Agenda item - Chair's Communications

201.1   The Chair provided the following communications:

“I am delighted to introduce today’s business and particularly pleased to see weekly food waste collections included on the agenda.

We know recycling and reducing our impact on the environment is important to many of residents and that there has been frustration that so many have been wanting to do their bit by reducing food waste but not been able to be helped to do so by the council. In fact only this morning on BBC Radio Sussex I was asked, how can a City that’s had two Green councils still fail to collect food waste. Quite.

That is about to change. If approved today, weekly food waste collections could start as early as September this year thanks to funding from central government and a £1.2million investment by this council. 

Increasing recycling is a real priority for our Labour administration and this new collection will make a genuine difference. In Brighton & Hove around a third of household rubbish is food and drink waste - around 2.8kg per household each week.

Once up and running, this scheme will mean every home in our city - whether living in a kerbside or communal area - will be able to recycle their food waste.

Despite promises from previous administrations, our recycling rates have been historically low compared to other local authorities. We’re determined to improve this, and our new collections will help us do just that.

Earlier this year we also expanded the range of things residents can recycle and trials for a new sorting processes have been taking place.

Getting additional materials, including food waste, out of the general refuse will boost our recycling rates and the food waste collected in this scheme will be turned into compost for use in and around the city.

Residents have been demanding improvements in this area, and we’re delivering them.

Waste collection is an area residents rightly expect an efficient, regular service. Unfortunately, in recent months, this has not always been the case. We have seen the unwelcome return of unreliable garden waste, recycling and rubbish collections. We are tackling this.

This falls below our expectations for the service and are frustrating because I know how hard so many of our colleagues within Environmental Services are working to turn things round.

Today’s agenda includes a report on steps we are taking to change the culture within this service and the significant investment we are making – and will continue to make - into modern infrastructure that will underpin our improvements. 

We have some fantastic staff in our Environmental Services department who want to serve the city and provide a great service, but sadly we discovered on taking office that the service had some deep-rooted issues that had existed for many years, even decades. 

We are determined to address these issues and make the changes that this service and our residents have been crying out for for so long.

Significant efforts are now being made to achieve this – and we will reach the level of service our residents deserve.

But we are still experiencing concerning behaviour from a minority of people who seem determined to undermine the efforts of colleagues desperate to deliver a better service for the people of Brighton & Hove.

This should not come as a surprise to anyone who has read the KC report which we commissioned after receiving a whistleblowing complaint in May 2023. As you will all be aware, we fully accepted every single recommendation made in the subsequent KC report and implemented an action plan to address systemic issues of racism, misogyny, bullying and harassment, and to stamp out a highly toxic culture that had been left to fester. The report found that many of the individuals accused of these and other inappropriate behaviours were either GMB reps within the council, or are among a group of around 10 white men who were described to the KC by witnesses as having been particularly protected by the GMB reps within the council.

The report and its findings, however, were just the start. Sets of knives, nunchucks, baseball bats and a samurai sword were found at the depot in the office used by the GMB branch. One of their reps was charged after brave female witnesses came forward. However the CPS discontinued the prosecution, a decision the CPS has acknowledged was wrong in law. The GMB branch has never offered any explanation as to why so many violent weapons were found in their office nor any action they took as a result.

And it doesnt stop there. Over the last 18 months we have seen direct sabotage of vehicles, threats to life, intimidation and the same bully boy tactics. Last year before a particularly bad period of disruption, the GMB Sussex twitter account warned of "chaos" coming to Brighton directly before we saw further deliberate defecting of vehicles. While this tweet was hastily deleted after it was reported to police, we’ve never have any explanation from the GMB branch of what kind of chaos exactly? Was is the sort of chaos that compromises workers safety  - the very opposite of what any law abiding and decent trade union branch is supposed to do? If so that is gangsterism and not trade unionism. 

The list of criminal or unacceptable behaviour is long. 

And, last summer, a depot manager's car tyres were slashed along with sickening direct threats to their life and the lives of their family members.

My promise to fellow councillors, colleagues and residents – and indeed, those who still seem determined to undermine our service – is simple: we will not bow down or buckle in the face of such appalling behaviour. Each act of sabotage or intentional disruption to our service just makes us more determined to stamp it out. 

Today’s report not only reiterates that commitment but shows what steps we have taken and will take over the coming weeks and months.

We have made great strides in improving the culture and we are committed to a schedule of modernisation which will help our teams improve collection rates.

I’d like to thank residents for their patience as we undertake the overdue transformational work that is needed to deliver a consistently high-quality service.

Anyone who thinks they can stand in the way of that much-needed progress should think again.

We will support colleagues, invest in the necessary technology and processes, and do all we can to provide a fantastic service for this city.

Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to say that I am proud to lead what I would describe as a City of Friends in a Country of Neighbours. We are a City of Sanctuary that celebrates the extraordinary contributions of our migrant residents, many of whom are valued colleagues here at the City Council. As the descendant of migrants on one side of my family I understand how interwoven this country’s history is with much of the rest of the world. I will always defend the rights of all human beings regardless of their nationality and this Council is proud to lead the country in our EDI programmes, our climate change work and to proudly fly our inclusive Pride flag at every opportunity.

In respect of the recent Supreme Court judgment while it may have clarified the interpretation of wording in the Equality Act, it has caused confusion and deep anxiety about the provision of services for trans people.

I want to make clear to our trans, intersex and non-binary residents and colleagues here at the council that we hear your anxiety and distress and that many aspects of daily life and routine have now been thrown into uncertainty.

The Supreme Court judgment made clear that the Equality Act protects trans people from discrimination and harassment and this principle must be upheld as the government considers the judgment and its next steps.

As drafted, the update provided by the Equality and Human Rights Commission would seem to create serious difficulties for trans people and their ability to access services and live with dignity.

Brighton & Hove City Council will fully participate in the consultation on the full guidance when published to ensure that the protections of the Equality Act endorsed by the Supreme Court are properly upheld”.