Issue - items at meetings - Issues Raised by Members

To consider the following matters raised by Members:

(a)      Petitions: to receive any petitions submitted to the full Council or at the meeting itself;

(i)            Petition in relation to Palestine – Cllr. Duncan (copy attached).

(ii)          Petition in relation to the West Pier Project – Cllr. A. Kitcat (copy attached).

88.1       The Chair noted that there was one petition referred from Council on 23 October that had been submitted by Councillor Duncan in relation to Palestine. The Chair provided the following response to the petition:

“This petition was presented by Councillor Duncan at the Council meeting on 23 October 2014.

Members may be aware that we received a similar proposed petition and notice of motion on this issue during the Gaza conflict. These were not accepted because:

The issue of the Gaza conflict was primarily a matter concerning international relations, which is the responsibility of national government rather than local authorities like Brighton & Hove;

The Council’s constitution provides: “Every motion shall be relevant to some matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties or which affects the authority, the area of Brighton & Hove and/or its inhabitants.” The proposed notice of motion did not satisfy this requirement. This requirement is reinforced in the Council’s guidance to Notices of Motion;

There is a statutory limitation on taking non-commercial considerations into account in the awarding of contracts; and

Most importantly, the Council has a duty to promote good community relations. Given polarity of views and the strength of opinion held by members of the community on both sides, debating the motion at a time when tensions were already high due to the conflict in Gaza would not have been conducive to promoting good community relations.

That was some 3 months ago. Since then the conflict in Gaza has subsided or at least it is not as live as it was when the original petition and notice of motion was presented. This petition was also presented at Full Council with no prior notice of its exact contents. It would have been unusual to disallow a petition after it after it has been presented.  It is for these reasons that the Council agreed to accept this petition and include it on the agenda for this committee.

However, the reasons I mentioned above regarding matters relating to international relations, the restriction on taking non-commercial considerations into account and the need to promote good community relations are still relevant.  Taking those considerations into account, I propose that we simply note the petition.”

88.2       RESOLVED – That the Committee agree to note the petition.

88.3       Councillor Peltzer Dunn asked that his decision to not take part in the vote on the matter be recorded as he was of the view the consideration of the petition was not allowed under the Council’s Constitution.

88.4       Item 87 (a) (ii) Petition from Councillor A. Kitcat concerning the West Pier Project was considered with Item 98 and is detailed at minute Item 98.

88.5       The Chair noted that no other petitions, written questions, letters or notices of motion had been received for the meeting.