Council Agenda Item 43
Subject: Written questions from Councillors
Date of meeting: 1 October 2026
Report of: Director of Governance & Law
Contact Officer: Name: Anthony Soyinka
Tel: 01273 291006
Email: anthony.soyinka@brighton-hove.gov.uk
Ward(s) affected: All
For general release
The following questions have been received from Councillors and will be taken as read along with the written answer detailed below:
1. Councillor Bagaeen:
Aldrington Residents’ Parking Scheme: Given that residents in and around Aldrington Avenue have previously expressed opposition to residents’ parking controls, can the Council explain why Aldrington has again been included in proposals for a residents’ parking scheme, what evidence demonstrates a need for such a scheme, and confirm that no scheme will be progressed without clear evidence of support from the residents directly affected?
Reply from Councillor Muten, Cabinet Member for Transport & City Infrastructure.
2. Councillor Bagaeen:
Withdean Stadium – TrackMark Accreditation: Given the importance of Withdean Stadium to athletics in Brighton & Hove and across Sussex, why was its TrackMark accreditation allowed to expire, what is the timetable for completing the outstanding works and restoring accreditation, and what measures are the Council and Freedom Leisure putting in place to improve maintenance, accountability and communication with athletics clubs so that this situation is not repeated?
Reply from Councillor Robins, Cabinet Member for Sports, Recreation & Libraries.
3. Councillor McNair:
Why can’t motorcycles use the new stretch of bus lane in the London Road in Patcham when motorcycles can use bus lanes in the city centre? At peak times, could the bus lane be used by cars to reduce congestion and air pollution, especially as it is a short section of bus lane?
Reply from Councillor Muten, Cabinet Member for Transport & City Infrastructure.
4. Councillor McNair:
The green man at the new pedestrian crossing in London Road is only on for around 6 seconds. This does not leave nearly enough time for people to cross the road. Could the green man be adjusted, and the length of lights around the city be adjusted to take account of the elderly and disabled crossing the street?
Reply from Councillor Muten, Cabinet Member for Transport & City Infrastructure.
5. Councillor Meadows:
Many of the roads in the Mackie Estate e.g. Sanyhils Avenue and Braeside Avenue are in desperate need of resurfacing. When is the Mackie Estate due for resurfacing?
Reply from Councillor Muten, Cabinet Member for Transport & City Infrastructure.
6. Councillor Meadows:
The two disabled bays in the Patcham Community Centre car park are not fit for purpose because when parked in one of the spaces the driver is unable to open their door due to a wall. I believe the spaces are not the correct size. We would not want to see any loss of car park spaces, but with some adjustment these spaces could be made fit for purpose. When is this likely to happen?
Reply from Councillor Muten, Cabinet Member for Transport & City Infrastructure.
7. Councillor Theobald:
Could the drinking fountain at the bottom of the Peace Gardens in Old London Road be cleaned and the undergrowth cut back? And the paving around the feet of the Brangwyn lamps be repaired?
Reply from Councillor Allen, Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Public Realm & Local Government Reorganisation.
8. Councillor Theobald:
I have reported the appalling appearance of Patcham roundabout numerous times through written questions, verbal questions and emails over the last 12 years. On each occasion the relevant chairman, cabinet member and chief officer has replied stating that it would be improved in the near future. In July 2024, Cllr Muten wrote that “there is now general agreement with National Highways on the council facilitating a maintenance agreement with the sponsor…However, planning permission is still required.” In 2025, Cllr Allen responded that “officers have a landscape design for [Patcham] roundabout for which we now have approval from National Highways.” The roundabout looks worse than ever. It is now full of tall weeds. We should have pride in Brighton and Hove. This roundabout makes it look as if the council does not care for its environment. Could residents have a firm timeline for when Patcham roundabout will be landscaped attractively?
Reply from Councillor Muten, Cabinet Member for Transport & City Infrastructure.
9. Councillor Lyons:
A July 2025 Cabinet report projected that there would be on site construction starting in early 2026, with a completion targeted for spring 2027. Planning approved the community swimming pool on 3 December 2025, with official statements confirmed that the building work was due to start in the spring of 2026. We are now in the Autumn of 2026, but no construction has started. What is the reason for the delay & when will construction start?
Reply from Councillor Robins, Cabinet Member for Sports, Recreation & Libraries.
10. Councillor Lyons:
We have requested a number of times for an estimate of the costings for the short-listed projects, in W&HP ward to allow the Councillors to make a decision for our recommended projects to proceed. This has not been forthcoming. Residents & groups are naturally becoming frustrated. When can we expect this information?
Reply from Councillor Allen, Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Public Realm & Local Government Reorganisation.
11. Councillor Hogan:
Residents with valid parking permits have received parking tickets over recent weeks. Is there an issue with the civil enforcement officer's software?
Reply from Councillor Muten, Cabinet Member for Transport & City Infrastructure.
12. Councillor Hogan:
Real-time electronic bus displays frequently don’t work. The one at Surrenden Fields has not been replaced. The dispaly at bus stop E by the Railway Bell public house 26-28 Surrey Street near Brighton Station has not been operating for over a year. This is a popular bus stop especially for people arriving by train. The bus timetable inside the station is not operating either
When can residents and visitors to our city expect to see reliable working electronic timetables, and when will the one at bus stop E be operating again?
Reply from Councillor Muten, Cabinet Member for Transport & City Infrastructure.
13. Councillor De Oliveira:
Following the introduction of the South Hollingdean residents’ parking scheme, residents in North Hollingdean have reported significant displacement of commuter and non-resident parking, and residents signed a petition calling for urgent action. Will the administration now undertake and publish a post-implementation assessment of parking displacement across Hollingdean, and commit to consulting North Hollingdean residents on proportionate solutions, including a light-touch residents’ scheme?
Reply from Councillor Muten, Cabinet Member for Transport & City Infrastructure.
14. Councillor De Oliveira:
Will the administration commit to publishing a city-wide plan showing which schools are financially vulnerable, what support they will receive, and how the council will protect community schools from closure or asset disposal wherever possible?
Reply from Councillor Daniel, Cabinet Member for Children, Families & Youth Services.
15. Councillor Hill:
Since November 2019, members of the Round Hill Society have been trying to have a council report commissioned on the suitability of the Veolia site in Hollingdean. One member said to me 'Chasing this has been a really dispiriting experience and a poor advertisement for encouraging community engagement with local government. Can you please push for a status update and deadline on our behalf?' In January, Cllr Rowkins promised an assessment was to come 'over the coming months'. Any information would be appreciated.
Reply from Councillor Rowkins, Cabinet Member for Net Zero & Environmental Services.
16. Councillor Barton Ahmad:
Marie Curie has found that terminally ill people are more likely to experience poverty than equivalent healthy populations. A terminal diagnosis can push households into poverty, which has long-lasting impacts on the dying persons household and others close to them. What can the council do to support terminally ill people facing poverty?
Reply from Councillor Alexander, Cabinet Member for Communities, Equalities, Public Health & Adult Social Care.
17. Councillor Barton Ahmad:
I am concerned that this consultation period for the upcoming City Plan has not had much uptake of responses for such a significant and long-term project. What can be learnt about communicating similarly large policy consultation periods to residents in Brighton and Hove?
Reply from Councillor Taylor, Cabinet Member for Finance & City Regeneration.
18. Councillor Pickett:
Following on from a recent briefing that suggested a proposed increasing council reliance on technological innovation and AI, would the administration not agree that at its core, generative AI is not intelligent, but instead a probabilistic machine. Treating it as a well to draw ideas from, or even as a junior research assistant would be misguided. Besides frequently inventing facts, sometimes with tragic consequences, it is an opaque accountability sink, obfuscating the transparency expected from public officials. With these issues in mind wouldn’t it be more prudent for the council to take care not to rush into decisions in which claims of productivity gain seem too fantastic to be true if we follow the suggestions of AI, and which could lead the council down a dangerous path if not given time to be thought out properly beforehand?
Reply from Councillor Allen, Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Public Realm & Local Government Reorganisation.
19. Councillor Pickett:
Evidence suggests that scaling up (worldwide) the use of AI could potentially have a seriously negative impact on our natural resources, particularly in terms of water and energy use. Does the administration believe they have a clear understanding of these implications before planning to ramp up plans to fully incorporate AI into all aspects of running a council?
Reply from Councillor Allen, Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Public Realm & Local Government Reorganisation and Councillor Rowkins, Cabinet Member for Net Zero & Environmental Services.
20. Councillor Sykes:
Please provide rough figures for BHCC overall data usage in 2024-5 and 2025-6, and projections over the next two years with increasing use of AI.
Reply from Councillor Allen, Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Public Realm & Local Government Reorganisation.
21. Councillor Sykes:
Please indicate when the results of the recent staff survey will be published.
Reply from Councillor Allen, Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Public Realm & Local Government Reorganisation.
22. Councillor Shanks:
Please provide an update on the Providence Place project.
Reply from Councillor Taylor, Cabinet Member for Finance & City Regeneration.
23. Councillor Shanks:
What use is being made of the schools St Peters, St Barts and Middle Street, that were closed?
Reply from Councillor Taylor, Cabinet Member for Finance & City Regeneration.
24. Councillor McLeay:
Residents in my ward are increasingly reporting serious disturbance from excessively noisy motorcycles, often with modified exhausts, causing repeated sleep disruption and negatively affecting residents' wellbeing. Given the apparent difficulty in securing enforcement through existing mechanisms such as Operation Crackdown, and the growing perception that current regulations are not being effectively enforced, what action is the Council taking with Sussex Police and local MPs to improve enforcement, tackle anti-social vehicle noise, and advocate for stronger powers where existing legislation is proving insufficient?
Reply from Councillor Muten, Cabinet Member for Transport & City Infrastructure.
25. Councillor McLeay:
Residents of Theobald House and other council housing blocks are concerned by reports that communal laundry rooms may be closed. Many tenants rely on these facilities and are concerned that the loss of communal laundries could place additional financial burdens on households and lead to the installation of washing machines and dryers in properties that may not be designed for them, potentially increasing risks of leaks, flooding, fire hazards, and unsafe second-hand appliance purchases. Can the Housing Cabinet Member confirm whether the Council intends to close communal laundry rooms in Theobald House and other council blocks, what consultation has taken place with affected residents, and what assessment has been made of the financial, safety and property management implications of requiring tenants to provide and install their own laundry appliances?
Reply from Councillor Williams, Cabinet Member for Housing.
26. Councillor McLeay:
Can the Cabinet Member for Housing provide an update on BHCC's readiness for Phase 2 of Awaab’s Law, which comes into force on 30 November 2026 and extends statutory response timescales to a wider range of hazards including electrical safety, fire risk, excess cold and heat, structural defects, falling elements and domestic hygiene issues, and confirm whether the Council has sufficient staffing capacity, triage systems and monitoring arrangements in place to meet the new legal requirements for investigations, resident communication and remedial works within the prescribed timescales?
Reply from Councillor Williams, Cabinet Member for Housing.
27. Councillor McLeay:
Thanks for the response to my written question in July regarding Theobald House. In September 2024, residents were advised that major works were expected to begin in April 2025, but that delays were anticipated because a Principal Contractor had to be appointed before an application could be submitted to the BSR. Residents and I were also told that, while the BSR process could add significant delays, the Council would be in a position to submit its application once a Principal Contractor had been appointed following the tender process. However, your recent update states that the Council still expects to appoint a Principal Contractor in November 2026, more than two years later, and that only then will the full BSR application be submitted, after which residents must expect a further 40-plus weeks for approval. Can the Cabinet Member for Housing explain why the Council has been unable to appoint a Principal Contractor during the last two years, confirm the date from which the 40-week BSR approval period will begin, and provide residents with a clear timetable for when major works at Theobald House will actually commence, rather than continuing to cite future BSR delays as the reason for delays?
Reply from Councillor Williams, Cabinet Member for Housing.
28. Councillor West:
While recognising that the rapid introduction of AI to ‘turbo-charge innovation’ in delivering council services with reduced staff cost presents clear and uncertain risks, the administration has suggested that these risks are lower than the risk to services if these cost savings are not realised. Why should public service be propelled to take a leap in the dark when it is within the gift of the Government to solve the underlying problem by ending austerity and restoring council funding. Will the Leader ask her Government to increase grant funding to restore services and protect the jobs of our human staff?
Reply from Councillor Allen, Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Public Realm & Local Government Reorganisation.
29. Councillor West:
Just one week after the city celebrated Pride, two of our most loved LGBTQ+ venues, Charles Street and R-Bar announced their closure. These venues are vital queer community safe spaces and their loss following that of The Queery and Arcobaleno has caused alarm across the city. Campaigners are calling for the Council to work with the venues to look at what may be needed to save them and other venues under threat: understanding the financial and regulatory burdens, and how everyone can work together to develop an emergency plan for protecting Brighton’s LGBTQ+ night-time economy. All hospitality businesses in the city are struggling and they now face the additional uncertainty of the Government permitting Mayors to set uncapped tourist tax which may reduce staycation levels and visitor spend. The Leader has pledged “the council would work with other city venues to help protect their future”. How is that going?
Reply from Councillor Taylor, Cabinet Member for Finance & City Regeneration.
30. Councillor West:
The LGA reacted with anger at the latest twist in the LGR debacle. Referring to Angela Rayner's 8 September announcement a spokesperson said: "Today’s announcement… will have caused significant uncertainty, after councils have invested scarce public money and countless hours in the government’s LGR programme. People’s jobs, lives and wider commitments have been affected. Staff, councillors and their families cannot be expected to put their lives on hold while ministers undertake a review which is a mess of their own making. Particularly at a time when local services remain under real pressure, this is no way to treat local government”.
Public questions deserve to be answered about how much scarce resource has been squandered by BHCC on LGR. What would have been saved if our over eager Leader had not entered us into the fast track and had instead taken a wait and see approach, as wiser heads advised?
Reply from Councillor Allen, Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Public Realm & Local Government Reorganisation.
31. Councillor West:
With the growing threat of cyber-attacks, climate breakdown impacting harvests and war disrupting flows of fertiliser and grain, the National Audit Office has warned Britain's food supply chain is at risk. Angela Eagle, Secretary of State for Food, has rather inadequately advised households: “If you've got a store of a bit of food that can keep you going for a while before the emergency services can get to you, you're going to be a lot better off than if you haven't”. As the government doesn’t maintain a strategic food stockpile, one wonders what people who cannot afford to bunker in the beans will do and what happens when even those that have followed government advice run out. What government guidance has the Council administration received for creating a city food stockpile and how will it be administered to fairly support those in the city at greatest need?
Reply from Councillor Alexander, Cabinet Member for Communities, Equalities, Public Health & Adult Social Care.
32. Councillor Wilkinson:
Roads and Pavements in Kemptown: Residents regularly contact me about the condition of roads and pavements across Kemptown, and I welcome the recent and planned investment in resurfacing, including works affecting St George’s Road and Upper Rock Gardens.
While individual pothole repairs remain important, repeated defects can indicate that a road requires more substantial treatment.
Can the Cabinet Member outline what further roads and pavements in Kemptown are currently being assessed for resurfacing or major maintenance, how reports from residents and ward councillors help inform those priorities, and what opportunities there are to accelerate improvements to streets where repeated repairs are no longer providing a satisfactory long-term solution?
Reply from Councillor Muten, Cabinet Member for Transport & City Infrastructure.
33. Councillor Wilkinson:
Accessibility and Condition of Communal Bins in Kemptown: I am regularly contacted by Kemptown residents about the condition and accessibility of communal refuse and recycling bins. While some require repair or replacement, I am particularly concerned that some bins can be difficult for older and disabled residents, including people with limited mobility, to open or reach into safely.
Communal bins are an essential part of waste collection in densely populated areas such as Kemptown, but they need to be accessible to everyone.
Will the Cabinet Member consider a review of communal bins in Kemptown to identify those requiring repair or replacement and, importantly, assess their accessibility for older and disabled residents? Can the Cabinet Member also outline what accessibility standards are currently applied when communal bins are purchased, replaced or relocated?
Reply from Councillor Rowkins, Cabinet Member for Net Zero & Environmental Services.