Agenda item - Oral questions from Councillors

70.1         The Mayor noted that 17 oral questions had been received and that 30 minutes were set aside for the duration of the item. The Mayor then called on Councillor Mac Cafferty to put his question to Councillor Pissaridou.

 

Councillor Mac Cafferty Subject matter: Communal Bins After Christmas

 

70.2         Councillor Mac Cafferty asked the following question, everyone will be aware we have had another Christmas where my residents and others in the city have had bins uncollected for days and weeks. With usual predictability there always seems to be an excuse. All this when we are spending £11K a week on agency workers and an answer to my written question today tells us we spend an unbelievable £.95million on City Clean agency workers. The indicators are telling us that collections for recycling and waste are up. My residents are careful to separate their waste and recycling and keep their end of the bargain by disposing of waste responsibly. When is the administration going to ensure the city council keeps its’ end of the bargain and ensure timely and regular bin collections?

         

70.3         Councillor Pissaridou replied, we are aware of issues with communal bin collections over the festive period. As you have said there is nothing more to add than this was a result of staffing issues relating to one of the rounds covering the central area of the city.

 

We experienced a high number of staff taking annual leave and sickness over the period.  We did use other crews via overtime over two days to pick up the missed work, including Communal Bin crews on rest days.

 

70.4         Councillor Mac Cafferty asked the following question, my point was that Christmas seems to join Pride or virtually any event any time of the year, we don’t have to wait for ceremony seemingly and with Sundays. I have now raised the point about communal recycling bins through Full Council with 5 oral questions in the past 5 years and we still seem to have made no progress. I would like to ask Cllr Pissaridou who has now been the Chair of the Environment Committee for over half the year and I am wondering when is she going to get to grips with it?

 

70.5         Councillor Pissaridou replied, we are reflecting on this year’s approach to the festive period and will make changes as necessary. We are also planning changes through the Modernisation Programme as reported to Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee last month.

 

Councillor Bell Subject matter: Local Businesses

 

70.6         Councillor Bell informed the Mayor that he wished to withdraw his question.

 

Councillor Hills Subject matter: Voluntary Payments to the Council

 

70.7         Councillor Hills asked the following question, Local Government spending has been slashed by a quarter over the past decade and due to the Governments’ Austerity Policy, our annual funding has dropped by £490 per head in our city which is a lot higher than the £270 national. I by no means condone this but I doubt that our newly elected government will be reversing the cuts on the scale necessary any time soon. So, one way of putting some money back into the public purse might be by giving wealthier residents the option of making extra payments to their council tax. Voluntary council tax schemes have been introduced in Westminster in London with some success and other authorities such as Islington are looking at introducing a similar scheme. The money raised could be used to support the homeless which affects 1 in 75 people in our city or could be used to improve youth or mental health services. These extra payments could be a good way to give extra help to the most vulnerable people in our society who have been hit hardest by government savaged cuts. Have administration looked at this? And I would like to know if it something we could re-consider?

 

70.8         Councillor Yates replied, I think it probably is the time that we looked at this again we looked at it back in 2018. We evaluated the options and we considered whether it was something that at that time residents would feel that it was something that they were going to be supportive of us introducing. I don’t think the time was right then and I think it is worth us reconsidering and looking at that again, so I would welcome having a cross party conversation with all groups and all councillors about how they would like to see that introduced and we can look at a range of different options.  We know that we have some important crises not just in our finances but also in our climate and diversity. If we can establish a fund which is going to be suitable and give that support to additionality and making sure that we are giving additional benefits to local residents from the additional funds that they may wish to contribute I think that would be a great thing.

 

70.9         Councillor Hills asked the following supplementary question, many homeless people are distrustful of mainstream authority and therefore don’t always take up support when offered. Westminster have spent some of their voluntary council tax money on employing 2 extra rough sleeper support officers to engage with people on the streets. Is that something that we as a local authority we could consider with the extra funds that we raise.

 

70.10      Councillor Yates replied, as I said what I think would be a good thing to do is to look at all the different options that are possible, Youth Services, climate change etc. there is such a wide range of ways that we might want to introduce it. I don’t think we can directly commit to one solution on the basis of one oral question at Full Council, but we can certainly commit to looking at that and bringing it into discussions.

 

Councillor Mears Subject matter: Housing Repairs

 

70.11      Councillor Mears asked the following question, can the Chair of Housing confirm that when the in-house repair service that is due to start on 1 April 2020 will stay within the budget, to ensure more funding is not used from Housing Revenue Account so affecting funding needed for repairs that will be raised by tenants?

 

70.12      Councillor Williams replied, our future repairs programme is delivering new arrangements for repairs and maintenance, planned work and major works across the council housing stock. There is a huge range of activity underway across these three streams, as I am sure you are aware, and the programme is focused to go live for 1 April. There has been a vast amount of work undertaken so far to ensure that this service will operate smoothly and, may I take this opportunity to offer many thanks to officers to say that this is mainly down to them.

 

As far as repairs go the programme team are supporting the transfer of 160 staff into the organisation. A lot of positive early engagement has been undertaken and in the next few months the final stages of that transfer will be completed. The focus for delivery of repairs and maintenance is ensuring the positive and consistent service for residents from day one. A range of communication plans are in place to ensure residents are updated throughout this period. With regards to supporting maintenance and repairs alongside the delivery of service by council employed operatives, supervisors, repairs desk staff, post room service there are arrangements for support for these services. To maintain consistency for residents we will be using the existing MCN system provided by Mears to raise repairs and manage works.

 

70.13      Councillor Mears asked the following supplementary question, can the Chair of Housing guarantee that the new inhouse repairs service will be managed professionally and properly. My reason for asking is that in the past I challenged the, then, Executive Director and Legal as the message from the council from the previous conservative administration have let a ‘light touch’ contract. I have confirmation in writing that the problems that the council have experienced over the life of the contract have been due to the management of the contract and not the form of the contract.

 

70.14      Councillor Williams replied, yes it will be conducted professionally and managed appropriately.

 

Councillor Janio Subject matter: The Future of Democracy

 

70.15      The Mayor noted that the question had been withdrawn.

 

 

 

Councillor Fishleigh Subject matter: A259

 

70.16      Councillor Fishleigh asked the following question, my question is not about the A259 specifically, but it was however prompted by traffic grinding to a halt on the A259 between Newhaven and The Marina and I hope that the answer will be interesting and useful to all councillors who are dismayed when road works pop up in their ward with no prior warning. Two things contributed to the chaos on the A259 the second week of January, firstly there was no advance communication to residents and road users, secondly Southern Water’s contractor had no information about the different traffic flows in the area. Please would the council evaluate its existing processes with a view to improving communications and producing traffic management plans that can be used when there is both planned and emergency works on major trunk roads

 

70.17      Councillor Pissaridou replied, the council has a Permit scheme in operation that enables all works carried out on the highway to be coordinated so that the impacts are mitigated.  This includes works carried out by utility companies.  The permits do include conditions that the companies have to comply with for example manual control of temporary lights or out of hours of working.  Full responsibility for managing the works and complying with the conditions falls to the specific companies.  The utility company are responsible for the publicity and management of the works including local engagement.  The team who look at the hundreds of permits that are submitted challenge the companies on how long the works will take and arrange for inspectors to visit to check on the works.  Roadworks are published on a national web site called one network

 

70.18      Councillor Fishleigh asked the following supplementary question, we are all very concerned with congestion and traffic pollution I think it would be a good idea if we didn’t leave responsibility for traffic management to outside companies and their contractors.

 

70.19      Councillor Pissaridou replied, the council is now looking at what action can be taken under the New Roads and Street works Act with the utility to ensure that there is no repeat of this in the city.

 

Councillor Rainey Subject matter: Brighton Youth Centre

 

70.20      Councillor Rainey asked the following question, Brighton Youth Centre is a much-loved institution in Queens Park ward, however it is in dire need of rebuilding. The centre offers a mix of activities and projects for all young people including young carers, young offenders, young parents, homeless young people and young people with disabilities. Please can we have a political commitment from Labour to support for the rebuild of the centre, and assurance that the capital investment and revenue required will be forthcoming, securing the proposed matched investment from Onside?

 

70.21      Councillor Allcock replied, I agree that the Brighton Youth centre provides a good service for young people and I know that the building needs significant work.  We are committed to reviewing youth services across the city and establishing a central hub. There are a range of options for establishing a youth hub and these will be considered by the review and a cross party working group. It is absolutely vital that the review takes account of the opinions of young people across the city and existing youth providers.

 

Onside is one of the options we will consider.  Onside is a charity which secures charitable donations that match local authority capital and revenue investment.   I visited an Onside centre in January along with Councillors Knight, Clare and Shanks and a paper was discussed at the January Children and Young People’s Committee about the youth review and Onside. 

 

The latest figures that we have from Onside are that the Council would need to contribute £3.65 million towards the capital cost and £200,000 towards revenue in the first three years. Onside would commit to contributing £4.75 million capital and £1 million for three years.  In the longer term a local Youth Zone charity would need to raise revenue of £1 million a year.

 

We are anxious to hear details of future Government funding which may contribute to both capital and revenue costs, but we haven’t heard anything yet. We also need to know more about the Government funding settlement for local authorities beyond April 2021. This and other information is already available and I can assure the you that we are committed to developing a central youth hub. However, we must also be confident that sufficient funding is available and that the hub will be financially sustainable in the long term.

 

70.22      Councillor Rainey asked the following supplementary question, please can we also have a commitment that the much need rebuild of Brighton Youth Centre and it becoming a central youth hub for Brighton & Hove and that it will not mean that funding for youth services will be cut elsewhere.

 

70.23      Councillor Allcock replied, there is a review going on that looks at all that and the cross-party group is fully aware of all the vital youth services that are contributed across the local authority by many voluntary organisations and the cross-party working group will look at all those things.

 

Councillor Wares Subject matter: Duke’s Mound

 

70.24      Councillor Wares asked the following question, please could the Chair of ETS confirm that in the event of the junction of Duke’s Mound being modified it is subject to a full traffic modelling study, including the impact of vehicle displacement and environmental impact assessment and also overlap with the modelling for Valley Gardens 3 and the A259 in its entirety. My request is to ensure that we fully understand the entire impact of all the highway schemes along the A259.

 

70.25      Councillor Pissaridou replied, the question on the paper was Duke’s Mound, it is an intensely complex area, the question put is complex in itself. I have 3 pages of notes that I don’t propose to sift through and read out to Councillor Wares. I suggest that we send a detailed written response.

 

70.26      Councillor Wares asked the following supplementary question, if Duke’s Mound junction is modified, will you promise that it will be subject to a full transport modelling exercise, an environmental impact study and a review of all the displacement that may or may not cause.

 

70.27      Councillor Pissaridou replied, we will incorporate the answer in our written response.

 

              Councillor Ebel Subject matter: Brexit

         

70.28      Councillor Ebel asked the following question, in the latest EU Nationals Briefing I see that so only 417 EU nationals have used the scanners in Brighton Town Hall to apply for EU settled status. I also noted that so far only half EU nationals in Brighton & Hove have applied for the EU settled status. Can you commit to another campaign to promote the scanners for example a social media campaign that was done in October when the scanners were set up initially?

 

70.29      Councillor Yates replied, there is a range of work going on at the moment and with our newly appointed or relatively newly appointed Brexit Communications Officer to try to raise awareness in the city both of need to apply for the EU Settled Status Scheme but also the methods the council have put in place to support them and the other methods that exist such as migrant help. One of my concerns is the fact that the support that is being put in place by the government towards migrant help ends at the end of March so in just over a months’ time with no information about how that can be increased or continued for the future so one of the things that we are going to be doing is as well as trying to actively encourage everybody to enter the scheme as quickly as possible. It is trying to find a way to get that scheme extended so that those who may well be without documents entirely and needing the greatest levels of support can get that support in our city because we are a city of sanctuary because that does matter as does being in Europe.

 

70.30      Councillor Ebel asked the following supplementary question, my question concerns the EU citizens who don’t have an ID document currently so they need to potentially travel to obtain an ID and there was something in the latest Brexit briefing about having a fund available to help these people and I would like to know the current status of this fund and when it is expected to come into effect and will it have a low level of bureaucracy because if you don’t have ID for certain reasons then you will also struggle to access the funds so there needs to be a low level of access.

 

70.31      Councillor Yates replied, absolutely, at the moment the burden of that has been falling to local organisations, especially local churches and local communities to be supporting those who need the funding to be able to get up to London to get to their consulate and to have their new documents supplied to them at an additional cost.  We want to see relatively simple discretionary payments to be made from with this organisation within the funding that we have been given to support the transition over Brexit. We have got until next year to make sure that its in place. We had a meeting a couple of weeks ago and legal officers are looking at what changes that we may need to make in order to allow officers to authorise those sorts of discretionary payments and we have kept all 3 groups informed in that as it is important that we all stand fully behind those in need at this time of stress.

 

 

Councillor Peltzer Dunn Subject matter: Monarchy

 

70.32      Councillor Peltzer Dunn asked the following question, in the Evening Argus recently quotes were attributed to you regarding the Monarchy. Could you please confirm were these remarks correct or if not, could you please let us know exactly, as Mayor, what you said?

 

70.33      The Mayor, Councillor Phillips replied, I spoke about the Monarchy in different forms and I am don’t have that in front of me, I spoke about it, I was on TV about it  so I am  not 100% sure about what I said from what you are quoting, I don’t have that in front of me. What I can say is that it was not about specific individuals, it wasn’t personal thing, it was about my view about the Monarchy in general and I did not say it in my capacity as Mayor I said it as a MEP at that time.

 

70.34      Councillor Peltzer Dunn asked the following supplementary question,  the city is justly proud of its’ mayoral tradition. A tradition which has its’ routes in representing the Crown within the city. I was going to ask would you agree with me that it is essential that the holder always maintains strict neutrality and refrains from giving opinions which appear to reflect the view of the Mayoralty rather than that of an individual. You have actually pre-empted me there and I am most grateful for that, but I think it is essential that the Mayoralty is seen to be neutral particularly in matters that appertain to a far wider audience. Because there is no doubt about it that sometimes somebody can say something within this chamber and it is not just reported within the area but is reported nationwide and can be detrimental to the interests of the city. I am grateful for your comments and I don’t request a response.

 

Councillor Heley Subject matter: Recycling

 

70.35      Councillor Heley asked the following question, why has the city clean account on Twitter been closed temporarily for over a year and how ‘temporary’ is temporary?

 

70.36      Councillor Pissaridou replied, I have no idea, but I will find out and let you know.

 

70.37      Councillor Heley asked the following supplementary question, this is a service that residents are deeply frustrated with. When are communications between City Clean and residents going to be improved?

 

70.38      Councillor Pissaridou replied, we are going to have a really big push this year on increasing recycling and we will be rolling out a programme, a revised recycling action plan will be brought to ETS Committee and a project board has been started from January and involving partner agencies to ensure that we have a real focus on increasing recycling. A leaflet with information about what can and can’t be recycled will be delivered to all households with their council tax bills, so everybody will know what they can recycle and what they can’t.

 

Councillor Barnett Subject matter: Basic Services

         

70.39      Councillor Barnett asked the following question, given your vision for this city, how and when are you going to clean up the city. We have grass verges that are covered in mud, pot holes, aggressive beggars, graffiti and I am wondering with all your promises that you are going to clean up the city, when are you going to start please?

 

70.40      Councillor Platts replied, by 2020 local councils were faced with a reduction to core funding of nearly £16 billion over the preceding decade, that means we will have lost 60p in every £1 for local services, that is the reality of nearly 10 years of tory government and residents are seeing the consequence of those cuts. Despite this we are taking steps to modernise our services and we are consulting the local community on how we can work together to keep the city clean including the best way to eliminate graffiti and tagging. We have already introduced fines for littering, including spitting. I would welcome any representation Councillor Barnett would like to make for her friends in government on the need for increased funding in local authority services which would support these efforts. City Clean is working hard to maintain the appearance of the city.

 

70.41      Councillor Barnett asked the following supplementary question, I don’t want to hear about cut backs we are talking about basic services, and these are not getting done.  I wonder if you met up with Caroline Lucas and she could work with you. You could walk around the city and see the state of it maybe she could make her appearance a bit more focal and we could clean it up and get civic pride back in the city as it used to be. It is not all about money it is about basic needs.

 

70.42      Councillor Platts replied, I have already given Councillor Barnett her response but one thing we won’t be doing is taking you up on your suggestion to hose down homeless people in the squares.

 

Councillor Hugh-Jones Subject matter: Equality Impact Assessments

 

70.43      Councillor Hugh-Jones asked the following question, there was a cut to domestic violence services originally proposed in the 2019-20 budget that was of a similar level to this years’ proposed cut. Why was the Equality Impact Assessment a 5 last year and a 1 this year?

 

70.44      Councillor Grimshaw replied, that is a really good question and it deserves a full and proper answer and I will make sure that officers get it to you.

 

70.45      Councillor Hugh-Jones asked the following supplementary question, I understand that Equality Impact Assessments address a broad impact of policy changes on certain groups. I am interested in the level of detail that these go into. For example, are needs of wheelchair users considered before large recycling bins are rolled out on streets with narrow pavements?

 

70.46      Councillor Grimshaw replied, I have been advised that this question is better answered by somebody other than me, so I will get officers to write back to you.

 

Councillor Nemeth Subject matter: King Alfred

 

70.47      Councillor Nemeth asked the following question, given that it was expected in 2017 that Chris Nicholson would be pulling out of the King Alfred project with the first ultimatum being given to them in March 2019 a project board was to be formed in December 2019 with me questioning the specific matter once again just before Christmas and no date yet in the diary why has it taken just so long to get things moving with specific regard to a project board meeting formally or otherwise?

 

70.48      Councillor Robins replied, a Project Board has now been set up and will have its first meeting in February/March this year.  It will consist of Councillors Moonan, MacCafferty, and Nemeth.

 

70.49      Councillor Nemeth asked the following supplementary question, I was hoping for the reason behind the delay but thank you for the update. My supplementary question is a subjective one, but I am hoping to get the Lead Members views on why Brighton & Hove is so far behind all surrounding authorities when it comes to building sports centres.

 

70.50      Councillor Robins replied, I am not sure we are that far behind all surrounding authorities when it comes to building sports centres, but I will check and come back to you with a written reply.

 

Councillor Gibson Subject matter: Budget Commitments to Achieve Council Priorities

 

70.51      Councillor Gibson asked the following question, whilst I am very aware of the constraints that we have talked about earlier in terms of government cuts in terms of funding and how that has been frustrating and potentially can frustrate our ambitions as a council for things like the ‘carbon neutral by 2030’ the Housing and Homelessness joint Labour Green programme and Community Wealth Building. Can you nevertheless assure the council that these gaols will be given high priority in the budget proposals shortly to be put forward to the Policy & Resources Committee on 13 February.

 

70.52      Councillor Yates replied, yes.

 

70.53      Councillor Gibson asked the following supplementary question, will you undertake to look favourably on Green budget amendments to seeking to achieve these priorities especially as these amendments will be designed in a way that doesn’t take money from any other service?

 

70.54      Councillor Yates replied, as you know one of the things that you and I have been involved with over the last few weeks has been specifically looking at the proposals that are coming forward and trying to judge them against the things and places and where we agree and where the city voted overwhelmingly in favour of us focusing our priorities. So, making sure that this council is financially sustainable, making sure that we are developing community wealth-building potential, that we are achieving zero net carbon by 2030. Addressing Housing and Homelessness crisis in the city; supporting a diverse, welcoming and tolerant city with reducing inequality; not increasing inequality and supporting those most likely to be affected by the impact of austerity. That is where the focus of this budget will be seen as well as trying to address any of the issues that have been addressed by members in their questions tonight. Even Cllr Barnett’s question about basic services, we have to get it all right, but we have to do it within a reducing financial envelope. It makes it harder and harder which means we have to be clearer about our choices. Those are where are choices are going to be focused, those are where the choices and preferences were focused when we were talking to the Greens and when we were talking to the public during the election period. I am hoping that is where we are going to come to a solution where everybody is happy, including the Greens with all their amendments.

 

Councillor Powell Subject matter: Equalities

 

70.55      Councillor Powell asked the following question, as Labour Administration and Green opposition we have agreed to work together in some key areas, one being the City of Sanctuary. Projects like the Inclusive Cities Project, Fair and Inclusive work shop for members to be rolled out to staff, the Equality and Inclusion Partnership. All that in conjunction with all the fantastic work done by our very valued third sector. It is with great concern then that we see a number of cuts proposed by the Labour administration to these areas, one of them being the £134k cut to the third sector development staffing. That is the council’s equalities posts, those people are knowledgeable, passionate, hold gravitas, know what they are doing. If, and it is a big if, that cut were to go through I need to ask you who on earth will deliver that equality work which is so needed, and crucially will this Labour Administration confirm that if that cut is administered that you will not bring in an expensive outside consultant to then deliver that same work?

 

70.56      Councillor Grimshaw replied, part of being the Lead for Equalities and us working together has been wonderful and we are all likeminded with the same gaols and aims but as has already been stated we are under severe budget cuts so whatever cuts are taken or brought forward as budget proposals will undergo impact assessments but I, like you, also feel grave concern and hope that a way forward will come out which benefits our manifestos and looks after our wonderful and diverse city.

 

70.57      Councillor Powell asked the following supplementary question, to put it in context we have Brexit tomorrow we have a majority tory government that have appointed an Equalities Chief who voted against equal marriage. We know that hate crime is on the rise in the city and we have all been attending those commemorations only this week on the holocaust and the hatred that fuels that. So now has never been a more important time to put equality and diversity needs as a top priority for this council.  Do you really believe that these proposals that you have put together in that budget, are they really in line with the Corporate Plan and more crucially what message does it send to our residents who are counting on us to be that City of Sanctuary if you are going to cut equality posts?

 

70.58      Councillor Grimshaw replied, I think it is important to clarify what is going on at the moment. We don’t have a formal, final set of budget proposals. That will be determined at the Budget Council when councillors vote on the proposals. The proposals that have come forward at the moment and I appreciate that things may have changed since Cllr Powell was last a councillor have been a set of proposals that were based at looking at a saving proposal of around £15m which was where we thought the gap was, before we had heard of the Local Government Finance settlement and before we understood fully about what was going to happening in future years, and officers were asked to come forward with a set of proposals, those are the proposals that you are asking about at the moment. When you ask the question and ask are they aligned with the Corporate Plan that is the process that myself and Cllr Gibson have been going through at the moment which is looking at the proposals and judging them against the key priorities that we share with you over the Corporate Plan. We will see those proposals changing and transforming over the course of the next 6 weeks and eventually, hopefully, as I say, I want everybody to be happy with the budget proposals or at least content. I don’t know that we will all be happy about some of the changes that are going to have to happen, but we are not happy about the amount of money we have got to start with but, unfortunately, I blame the government for that.

 

Councillor Druitt Subject matter: Progress Towards a Net-Zero Economy in the City

 

70.59      Councillor Druitt asked the following question, a key component of our commitment to a Net-Zero carbon city by 2030 is a zero-carbon economy. What is the administration’s vision of what a zero-carbon economy looks like in Brighton & Hove and what do we need to do as a council and as a city to make that happen?

 

70.60      Councillor Platts replied, a report was brought to the December meeting of the Policy & Resources Committee looking at how the council will reduce the city’s carbon emissions, including plans to establish a carbon reduction programme with the aim of making Brighton & Hove carbon neutral by 2030.  Making the economy net zero-carbon is of course a key part of this.

 

The Circular Economy Framework is one of the work streams that the Economic Development Team is developing to help support our carbon neutral 2030 ambitions. There have been a series of engagement workshops delivered in the last 6 months with stakeholders and council officers to understand the Circular Economy and what this means for the Built Environment and Construction sector and Visitor Economy sectors; the two significant sectors for the city in terms of carbon emissions and production of waste.

 

The Circular Economy Framework is due to be adopted by spring 2020 and will be expanded as further sectors are identified and developed.

 

70.61      Councillor Druitt asked the following supplementary question, I am glad you mentioned Policy & Resources Committee because I note after the changes to the TECC Committee earlier last year the responsibility for economic development rests with Policy & Resources which already has a huge amount on its plate.

 

Does Policy & Resources Committee actually have the capacity to make sure that this can happen in the time frame that it needs to happen and if it doesn’t at the moment what can we do as a council to make it?

 

70.62      Councillor Platts replied, Policy & Resources should have the capacity I guess that also depends on the number of questions that get put to that committee as well, but we have also got the Carbon Neutral working group that is cross-party, so all 3 parties are involved in that so that also has capacity to look at a lot of this work.