Agenda item - Written questions from members of the public.

A list of public questions received by the due date of 12noon on the 30^th March 2017 will be circulated separately as part of an addendum at the meeting.

87.1      The Mayor reported that 8 written questions had been received from members of the public and invited Mr. Hawtree to come forward and address the council.

 

87.2      Mr. Hawtree asked the following question; “Would Councillor Robins please tell us how much it will now cost a reader to reserve a book - either not yet published or was not stocked on publication by the Libraries system - so that said reader is duly, personally, informed that it has been obtained and is reserved to await his/her collection when it has been added to the stock?”

 

87.3      Councillor Robins replied; “The Libraries Service now offers two levels of service for book requests: a paid for full service and a free basic service.  The full requests service costs £7 for an adult and £3 for children and young people, payable up-front to cover administrative costs. Included in this price are:

 

•       Regular updates on progress

•       Free reservation of the book if it is purchased; or a free inter-library loan if it is
being obtained that way

•       Notification when it is ready for collection

 

The free basic service is available to customers who wish to make a recommendation for a book purchase.

 

•       There is no reservation with this service, no inter-library loan and no specific notifications.

•       The customer will need to check the catalogue themselves to see if the item has been bought and put into stock.

•       They can then make their own reservation if they wish at the cost of £1 for adults and 50p for children, with concessions at half price.

 

This information is readily available at your local library if you’d like to pop in and ask them.”

 

87.4      Mr. Hawtree asked the following supplementary question; “As your proposal is set to raise a mere £2,500, if that, will you agree to revisit this proposal in the next financial year 2017/18?”

 

87.5      Councillor Robins replied; “This charge is to cover the administrative cost of purchasing the item for the one off request and providing notification. It only partly contributes to the cost of borrowing from another library service.  Our advice for customers requesting a book pre-publication is to wait to see if the library service is already intending to purchase it and then reserve it once it is in stock.”

 

87.6      The Mayor thanked Mr. Hawtree for his questions and invited Ms. Hynds to come forward and address the council.

 

87.7      Ms. Hynds asked the following question; “Given the housingcrisis in our city and failure of developers to meet affordable housing targets, including Crest Nicholson paying £1.2 million rather than supply 8 affordable flats in a 47-unit block in Davigdor Road, Hove, why has the council turned down approaches from the KSD Group to build high-quality low-cost housing in Brighton & Hove following their successful pilot scheme in Lewes which saw KSD and Lewes District Council deliver two-bedroom homes for £90/week social rent?”

 

87.8      Councillor Meadows replied; “As I am sure you are aware the council is tackling the housing crisis in our city in a number of different ways. Building our own council rented homes, bringing empty properties back into use and developing in partnership to increase the supply of lower cost homes. It is unfortunate that I do not have any sway with private developers indeed I wish I did. However commuted sums through the planning process do allow us to use those sums directly on building more affordable homes on our own sites and, with that in mind, we are looking to build on three sites in the city.

 

In 2016 potential developer partners were invited to submit expressions of interest to help us deliver new permanent homes for affordable rent. This was publicised to all those locally and nationally to explore the market as fully as possible and obtain best value for the council. KSD were one of those shortlisted developers. However after a rigorous selection process a local volumetric modular constructor was selected as the preferred developer.”

 

87.9      Ms. Hynds asked the following supplementary question; “The council has a target of building 50 fully wheelchair accessible new homes but, with 87 wheel chair users and 233 people that may need to use a wheelchair or have very poor mobility on the housing waiting list, shouldn’t the target figure be in the hundreds rather than the tens?”

 

87.10   Councillor Meadows replied; “I do understand the issues around people with disabilities finding appropriate homes in the city and that is why in all our developments a certain percentage is given over to fully wheelchair accessible homes for those who are most in need and it is something that we want to progress throughout our building programme. We are aware of this and we are tackling it but unfortunately we are the first administration to start this work.”

 

87.11   The Mayor thanked Ms. Hynds for her questions and invited Mr. Royle to come forward and address the council.

 

87.12   Mr. Royle asked the following question; “If the PSPO is an attempt to address the issue of homelessness in Brighton and Hove, then what aftercare and support can a homeless person expect to receive when a PSPO is enforced, their shelter is destroyed and they are forced to sit in custody until a hearing, all for the supposed crime of being unable to provide an address?”

 

87.13   Councillor Mitchell replied; “PSPOs are not in themselves a measure to reduce homelessness. A PSPO seeks to address antisocial behaviour in specific city parks and open spaces that have been reported to the council and the police by people using those spaces who have felt sufficiently concerned to report the incidents that they have witnessed. It is not intended that the PSPO will address rough sleeping. If a rough sleeper is in breach they will be given the same support and care as they would in any other circumstance.”

 

87.14   Mr. Royle asked the following supplementary question; “Following the decision to postpone the opening on empty council buildings to the homeless community, combined with plans to move those in temporary accommodation to up to an hour away from the city by public transport, and now the PSPO targeting travellers and homeless communities. It seems that the council are attempting to outsource by forcing the poor and the homeless out of the city they call home. Why is it that a Labour controlled council is pursuing this agenda of social cleansing when you claim to represent the most vulnerable in society?”

 

87.15   Councillor Mitchell replied; “Officers will use a problem solving approach and this policy has been developed to fit in with the council’s rough sleeper and homelessness strategies and not to work against them. The legislation has to be used proportionately and it aims to balance the needs of the general public’s safe enjoyment of our parks and open spaces with the needs of those whose behaviour is causing complaint.”

 

87.16   The Mayor thanked Mr. Royle for his questions and invited Ms. Davies to come forward and address the council.

 

87.17   Ms. Davies asked the following question; “When a traveller family is targeted by the new PSPO law, the vehicle which is their home is removed and parents are put into the cells for the crime of having no fixed address, what will then happen to the children in these families who have seen their parents taken away?”

 

87.18   Councillor Mitchell replied; “No specific groups of people will be targeted by PSPOs. The only test for officers is whether the behaviour in those specific locations is a breach of the PSPO. If it is and the officers deem it proportionate, reasonable and necessary then a PSPO fixed penalty notice can be considered. The primary means of dealing with the antisocial behaviour will be for officers to point out that the PSPO is being breeched and to ask that the activity stop and that the perpetrators move. In relation to unauthorised encampments exactly the same welfare checks as are carried out now will continue to be undertaken.”

 

87.19   Ms. Davies asked the following supplementary question; “Why is it that Brighton & Hove City Council wants to target traveller families and ruin young people’s lives by potentially tearing their families apart?”

 

87.20   Councillor Mitchell replied; “A problem solving approach will be used with care and support offered where necessary. Provision for travellers is available at the newly refurbished site at Horsdean.”

 

87.21   The Mayor thanked Ms. Davies for her questions and invited Ms. Pepper to come forward and address the council.

 

87.22   Ms. Pepper asked the following question; “To what extent do councillors believe that the PSPO targets specific groups within in the city's community, such as the homeless and ethnically defined gypsies and travellers?”

 

87.23   Councillor Mitchell replied; “The PSPO does not target any particular group of people. It aims to deal with behaviour perpetrated by some people that impacts on people using specific parks and open spaces where anti-social behaviour is reported. We do however recognise that some rough sleepers and Gypsies and Travellers will be impacted upon. A full Equality Impact Assessment was carried out and accompanied the committee report that went to PR&G in July 2016.

 

To mitigate the impact on Gypsies and Travellers and rough sleepers we have the following in place:

 

·           Provision for Travellers at Horsdean Transit Site (which has only had a 49% occupancy since it opened in August 2016)

·           PSPOs are only applied to 12 higher impact areas in the city where there is evidence of ASB and so there are many other lower impact areas where trespass would not lead to a Fixed Penalty Notice

·         For Travellers we have a toleration protocol whereby if they do go to a lower impact area and comply with a toleration agreement they can remain in that location for up to 28 days.

·         In regard to rough sleepers we also have the commissioned St Mungo’s to work with rough sleepers to assist them to find accommodation, although it may not be in the city if they do not have a local connection.”

 

87.24   Ms. Pepper asked the following supplementary question; “How will the Council ensure that the human rights of travellers such as those guaranteed in Article 8 of the Human Rights Act (1998); the right to respect his private and family life, his home and correspondence are not affected by this law?”

 

87.25   Councillor Mitchell replied; “My previous response to you outlined the legislation that this council works within and adheres to. The council has provided both permanent and transit pitches for Travellers. In regards to rough sleepers, we are working with our partner organisations to help them into accommodation”

 

87.26   The Mayor thanked Ms. Pepper for her questions and invited Mr. Garside to come forward and address the council.

 

87.27   Mr. Garside asked the following question; “As the i360 enters its eighth month of trading, Councillor Morgan, would it be in order to ask how much money the Council has so far received from this "attraction”?  Furthermore, am I right in assuming that a fully audited breakdown of the relevant figures will be made available for public inspection?”

 

87.28   Councillor Morgan replied; “The payments received in the current financial year from the BA i360 are all on time and as forecast. These are as follows:

 Payments already received

·           Arrangements fee for the loan received in full £543,300

·           Utilisation fees for the loan received in full £417,330

·           Public works loan board fees for each load drawn down received in full £11,930

·           Loan interest payment received in full before the due date of
31 December 2016 £1,063,544.60.

All payments and receipts are subject to the council’s financial management processes and incorporated in regular financial monitoring reports to committee. All payments relating to the loan agreement with BA i360 have been made on time and as forecast. The council’s statement of accounts incorporates transactions with the BA i360 and is subject to an external audit and made available for public inspection prior to agreement at the council’s Audit & Standards Committee.”

 

87.29   Mr. Garside asked the following supplementary question; “Bearing in mind the ongoing and frequent problems occurring with this attraction, in the event of the companies collapse into bankruptcy, does this authority have any contingency plans for the repayment to the Public Works Loan Board for the huge sum of money which it borrowed on the i360’s behalf?”

 

87.30   Councillor Morgan replied; “I think it is in the interest of the city that the i360 does succeed. Its operational matters are a matter for BA i360 themselves. I am happy to speak to officers and obtain the relevant documents that were passed at the time of the agreement which was in the prior administration.”

 

87.31   The Mayor thanked Mr. Garside for his questions and invited Ms. Mountain to come forward and address the council.

 

87.32   Mr. Garside informed the Mayor that Ms. Mountain had had to leave the meeting and therefore asked that he put her question to Councillor Mitchell on her behalf.  Mr. Garside then asked the following question; “It is often claimed by this Administration, that the profits deriving from this City's exorbitant parking charges are very largely employed in covering the costs of Concessionary Bus passes for elderly and disabled residents.

This being the case, would it be pertinent for me to respectfully request a full breakdown of the sums of money paid by this authority to Brighton & Hove Buses, the Big Lemon, Stagecoach and any other bus company.

Also, could you please furnish me with the amount, if any, of money which we receive from Central Government for this purpose?”

 

87.33   Councillor Mitchell replied; “I’m afraid that I will not be able to provide a breakdown of the sums paid by the local authority to each of the bus companies because there are commercial sensitivities in relation to the council releasing that information. I can confirm that the total cost of the concessionary bus pass scheme to the council is £10,750,000. You asked about the amount of money for the scheme that is funded by the government and the answer is none. The vast of majority of parking fees have been frozen this year, where they have increased it is to target parking congestion in specific areas to free up more spaces for residents and business.”

 

87.34   Mr. Garside asked the following supplementary question on behalf of Ms. Mountain; “As the devil invariably appears to be in the detail could you please indulge me in a little further detail precisely how many bus passes are issued and what is the cost of each one?”

 

87.35   Councillor Mitchell replied; “There are 43,000 individual bus passes issued by the Authority and as I have just said the overall cost to the council is £10,750,000. Individually the cost of administering each bus pass I’m afraid I don’t have that information to hand.”

 

87.36   The Mayor thanked Mr. Garside for the questions and invited Mr. Furness to come forward and address the council.

 

87.37   The Mayor noted that Mr. Furness was unable to attend and stated that a written response would be sent to him and noted that this concluded the item.