Brighton & Hove City Council
Tourism, Equalities, Communities & Culture Committee
4.00pm13 January 2022
Hove Town Hall - Council Chamber
Minutes
Present
Councillors: Osborne (Co-Chair), Powell (Co-Chair), Evans (Opposition Spokesperson), Grimshaw (Opposition Spokesperson), Simson (Group Spokesperson), Hugh-Jones, Shanks, Phillips, Childs, & Brown.
Standing Invitees: Joanna Martindale (Community Voluntary Sector), Stephanie Prior, Harpreet Kaur (NHS – CCG), & Detective Chief Inspector Kris Ottery (Sussex Police).
55 Procedural Business
(a) Declaration of Substitutes
· Councillor Hugh-Jones Substituting for Councillor Littman
· Councillor Shanks Substituting for Councillor Ebel
· Councillor Phillips Substituting for Councillor Rainey
· Detective Chief Inspector Kris Ottery Substituting for Chief Supt Justin Burtenshaw.
(b) Declaration of Interests
· Councillor Powell declared a non-pecuniary interest that she is employed by Sussex Police.
· Councillor Osborne declared a non-pecuniary interest that he accepted tickets and hospitality from the Brighton Bears during a game he attended.
56 Minutes
RESOLVED: The minutes of the last meeting held on the 25 November were agreed as an accurate record.
57 Chairs Communications
The Chair gave the following communications:
Happy New Year and welcome back everyone. I hope you are well rested and ready for the new year. Unfortunately, it’s been a difficult start for many with rates of covid being higher than ever before and the visitor economy is one of the areas that has taken a hit with people either being off ill and choosing to stay away from others. The government have put together another support package after lobbying from campaign groups, local government, including ourselves and others, on behalf of the sector, however, the maximum of £6,000 per business is nowhere near enough to cover losses at what would ordinarily be one of their busiest times a year with Christmas parties and celebrations. We’ll continue to lobby government on making further support available.
One way we have tried to support those that missed out grants last year is by using some of the remaining funding leftover from last year in a targeted local grants scheme for the events and hospitality sector. The grant scheme is currently open for a limited timescale and will close on Monday 24th Jan at 5pm before distribution over the next few months.
The events sector is something that provides a huge impact to the local economy and makes the city a vibrant place to be. Later in the meeting we have the two annual reports on the events scheduled for the city, which I’m sure will generate some discussion, and there are two questions on one of the recent events, the Christmas festival, which I’ll be answering very soon. Just to make a brief initial comment though, we always try to balance out the impact of our events on residents lives and on the local environment and the benefits they bring to the city in terms of visitors and the local economy. The visitor economy is responsible for around 21,000 jobs in the city, and worth £886m, with events contributing greatly, and many creatives come to Brighton and Hove and make it their home due to this and important defend this.
Sports are always key events in the diary are including the half marathon and marathon, cycle rides and others but this year we are also very much looking forward to being one of the 9 host cities of the UEFA Women’s Euros. As part of this, we’ve been awarded £500k from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to celebrate the history of the women’s game, looking back at what is perhaps a hidden area of history. Events in the city will include Goal Power! Women and Football, a major exhibition celebrating the power of women’s football at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery from 18 June to 2 October. The exhibition will explore the power of women’s football and highlight the close link between football and feminism and share stories of those who have fought for equal rights through football from the suffragettes to women and girls today. Really fascinating and linking heritage with sport and hoping lots will use the opportunity and go along and learn something!
Culture - the main strategy that we are still working to is the ABCD Cultural recovery plan which was passed almost a year to day! A great amount of work has happened since it’s start and two quick updates to provide. Firstly, Third Thursday, a new arts, music and culture programme with monthly events, performances, film projections and new artwork commissions in the centre of Brighton, curated and produced by videoclub, in partnership with the Brilliant Brighton Business Improvement District, will be kicking off next Thursday. The first event has the theme of Escapism/Optimism, something extremely relevant at the moment, and I’m really looking forward to attending this. Also a series of online Igniter events will be happening, starting on 2nd Feb, featuring international, national and local speakers, that will provoke ideas, suggest new ways of working, and invite creative workers and organisations to re-energise collaborations. If you work in the sector within the Greater Brighton area, they are a great opportunity to get together with other people who have had similar experiences over the last 2 years and look forward to what hopefully will be a better year this year and beyond. It is free to attend! As with all work, to remind people, it’s the Culture in Our City that is the go to website for information on these programme and other work occurring, as well as the place to find support.
Councillor Steph Powell would like to extend thanks to all the officers who worked on the domestic abuse domestic violence agenda over the last year in such demanding times while showing great professionalism and dedication throughout the period. She’d also like to thank all the staff from the joint unit for their great work they have undertaken in the 6+ years that the units been operating.
Steph I also wanted to say that we attended the first community library tour in the Centre and the West of the city. We have a second tour centred towards the East of the city and councillors are invited along to come to that. We had a really great time on the first tour so hopefully more councillors will attend the second meeting because all of our community libraries are very important.
Steph has also met with Sussex Police to discuss equalities issues, especially around hate crime and drink spiking. One great thing to celebrate is that Helen Jones, the CEO of LGBT MindOut, has been awarded an MBE which is a recognition of her commitment to activism and progress over the years.
Holocaust Memorial Day is on the 27th of January and is the most poignant day of reflection to remember millions of Jewish, Romani, Disabled and LGBT+ persons, political prisoners and others who were murdered by the Nazi regime. There's going to be an online commemoration which is going to be held at the Latest TV and Councillor Powell as well as Council Grimshaw will be speaking at this.
58 Call Over
The following items were reserved for discussion:
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Additional Item |
Anti-Racism Pledge Update |
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Item 61 |
Domestic Abuse Act Strategy & Spend |
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Item 64 |
Affordable Housing Brief – Updated Version |
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Item 65 |
Fees & Charges 2022-23 |
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Item 66 |
Outdoor Events – Parks & Open Spaces 2022 |
The following items were therefore agreed:
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Item 62 |
Air Quality & Planning Policy |
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Item 63 |
Biodiversity & Nature Conservation Supplementary Planning Document Update |
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Item 67 |
Outdoor Events – Madeira Drive Closures 2022 |
59 Public Involvement
(b) Written Questions
59.1 The Chair read out the question submitted by Gary Farmer located on page 5 of Addendum 1, and provided the following response:
The Valley Gardens area has been a popular location for the city’s night-time economy for many years and on 11th March 2021 TECC Committee approved the establishment of a Christmas Market for a period of three years. The published committee paper describes in detail the application process for awarding this licence. The invitation to bid for a licence to operate the Christmas market was widely advertised and any organisation, including the Brighton Pier Group, could have submitted a proposal. A local small business was successful in securing the licence, following a scoring process against published criteria. The event was also considered by the local authority Safety Advisory Group (SAG) on 18th November 2021.
The invitation to bid for a licence included the opportunity to establish a mixture of retail stalls, food and beverage outlets, entertainment and attractions. What was placed at the Valley Gardens site corresponds with this description. The council’s policy is to encourage a wide range of events over the year and this includes funfairs. There are funfairs on The Level at various times in the year.
This was a competitive process and the fees involved are commercially sensitive information. However, I can confirm that the city’s Cultural Recovery Plan, helping artists and small organisations in Brighton and Hove, is being supported with fees from the Christmas Festival.
59.2 The Chair read out the question submitted by Derek Wright located on page 6 of Addendum 1, and provided the following response:
The Seafront Office are aware of the issue of shingle overtopping onto the promenade in this location. A contractor has been instructed to build a run of stone gabions on the edge of the beach to retain the shingle and keep the promenade clear and accessible.
(c) Deputations
59.3 The Chair gave the following response to a deputation submitted from Full Council found on pages 5-10 of Addendum 2:
In order to provide a new strategic vision for sports facilities in the City, the Council appointed leisure consultants to undertake comprehensive condition surveys of each facility, a review of the indoor sports facilities portfolio and options for their future management. This included the drafting of a Sports Facilities Investment Plan 2021 – 2031, which identified that the public sports centres and swimming pools were showing their age and a strategic investment plan was required to transform the future leisure provision. The planning and implementation phase of the Sports Facilities Investment Plan is progressing and will be considered through the City Council TECC Committee.
The Council welcomed the opportunity in October 2021 for Cllr Osborne and Cllr Platts to visit The Morningside Arena in Leicester to see the indoor sports facilities.
Councillors and officers would like to meet with the Club to explore the potential opportunities to work together on the provision of improved sports facilities in the City.
RESOLVED: The Committee agreed to request a report on this deputation to a future Committee.
60 Member Involvement
(d) Written Questions
60.1 Councillor Childs presented his question regarding Remembrance Services on page 25 of the Agenda. The Chair gave the following response:
On Sunday 14th Nov Steph attended 4 services: Steine, Hove memorial & then on to Hove All Saints (I was the only Green at these two), and Hove Synagogue. Unfortunately, that weekend I was away or else I would have attended a few, and others lead members were also away.
Each year regardless of in administration or in opposition we feel it is important to attend as many remembrance services as possible to pay respects. This year not all of our members were available, but rest assured we take our civic responsibilities seriously.
I think it’s best not to politicise what is an important non-partisan event that we know members across the political groups always endeavour to attend and apologise that our group couldn’t be at the Rottingdean one.
60.2 Councillor Childs presented his question regarding Library Services on page 25 of the Agenda. The Chair gave the following response:
Before the mobile library was decommissioned in 2013, mobile library users were surveyed and we discovered that around two thirds of mobile library users were already using a static library as well as the mobile, so demonstrating that they were able to get to a local library.
When we completed a detailed analysis of the locations of all library users, we found that these three areas of Kemp Town, Queens Park and Hanover fall within the catchment area of Jubilee Library. This work was done in 2014 and was commissioned to inform the major changes to service that were made in 2015. See map of catchment profile attached. When looking at the map, the darker the colour, the greater number of Jubilee Library users live there.
Since then, libraries have reviewed some of the old mobile library locations, and we created community collections in two community buildings, which local people look after, with periodic support from library staff:
One is in St Luke’s Church, in Queens Park. This is supported by the local community and provides a local collection for those not willing or able to get to Jubilee Library.
More recently, we established a collection and public computer point in Hollingdean Community Centre. The geography of this area, with the steep hills and barrier of the railway line, makes it more inaccessible than it looks on paper. This is supported by the community centre and a local volunteer.
60.3 Councillor Childs presented his question regarding Anti-Social Behaviour on page 25 of the Agenda. The Chair gave the following response:
Officers have undertaken work in and around the Old Steine to address some of the issues which may also affect Steine Street. This includes repairing lighting, dealing more proactively with tents, engaging with local licensed businesses and colleagues in Sussex Police undertaking increased patrols in the area when issues have been brought to their attention. Officers would be happy to meet with Cllr Childs to discuss specific concerns about Steine Street.
60.4 Councillor Evans presented her question regarding the Brighton Christmas Market on page 25 of the Agenda. The Chair gave the following response:
The Co-Chair of the TECC Committee and Officers are meeting with the Christmas Market event organisers to review the 2021 event. All feedback received over the course of November and December, combined with lessons learned and points for improvement, will be discussed with the organisers so that these can be considered and included in future planning. All of this will enable the organisers to move forward and create a better Christmas event that is an asset to the city and attracts both residents and visitors. If Councillor Evans, as the shadow spokesperson, would like to accompany me to a meeting with the festival organisers, she is more than welcome. I’d like to extend that invitation to Councillor Simson.
The Valley Gardens area has been a popular location for the city’s night-time economy for many years and more than 131,000 people visited the Christmas Festival this year. After a challenging year for everyone I was pleased to see a new winter event attract footfall and interest generating social and economic benefits for the city, delivered by a locally based event management organisation.
(g) Notices of Motion
60.5 The Chair invited Councillor Simson to move the Notice of Motion on page 27 of the Agenda, which was seconded by Councillor Brown.
60.6 The Chair invited Councillor Childs to move the Amendment to the Notice of Motion on page 5 of Addendum 4, which was seconded by Councillor Evans.
60.7 Councillor Powell raised the following points:
· The decision not to renew PSPO’s (Public Space Protection Orders) was taken during the December 2019 TECC Committee, and spaces such as the Pavilion and Old Steine rely on other enforcement options.
· The Council did not decline to apply for Safer Streets funding, they submitted a bid but were unsuccessful, but officers were successful in other bids for safer streets and a bid for safety of women at night.
· There are now sufficient field officers in the Council and a review of them will be taking place.
· Brighton and Hove Council have introduced a homeless bill of rights, including welfare checks, and any issues with tents are addressed as soon as appropriate.
· A response was given at Full Council regarding CCTV cameras.
60.8 Councillor Hugh-Jones raised that the homeless bill of rights provides a non-judgemental approach to homeless people and does not change existing legislation but does provide standards for the Council to aspire to.
60.9 Councillor Shanks raised the following points:
· The word ‘beggar’ should not be used.
· People should not have to resort to survival practises.
· Zero-tolerance to drugs policy does not work, and the decriminalisation of drugs approach should be taken on a national scale.
60.10 Stephanie Prior raised that it is unlikely that homeless people would be in parks, but instead it is the youth that have to resort to this due to a lack of resources in the city
60.11 Councillor Simson raised that the original Notice of Motion was intended to emphasise that lack of action that the Council had taken to stop anti-social behaviour, which in turn would stop the increased policing, and also that other members are focusing on national instead of local issues.
RESOLVED: The amended Notice of Motion was agreed.
61 Domestic Abuse Act Strategy and Spend
Additional Item – Anti-Racism Pledge Update
1. Rachel Sharpe introduced the item mentioning the ongoing work such as the anti-racism in schools strategy, renaming Gladstone Court, and the internal Council diverse talent programme.
2. Councillor Evans was informed that the request from Dilvender Dhillon about having a statue of an Indian Soldier placed in the Royal Pavilion Gardens was being considered as part of the redevelopment of the Gardens which is subject to a heritage lottery application.
61.1 Jo Player introduced the report starting on page 29 of the Agenda.
61.2 Councillor Grimshaw was informed that:
· Survivors of domestic abuse would be supported to stay living in the same area, and part of the strategy will be looking at how best to treat those clients.
· Some money was received for the new burden’s funding, but at the present time officers are unsure if this funding will be extended beyond the financial year.
· Officers are still working on the local action plan and will be shared with members once completed.
· New types of accommodation for refugees will be considered as part of the action plan.
61.3 Jo Player agreed to investigate the details about the survey to find out who the other 47 candidates represented and would report back to Stephanie Prior with a response. Stephanie Prior was then informed that there is a requirement under the Domestic Abuse Act to carry out a needs assessment on an annual basis, which would start to inform the Council if they are on the right path with the strategy, as well as feedback sent to the Community Safety Partnership Board.
61.4 Councillor Simson was informed that:
· Better co-production of services with local providers is being looked into.
· A request for more emphasis on preventative work would be fed back to officers creating the report for March committee.
61.5 Councillor Brown raised that:
· There are some troubling statements in the report, highlighting the importance of the strategy.
· There is a grave shortage of accommodation spaces, which are especially unsuitable for large families, women with teenage sons, male victims, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and children.
· Where safe and possible, sanctuary schemes should be promoted more to keep pressure off accommodation, and to keep children in school with their peers.
· It is clear that some women want single sex accommodation, which should be provided.
61.6 Councillor Hugh-Jones was informed that:
· A lot of the comments in the survey reflect actions they’d like the Council to take forward, and it is recognised that women and children should be prioritised.
· The Charity responses in the survey are likely to be treated as individual responses, but Jo Player would double check and report back to Councillor Hugh-Jones.
61.7 Councillor Evans was informed that the strategy defines housing services as a key issue, and there is currently a process of improvement and transformation in the Council across the housing services, including the domestic abuse support services.
61.8 Councillor Powell thanked Jo Player for the report, as well as all respondents, and the community voluntary sector.
RESOLVED: That Committee:
1. Approved the strategy attached at Appendix 1.
62 Air Quality and Planning Policy
There was no discussion.
63 Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Supplementary Planning Document Update
There was no discussion.
64 Affordable Housing Brief - Updated version
64.1 Sandra Rogers introduced the report starting on page 203 of the Agenda.
64.2 Councillor Evans was informed that the local criteria in 2.6 referred to first homes which was category affordable housing introduced in June 2022, which would be secured through a section 106 agreement, to ensure the marketing is directed towards local people for 3 months, secured through planning obligation.
64.3 Councillor Simson was informed that the key workers framework doesn’t specifically include teachers and social workers, but was designed to be flexible to include people that weren’t specifically mentioned.
64.4 Councillor Hugh-Jones was informed that registered providers struggle to manage small numbers of units within a development scheme, which is partly why the update to the affordable housing brief talks about alternatives to accepting a commuted sum, as the priority would be to have on-site provision. The Council would be in a better place to manage those smaller sites.
64.5 Councillor Shanks raised that truly affordable housing is important to keep working towards and it is important for Brighton & Hove to continue building their own housing.
RESOLVED: That Committee:
1. Approved the updated version of the Affordable Housing Brief attached at Appendix 1.
65 Fees and Charges 2022-23
65.1 Nick Hibberd introduced the report starting on page 223 of the Agenda.
65.2 The Chair noted the Labour Group Amendment and invited Councillor Childs to move the Amendment.
65.3 Councillor Childs moved the amendment which was seconded by Councillor Evans.
65.4 Councillor Powell raised that she could not support the amendment as it would incur severe budget implications, and it would not be sensible to consider this amendment before the upcoming budget Council.
65.5 Councillor Simson raised that she could not support the amendment or the report as a whole due to the large number of increases which were unacceptable, such as for children’s library services and the Volks Railway.
65.6 Councillor Hugh-Jones raised that the fees and charges increases are necessary to keep services going, but agreed with Councillor Powell that this debate shouldn’t happen before budget Council.
65.7 Councillor Shanks agreed with Councillors Hugh-Jones and Powell that it would be sensible to wait for Budget Council.
65.8 Councillor Osborne raised that whilst technically a 50% increase, raising charges from 10 pence to 15 pence was hardly likely to make a severe impact.
65.9 The Committee voted against the Labour Group Amendment.
RESOLVED: That Committee:
1. Approved the proposed fees and charges for 2022/23 as set out within the report.
2. Delegated authority to the Executive Director of Economy, Environment & Culture (in relation to paragraphs 3.4 - 3.33) and to the Executive Director of Housing, Neighbourhoods & Communities (in relation to paragraph 3.34) to change fees and charges as set out in the report and as set by central Government during the year.
Note: If the above recommendations are not agreed, or if the committee wishes to amend the recommendations, then the item will need to be referred to the Policy & Resources Committee meeting on 10 February 2022 to be considered as part of the overall 2022/23 budget proposals. This is because the 2022/23 budget proposals are developed on the assumption that fees and charges are agreed as recommended and any failure to agree, or a proposal to agree different fees and charges, will have an impact on the overall budget proposals, which means it needs to be dealt with by Policy & Resources Committee as per the requirements of the constitution. This does not fetter the committee’s ability to make recommendations to Policy & Resources Committee.
66 Outdoor Events - Parks & Open Spaces 2022
66.1 Mark Fisher introduced the report starting on page 241 of the Agenda.
66.2 Councillor Brown was informed that the Council have always been able to recover places that have been ruined by an event, but if there was any long standing or significant damage, this would be addressed and changed.
RESOLVED: That Committee:
1. Granted landlord’s consent (subject to the execution of a formal agreement) for each of the proposed events listed in Appendix 1.
2. Authorise officers to enter into formal agreements with event organisers to determine conditions, fees and levels of support as appropriate.
3. Authorises the Executive Director, Economy, Environment & Culture, after consultation with the Chair of the committee and opposition spokespersons, to make any alterations to the events programme as necessary including approving new applications in accordance with the Outdoor Events Strategy 2019-2024 and cancelling events if required.
67 Outdoor Events - Madeira Drive Closures 2022
There was no discussion.
68 Items referred for Full Council
There was no discussion.
The meeting concluded at 18:05pm.
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