Subject: Written questions from members of the public

Date of meeting: 30 January 2025

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: Matthew Gaskin

The government has just announced the biggest one-off road maintenance funding settlement councils in England have ever been given. The Prime Minister has said he expects councils to now get on with the job of returning our degraded road network to a fit for purpose and smooth state. Which roads in Brighton and Hove will be repaired in 2025 using this and other funding sources allocated or available to the council? 

2. Question from: Ashley Ridley

What is the future plans for the land the i360 is currently on and will the local council will have to make cuts to help pay off the loan for the i360 or will it be Brighton residents paying with increased taxes? 

3. Question from: Elaine Hills

I was pleased to see that the Government has reinstated the process that allows local authorities to apply to use automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras to enforce traffic regulations. School Streets programmes reduce pollution by 23% around schools and make roads safer for schoolchildren. However, relying on volunteers has made them difficult to manage. Research by Mums for Lungs shows that using ANPR cameras to enforce School Streets means they are also self-funding within their first year. Will the administration be submitting an application so Brighton and Hove can be considered in the next round? 

4. Question from: Gary Vallier

Deputy leader Jacob Taylor has reiterated to me a number of times, that the Toolkit is merely guidance; that it is not prescriptive, that it encourages a case-by-case approach, and is simply designed to assist schools in their decision making.  With the recently published version (V5), can parents, teachers and governors be assured that version 5 of the Toolkit has been amended, such that it incorporates fully all recommendations of the final report of the Cass Review, and complies with legal safeguarding requirements? 

5. Question from: Diane Messias

Would the Council please cite the law which states it’s legal for a private company to compel residents to wear wristbands to access their own homes, and charge them to have visitors, as happens during the Village Street Party for those living in the exclusion zone?

6. Question from: Julia Basnett

If we are to protect single-sex spaces for biological women we must first be clear that a woman is an adult human female. The council needs to rescind its 2021 resolution (1), which in-part states, "this council believes transwomen are women". Does the council recognise the potential harms inflicted on women and girls when policy is informed by belief rather than fact? I think we all agree that in situations where biological sex matters blurring the definition of woman is dangerous and this part of the January 2021 resolution should be rescinded. Thank you. 

7. Question from: Theo Vermeer

Last year our close, Hawthorn Close, Saltdean was resurfaced although there was no apparent problem with it. The tarmacking was rushed and poorly done. The workmen stated they would return to finalise the job, they didn’t . As a result we now have the following problems, 

1) large puddles forming, particularly outside number 31, 

2) loose clippings everywhere 

3) no road markings have been re-instated  

Can you tell me why the road was tarmacked and why pavements were not done as they were in a much worse state than the road? 