Council                                                                                                                     Agenda Item 21

 

Subject:                          Deputations from members of the public

 

 

Date of meeting:      10 July 2025

 

A period of not more than fifteen minutes shall be allowed at each ordinary meeting of the Council for the hearing of deputations from members of the public. Each deputation may be heard for a maximum of five minutes following which one Member of the council, nominated by the mayor, may speak in response. It shall then be moved by the mayor and voted on without discussion that the spokesperson for the deputation be thanked for attending and its subject matter noted.

 

Notification that two deputations have been received. The spokesperson is entitled to speak for 5 minutes.

 

 

1.        Deputation concerning the Living Rent Campaign

 

Supported by:

 

Sheila Rimmer

Ian Needham

Sarah Gorton

Ian MacIntyre

Lynora Knott

David Gibson

 

Summary of deputation:

 

Private rents in the city have become as expensive as many parts of London.

 

This cost of housing is forcing many people born a bred in Brighton to leave family and community. Schools are closing. Now that the council and government are controlled by the same party, we have real opportunity to bring in local rent controls

 

Last year the number of homeless households in temporary accommodation in the city increased by 200. According to the annual count of rough sleepers this administration has overseen an 85% increase in rough sleeping over its first 2 years. Its time to act.

 

Relying on private housing developers to solve the housing crisis is doomed to fail since their profits depend on a shortage of housing that keeps prices high. Historically affordable house building has only happened at scale in the 1950’s and 1960’s when governments of either political colour built 200-300,000 new council homes nationally each year. This approach is needed now and is the only way to tackle homelessness and high rented insecure private sector renting. By providing billions on social housing grant the government could make this happen and make serious inroads into the housing crisis in Brighton and Hove. Spending billions in social housing investment to achieve low rents more than pays for itself in the longer run through billions saved in housing benefit bills. It is investing to save.

 

We therefore ask the council to write to the government urging them to:

 

1.    Allow councils to bring down extortionate rents through local rent   controls in areas where costs are too high

 

2.    To invest £10 billion in social housing grant to build a significant number of social rented council homes to tackle homelessness, high rental costs and save even more billions in housing benefit bills in the long term

 

 

2.        Deputation concerning the Community Campaign for Brighton General Hospital Site

 

Supported by:

 

Clare Jones (Sussex Defend the NHS)

Charles Harrison (Brighton and Hove Housing Coalition)

Diane Montgomery (Living Rent Campaign)

Dinah Clarke (Hanover Action)

Sarah Mc Carthy (Hanover and Elm Grove Communities Forum)

Jerome Cox- Strong (Pankhurst Pantry Food Shop)

Nick Wells (Brighton and Hove Citzens)

 

Summary of deputation:

 

Deputation to council from Housing campaigns, Health campaigns and Community groups in Hanover and Elm Grove (endorsed (30 votes-1) by a meeting held on 24.6.25 at the edge community room, Pankhurst estate)

 

We wish to see the development a peoples plan on the unused parts of the Brighton General Hospital site for public benefit.

 

We note that the site was originally gifted to the people of Brighton and believe it is a precious public asset crying out to be developed for public benefit. To that end we welcome the council deputy leaders statement that there is a plan for 500 homes on the site at social rents (reported in the Argus on 17th March). This will make a significant contribution to the cities affordable housing shortage. We also welcome the commitment to carbon neutral homes and that the council is “open” to buying the site and we believe that keeping the site in public/community ownership will maximise the benefit for people in our the city for generations. We ask that the council commit to doing this.

 

We would like to work with the council (and Trust) to progress the fullest possible use of the site in partnership with the community. We recognise that the government must ensure that the site (subsequently gifted to the NHS by the council) is sold back to the council at a reasonable price so as to make possible the development of eco friendly social housing (500 as per the council plan) and potentially more key worker homes, continued provision of health facilities (possibly as a health hub), step down beds and community facilities in line with the emerging peoples plan for the site

 

We ask the council

 

1.       Will you commit to working with our campaign to help realise its goals?

2.       Will you work with us and the community on the fullest possible engagement over the creation of a peoples plan centred around maximising public benefit from the site?

3.       Will you commit to purchasing the site from the Health Trust (who were originally gifted the site from the council)?

4.       Will you push the government to approve sale of the site at a price that enables 500 social homes and maximises the public benefits include the “campaign statement”?

 

Supporting information:

Community Campaign for Brighton General Hospital site - 01.07.25

Statement from housing and health campaigns, and local community groups in Hanover and Elm Grove.

Our vision is that the Brighton General site should be publicly owned and re-developed for public benefit.

We note that the site was originally gifted to the people of Brighton. It is a precious public asset for the city, which we believe should be developed for public benefit. In line with maximising the public benefit of the unused areas of the site, we seek commitment that the site should

1.    Be held/remain in public/community ownership

2.    Prioritise much needed social and key worker housing (500+ homes)

3.    Achieve a health hub and community health facilities (possibly including step down beds)

4.    Deliver new community space and facilities and developed with healthy planning principles

5.    Be developed around the fullest engagement with residents and stakeholders on a peoples plan guided by these public goods.

6.    Maximise sustainability and biodiversity.

If the council, Trust, and government develop plans that meet these needs and ensure the site is sold to the Council or community at a reasonable price; we will campaign in support of these developments. Should other plans develop that do not meet these conditions, our goal will remain that the Brighton General site should be publicly owned and re-developed for public benefit.

We oppose any attempts to privatise the site.

Currently endorsed by:

Brighton and Hove Housing coalition

Hanover and Elm Grove Communities Forum

Sussex Defend the NHS

Hanover Action

Living Rent Campaign

Friends of the Patch

Who owns Brighton

Brighton and Hove Citizens

Albion Life

 

 

 

 

3.        Deputation concerning Youth Council Manifesto & Key Priorities

 

Supported by:

 

Mellissa Nielsen-Williams

Malak Gobari

Sonny Steffes

Robert Sales

Erin Bowie

Lily Wan

Africa Colino

 

Summary of deputation:

 

Purpose:

We are here today to present a deputation asking for the Council to acknowledge the Youth Council’s listening process and Manifesto as representative of young people’s issues in the city and to include it in decisions being made that impact young people.

 

Context:

Youth Council is a group of young people elected or nominated by their peers through schools, colleges, and youth organisations in the city. They represent the wider views of young people in through a process of representation and listening. It currently has 35 active members who are in their two-year term, which finishes in December 2025. We aim to represent young people’s views in several ways, including sitting on steering groups and committees, feeding into consultations, and running campaigns.

 

Process:

Youth Council members start their term with a training programme to give them skills to enable them to be representative of young people, E.g., running focus groups, conducting research, and understanding data. We conduct a citywide survey at the beginning of our term, which this term engaged with over 3700 young people*. Health & Wellbeing, Education & Learning, and Jobs, the Economy & Benefits were highlighted as the three top priorities for young people. The Youth Council then ran 11 focus groups in schools and colleges to understand the details of each priority. From these focus groups, the issues that occurred most often formed the Youth Council Manifesto.

 

Action:

The Youth Council Manifesto outlines 14 key issues that young people have highlighted as important. These sit within the three top priorities that were voted on by young people. Three campaigns are being developed in response to the priority issues for young people, one under each priority. Our health and wellbeing campaign is developing a youth charter highlighting how young people want to be engaged with by health and wellbeing professionals. Our Education & Learning Campaign is creating a PSHE Workshop, giving young people aged 14 – 16 an introduction to the necessary skills to find entry-level jobs in the local economy. Our Jobs, Economy & Benefits Campaign is organising an entry-level skills fair with workshops developed in partnership with local businesses. The workshops will teach young people aged 16-18 relevant skills to find part-time entry-level jobs in the local economy.

 

Recommendation:

We ask the council to acknowledge the Youth Council Manifesto as a representation of the issues that are important to young people in Brighton and Hove and include it within all decision-making that impacts young people in the city. This is in line with Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to include young people’s voices in decision-making that impacts them, and to give their voice influence in those decisions. This is not only a right, but also, we know from previous experience that when young people’s views are taken into account in decisions that impact them, the outcomes for young people are better.

 

*3770 young people in total took part from Brighton & Hove. Figures differ from the 3638 given in the Make Your Mark report, as this did not include those who participated in schools outside of Brighton & Hove but who live within Brighton & Hove. This data was released by the British Youth Council afterwards.

 

Supporting information:

Please see appendix – Youth Council Manifesto