Agenda item - Oral questions from Councillors

46.1      The Mayor noted that 15 oral questions had received and that 30 minutes were set aside for the duration of the item. He also noted that he had been informed that Councillor Pissaridou wished to withdraw her question. The Mayor then called on Councillor Platts to put her question to Councillor Heley.

 

46.2      Councillor Platts asked if the bus services in the city were running at an effective level bearing in mind the impact of the pandemic?

 

46.3      Councillor Heley stated that Brighton & Hove buses were running at 90% of their pre-Covid journeys, although capacity was reduced as a result of social distancing guidelines.

 

46.4      Councillor Nemeth noted that a memorandum of understanding existed between the Green and Labour Groups and suggested that it meant that there was no proper opposition and asked how the Administration would be held accountable?

 

46.5      Councillor Mac Cafferty stated that both the Green and Labour Groups had areas where their manifestos were closely aligned and meant that they could work together for the benefit of the city, but it would not prevent the Administration from being scrutinised.

 

46.6      Councillor Nemeth asked if Councillor Mac Cafferty would make the memorandum of understanding public?

 

46.7      Councillor Mac Cafferty replied, no.

 

46.8      Councillor Grimshaw asked when the Coombe Road Parking Scheme was due to come into operation and how it would be made known to residents?

 

46.9      Councillor Heley noted that the Coombe Road area parking scheme was due to start on 1^st December 2020 and we will be sending correspondence out to all households within the next couple of weeks which will update residents and outline when and where application details will be available. This will allow us to focus dedicated staff on this resident / visitor permit process which usually takes about 6 weeks alongside completing all the work started on site. She offered to discuss the matter further with Councillor Grimshaw outside of the meeting.

 

46.10   Councillor Mears asked how an effective opposition could be provided on the Housing Committee? noted that democracies can only thrive when they have an effective opposition, given that Labour and the Greens are now working in coalition as confirmed tonight by Councillor Gibson and have a joint programme for housing & homeless is it constitutional or publicly defensible for the opposition spokesperson on Housing to be a Labour councillor? How can a Labour councillor provide opposition to their own programme?

 

46.11   Councillor Mac Cafferty stated that the no overall control protocol dealt with the constitutional position and believed that the Labour Members on the committee provided the rigour to hold the Green Administration to account.

 

46.12   Councillor Mears noted that there were problems in the Housing department and the committee deserved an effective opposition and yet the Labour Group were in receipt of allowances and queried whether he agreed Councillor Williams should be removed as the Opposition Spokesperson?

 

46.13   Councillor Mac Cafferty stated that the appointments to committees was agreed at full Council and it was open for all members of a committee to scrutinise policy which councillor Mears could do as a member of the Housing Committee.

 

46.14   Councillor Janio noted that the council had adopted the IHRA definition for anti-Semitism, and asked if the Leader of the Council would commit to root out anti-Semitism wherever it exists?

 

46.15   Councillor Mac Cafferty stated that he did make it clear at the July Council meeting and again with the Anti-Racist Strategy to TECC in September that there is no place for this in the city.

 

46.16   Councillor Janio noted that the definition of anti-Semitism as set out by the IHRA, and asked if the Leader agreed with that statement and would he hold all who don’t to account as anti-Semitic?

 

46.17   Councillor Mac Cafferty stated that the Council has adopted the definition and there is no place for being anti-Semitic in the city.

 

46.18   Councillor Williams asked if the current Housing dispute was likely to have any impact on residents?

 

46.19   Councillor Hugh-Jones stated that discussions were on-going and that services would be maintained.

 

46.20   Councillor Peltzer Dunn asked the following question relating to car crime in West Hove.

 

46.21   Councillor Powell stated that officers had been made aware of an increase in vandalism to cars and the police had had confirmed that arrests had been made and enquiries were ongoing.

 

46.22   Councillor Peltzer Dunn asked if further action was required what form that would take to protect residents’ properties.

 

46.23   Councillor Powell offered to meet with Councillor Peltzer Dunn to discuss the matter further.

 

46.24   Councillor Childs referred to the changes to the planning process outlined in the White Paper and asked if the Administration intended to challenge these?

 

46.25   Councillor Littman stated yes and that officers were working on a response to the White Paper as the proposals would have a detrimental effect for local communities.

 

46.26   Councillor Childs questioned whether there was an intention to get local residents involved in lobbying the government on the matter?

 

46.27   Councillor Littman stated that the Communications Team were working with Planning officers to get information out on the potential impact of the proposed changes and urged all councillors to use their resources to highlight the issue in their wards.

 

46.28   The Mayor stated that the 30 minutes set aside for Members’ oral questions had been reached and he was minded to move onto the next item.

 

46.29   Councillor Nemeth moved a motion to suspend Standing Orders to enable the remaining oral questions to be taken, and this was formally seconded by Councillor Mears.

 

46.30   The Mayor put the motion to the vote and called on each of the Group Leaders to confirm their position as well as the Groups in turn followed by each of the Independent Members:

 

Councillor Mac Cafferty stated that the Green Group were in favour of the motion and extending the time for oral questions to be completed and this was confirmed by the Green Group Members;

 

Councillor Platts stated that the Labour Group were against the motion and this was confirmed by the Labour Group Members;

 

Councillor Bell stated that the Conservative were in favour of the motion and this was confirmed by the Conservative Group Members;

 

Councillor Brennan confirmed that she was voting against the motion;

 

Councillor Fishleigh confirmed that she wished to abstain from voting on the motion;

 

Councillor Janio confirmed that he was voting in favour of the motion;

 

Councillor Knight confirmed that she was voting against the motion.

 

46.31   The Mayor confirmed that the motion had been carried and invited Councillor Theobald to put her question to Councillor Heley.

 

46.32   Councillor Theobald asked the following question, when will the state of the pavements be addressed?

 

46.33   Councillor Heley replied, this year, City Environment has adopted a different approach to weed management, following the committee decision to become pesticide free by 2022. This means the service has not used pesticide on pavements and hard surfaces. Since the decision was taken, the removal of weeds in parks and on hard surfaces, such as pavements and highways, has been completed using manual techniques.

 

Cityclean has cleared most of the worst affected areas in the city. Unfortunately, the weeding and deep cleaning schedule has been substantially  impacted upon by the Covid-19 pandemic and the effects of restrictions and lockdown. A large number of Cityclean staff were self-isolating and some of our street- cleansing operatives were also diverted to priority tasks.

 

The weeding season has only just ended, with the focus now on leaves. We have already started looking at what has gone well, the positive and negative impact on the environment including pavements and where we can make improvements. We are also looking at new equipment and will review funding, equipment and resources for the following year. A report will be brought to Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee in the New Year.

 

It is important to note that many residents have asked us not to remove weeds when they have seen the insects flourish due to other concerns for biodiversity, so we also need to take on board what these residents are saying. 

 

I want to thank our Street Cleansing operatives who have worked hard to remove weeds and continue to get rid of leaves from the most affected areas of the city. I’d also like to thank the 300 people who took part in the Keep Brighton & Hove Tidy fortnight in September. Their efforts helped tidy up the city, which included weeding.

 

Residents who would like excessive weeds removed from public land can report this online and street cleaners will attend the area.

 

46.34   Councillor Theobald asked the following supplementary question, in view of the on-set of winter, can the Chair agree to send a reminder to residents that bins should only be left on the pavement on the day of collection?

 

46.35   Councillor Heley replied, I would be happy to discuss the matter with officers and consider any action necessary.

 

46.36   Councillor O’Quinn referred to the cuts to the police service and an increase in drug related incidents and asked whether the Administration would sign the open letter from the Labour Group to the Government calling for a reversal of these cuts?

 

46.37   Councillor Powell stated that any incidents of drug dealing should be reported to the police and noted that all agencies were working together to address the issue.

 

46.38   Councillor O’Quinn urged the Conservative Members to sign the letter and whether Councillor Powell agreed that more resources were required to address the issue?

 

46.39   Councillor Powell stated that without question there was a need for more resources for all agencies to enable them to tackle the issue of drugs etc. and everyone should support that objective.

 

46.40   Councillor Barnett asked whether the Leader stood by his previous comments to transform Brighton and Hove into a democratic city when petitions that had been submitted in July were not being taken for consideration at the meeting?

 

46.41   Councillor Mac Cafferty noted that the Mayor had given a detailed response to Mr. Noble on the question of why it was not appropriate to take the petitions relating to the City Plan Part 2. He noted that should the Council choose to re-open the matter it would have significant costs to the city and the council.

 

46.42   Councillor Barnett asked the following supplementary question, will there be a compromise on Benfield Valley and a buy back of the long lease as the land was part of the South Downs National Park?

 

46.43   Councillor Mac Cafferty stated that a response had been given in the written answer to a question and the city council had not heard back from the lessee, but he would ensure a written response was given to Councillor Barnett.

 

46.44   Councillor Wilkinson asked whether there was an intention to tackle the on-going problem of graffiti in the city?

 

46.45   Councillor Heley replied, as Members will be aware, in recognition of the scale of graffiti within Brighton & Hove, the Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee approved a Graffiti Reduction Strategy in November 2018.

 

Activities continue to be delivered to deliver the strategy.

·       Increasing the resources to deal with graffiti including a new jet washer and a new van

·       The creation of a graffiti hotline

·       Resuming the zonal method of graffiti removal

·       Identifying further options for anti-graffiti coating

·       Identifying a graffiti removal spray for volunteers to use to replace costly and environmentally damaging graffiti wipes

·       Expanding the Community Clean Up supplies available to residents

·       Working with IT&D to create a graffiti / tagging database

 

Last month, at Environment, Transport & Substantiality Committee, we agreed to introduce enforcement measures to address graffiti on private property, something which up until then, the council did not have any powers to take action.

 

46.46   Councillor Wilkinson asked if the matter was seen as a priority for the Administration?

 

46.47   Councillor Heley stated that the Environmental Enforcement Team was looking into procuring mobile CCTV to identify and deter graffiti vandalism in hotspot areas. We have already issued Fixed Penalty Notices for fly-tipping and littering as a result of the new CCTV cameras at locations across the city and hope we can achieve the same results for graffiti.

 

Again, I’d like to express my thanks to all those who took part in the Keep Brighton & Hove Tidy Campaign. Many people completed graffiti paint outs on bins in a bit to tackle this type of vandalism

 

46.48   Councillor Evans asked if there was an intention to take forward the concept of a circular economy as outlined in the Economic Strategy?

 

46.49   Councillor Druitt replied, in the Brighton & Hove Economic Strategy 2018-23, the council committed to the development of a circular economy Route Map that will detail how we aim to make the circular economy model central to the way we use our buildings, supplies and skills to deliver public services. Since then the council’s City Development & Regeneration Team has been engaging with colleagues from relevant teams across the Council to progress with embedding circular principles into the council’s directorates and the built environment and construction sector as an initial focus for the Route Map. The discussions and work undertaken by officers in these sessions have further helped to inform the develop of the circular economy Route Map which is due to be reported to Policy & Resources Committee on the 3rd December.

 

46.50   Councillor Allcock noted that there had been a significant increase in the number of FOI requests and asked if the impact on council resources could be addressed in anyway?

 

46.51   Councillor Mac Cafferty stated that consideration was being given to how these could be dealt with and would be happy to provide a more detailed written response.