Agenda item - Written questions from members of the public.

A list of public questions received by the due date of the 9^th December 2010 will be circulated separately as part of an addendum at the meeting.

47.1         The Mayor reported that sixteen written questions had been received from members of the public.  He noted that a period of 15 minutes was set aside for the consideration of public questions at council meetings and that a written response would be given to any outstanding questions once the time period had elapsed.

 

47.2         The Mayor then invited Captain Briggs to come forward and address the council.

 

47.3         Captain Briggs asked the following question, “Brighton & Hove City Council spends £148,300,000 on Housing Benefit, of that £88,200,000 is paid to private landlords or (59.5%).

 

            Many of these properties, owned by private landlords, are below the minimum standards required by the Housing Act 2004.

 

            Landlords should be made responsible to provide appropriate homes for the tenants and only be allowed recourse to public funds once these properties are brought up to a legal minimum standard.

 

            Is it not possible for private landlords to be made to bring up these homes to minimum standards, or decent home standards, before tenants end up trapped in homes that are unsuitable, sometimes barely habitable and with very little recourse?”

 

47.4         Councillor Caulfield, Cabinet Member for Housing replied, “Unfortunately, in regard to private landlords it is not currently under local authority control.  There is no specific test within Housing Benefit regulations relating to property standards in privately rented properties.

 

            The council is required to establish a liability to pay rent and the eligibility of the person making the claim.  It remains for the tenant to decide whether the rent being charged for the property is appropriate and whether they should enter into a tenancy agreement with the landlord.

 

            Similarly, under the Housing Act legislation there are no prescribed standards that have to be met before a property can be let.  Issues that the council becomes aware of are raised with landlords and agents, informally at first, and many then arrange for these problems to be rectified.  If there is insufficient engagement the issues are assessed formally and remedial work is undertaken where required.  I do take your point that currently under legislation local authorities have very little powers to act on private landlords.”

 

47.5         Captain Briggs asked the following supplementary question, “Councillor I can tell you there is legislation because I have researched it and know it but my supplementary question goes on to a little bit of the agenda on vulnerable children. 

 

In July my wife and I got married here.  In November through legislation housing benefit made it so difficult for us to live together that we now are separated and can no longer live together.  Since December 2009 we have been trying to get the Environmental Health Agency to bring our home up to what is called in the HHSRS a decent home standard. 

 

The question is why are some departments applying every single item of legislation and others are not applying absolutely any?”

 

47.6         Councillor Caulfield replied, “I think what you are trying to look at is how we can enforce private landlords to bring their properties up to a decent standard as a council.  I know you have had experience with various departments because I know we have met to discuss this before. 

 

            What I can say is that at a previous Council meeting a few months ago a Notice of Motion was brought forward to look at the role of letting agents and private landlords and it has been decided, and it’s going to be led by one of the Councillors in the Opposition, to look at a Scrutiny Panel about how we can address improving letting agents and the role that they have to play in this as well.  I think this scrutiny is taking place in January and I think your experience would be very valuable. 

 

            I know that I am going to be attending one of the scrutiny meetings in relation to that and I think your situation, your experience would be very valuable for the Scrutiny Panel to hear and that the council could learn some valuable lessons as a result of your experience.  I would encourage you to maybe attend those meetings or submit evidence so that we could look at your experience because I know your experience does represent those of many other people in the city.”

 

47.7         The Mayor thanked Captain Briggs for his questions.  He noted that Ms. Joyce had agreed to her question as detailed below being taken as read and called on Councillor Brown, Cabinet Member for Children & Young People to respond.

 

            “My 3 year old son Lawrie will start a local school in September 2011 and I selected Bright Start (2 years ago) as it offered the very best run up to formal education.  If the nursery closes where is Lawrie supposed to go for the 5 month period between April and September that will ensure he is not unsettled at this crucial time?”

 

47.8         Councillor Brown replied, “I do appreciate that this is a concern for children who are due to leave the nursery to go to school in September and I have asked my officers to look at the cost of keeping the nursery open until the end of August so that I can consider this option when I make any decision about the future of the nursery.”

 

47.9         The Mayor noted that Ms. Tolinsson had agreed to her question as detailed below being taken as read and called on Councillor Brown, Cabinet Member for Children & Young People to respond.

 

            “How will the council either compensate parents for the loss of earnings if no suitable childcare can be found after April or reimburse parents for the additional costs of finding childcare in way of having to pay deposits for putting the child’s name on waiting lists for privately run nurseries which in itself is no guarantee of a place being available at the time it’s required?”

 

47.10    Councillor Brown replied, “I have to reiterate that no decision has been made to close the nursery.  If the decision should be taken to close the nursery in April then parents would have three month’s notice to find alternative childcare.  Many other parents in the city including council employees who do not use Bright Start, already do have to pay deposits for childcare places.”

 

47.11    The Mayor then invited Mr. Sykes to come forward and address the council.

 

47.12    Mr. Sykes asked the following question, “In view of the apparent shortfall in the region of £260,000 in the Culture and Enterprise budget for 2011/12, would Councillor Smith please tell us whether he will be making any cuts to the funding of the libraries services?”

 

47.13    Councillor Smith, Cabinet Member for Culture, Recreation & Tourism replied, “The Library budget will not be directly affected by this budget figure which relates to a very specific different item.  There are no plans to cut the library services.”

 

47.14    Mr. Sykes asked the following supplementary question, “My supplementary concerns the library book fund and I wonder if this is protected and index-linked within the current library PFI contract or will it be reduced due to wider funding and cost pressures?”

 

47.15    Councillor Smith stated that he was unable to give a full response and would therefore provide a written reply.

 

47.16    The Mayor thanked Mr. Sykes for his questions and invited Mr. Hawtree to come forward and address the council.

 

47.17    Mr. Hawtree asked the following question, "Would Councillor Theobald please tell us what steps he will be taking, and when, to increase the composting of domestic food waste?"

 

47.18    Councillor G. Theobald, Cabinet Member for Environment replied, “When the council adopted its waste strategy last year it looked into food waste collections in detail and decided not to commence this at this stage because:

 

•     Independent research suggested that having a separate food waste collection (which means having a separate collection service) is not necessarily the best environmental option.  We felt that more research is needed to ensure the service was environmentally sustainable.

 

•     National trials have shown that food waste tonnages collected separately are much higher in areas which have a fortnightly, rather than a weekly refuse collection and in order to fund a food waste collection, refuse collections would also have to be fortnightly.  This Administration believes that refuse collections should be weekly.

 

            We have been focussing, as you may know, with the Food Partnership on reducing the amount of food waste in the first instance and that, I think, is very important.  The campaign is ongoing and further details can be found on our website and that of the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership.”

 

47.19    Mr. Hawtree asked the following supplementary question, “In view of what you say about the food waste Councillor Theobald, could you tell us what is the percentage of domestic food waste in the collections made by this authority’s dustbin persons?”

 

47.20    Councillor Theobald stated that he was unable to give a full response and would therefore provide a written reply.

 

47.21    The Mayor thanked Mr. Hawtree for his questions and invited Miss Tamsin Wright and Miss Sophie Wright to come forward and address the council.

 

47.22    Miss Tamsin Wright and Miss Sophie Wright asked the following question, "I cried when I heard that Bright Start might be closed down.  Children love it, parents trust it, the staff are the best you can find, and the government want nursery places.  How can the Council say they want Brighton to be the best place for children to grow up in when they want to close Bright Start down?"

 

47.23    Councillor Brown, Cabinet Member for Children & Young People thanked both Miss Tamsin and Miss Sophie Wright for their question and replied, “No decision has been made to close the Bright Start Nursery.  To make Brighton the best place for children to grow up we need to make sure that we spend our resources on children wisely and make decisions about what to prioritise.  This is the context in which I agreed to allow the consultation on whether or not to close this particular nursery.  However, I’ll say to you again that no decision has yet been made and I will be considering whether or not Bright Start is necessary to deliver our vision for the city when I make my eventual decision.”

47.24    The Mayor noted there was no supplementary question and invited Mr. Jarrett to come forward and address the council.

 

47.25    Councillor Morgan raised a point of order in light of the fact that the 15 minute period for public questions had almost elapsed and moved that Standing Orders be suspended to allow all the remaining public questions to be taken.

 

47.26    Councillor Kennedy formally seconded the motion.

 

47.27    The Mayor noted that a motion to extend the period for public questions had been moved and put the motion to the vote, which was carried.  He then invited Mr. Jarrett to put his question to the Cabinet Member.

 

47.28    Mr. Jarrett asked the following question, "Would Councillor Theobald please report the findings of the officers that he asked to fully investigate the junction of Cromwell Road and The Drive in Hove, with a view to assessing the need for pedestrian crossings?"

 

47.29    Councillor G. Theobald, Cabinet Member for Environment replied, “Officers have looked into the need for a crossing at this junction and found that there has only been one accident involving a pedestrian here in the last six years.  The number of pedestrians wanting to cross at this point is also fairly low compared to other crossing points in the city that also have no formal pedestrian crossing facilities. 

 

            It is important that the council prioritises its resources and invests them in areas where there are known problems.  However, I can assure you that officers will continue to monitor this junction and take action if the situation changes.”

 

47.30    Mr. Jarrett asked the following supplementary question, “Councillor Theobald, you said that we had only had one recorded accident at this junction and presumably this doesn’t involve a number of near misses that I have had reported to me.  Am I to assume then that we have to wait until there is a serious accident or a fatality of a pedestrian at this junction before action is taken?”

 

47.31    Councillor Theobald replied, “It’s like all road safety matters, Mr Jarrett.  There are, you know, lots of requests for various matters to be dealt with and the council just has to prioritise what it does in this. 

 

            I mean to give an example the council is currently improving many crossings in the city, including Hove Street and the A259 junction, Boundary Road and the A259 junction, Wharf Road and the A259 junction, Church Road, Trafalgar Road and the A259 with further work planned for pedestrian improvements at the Upper Drive and the Old Shoreham Road junction and the Church Road and the Grand Avenue junction and Preston Road subject to consultation.  These matters are ongoing and they will carry on being ongoing but we have to have a list of priorities so that obviously those where the situation is more necessary are dealt with first. 

 

            As I have said I fully understand your request and should the situation change then obviously we would look at this one again.  Officers have monitored, have looked at it and we will continue to keep an eye on that situation.”

 

47.32    The Mayor thanked Mr. Jarrett for his questions and invited Ms. Summers to come forward and address the council.

 

47.33    Ms. Summers asked the following question, “Can the council provide a full update on its progress with the redevelopment plans for Preston Barracks on Lewes Road, originally set out and agreed in a 2005 planning brief in which it was acknowledged to be a significant landmark as a ‘gateway to the city’?”

 

47.34    Councillor Fallon-Khan, Cabinet Member for Enterprise, Employment & Major Projects replied, “In 2005 I wasn’t an elected Member and obviously not in the position I am in now.  As I understand it in 2005 and up until a year or two ago there was a Preferred Option but the financial viability of that scheme didn’t materialise so therefore nothing happened.

 

            What there has been since September 2009 is a ‘Shared Vision’ for the site which includes, with our partners, employment, new homes, a University Business School, student housing and high quality public spaces. 

 

            One of the things that we have done and this is particularly after an enormous amount of work my colleague, Councillor Peltzer Dunn, has achieved as the Project Board Manager of that, is that we are trying to accelerate the process now of the major projects, because despite the fact that there is a recession here the Conservative Administration is determined to follow through with as many major projects as possible, including Preston Barracks, because this does supply employment, regeneration and also a lot of sustainability implications which this Administration believes in. 

 

            There will be a planning brief and that will build on the existing Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG14 – 2003).”

 

47.35    Ms. Summers asked the following supplementary question, “You did mention a Business School, I just wanted to double check that with you, because in a conversation recently with a resident who works at the University of Brighton they did ask whether that redevelopment was going to include a new Business School, so I heard you mention that.  Is that for sure that that is part of the plans for redeveloping that area?  Is that what I could say to the resident?”

47.36    Councillor Fallon-Khan replied, “In relation to the Business School, this is going to be something that is going to be under discussion as part of the consultation process on the redevelopment.”

 

47.37    The Mayor thanked Ms. Summers for her questions.  He noted that Mr. Titheridge had agreed to his question as detailed below being taken as read, and called on Councillor Brown, Cabinet Member for Children & Young People to respond.

 

            “For clarity and transparency in decision making, what criteria will the council be using to decide whether Bright Start Nursery should close?”

 

47.38    Councillor Brown replied, “I intend to make a reasonable, informed and balanced decision.  I will fully consider the responses to the consultation, the council’s duties and obligations under the law including the impact upon equalities.  I will carefully weigh in the balance the aspirations of the city against the need to use our resources wisely so as to ensure we have sufficient resources available to prioritise meeting the needs of the most vulnerable children in our society. 

 

            In short my criteria are to be fair, informed and transparent.”

 

47.39    The Mayor then invited Mr. McKay to come forward and address the council.

 

47.40    Mr. McKay asked the following question,

 

            “The Equalities and Human Rights Commission Impact Assessment Guidance states that ‘EIA should start prior to policy development or at the design stages of the review and continue throughout the policy development’ - Can you explain to me please what you (Vanessa Brown) or the Committee has done to date about ensuring proper implementation of your Equalities Impact Assessment obligations?”

 

47.41     Councillor Brown, Cabinet Member for Children & Young People replied, “An Equalities Impact Assessment has been started and is continuing.  It is a living document and as you would expect the final version will, of course, need to incorporate consideration of all the relevant issues raised during the consultation period.  That consultation formally finished on 3 December but I am aware that officers have taken responses since then and I have asked officers to treat the public questions asked tonight as part of that consultation.

 

            The final Equalities Impact Assessment will form part of the final paper which makes the recommendation on the future of the nursery.  It is obviously one of the areas I will consider carefully before I make any decision.”

 

47.42    Mr. McKay asked the following supplementary question, “The EIA if it is operated properly will result in policy being reviewed and redesigned as policy develops.  Can you perhaps tell me what you have done to ensure that that is actually happening?”

 

47.43    Councillor Brown replied,“I can assure you that that is happening because I have questioned my officers closely.”

 

47.44    The Mayor thanked Mr. McKay for his questions and invited Mr. Guy to come forward and address the council.

 

47.45    Mr. Guy asked the following question, “At the last meeting of the Council in October Councillor Brown stated that the proposal to move to academy status at Portslade Community College was to proceed, with the council working in close co-operation with the Aldridge Foundation. My question is in two parts:

 

•     How advanced does this process have to be before there is a genuine attempt to consult with the parents, staff and other stakeholders, in other words all those people in the local community who rely on the college for the services it provides, as well as the education of the children in the locality?

 

•     And will that consultation incorporate a ballot of those stakeholders in order that there can be a genuine opportunity for the parents staff and other stakeholders to have their say on the proposal?”

 

47.46    Councillor Brown, Cabinet Member for Children & Young People replied, “The process for the creation of an academy involves a number of stages.  Although that process has changed from what we had to do with Falmer the key milestones remain the same.  Government requires the submission of an Expression of Interest, the closure of the existing school subject to it becoming an academy and the acceptance of the final business case.  The council is required to consult the school, its community and other interested parties prior to submitting the Expression of Interest and prior to publishing the closure of the existing school.

 

            Following the submission of the Statement of Intent in April 2010 and having received Ministerial approval, the council consulted the community prior to the submission of the Expression of Interest.  Consultation was undertaken between 10 May and 18 June 2010, this included two public meetings held on 10 June at PCC and 14 June at the Village Centre.  The results of this consultation were reported back to Cabinet on 22 July 2010 and Cabinet agreed to progress to the next stage.

 

            At the Cabinet meeting held on 9 December 2010 the council agreed to the publication of the statutory notice to close PCC subject to its becoming an academy.  The publication of this notice offers a further opportunity for the school, the community and other interested parties to comment on the proposal.  This further period of consultation will take place during January 2011 and be reported back to Cabinet prior to the decision whether to proceed with the proposal or not. 

 

            The consultations carried out  throughout this process and many others do not include balloting stakeholders as members are publicly elected by the community to make decisions but these decisions are only made after all representations have been carefully considered.”

 

47.47    Mr. Guy asked the following supplementary question, “You say, Councillor Brown, that initially after the first consultation that you publish the outcomes.  I don’t actually remember seeing those outcomes being published but since that time do you not accept that the whole proposal has been conducted apace behind closed doors with decisions being made on the future, for example, of the Head, the plans for sixth form provision and other aspects of the academisation often being announced in the local press before being communicated to those affected directly?  Can this really be described as democratic and by the way how long is the process of the consultation in January going to be?”

 

47.48    Councillor Brown replied, “I strongly refute that anything’s been done behind closed doors.  We’ve had public meetings, consultation papers, Cabinet meetings.  Nothing has been done behind closed doors and it has been agreed that the Head at the moment should become the Principal of the academy designate.”

 

47.49    The Mayor thanked Mr. Guy for his questions.  He noted that Master. Connaghan had agreed to his question as detailed below being taken as read, and called on Councillor Brown, Cabinet Member for Children & Young People to respond.

 

            "Could the Councillors please come and visit Bright Start to see for themselves why I love my nursery?"

 

47.50    Councillor Brown replied, “Thank you very much for your question, Charlie.  I have visited Bright Start in the past and I went back again just last week.”

 

47.51    The Mayor noted that Mr. Wellstead had agreed to his question being taken as read as detailed below, and called on Councillor Brown, Cabinet Member for Children & Young People to respond.

 

“At the last meeting on the 21st October, Councillor Brown stated that, "The state of the building is very poor.  It has high windows and little light".  I would suggest this is good for a nursery because why would you want low windows?  Also, the light is little, well my child is also little.  Where is her evidence that the light is little, does the nursery not have lights and high windows?  It has been stated that the ceilings are too low, they are about 8 foot, my child is 2 foot.  Why do they need altering?”

 

47.52    Councillor Brown replied, “Issues about the building will be considered in the officers’ report to me.  Bright Start does not have the same child friendly environment as the other council run nurseries.  It is good practice for children to be able to look out of the windows in their nursery.  However, the state of the building is just one of the factors I will be considering and is not a determining factor on its own.”

 

47.53    The Mayor then invited Ms. Hands to come forward and address the council.

 

47.54    Ms. Hands asked the following question, “The 1996 Employment Relations Act states that ‘consultation’ regarding job losses must be ‘meaningful’.  Why was an £87,0000 saving in nursery provision, confirmed subsequently as Bright Start, published in papers for cabinet meeting for 9/12/2010, and ‘the Argus’, 3/12/2010, while the consultation period of 30 days hadn’t even finished?”

 

47.55    Councillor Brown, Cabinet Member for Children & Young People replied, “Thank you, Ms Hands, for your question.  I did actually answer this at Cabinet and the Finance Officer did too. 

 

            The Cabinet considered budget papers which identified £87,000 as the target saving for nursery provision.  The budget papers contained no more than proposals which will, in the fullness of time, be presented to Council for final decision.  It’s no secret that this is a proposal – we were consulting on it.  However, the fact of this being a proposal in no way fetters any future decision. 

 

            I can assure you that the responses to consultation by members of the public and others are being fully considered by officers prior to their making a final recommendation and I will be fully considering them too and I expect the issues raised in the consultation to be fully addressed in the final paper.

 

            Please be assured that I have yet to come to a decision about the nursery and all responses to the consultation will be carefully considered and weighed in the balance before a final decision is made.”

 

47.56    Ms. Hands asked the following supplementary question, “Isn’t it a fact that this Administration made up its mind a long time ago to close Bright Start Nursery and is using the current round of cuts as a convenient excuse for carrying out their long-held wishes and is undertaking consultation merely as a box ticking exercise?”

 

47.57    Councillor Brown replied, “I think I actually just answered that question: no, we are considering all the responses that we are receiving at the moment and there is no foregone decision.”

 

47.58    The Mayor thanked Ms. Hands for her questions and invited Ms. Bruce to come forward and address the council.

 

47.59    Ms. Bruce asked the following question, “In the Argus on 15/11/2010 Councillor Brown stated that the council has “a statutory duty to protect the most vulnerable children in the city”.”

 

            Does the Councillor not agree that all children are, by definition vulnerable, that no assessment has made of the numbers of the “most vulnerable” children in the Bright Start area, and that all children deserve the kind of “high quality” childcare provided by Bright Start?”

 

47.60    Councillor Brown, Cabinet Member for Children & Young People replied, “I stated that the council has a duty to protect the most vulnerable children in the city.  The majority of children in the city are safe and well supported.  Unfortunately the city has an increasing number of children who need child protection plans. 

 

            I want to stress again that I have not made any decisions about the future of the nursery.  In order to address the concerns raised in this question I have asked my officers to supply me with some factual information about the children in the area of Bright Start and those attending the nursery.

 

            A significant portion of those children who attend the Bright Start Nursery do not come from that area of the city.  In fact one in five children who attend Bright Start live outside the city altogether, and about two thirds do not live in the immediate area of the nursery.

 

            Bright Start is based in the Tarner Children’s Centre area.  There are sixteen children under 5 who are looked after or who have child protection plans in this area, and so would qualify as the most vulnerable.  Of the children who currently attend the Bright Start Nursery none are the subject of child protection plans.

 

            Looking at the question of quality, my aspiration is for all the early year childcare settings in the city to achieve good or outstanding Ofsted inspections.  This has been achieved by 88% of the city’s nurseries and playgroups inspected since September 2008.  I was delighted that the Roundabout Children’s Centre Nursery was inspected this term and was judged to be outstanding in all areas.  The Tarner Nursery has also just been judged to be outstanding.  I do realise how valued Bright Start is but, actually, when it had its last Ofsted inspection it was graded as satisfactory.”

 

47.61    The Mayor noted that Ms. Bruce did not have a supplementary question and thanked her for her question.  He also noted that Mr. Jones was unable to attend the meeting and invited Ms. Leach to come forward and address the council on his behalf.

 

47.62    Ms. Leach asked the following question, “Councillor Brown, in response to the previous question that Dave Jones asked at the full Council on 21/10/2010, you stated that “more information about the feasibility study (i.e. the Bright Start building work) will be included in the consultation document”.  Why did the said document continue to wrongly claim that £230,000 was needed to “bring the building up to a good standard” and then exclude the information from informal Cabinet on 12/5/2010 which said “the scope of the works could be reduced to cost £160,000 and could be reduced further by only addressing the most urgent issues”?

 

            Can Councillor Brown give an accurate figure for necessary building work now essential work is completed?”

 

47.63    Councillor Brown, Cabinet Member for Children & Young People replied, “Thank you, Ms Leach, I understand you are asking the question for Dave Jones.  I have asked my officers to address the issues about the building in the final report and to explore a range of options for improving the building.  However, as I said earlier, the state of the building is just one of the factors I will be considering and is not a determining factor on its own.”

 

47.64    The Mayor noted that Ms. Leach did not have a supplementary question and thanked her for her question and noted that this concluded the public questions.