P&R committee meeting we invited the council to visit basketball community facilities built in other regions of the UK and are operated without any financial input from the local council.

In October 2021, 2 councilors from this city came to Leicester to witness comparable indoor sports facilities. The Morningside Arena operates with 75% community use. They are classed as education facilities, as well as multi sport venues that can host a range of national and international indoor sporting events, from national qualifiers to world championships.

By providing indoor, affordable sport and leisure facilities in Brighton and Hove we serve the objective of the city in promoting health and fitness to our residents. We create a venue that can encourage our residents to aspire to elite sports – British Basketball for men and women, Super League Netball – alongside a hub for community and disability sports to be used by schools, universities and community groups.

We request the Council asks the TECC committee to identify and report on suitable sites within the City that could provide for leisure development of an arena with a seating capacity IRO 4,000.

Supporting information Item 4 (4)

BBL Basketball is a buy in franchise – no relegation like football Premier League

BBL Basketball comes with huge number of community benefits (mirrors the Premier League KICKS program in Football) https://newcastle-eagles.com/community/

Wheelchair basketball biggest entry to most Paralympic Athletes.

Support already given by 4 x NGBs: British Basketball League, Basketball England, British Wheelchair Basketball, England Netball.

CEO of Leicester Riders Foundation Kevin Routledge MBE has supported us throughout the process and Kevin is working with several other councils to help copy the community based business model he has in Leicester.

Coast to Capital the LEP has met with the Bears and are aware of the commercial, employment, and financial impact this project can have to the city of Brighton and Hove.

Brighton Chamber of Commerce has also been consulted on the benefits to Brighton and Hove this community sports facility will offer.

One of these facilities with the exact dimensions of Newcastle Eagles community Arena would fit on Black Rock once the enabling works is finished.

There is a 13 month build time for this community sports facility.

Employment / Apprenticeships – in addition to jobs of the build and running of the facility, the long term athletes as we do not currently a Bears BBL / WBBL teams even more jobs would be created above the business plans of Leicester Riders or Newcastle Eagles as those teams were already running when they built those facilities, then we add in the “Bears in the Community” program that takes basketball into schools and the community (in the same way that Albion in the Community do with BAHFC) currently Albion in the Community have 155 employees and a turnover of £3mil delivering £28 million of social impact.

Links to NHS, medical rehabilitation, universities, schools have already been part of the Bears over the last 4 years as the Bears are run as a social enterprise.

____________________________________________________________________

Notes from Leicester Facility Visit– from Cllr Martin Osborne

125 year lease, Rent £40k p.a. to the council No other subsidies from the council

Funding?

Sport England £1.25m … Newcastle also claimed this so precedent for Brighton.

LEP £1m (job creation formula about this- how many staff? 12 full time staff, 20-30 part time)

College £0.5m … for access to courts during the day

Scavenged other costs from deals with sponsors in return for free services etc.

Naming rights?

Overall build cost? £4.6m (80% less than Sport England’s consultant said- or is that 80% of original anticipated cost?)

Decontamination costs £880k- lot less than anticipated- how far do you go? You can never decontaminate fully and further you go more expensive it gets …

Operation?

Opened in Jan 2016

70-80% community sports 7am to 11pm everyday (costs them, the charity, £0.25m)- FE college directly opposite.

They have created a sustainable market for events- how many per year? Webber Cup, Open snooker, boxing, darts etc. 70-100 events- all at weekend. Also have regular Bollywood events on Sunday’s, large Indian community and Golden Mile nearby. Exhibitions can be hosted in the main hall.

Accessible by public transport, most travel by this. Electric bike scheme to come to support this further.

Licensing arrangement until late 3am- no residents close by

Charity foundation runs the venue- £0.5m turnover

Facilities?

3 enlarged courts 240m2

Extended netball court- flexible painting and markings for many sports.

4 sided seating- main stands just under 1000, with smaller stands either side.

Capacity? Max 3000 (dictated by fire regs) flexible seating units, all cushioned, 1m apart so spacious.

Bar space balconies to overlook venue above storage space, closed during covid but normally used by sponsors.

Plans to extend out with several more courts so can continue sports whilst hosting events

LED lighting- enough for super slow motion TV

Ventilation- basic slots in side and fans attached to lower costs.

Solar scheme on roof- £16k income per year via grid.

Two big screens either side which enables them to do the Bollywood events and show big adverts/videos etc.

Marquee at the side set up during covid to increase space, entry point, selling alcohol/drinks

Hallway on entrance side

4 changing rooms , A disabled changing rooms

Above hallway on first floor, one long meeting rooms with sliding doors to divide into smaller rooms, kitchen at one end, bar at other.

Fitness suite at end used by players, college students etc.

Street art on back

Equalities?

7 8 and 9- lowest socio-economic background on SE ratings play basketball

DCMS 11-15 year olds play basketball (2nd after football)

Spectator sports … mainly not competing with pop concerts although happy to facilitate events if other venues can’t!

BBL? K2 in Crawley- 1500 seats minimum, Netball super league- play at BACA. Nearest one Guildford, Wheelchair rugby, Karate/martial arts, Boxing, Snooker/pool, Darts, 10 pin bowling, Street dance, Extreme rock climbing

(1) Deputation concerning Housing

(3) Deputation concerning Council Finances