Agenda item - Chair's Communications

107.1  The Chair provided the following communications:

I’m really pleased to see all of our cabinet members and advisers wearing their white ribbons today and I’d like to start today’s meeting by reflecting on this year’s 16 days of activism campaign which seeks to galvanise action for the elimination of violence against women and girls around the world. This year’s campaign started on the 25^th of November and it highlights the alarming escalation of violence against women, namely the cases of intimate partner and family member femicides. In the UK 2 million women are estimated to be victims of violence perpetrated by men each year in an epidemic so serious it amounts to a national emergency. Crimes including stalking, harassment, sexual assault, and domestic violence effect 1 in 12 women in England and Wales with the number of recorded offences growing by 37% in the past five years. It is on all of us to do everything we can to address this epidemic of violence against women and girls. For our own part here in Brighton and Hove City Council we have been putting on a number of internal events, and we also have a display in the Jubilee Library which is to show our unreserved support for the White Ribbon pledge and the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence in all its forms. In addition, this display also showcases work by a victim and survivor of their experience and the impact of the abuse that they endured. We also flew the white ribbon flag from town halls last week. As a society we need to do so much more to ensure the safety of women, we need to be vocal in our objection of violence, to challenge misogynistic views, and to actively reject the culture of toxic masculinity that is sadly becoming more prevalent. For anyone who is experiencing domestic or sexual violence, stalking or abuse of any form, please remember you are not alone, help and support is available. As a council, our new strategy for ending violence against women and girls will be considered by this cabinet early in the new year.

Turning to World AIDS day, on Sunday I took my children to the positive community lunch in Kemptown, a lovely event to mark World AIDS Day. In the evening, I was able to join our Cabinet Member for Communities, Equalities, and Human Rights, Councillor Leslie Pumm, and the Mayor at a poignant remembrance event to mark World AIDS Day. Where we read the names of all those who have lost their lives too soon. This annual day is an important opportunity for everyone to come together to remember all those in our city who lost their lives to AIDS related illness. But it’s also a day of celebration of significant medical advances which allow people living with HIV to do so without a fear of ever developing AIDS or passing it on. As a city we’ve made great progress towards our goals with new HIV diagnosis continuing to fall and we really welcome the new government’s pledge to end new transmissions by 2030. We must however always ensure that we are supporting those who are still living with HIV and AIDS and we must never forget those who have lost their lives.

This week I’m pleased to say that we’ve published our decarbonisation pathway study which provides our city’s route map to a low carbon energy system. Our Cabinet Member for Net Zero and Environmental Services, Councillor Tim Rowkins, commissioned this study when we came into administration last year when we realised that despite all of their rhetoric on climate change, the previous green administration had no practical plan for how our net zero ambitions were to be delivered. The study identifies 110 high impact projects and we’re now working with partners to develop appropriate project pipelines and investment vehicles. Currently, just over 13% of households in our city live in fuel poverty. Our approach to decarbonisation will not only help us achieve net zero but will also help households reduce their energy bills. The study makes clear that the deployment of solar is key and yesterday we announced our largest roll out of solar to date. We’re in the process of installing 730 solar panels at various locations around the city. Including 292 on the roof of the Prince Regent Swimming Complex. Delivering clean power and reduced costs for a particularly energy intensive building. We’re also gearing up to take advantage of government initiatives such as Great British Energy, a new publicly owned company which will deliver clean power by co-investing in leading technologies, the Solar Rooftop Revolution Strategy to deliver solar power to homes, and the Warm Homes Plan that offers grants at low interest loans to support investment in insulation, solar, and low carbon heating.

In another positive update, we have recently been able to announce that the Black Rock Reading Room is open where we committed as an administration to ensuring continual regeneration and investment in our city. So, it’s great to see that the historic reading room has been restored as part of our wider Black Rock project. The reading room transformation is testament to what can be achieved through the collaboration between the public and private sectors. The result is a fantastic improved public amenity and one with spectacular sea views contributing to a rejuvenated eastern sea front.

Moving on to today’s business, I’m delighted to see that the Council Plan Performance Update is on the agenda. In particular I’d like to highlight the very positive news that 23/24 saw the highest number of homes delivered, 1075 across the city in the year since 2013. This is absolutely in tune with out administration’s commitment to deliver homes for everyone, to ensure a rapid increase in affordable housing options in our city. The update also shows real improvements in air quality both directly and in terms of the improved way of mapping through our real time air quality portal website. And I’m thrilled to say that we’ve been named the local authority with the best on street electric vehicle charging coverage in the UK outside of London. My thanks to Councillor Muten and to transport officers for all of their work on this. Moving on to City Parks Service Standards Report, which outlines our interim approach for service standards next year pending a longer-term approach to deliver on our vision for City Parks. I’m pleased that this report includes a proposal for digital transformation to improve our data and improve forward planning. This is part of a wider transformative change in this council where we’re aiming to be a data lead organisation. I’m particularly pleased to see the new service standard for reducing and removing growth around trees which is not only important for safety and accessibility, but also for the look and feel of the city. The city’s parks and green spaces are a key of our city’s identity and we’re incredibly proud that 7 of our parks received Green Flag awards this year.

Today we will also consider the Targeted Budget Management Report 7. This includes an update on our in year financial position and the actions we’re taking to close what still is a large gap of £6.8 million. While we’re taking doing everything we can, I’d like to start by saying that the recent news that the i360 has filed for administration leaves a large unpaid amount to the city council, which will have an impact on our overall budget going forward. I’d like to reiterate my call to the Green Group to apologise to the residents of Brighton and Hove as ultimately it will be all of us that will be paying this off for many years to come as a result of a previous Green administration’s irresponsible and risk laden approach to the public finances. Our overall budget picture is very challenging, like many councils the combination of increased costs and demand for key services, such as adult social care and homelessness, outstrips our forecasted income. The approach of this Labour Government marks a significant departure from the years of austerity under the last government, but there are still no overnight fixes to the significant challenges that we face. We welcome the government’s autumn statement and the new hot off the press yesterday that the Secretary of State for Education is giving more funding for thousands of new specialist places to be created in mainstream schools for pupils with SEND. The £740 million capital investment will really help councils in this area where demand has increased dramatically in recent years. This is really good news for families and will ensure that pupils with SEND will have their needs better met. Our administration is committed to engaging all councillors, all residents, businesses and council staff in ideas for how we can balance the budget for the next financial year. Councillor Taylor and I recently attended a joint meeting of our overview and scrutiny committees last week where we answered questions on all aspects of our plans for the budget and the approach that we’re taking to budget setting this time around. We’ve also launched an online budget simulator which enables residents to see for themselves how difficult the budget decision making process is. But also gives the opportunity for them for them to tell us which services matter most, which services they would aim to prioritise and protect, and where they would choose to reduce funding. We look forward to hearing ideas from everybody.

Also, today we will be considering a paper on school admissions. I want to acknowledge the significant interest in the proposals on school admissions, as a Labour administration we stood on a platform driven by our values of creating greater equality and fairness in all aspects of our society. Social segregation in our schools has been an issue in Brighton and Hove for many years and it’s something that we’re rightly seeking to address. We’ve already taken action through introducing our free school meals policy and our mental health pilot in schools. The pilot for year 9s has so far seen 63 young people accessing this offer with a further 14 young people to start counselling after the Christmas break. So that we fully understand the impact of our pilot, counsellors and schools are undertaking some reflective work and producing case studies to support our better understanding of the broader needs of the young people that are using this offer. This will provide greater awareness of challenges around access and inform future options. When we took over the administration of this council last year, we promised to be a listening council. We know that with big decisions like changes to school admissions, which will have a wide impact across the city, consultation is key. That’s why we decided to opt to an early engagement exercise earlier this year to test some potential options. The report that cabinet is asked to consider today includes a recommendation to now move to formal consultation. This formal consultation recognises the results of the initial engagement exercise where none of the illustrative options received majority support, but where other suggestions came forward, including marginal ballots. The marginal ballots proposal would address a fundamental unfairness in our system at present, which is that some families have only one school in their catchment area whereas other have a choice of more than one school in catchment. It is those in outer lying areas that currently have no choice. Marginal ballots offers a way to help address this unfairness and ensure that some choice is offered, albeit in a more limited way to all parents in this city. We’re pleased that one thing that came through the engagement exercise was that our new free school meals admissions criteria seems to have attracted increased support, and we’re proud to be the first council in England to have brought this forward. As the Labour Party both locally and nationally, breaking down barriers to opportunity is core to our mission. We’re also really pleased to say that Cardinal Newman School is now consulting on introducing the same free school meals policy, which doesn’t automatically apply to them as a faith school. I think this demonstrates the role that this council can play in values and place leadership. Also included in the consultation that we will discuss this afternoon, is the proposal to reduce PAN, we have aimed to make this proposal in an even-handed way that includes reducing PAN across the city including Longhill, Hove Park, and Dorothy Stringer. This is in recognition of falling pupil numbers in our city. We’re also proposing to increase the number of school preferences that all families can make for their child’s secondary admission, demonstrating how we want to increase and improve agency across the board. If we decide to proceed with this consultation today, we look forward to receiving feedback from families and school communities through the consultation.

And finally, today we are considering a report on our fair and inclusive action plan. Which shows the actions we’re taking to diversify the council workforce, improve learning, and develop on our equality and diversity promise for all staff. Also ensuring that the lived experience of our residents is reflected in everything that we do as a council. While it’s good to see progress in many areas, it’s also important to be honest that we are somewhere way off where we need to be. I’m pleased that we’re being transparent on our gaps in these areas and where we need to strengthen our polices in line with our people promise. I also want to acknowledge the incredible work of our Trade Unions and our staff forums for their advocacy which aims to ensure that our workplaces are not just diverse but also truly inclusive. Women are overrepresented in all levels at this council, LGBT staff are also well represented, and the percentage of BME, disabled, and all other staff in the council workforce continues to increase I’m pleased to say. But it’s still not representative of the economically active communities that we serve in the city. So, I’m pleased that we’re considering this report today and I’m also pleased that the paper considers proposals for the nucleation of socioeconomic data which would be a first for this council.