Agenda item - Member Involvement

To consider the following matters raised by Members:

(a)          Petitions: To receive any petitions;

(b)          Written Questions: To consider any written questions;

(c)          Letters: To consider any letters;

(d)          Notices of Motion: to consider any Notices of Motion referred from Full Council or submitted directly to the Committee.

b)       Member Questions

1)            Storm Ciarán

27.1      Councillor Pickett read the following question:

“What effort was made by the Council to inform the public, in good time, about possible preparatory actions needed to cope with the impact of Storm Ciarán? For example, at what point before the storm were residents told to not leave bins out? At what point was it communicated publicly by the Council that public toilets would be closed?”

27.2      The Chair provided the following reply:

Thank you for your question.

When the Amber weather warnings were first issued on Tuesday 31 October, social media posts from the Met Office and the Environment Agency were shared on the council’s X (formerly known as Twitter) r and Facebook accounts advising people to be prepared for bad weather and to keep an eye on the forecast.

Information about the changes to services, including the suspension of refuse and recycling collection rounds and the closure of toilets were kept up to date on a dedicated storm web page from Wednesday lunchtime, once decisions were agreed by services and advice issued by the Local Resilience Forum.

A note and a link to this page was put up as a banner on every page of the council’s website advising people that they could find information about service changes due to the storm. Social media posts were also shared throughout the day on Wednesday and Thursday, directing residents to the page for more information. They covered the latest advice and changes to services including bin collections, cancellation of planned events, health advice, seafront safety, travel advice and road closures.

Information was shared by local partners including East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, NHS Sussex, and was reported on by local news, TV and Radio.

A message was also added to the Environment Contact Centre telephone line for the duration of Thursday 2 November, notifying residents of the suspension of waste collections, with an explanation of when they would instead be collected.

We would of course like to have been able to give more notice of service interruptions, but weather unfortunately does not bend to the will of human schedules. Operational decisions need to be made on the basis of the best possible information, which in the case of severe weather often means the previous day or indeed on the day. It goes without saying that the safety of our residents and staff is always the primary factor”.

27.3      Councillor Pickett asked the following supplementary question:

“Does the Administration feel it could have acted sooner with messages considering how dangerous the storm was?”

27.4      The Chair provided the following reply:

“My view is that we put out information as best as we could on all channels. Thankfully the storm event was not as severe as predicted it might be”.

2)            Brighton Reimagined

27.5      Councillor Pickett read the following question:

“With regard to your planned Brighton Reimagined meetings, the first meeting is about graffiti. As this is a council event, many questions present themselves: what is the budget and where is it coming from? How will findings be used? How is the council ensuring a plurality of diverse voices are represented at these meetings? How does this relate to the recently published graffiti strategy and consultation? How was it decided this was the most pressing environmental issue to cover in a community meeting?”

27.6      The Chair provided the following reply:

“Thank you for your question. I actually counted 5 questions, but I will exercise my chair’s discretion and answer them in turn.

There is no dedicated budget for the Reimagine Brighton & Hove events. As far as possible, the events will be delivered at zero cost. Where some expenditure is unavoidable, such as the hiring of community space or providing printed promotional materials, the costs will be covered by the Policy & Communication Teams’ budgets.

The findings will be used to inform the updated Graffiti Tagging Reduction Strategy and Action Plan, which will be brought to a future meeting of this Committee for approval.

In terms of diverse representation, a comprehensive invitation list was created, which includes a variety of businesses, community groups, faith groups, developers and so on.

The event has been promoted publicly through email marketing and social media channels.

The event has been shared with Community Works, which supports charities, volunteers, businesses and the public sector across the city, and has a membership of over 500.

The council’s Community Engagement Team has also shared the details of the event with their networks.

If anyone would like to attend that hasn’t received details of the event, they can contact Lucie Spicer. lucie.spicer@brighton-hove.gov.uk.

As far as graffiti being one of the early events: The report that came to the last committee was an update on the delivery of the 2018 Graffiti Reduction Strategy and was seeking approval to begin consulting on ways to improve the Strategy. This event forms part of that consultation and seeks to broaden how we gather view and ideas from residents, with a focus on real conversations.

The timing of the Reimagine events broadly coincided with plans for a review of the Graffiti Tagging Reduction Strategy and offered an opportunity to engage with communities on a high-profile issue whilst also complementing the planned consultation work. The three further events will look at the cost of living, safety in the city and health and wellbeing”.

27.7      Councillor Pickett asked the following supplementary question:

“How are young people specifically being engaged?”

27.8      The Chair provided the following reply:

“I can find out. Our approach is to invite as broad a range of people as possible. If there are any groups beyond the ones I’ve listed, I’ll come back to you directly”.

3)            Flooding

27.9      On behalf of Councillor Meadows, Councillor Theobald read the following question:

“In November 2000 a scrutiny was requested and granted to look at the flooding across the city including Patcham.  During the panel discussions the Southern Water Waste Water Manager advised the Panel "that the storm water network was neither designed nor expected to cope with the volume of surface runoff and groundwater infiltration carried by the system towards the end of 2000”.  The Waste Water Manager also reported that the “main strategic sewer network was sufficient for the needs of extrapolated local population levels for the next 20 years”.

23 years on with the flooding and sewage levels in Patcham rising it is clear that that the sewer system is no longer sufficient for Patcham’s needs, so my question would be what actions is the council going to take, as many of the actions from the scrutiny were not completed”.

27.10   The Chair provided the following reply:

“As the Lead Local Flood Authority, we have a responsibility to manage flooding from surface water and ground water. We do not have responsibilities for the sewer itself becoming overwhelmed. However, as the surface water is discharged into the sewers further down the catchment, we have a responsibility to work in partnership with Southern Water to manage the ongoing flood risk within the city.

As part of our ongoing activities, we are talking with Southern Water and looking at ways to work collaboratively to deliver solutions to the flooding issues. The council is actively seeking opportunities for SuDS and other nature-based solutions to reduce the amount of surface water entering the sewers.

I share your concerns on flooding in the city. It is worth pointing out that, frighteningly, the types of weather we now experience are different to those in 2000, with what was considered a 1 in 10-year event now occurring every couple of years.

Next Monday, I am meeting with officers to review our strategy for Flood Risk Management around the city and will be seeking to identify what more we can do. It is worth noting, though, that as with so many other council activities, maintaining our existing infrastructure is extremely challenging after 13 years of Tory cuts. We all want to see things improve, so I trust that you’ll join me in voting Labour at the next general election”.

27.11   Councillor Theobald asked the following supplementary question:

“Has the council done anything to take preventative flooding measures in Patcham such as issuing sandbags?”

27.12   “I’ve met with Patcham residents and have asked for a meeting with officers. It is spectacular what residents there have done on this matter. In terms of practical measures, I will look and what can be done and come back to you directly”.