Date of meeting: 5 December 2024

A maximum period of fifteen minutes in total shall be made available at each meeting of the Executive for questions from Members of the Council.

The questions included on the list of questions referred to above shall be taken as read at the Cabinet meeting. The question will be answered either orally or at the discretion of the Chair by a written answer circulated after the meeting. Officers may assist the Leader or a Cabinet Member with technical answers to questions. No supplementary questions shall be permitted.

The following written questions have been received from Members:

(1) Councillor Meadows- School Admission Arrangements 2026-27

Do the proposed changes to the PAN for secondary schools mean children living next door to their first or second choice will lose their place in favour of a child with higher priority needs who has to travel across the city?

(2) Councillor Meadows - School Admission Arrangements 2026-27

Dorothy Stringer and Blatchington Mill school are both losing places. Does this make it even more likely that local children will lose their place to children with higher priority needs?

(3) Councillor Meadows- School Admission Arrangements 2026-27

Why is Longhill School, which serves a poorer community, having more places removed than schools in more privileged locations?

(4) Councillor Meadows- School Admission Arrangements 2026-27

How many children do we expect will have higher priority and will be able to move outside their catchment area? Will this in effect remove the need for catchment areas?

(5) Councillor Meadows- School Admission Arrangements 2026-27

How will the free school meal data (available in March 2025) impact on these catchment area changes? Why are these catchment area changes being implemented (in February 2025) before we have free school meal data?

(6) Councillor Meadows- School Admission Arrangements 2026-27

How can we be confident that our PAN reductions are in the right areas?

(7) Councillor Meadows- School Admission Arrangements 2026-27

Are we concerned that the new admission priority 6 will undermine the four schools it affects, and is it essentially indicating a loss of confidence in these school’s ability to provide a good education?

(8) Councillor Meadows- School Admission Arrangements 2026-27

The proposed system of allocating places seems to be more complex than the current one. How will parents have confidence in knowing where their child will go to school?

(9) Councillor McNair- City Parks Service Standards 2025/26

Can the council guarantee that Patcham & Hollingbury and Westdene & Hove Park Wards will have their verges cut 6 times per year as outlined in the report (paragraph 3.6) as opposed to the usual two?

(10) Councillor McNair- City Parks Service Standards 2025/26

Can the council confirm that lawn graves in Patcham & Hollingbury and Westdene & Hove Park Wards will receive 10 cuts per year as stated in the report (paragraph 3.34)?

(11) Councillor Hill- School Admission Arrangements 2026-27

Young parents under 35 years old were underrepresented in the consultation at only 3.2% of respondents. Many other groups such as care experienced individuals, people with disabilities and black and racially minoritised individuals similarly were underrepresented. Given that traditional consultation processes aren't reaching these groups, what is the administration doing to try to ensure their views are not lost in consultation processes? Is Cabinet open to the principle of using citizen's assemblies to bring a more representative group round the table to help inform key decisions, like on catchments?

(12) Councillor Pickett- City Parks Service Standards 2025/26

Protecting biodiversity during the month of May is vital for our city’s wildlife. How can the Cabinet claim the new verge cutting policy is biodiversity driven or claim to be promoting no mow May when they are cutting the verges during the month of May?

(13) Councillor Pickett- City Parks Service Standards 2025/26

A number of years ago, the Council agreed to limit the number of cuts in order to promote wildlife and biodiversity within the city. Statistics show that this limitation was key to enable the numbers of insects, small mammals and birds to flourish. These same statistics have proved that limiting the number of cuts in the spring/summer months has meant that more wildlife was found in these areas. Why has the Council returned to former policy and what is the purpose of depleting our already struggling patches of green space within the city?

(14) Councillor McLeay- School Admission Arrangements 2026-27

Recommendations in the school admissions paper suggests further consultation on school admission arrangements for September 2026 will take place between 6 Dec 2024 and 31 Jan 2025. However, advice given by academics during a scrutiny meeting was to wait until the outcomes of the Free School Meals policy can be properly seen and assessed. Will BHCC officers and cabinet members have sight of data from the FSM policy before 31 Jan to base informed decisions on?

(15) Councillor McLeay- School Admission Arrangements 2026-27

Based on the information laid out in these cabinet papers, parents in the Stringer & Varndean catchment area are concerned that "as many as 150 kids could be displaced out to Longhill or BACA". Increased distance and transport are an understandable concern for families. What reassurance can be given for how BHCC might support with the transport impact of this outcome – particularly for low-income families in the grey area of low-income but not low enough for FSM eligibility?

(16) Councillor Sykes- TBM Month 7

Given the continuing historically high CT collection rate deficit and the resulting cost to the council, is it time to review our respective approaches to CT collection and support to those most in need?