Subject: Written questions from members of the public

Date of meeting: 19 December 2024

A period of not more than thirty minutes shall be allowed for questions submitted by a member of the public who either lives or works in the area of the authority at each ordinary meeting of the Council.

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

The following written questions have been received from members of the public.

1. Question from: Christopher Hawtree

In these times when health and diet are paramount, would councillor Sankey please tell us how a proposed rebuilt sports facility which should be the mainspring of the King Alfred will accommodate all of the the great-value, very friendly gym now known as FitLab which, for six decades, has occupied four floors with 250 well-spaced items of “kit”, many of these more substantial than available elsewhere?

2. Question from: Adrian Hill

Local councils are responsible for air quality management.  Our city failed to achieve the 2010 air quality limits in the quickest time possible; a legal requirement.

DEFRA’s data shows an estimated 3,000 residents have had their lives cut short after exposure to illegal levels since 2010.

Around ⅓ of asthma cases in our city are caused by air pollution.

The most effective improvements have been delayed or blocked by the council since 2010.

A family were recently awarded compensation in London for similar pollution levels to us.  How much compensation is appropriate for those affected by air pollution in our city?

3. Question from: Robert Brown

With the Labour administration looking at parking charges across the city, will the Cabinet Member for Transport, Parking and Public Realm agree that our key workers, especially those who work in our hospitals and who are often low paid, deserve additional support when it comes to parking charges when going to work their 13hr shifts.

What support, if any, will this administration give to support those NHS workers who cannot rely on public transport to get to work and are often finding that they need to pay in excess of £50 a week for parking? 

  Will this administration agree to look at what options are available and can be implemented, including parking permit options, for these essential workers?

4. Question from: Josie Cohen

As a Jew and Israeli citizen, I find the memorial in Palmeira Square to Israelis killed and taken hostage on 7th October - and Israeli soldiers killed fighting in Gaza since then - deeply distressing. It is increasingly affecting my mental health.

The memorial dominates the square with ribbons on the trees. It’s been there for 14 months and, for all that time regardless of how you feel about Israel/Palestine, it’s been impossible to enjoy the square, or even walk past it, without being reminded of this terrible conflict.

Palmeira Square is a public space belonging to all residents. All other memorials – like the one to Sarah Everard – are eventually removed after a respectful amount of time’s passed.

Is the Council’s plan to make this memorial permanent? If not, what’s your timeline for working with the local Jewish community to move it to a private community space or remove it?

5. Question from: Dominic Nee

Air pollution has been above legal limits in Brighton and Hove for years. It is estimated to kill more people than smoking globally and will be having extremely harmful effects on our population. What are you doing to raise awareness about this issue, including measures people can take to reduce exposure?

6. Question from: Sara Bragg & Mark Erickson

Today we received a very devastating note through our door that Magpie’s Green Box collection service is about to close and our last collection will be on the 23rd of December. We find it inexplicable that a council that has so often been Green has been unable to support this wonderful organisation. We find it inexplicable that a council that has also had a strong labour presence and now has a labour majority cannot support a workers co-op that offers decent conditions for its members. Admittedly it is sometimes a little difficult to understand exactly what the problem is, but the fact that the organisation is no longer taking collections from our doors is a massive loss to recycling and something that the council should take every step possible to reinstate.  We do not trust council recycling because we see how contaminated every recycling bin is, we take every step to make sure that we do our recycling correctly and that’s why we trust magpie that to then take it and recycle it properly. 

7. Question from: Nigel Furness

The adoption of Cabinet has removed the possibility of residents and opposition members to exercise committee scrutiny. Does this conform, Councillor Sankey, with the Gunning Principles, the first of which states: “Proposals must be at a formative stage; the decision-makers should not have already made up their minds”?