Council

Agenda Item 40

Subject:                    Petition for Debate

Date of meeting:    19 October 2023

Report of:                 Executive Director for Governance, People & Resources

Contact Officer:      Name: Anthony Soyinka

                                    Tel: 01273 291006

                                    Email: anthony.soyinka@brighton-hove.gov.uk

Ward(s) affected:   All

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 2054 signatures confirmed at the time of printing the report.

2.      RECOMMENDATIONS:

2.1 That the petition is noted and referred to the Transport & Sustainability Committee for consideration.

3.       RELEVANT BACKGROUND INFORMATION / CHRONOLOGY OF KEY EVENTS:

3.1 The Petition: No to ULEZ or other discriminatory traffic schemes in Brighton and Hove

Lead petitioner: Laura King

We the undersigned petition Brighton & Hove Council to scrap proposals to charge drivers for driving in Brighton and Hove in legally-owned vehicles which have passed their emissions tests or be discriminated against via LTN traffic obstruction schemes in the course of our daily lives and businesses.

The proposed ULEZ and LTN schemes are both unnecessary - as Brighton and Hove is not a high-emissions industrial city but a breezy seaside city - and discriminatory to those who can least afford it - i.e. sole traders and single mothers.

Moreover vehicles are already moving over to EV, rendering all such schemes unjustifiable. Please scrap them.

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 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:

(v) (a) Any amendments in the order in which they are moved, and

(b) The substantive recommendation(s) as amended (if amended).