Cabinet Agenda Item 43
Subject: Member Questions
Date of meeting: Thursday, 17 September 2026
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 Fishleigh - Update Report on Western Road Resurfacing Works and Red Route
If you decide to put this project on-hold, please would you reallocate some of the money to resurface two other roads which are both on bus routes and badly need improving? The first is the bottom of Chichester Drive East in West Saltdean. The second is The Green in Rottingdean which is not being included in the plan to refurbish Rottingdean High Street. Resurfacing these would not be controversial and would be welcomed by residents and other drivers and cyclists who use them.
2. Councillor Lyons - Raising Professional Standards for Housing Staff & Tenants
How will staff involved in housing management services be measured to show that they are demonstrating the right behaviours, alongside skills, knowledge & experience, so that services are of a good quality & tenants are treated properly?
3. Councillor Lyons - Housing in Brighton and Hove Annual Report
Noting the Tenant Satisfaction Measures overall satisfaction at 71%, please provide a sub breakdown as to satisfaction (if available) with the overall repairs service; time taken for most recent repairs; home is well maintained; home is safe & landlord listens and acts on views & by any other question asked (if applicable).
4. Councillor McNair - Day Options for Adults with Learning Disabilities
Given the lack of uncertainty in where vulnerable adults will be placed if Wellington House closes, and whether the same staff ratios and quality of service will be provided by private providers, and the council’s usual willingness to ensure services are provided in-house such as Housing Repairs, will cabinet reject the proposal to close Wellington House?
5. Councillor Meadows - Day Options for Adults with Learning Disabilities
Will there be transition points for users of the service? If so, could their packages of care increase thereby costing the service more than the £340,000 saving?
6. Councillor Lyons - Hackney Carriage Fare
It is stated that Brighton and Hove have dropped from 14th to joint 38th in the national taxi fare rankings. The proposed fare adjustments aim to restore its position to around joint 14th, bringing it back in line with other local authorities. Please provide an appendix showing the 38th ranking & 14th ranking if the fares are increased.
7. Councillor McNair - Hackney Carriage Fare
Brighton taxis compete with outside taxi firms and are really struggling in the economic climate. How is the council looking to support our taxis by reducing onerous regulations?
8. Councillor McNair - Encampments
There was a lived-in encampment outside the Nautical Training Corps at the bottom on Carden Hill for a year. There was a court order, but despite this, the caravans were not moved on. Will this new policy ensure that such vehicles, near a primary school and a youth club, be removed or moved on within a week?
9. Councillor Meadows - Encampments
Paragraph 3.1 refers to “a range of service improvements [that] have already been introduced to strengthen the council’s response to encampments and improve consistency, coordination and effectiveness across services”. Where is the vehicle processing facility that was established in phase 1 (paragraph 3.1)? How quickly will vehicles be removed now there is somewhere to store them?
10. Councillor Lyons - WorkWell Programme
I note that Hampshire & Kent have Workwell, which are at different stages. Has consideration been given to align with either? If not, why? For comparison purposes what could the Council claim for grant funding working with other authorities?
11. Councillor Lyons - Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO) Permission to Renew, Extend and Adopt
It has previously been brought to Council, as to the volume of dogs that are walked by dog walkers at Waterhall & that consideration would be given to reduce the maximum. 6 dogs for ordinary professional dog walkers seems to be the norm. Can this be considered?
12. Councillor Lyons - Seafront Lease: Brighton Wheel Proposal
Noting that the terms of the lease are a commercial arrangement and lead Councillors have been briefed on the terms of this lease, how, can opposition councillors & members of the public assess whether the taxpayer is getting value for money for this enterprise?
13. Councillor Lyons - Brighton Wheel Proposal
Would an alternative attraction at this site pay a higher rent for an alternative attraction?
14. Councillor Lyons - Update Report on Western Road Resurfacing Works and Red Route
Citing Red Routes in main A-roads ‘improvements’ cannot, I suggest, be a fair comparison to a non A-road (Western Rd). This is comparing apples with pears. Where is the report from bus companies requesting this & data of pedestrian injuries/accidents supporting the need for a red route.
15. Councillor Lyons - Update Report on Western Road Resurfacing Works and Red Route
You state that ‘the scheme has been developed regarding these considerations through engagement with businesses, site assessments and review of loading requirements’. However, there is a near universal unanimous objections from businesses. We respectfully request that the Council undertakes & publishes a comprehensive economic impact assessment specifically relating to the affected section of Western Rd, on the basis of local conditions, rather than assumptions drawn from different locations elsewhere in the city, before any final implementation takes place
16. Councillor McNair - Update Report on Western Road Resurfacing Works and Red Route
Have the cameras for the proposed red route already been purchased? If so, at what cost?
17. Councillor McNair - Update Report on Western Road Resurfacing Works and Red Route
In light of the falling revenue in businesses in London and Lewes Roads, and the number of stores closing, is the administration worried that shops will close in Western Road?
18. Councillor Meadows - Update Report on Western Road Resurfacing Works and Red Route
The Labour Party manifesto stated that Labour wanted a car-free city. Is the implementation of another red route another manifestation of this aim?
19. Councillor Meadows - Update Report on Western Road Resurfacing Works and Red Route
Taxis are allowed to pick up and drop off passengers on a red route. However, if passengers are elderly or disabled, the drop off or pick up will take longer. How long will a taxi be given to allow a disabled or elderly passenger to enter or exit a taxi waiting on a red route without being fined?
20. Councillor Shanks - Housing in Brighton & Hove Annual Report
Given the Annual Report's commitment to improving services and communication with tenants, and in light of the recent confusion surrounding communal laundry facilities, can the Cabinet Member set out what alternatives to closure have been explored to support tenants, including options such as an in-house service, a tenant-managed facility, or other community-based solutions, and how tenants have been involved in assessing these options?
21. Councillor Shanks - Day Options for Adults with Learning Disabilities
The consultation showed that this service is valued both by users and the wider community, the voluntary sector questioned the ability to cater for many of these vulnerable people elsewhere and the impact of the breakup of the community and Wellington House. How can this outsourcing of provision be justified in relation to the administration’s aim of improving community cohesion?
22. Councillor Shanks - Day Options for Adults with Learning Disabilities
Would the Cabinet member agree that adult social care needs national government reform, and have they been lobbying the government given the new prime minister’s commitment to this?
23. Councillor Shanks - Day Options for Adults with Learning Disabilities –
On behalf of parent carers, PaCC's position remains that any decision to close Wellington House on 17 September would be premature. Will the Cabinet take into consideration the voice not only of the Parent & Carers Council but of other voluntary organisations including Amaze. Will you listen to their voices and postpone a decision?
24. Councillor Sykes - Targeted Budget Management (TBM) 2026/27 Month 4 (July)
When was the last time the Council's regular financial performance report TBM had exempt information attached to it and why does the Administration feel it necessary to prevent public access to this information today?
25. Councillor Sykes - Update Report on Western Road Resurfacing Works & Red Route
Is there any BSIP conditionality between funding for the delivery and maintenance of the Western Road Red Route and funding for the delivery of the Western Road rebuilding and resurfacing scheme?
26. Councillor Sykes - Update Report on Western Road Resurfacing Works and Red Route
It is admirable that we are using in-house resources (max one FTE) for the client supervision role on the critical Western Road rebuilding and resurfacing role, to help mitigate potential quality cost and programme risks. As there will be two gangs working in parallel, and as the work is continuous and subject to a tight timeline, would it be advisable also to procure an additional experienced third-party client supervisor /clerk of works role, to provide additional resource and also to help train our internal resource?
27. Councillor Hill - Day Options for Adults with Learning Disabilities
Cllr Alexander has previously stated in a Full Council meeting that the Wellington House closure proposal is an 'opportunity' for service users to assess their needs while in another instance at a past Cabinet meeting she has said that if she was a family member of a service users, she would be out protesting this decision. I feel like these are not helpful comments to make. Families do not feel like this is an opportunity. Do you regret making these comments?
28. Councillor Hill - Day Options for Adults with Learning Disabilities
One of the criticisms that has been made towards Wellington House is that it is less financially viable due to having both low and high support needs service users. The staff at Wellington House feel like this mix of service users’ needs is a good thing. It allows them to put on activities that might be slightly more complex which might not function as well if you only had high support needs service users. Individual spaces are provided to service users to have alone time so they can dip in and out of activities. Do you feel that the CVS offer would allow for the same mix of support needs?
29. Councillor McLeay - Housing in Brighton & Hove Annual Report
Can the Cabinet Member confirm whether the 2025/26 Tenant Satisfaction Measures survey results were weighted to ensure the 1,050 respondents were representative of the council's tenant population, and if not, how confidence can be placed in comparisons with previous years if overrepresentation of one demographic may skew the results?
30. Councillor McLeay - Housing in Brighton & Hove Annual Report
Phase 1 of Awaab's Law introduced strict, legally binding timeframes for social landlords to investigate and remedy emergency hazards and significant damp and mould cases. Since the introduction of these requirements, relevant damp, mould and hazard repairs have been included within the emergency repairs measure, but the proportion of emergency responsive repairs completed within target timescales has fallen slightly from 97.5% to 96.8%. Can the Cabinet Member explain the reasons for this decline in emergency repair performance and what assurance can be provided that the council is adequately prepared to meet the more extensive obligations that will be introduced under Phase 2 from November 2026?
31. Councillor McLeay - Housing in Brighton & Hove Annual Report
The report states that 45,684 repairs were completed in 2025/26, an increase on the 41,789 completed in 2024/25, and notes that reducing the repairs backlog remains a priority. However, it does not set out the current size of the backlog or the extent of progress made towards eliminating it. We were advised in September 2024 that the appointment of two additional contractors would enable the backlog of routine repairs to be cleared by the end of the 2024/25 financial year, which then moved to December 2025. Can the Cabinet Member confirm the number of outstanding repairs that currently make up the backlog, how this compares with previous years, and what trajectory the council is on to reduce the backlog to zero?
32. Councillor McLeay - Housing in Brighton & Hove Annual Report
Under "service improvements from complaints", the report states that BHCC commit to "developing clearer information on planned and major work". Could the residents of Theobald House benefit from this commitment, where in September 2024 they were told major works could begin in April 2025 once a Principal Contractor was appointed, are now being told that a Principal Contractor will not be appointed until November 2026, more than two years later? Could BHCC provide a clear timetable for the BSR application process - confirming the date from which the 40-week BSR approval period will begin?
33. Councillor Pickett- DFT - Structures Bid - King Arches Phases 6 & 7
In light of the proposed structural work to strengthen and maintain the seafront arches and A259 highway, what measures are in place to inform and relocate the business’ that will be impacted by this work. Will business’ that cannot relocate such as pubs, receive compensation?
34. Councillor Pickett- Hackney Carriage Fare Review
At the recent Taxi Forum, members were very angry to find out that because the Fare Review now has to go before Cabinet the review will not go ahead or be agreed as quickly as in previous years. This will leave taxi drivers out of pocket for several months, at a time when they are feeling financially squeezed. Can Cabinet agree to delegate the Fare Review to the Licensing Committee and reassure the city’s taxi drivers that this issue will not happen again?
35. Councillor Pickett- Encampments
Whilst it is noted that van and tent dwellers and the disruption they cause to other residents in the city is an issue, this report doesn’t appear to offer an alternative that many of these vulnerable people need, an alternative place to shelter. Would the Cabinet member not agree that the implication of this report comes across as suggesting that the use of improved welfare checks will provide the means to legally cover the council as a way to move more people on in a more timely and efficient way?
36. Councillor Wilkinson - Seafront Lease: Brighton Wheel Proposal
I welcome investment in the eastern seafront and the potential return of the Brighton Wheel. However, as a Kemptown ward councillor, I want to ensure that any agreement properly protects residents and the Council over the long term. Cabinet is being asked to approve a 25-year lease. Can the Cabinet Member explain why a lease of this length is considered necessary and what safeguards will protect the Council throughout that period? In particular, will the lease include appropriate break clauses, rent reviews and provisions allowing the Council to act if the attraction ceases operating or the operator fails to meet its obligations? Given that Cabinet is being asked now to agree the grant of a 25-year lease, can you also clarify what practical ability the subsequent statutory consultation has to change or stop the proposal before the Council becomes contractually committed?