Agenda item - Chair's Communications

2.1          The Chair provided the following communications:

Good afternoon and welcome everyone to our very first Cabinet meeting.

I’m delighted to be chairing today’s meeting, which marks the beginning of this new system of governance at Brighton & Hove City Council. Thank you to all of the officers who have been involved in establishing this new system and enabling a smooth transition from the Committee system.

I would like to start by highlighting some of the key work that has been going on over the past couple of months.

Last Saturday marked Windrush Day, a moment to reflect on and honour the remarkable contributions of the Windrush generation to Britain’s economy, culture and society, which cannot be overstated. A fantastic community event took place at Hove Museum of Creativity to honour their legacy and celebrate how the Windrush generation enriched our city. It also offered a sobering reminder of the huge injustice faced by so many of that generation and the ongoing fight for justice.

The launch of Sussex Bay took place earlier this month, an initiative which began in Adur & Worthing but which we are very pleased to be supporting, given our shared commitment to protecting and enhancing nature and open spaces, including our coastal and marine environments.

The details of the Women’s World Cup 2025 tournament have been announced and it is fantastic that Brighton & Hove has been chosen as one of the host cities for this event. The scale of the tournament shows the demand there is and I personally can’t wait to watch it and join in the celebrations.

A programme of road resurfacing is underway, which will see 47 roads across the city resurfaced to make them smoother, skid resistant and watertight, helping to extend the life of the road by around 10 years and reduce the need for ongoing pothole repair. Work is also underway to improve 12 playgrounds in the city, ahead of the school holidays, as part of playground refurbishment programme.

This coming weekend there are a number of community events taking place across Brighton & Hove to mark Armed Forces Day. We’re proudly flying Armed Forces Day flags from council buildings in the lead up and a commemorative event will be held on Sunday, organised by the Brighton & Hove Branch of the Royal Sussex Regimental Association. It is dedicated to the memory of the 366 men of the Southdown’s battalions of The Royal Sussex Regiment who lost their lives in the First World War, at the battle of the Boar’s Head in 1916.  I’d like to extend my sincere gratitude to our armed forces community, including serving troops, service families, reserves, veterans and cadets.

And finally, I’m sure we’re all pleased to see the warmer weather. We know this is an extremely busy time for our city as we warmly welcome millions of tourists for the summer season. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all frontline staff who will be working extremely hard to keep the city safe and tidy, particularly our Lifeguard Team who took up their posts on our city’s beaches last month.

As you can see from today’s agenda, we have a number of key reports to discuss and vote on, across a range of priority areas for our administration, including on affordable housing, ending violence against women and girls, improving provision for children with special educational needs, supporting our voluntary and community sector and improving our city’s active travel infrastructure.

Before we get onto this important business, I’d like to update everyone that sadly Cllr Birgit Miller is not attending today’s meeting as she recently suffered a very serious injury which she is taking time to recover from. On behalf of Cabinet and the Council I’d like to wish Cllr Miller a very speedy recovery. As Cllr Miller is expected to be off for at least 3 months, I have appointed Cllr Mitchie Alexander to cover the position of Cabinet lead for Culture, Heritage and Tourism. I know that Cllr Alexander will do an excellent job as part of Cabinet, in addition to her role as Cabinet Advisor.

Finally, I’m sure I don’t need to remind members that we are in the pre-election period, with the General Election just one week away. Our administration decided not to suspend this meeting as we want to continue delivering at pace for the City, but given the timing, we must proceed in accordance with the rules restricting party political activity using Council resources. I’d be grateful if all members attending today could keep this in mind when making their contributions.