Date of meeting: 14 November 2023

The question will be answered without discussion. The person who asked the question may ask one relevant supplementary question, which shall be put and answered without discussion. The person to whom a question, or supplementary question, has been put may decline to answer it.

The following written questions have been received from Members:

(1) Councillor Pickett- Storm Ciarán

What effort was made by the Council to inform the public, in good time, about possible preparatory actions needed to cope with the impact of Storm Ciarán? For example, at what point before the storm were residents told to not leave bins out? At what point was it communicated publicly by the Council that public toilets would be closed?

(2) Councillor Pickett- Brighton Reimagined

With regard to your planned Brighton Reimagined meetings, the first meeting is about graffiti. As this is a council event, many questions present themselves: what is the budget and where is it coming from? How will findings be used? How is the council ensuring a plurality of diverse voices are represented at these meetings? How does this relate to the recently published graffiti strategy and consultation? How was it decided this was the most pressing environmental issue to cover in a community meeting?

(3) Councillor Meadows- Flooding

In November 2000 a scrutiny was requested and granted to look at the flooding across the city including Patcham. During the panel discussions the Southern Water Waste Water Manager advised the Panel "that the storm water network was neither designed nor expected to cope with the volume of surface runoff and groundwater infiltration carried by the system towards the end of 2000”. The Waste Water Manager also reported that the “main strategic sewer network was sufficient for the needs of extrapolated local population levels for the next 20 years”.

23 years on with the flooding and sewage levels in Patcham rising it is clear that that the sewer system is no longer sufficient for Patcham’s needs, so my question would be what actions is the council going to take, as many of the actions from the scrutiny were not completed