Agenda item - Oral questions from Councillors

20.1      The mayor noted that oral questions had been submitted and that 30 minutes was set aside for the duration of the item. She asked that both the questioner and responder endeavour to keep their questions and answers as short as possible, in order to enable the questions listed to be taken.

20.2      Question 1 - Councillor McNair
Councillor McNair asked, will the Leader of the Council reassure her voters that she intends to remain Leader of the Council for her term of four years?

20.3      Councillor Sankey replied, thank you Madame Mayor, and thank you Councillor McNair for your question, and you know ever since I saw the subject matter of this question appear in the papers for today’s meeting last week, I’ve been wondering what on earth does Councillor McNair want to ask me about the Leadership of the Council. Given that these questions must relate to policy matters it must be that, despite our political differences, charming Councillor McNair wishes to congratulate me on the very successful start that we’ve made as an administration and in particular, my leadership of the Council. I thought to myself, I bet Councillor McNair is impressed by our decision to restore the lifeguard service, to scrap eye watering increases in parking charges, to stop fining small businesses for the criminal damage that they get on their property and to reopen public toilets across the city. I thought, I bet he wants to say well done to the big cleanup weekend, for our decision to press ahead with the restoration of Madeira Terraces and our promises to restore the Council’s financial situation after Green mismanagement. I thought to myself, perhaps he’s actually secretly impressed that we’ve acted to get the buses back along Western Road as soon as possible and that we’re taking the Home Office to court for their plans to put unaccompanied children in a hotel in Hove. The thing is, I think in a funny sort of way, Councillor McNair’s question to me is a bit of a backhanded compliment, so thank you for that Councillor McNair, but I’m afraid that as your question does not relate to policy, I won’t be able to answer it.

20.4      Councillor McNair asked a supplementary question, well, I am quite grateful that the buses are back to normal as I use it every day and it’s really, really annoying having to do that massive detour, but you still didn’t answer the question, so we have to wait with bated breath. It must be tempting to run in Brighton Pavilion. Would Councillor Sankey, with one eye on the election, support residents in fighting the Royal Mail development in Vale Avenue?

20.5      Councillor Sankey replied, thank you, Madame Mayor. I don’t think that’s a supplementary to the original question.

20.6      Question 2 - Councillor McLeay
Councillor McLeay asked, people aren’t getting their deliveries, what is the Council doing to address this and how is it pushing back against Royal Mail and ensuring problems aren’t being repeated?

20.7      Councillor Sankey replied, thank you, Madame Mayor, and thank you to Councillor McLeay for this question. Royal Mail’s service delivery record is poor in this city and it’s having an impact on residents. My own post is patchy, and we all rely on our post service to receive cards and letters from loved ones and to receive important information such as from doctors and hospitals that can often be time sensitive. The folly of privatisation of the service by the Conservative and Lib Dem coalition government continues to haunt us. As a Council, we don’t have any policy levers or influence over Royal Mail, but I am going to be writing to local senior management of Royal Mail to ask for a meeting to discuss the chronic underperformance of the local service. I’d also like to take this opportunity to put on record my thanks and support for our posties who do incredibly valuable work and have to contend with poor management and a series of scandals that are very much not of their own making.

20.8      Councillor McLeay asked a supplementary question, thank you, Councillor Sankey, for that response, that is encouraging. In addition to that we did see the delay of the arrivals of the postal votes during the local elections in May, does Councillor Sankey know when we will hear back from the Royal Mail investigation that disenfranchised hundreds across the city?

20.9      Councillor Sankey replied, yes, we have heard back from Royal Mail and they have conducted their investigation and I think it’s important to say in response to this question that you referred to the fact that votes were delivered to the Council the day after the election took place but what you omit to mention is that by law, specifically the Representation of the People Regulations 2001, it’s clear that postal voting packs received after the close of the polls should not be opened. I think it’s really important that all parties in this chamber do not start questioning the legitimacy of the local election that we’ve just run, and I think to do so is a very serious matter.

20.10   Question 3 - Councillor Fishleigh
Councillor Fishleigh asked, how much is the I360 spending on its new attractions, and what is the expected timescale for this investment to show a profit?

20.11   Councillor Sankey replied, I should start by clarifying that the I360 is not owned or operated by the City Council, and we do not direct their day-to-day plans and spend. Our deputy leader and finance lead, Councillor Jacob Taylor, has already met with the management of the I360 and set out our expectations for their developing a new strategy. We’re working together to try and form a positive working relationship which we can use as a basis to improve the fortunes of the I360 to both the city, it’s economy, and for the local Council’s public purse. We are using this time we have now to build that relationship and understand their business plan. We do monitor how the I360 and invest their money, and we have had a conversation with them about the investment necessary to develop their new strategy. They have confirmed that nearly all of the investment to create the new Sixes cricket experience has been put up by Sixes themselves. The I360 is only paid to close up an entrance between the spaces so they can remain open independently. The roller rink cost, including installation, purchase of roller skates, and painting of the rink by a local mural artist cost around £30,000 and it’s worth noting that they were beginning to have a lot of wear and tear on their decking which is 7 years old now. The decking is made in Italy and is very expensive to buy and ship when replacing it, so swapping out half a deck with the roller deck they now have plenty of spare decking which they are storing on site and will use for repairs; over time they are hoping that this will be cost neutral.

20.12   Question 4 - Councillor Hill
Councillor Hill asked, following on from the deputation we’ve just heard from residents at Park Crescent we know now that you’ve asked for a section 19 for an investigation and report, but sadly in my view this is the bare minimum of what we need for this, because it’s simply asking for the events rather than a more concrete and sustainable drainage system which is what we needed. Can I get a more firm commitment, rather than just reporting what’s happened, but some actual changes that are needed to the infrastructure? I’ve had seven years of residents here with a lack of action and we need urgent action to stop repeated flooding, particularly in light of the climate crisis that we will be experiencing.

20.13   Councillor Rowkins replied, I did actually say in my remarks to the deputation, my remarks weren’t simply limited simply to saying that we were investigating the event and as I said Trevor and I are working very closely on it, we’ve already met with the team, and it is absolutely clear we need to do more to protect areas like Round Hill. A big part of the answer is going to be what we do at higher elevations, a lot of the things we talked about earlier were things to mitigate what happens when water has run all the way down the hill but ideally obviously what you want to do is stop that from happening, or at least to mitigate it or slow it down. As you say, sustainable urban drainage systems and rain gardens are very much going to be a part of that as well as looking at what improvements can be made to the drainage. It is something that we’re looking at and it’s blindingly obvious that we’re not as prepared as we need to be as a city, so we will be taking that forward and, as I’ve said, I’m very happy to meet with you and your residents to discuss it.

20.14   Councillor Hill asked a supplementary question, lives are at risk here because of the way in which water goes down into the basement flats, people’s homes are there and that is a substantial risk, so it’s not just a small matter. One of the issues with this is getting different departments of the Council to work together because it’s bringing City Parks with the leaves, bringing together Highways, bringing together CityClean and getting all of those different groups together has been tricky and I’m glad that I’m hearing that that’s starting to happen and that you’re working with your fellow chair. Will you agree that there needs to be closer collaboration between departments and that’s something you need to prioritize as an administration because we need more joined up thinking to get this kind of solution sorted.

20.15   Councillor Rowkins replied, the short answer is yes; I think there probably is room for more joined up action across the departments and that’s something that we’ll certainly be looking at and taking forwards. That’s a fair point, thank you.

20.16   Question 5 - Councillor Meadows
Councillor Meadows asked, I have received many complaints about the lack of rubbish and recycling collections in Patcham & Hollingbury, could you explain what you are doing to solve this for me please?

20.17   Councillor Rowkins replied, It’s no secret that we need to improve our refuse and recycling across the city. It was, in my experience during the campaign, probably the thing bought up most in wards around the city and it is very much a top priority. Myself and other Councillors, including Councillor Fowler and the Leader of the Council Councill Sankey, have been at the depot at least once a week, sometimes more, since the day of the election. We’re obviously looking at the service from every possible direction and listening to staff at all levels and dealing with ongoing complaints to fully understand what the issues are. We intend to work collaboratively with everybody, including the trade unions, to take things forward. I think it’s very important that we don’t lay any blame as to why the service is the way that it is, particularly given that there is an ongoing investigation underway and I would add that obviously we have a very clear mandate from residents to improve both refuse and recycling and we’re also working to hopefully implement a dramatic improvement in the recycling service, including expanding the range of items collected.

20.18   Councillor Meadows asked a supplementary question, would you be able to tell me when the timescale for the investigation at CityClean will be concluded so that I can pass it on to my residents in the hope they can get improved services?

20.19   Councillor Rowkins replied, I’m not going to add beyond what has already been put out in the public about the investigation, obviously the aspiration is that it will be concluded in a relatively short timeframe, but as you know it’s an independent investigation and the length of it will depend very much on the number of interviews taking place. We hope that it will be concluded very soon.

20.20   Question 6 - Councillor Earthey
Councillor Earthey asked, will the new Labour administration commit to imposing a ring fence around the carbon neutral fund to ensure that it’s only used to fund projects with demonstrable benefits in carbon reduction and will not be used to top up the funding of projects where the link to carbon reduction is tenuous or contentious?

20.21   Councillor Sankey replied, the new Labour administration is determined to accelerate our progress to carbon neutrality. My concern is that, despite having had two Green administrations in Brighton & Hove, we are currently not on target at all and it’s my view that the Green Party locally has been more concerned with window dressing and grandstanding than getting stuck into the fundamental systemic change that is needed across our city, in particular in respect of our energy systems. I’ve heard concerns from a number of people about how the Carbon Neutral Fund has been used, and that it hasn’t had nearly enough focus on its main objective. The new Labour administration believes that it’s vital that the Carbon Neutral Fund is ringfenced to ensure its faithful focus on reducing this city’s carbon footprint in a radical and transformative way. Alongside the fund, we need a clear strategic plan to delivery carbon neutrality for Brighton & Hove, again something that the previous Green administration did not produce. We’re now considering how the Carbon Neutral Fund should be taken forward in future, what priorities it should address and how it should be monitored and reported.

20.22   Councillor Earthey asked a supplementary question, why is neither the 2030 Carbon Neutral Program nor the Carbon Neutral Fund explicitly mentioned by name in the sustainability section of the Council plan we’re going to debate today whereas the City Downland Estate Plan is? It makes one think that the Labour administration has lost interest in both documents as originally written.

20.23   Councillor Sankey replied, just to reiterate, we are undertaking a review with a view to making the fund more effective and to developing a new strategy that will help the fund to be more effective. Our Council plan, which we published today, and which we’ll talk more about later on this evening, is a high-level document; it does not contain everything that we’re doing or every other plan that we are going to develop.

20.24   Question 7 - Councillor West
Councillor West asked, at a recent special meeting of the Transport & Sustainability Committee, the Chair and Labour committee members referred to the approved project then proposed for review as unsafe. Despite the intervention of the Head of Transport stating that the approved school was indeed safe, the Chair and his colleagues continued to suggest that it was not. Does the Chair understand and regret the slight of the professional integrity of experienced officers his repeated incorrect assertions represent?

20.25   Councillor Muten replied, the new administration is actually more committed to developing better active travel for our city than previous administrations, with the political will and drive to do so. We’re committed to a Local Cycling and Infrastructure Plan and I took £27.9m Bus Service improvement plan. We have shown leadership on the seafront A259 in Hove by setting up a review to use available space better for all and that includes making the plans safer as well, this includes closer adherence to the Active Travel Fund in separate standards, we have opposed amendments to the previous plan such as straighter bidirectional cycle routes along section of the A259 without splitting the eastbound cycle lane south of King Alfred on Mena Terrace through the often busy pedestrian promenade, and not placing the pavement walkway between the east and west cycle lanes between Hove Street south and Hove Lagoon, and without moving also the westbound highway lane itself. In these measures, we’ve looked at the previous plans and we’re setting out better use of space and in those points that are referenced, a safer plan without introducing the risk of direct interface with pedestrians and cyclists in those areas I’ve listed. So, Labour proposes a safer, more accessible pedestrian and cycle lanes and crossing whilst keeping the two lanes of highways, enabling potential future bus route development, and keeping this vital arterial connection between the east and west of our city flowing. Broadly, we seek to develop our vision to bring about a citywide low-carbon transport system fit for the 2030’s for a combination of active travel, with EV vans and cars, EV car share and bike share, affordable buses, accessible connected communities, visitor EV park and ride and on-street residence, and visitor EV charge and parking, all potential income for the city rather than the oil giants. This is in combination with potential hydrogen buses, trucks and SUV’s. So we seem to exceed the objective of the Bus Service Improvement Plan and meet the Local Cycling Walking Infrastructure Plan Programs. This ambition to deliver our vision to make movement effective and sustainable around our interconnected, low carbon, cleaner air quality mobile across the city.

20.26   Councillor West asked a supplementary question, I’m sorry that the chair was unable to answer the question about professional integrity of officers being slighted, so I’ll try a different question: the public and active travel groups are alarmed by the halting of the improved A259 cycle lane and Valley Gardens 3 projects by the new Labour Administration. Does the chair accept – and I fear he probably doesn’t – the threat these hasty and unnecessary delays posed to project funding for the entire LC web program. How are these the acts of a well considered, listening, administration but is supposedly committed to the city being carbon neutral by 2030 and the health and wellbeing strategy that seeks to address the health impacts of high levels of inactivity, especially with disadvantaged people by including opportunities to travel actively.

20.27   Councillor Muten replied, perhaps you, as a questioner, have not fully appreciated what we’re trying to achieve here. In the context of your question, the decision made by the Transport & Sustainability Committee was to better the design of the A259 Fourth Avenue and Wharf Road active travel scheme and we as an administration are committed to the betterment of this and this includes, as I have previously stated, a closer adherence to the active travel inspectorate and LC120 active travel standards through the inclusion of a bidirectional cycle lane rather than directing eastbound cyclists through the often busy promenade south of King Alfred and Medina Terrace, making it safer and more accessible for pedestrians and setting out to keep two lane highway in both directions, which has the significant advantage of potentially expanding bus services capacity along that route should it be required. We’re setting out very intentionally to deliver better schemes for a better environment through establishing low carbon multimodal integrated transport along our major arterial sea front route. The question I put back to the questioner is ‘why settle for less’?

20.28   Question 8 - Councillor Theobald
Councillor Theobald asked, at the last Full Council meeting, which I believe was on the 30^th of March, I asked when the Patcham Roundabout will be renovated, and the reply was this September. Will this happen in September, is my question, I’ve been asking this question probably for the last ten years, so I’m hoping to have a good answer.

20.29   Councillor Muten replied, may I respectfully refer you to the answers to your questions to Full Council on 17^th December 2020 and to Full Council on 21^st July 2022 regarding the matter of Patcham Roundabout as you may therefore be aware, for over 10 years officers, councillors and other stakeholders have tried to improve the roundabout on the A23-A27 junction, otherwise known as Patcham Roundabout or the Rabbit Roundabout. This roundabout is owned and maintained by National Highways and not the Council. For around five years the Council has been in dialogue with National Highways to secure authorization to improve and maintain this roundabout. National Highways have understandable concerns about concerns to the roundabout that could block the sightlines leading to road safety issues and also due to risks around working on the roundabout itself. The Council have developed proposals to manage these risks and identify a third-party organisation who is willing to improve to look at the roundabout with a design that meets requirements for National Highways in return for placing sponsorship signs on adjacent Council land. After repeated petitioning and ultimate escalation by Brighton and Hove City Councils previous CEO, National Highways now agreed to the proposals. CityParks are currently working with the legal team to draw the legal arrangements between these three parties, some infrastructure work needs to be carried out on the roundabout to enable safe working by contractors whilst on the roundabout, which has currently been scoped by city transport officers who are meeting next week to discuss progress on this. Once designs have been agreed, and legal agreements drawn up, planning permission will be sought to necessary works. Officers are continuing to progress the improvements to Patcham Roundabout and are hopeful that residents and councillors will see improvements in the next few months.

20.30   Councillor Theobald asked a supplementary question, that probably means no, to my answer. This is ridiculous. The question is when will it be now? I keep getting told different things, so I would like to know. It’s a disgrace, that roundabout, it’s unsightly. That’s the opening to our city.

20.31   Councillor Muten replied, to reiterate the key points at the end of my answer to your first question, our officers are meeting next week to progress these matters and we’re hopeful that these improvements will progress on the Patcham Roundabout in the next few months.

20.32   Question 9 - Councillor Shanks
Councillor Shanks asked, I’m sure that Councillor Muten and the rest of the Council mean by rat-running, nothing to do with animals, but to do with cars and motorbikes blighting the lives of residents particularly in my ward and other places in the city centre particularly, but in every place where people take shortcuts down residential roads. I’d like to know what plans the administration has for limiting these and we have seen places where we’ve had road closures and no through roads and one-way streets. I think we need to increase that provision.

20.33   Councillor Muten replied, It’s important and helpful where residents and community groups have concerns about large numbers of cars, some excessive speed I note, are cutting through unsuitable residential roads. Where these are first identified by ward Councillors, and I certainly encourage any residents or groups to contact their ward Councillors in the first instance where they are aware of such concerns. As part of the Better, Safer Streets Program, our Council have funding in place to make improvements and can prioritize within the available budget on the basis of need, value, and design. Sometimes fairly minor changes have significant benefits, may I give for example the closure of Orchard Road near Hove Park to motor vehicles whilst retaining access to cyclists and pedestrians had made a tremendous difference in people trying to avoid the Sackville Road, Neville Road, Old Shoreham Road junction, so that’s one very minor improvement that can have quite a big difference. Likewise, the closure of Brunswick Place at the top of Brunswick Square to motor vehicles over two decades ago has been very effective without the communities effected seeking reversal of this. Also, may I just add, recent school streets schemes such as the Balfour School Street scheme that did a trial last Friday and the Hangleton Primary School Street Scheme which is being constructed at the moment ready for the next term, will provide safety and air quality improvements for those local communities. As suggested there, rat runs can be addressed once identified and prioritized within the funds that are available, Labour will deliver better, safer streets.

20.34   Councillor Shanks asked a supplementary question, thank you for your support for the School Streets Initiative which is very important for young people and parents across the city. Perhaps I could ask Councillor Muten to come with me to Francis Street where I often have to stand in front of cars and shout at them to see the problem we’ve got there where the Council have got a access only sign, the Police have been, cars constantly go down there, it was a Council development part of the Open Market development so that’s a particular issue in my ward, so I would like you to come and look at that perhaps and see what else could be done.

20.35   Question 10 - Councillor Lyons
Councillor Lyons asked, since I’ve become a Councillor, and indeed before I became a Councillor, my inbox has been littered, pardon the pun, as to the weed problem in the city. In our ward we’ve been pleased following resident complaints that we’ve managed to get one operative using manual labour for one week in the north of the city to clear some weeds. Do you think that this is sufficient?

20.36   Councillor Rowkins replied, weeds came up time and again in our campaign and it’s pretty clear that there has not been a sufficient strategy in place to stay on top of the weeds problem and we’ve already begun trialling some new equipment as you may see, and we’re in the process of assembling a policy working group to flesh out our new weeds management policy to bring to committee later in the year. We are working very hard on it, and it is a priority for the administration and you’re not the only one who has an inbox littered with complaints about the issue. The forthcoming policy will, aside from making sure that we’re getting maximum value from the tools we have available to remove weeds, will also be looking at better prioritization where those resources are deployed, what preventative measures we can put in place and, as I said, maximizing the efficiency of the removal. It’s worth saying that the streets team is very stretched, and has been for a while, and is doing more with less after years of savage cuts from central government and compounded by a Green Administration that just hasn’t prioritized the basics. I would suggest that the best thing your group could do to improve the state of the city, including the weeds, is to push for a general election as soon as possible.

20.37   Councillor Lyons asked a supplementary question, Councillor Rowkins, I appreciate your answer and I’m not going to respond about a general election, but can you please provide a timescale as to when the excessive weeds will be removed within the city and what measures the new administration will take so that residents in our ward and across the city, especially the elderly, disabled, and mothers with young children can feel that they can leave their homes without feeling imprisoned.

20.38   Councillor Rowkins replied, I’ll keep it fairly brief; it’s obviously not going to be the case that you’ll wake up on one Monday morning and the problem will have gone away. We are aiming to have the new policy well in place ready for ahead of what you would refer to as the growing season next spring, so for the moment the focus is on really getting on top of the problem and fleshing out the policy to prevent it getting as bad next year, so that’s the focus for now.
 

20.39   Question 11 - Councillor Bagaeen on behalf of Councillor Hogan
Councillor Bagaeen asked, on the 7^th October 2022, the Council announced a freeze on recruitment when the Council was on course for a £13 Million overspend. The Labour administration recently announced a recruitment freeze. When did the Council switch off the recruitment freeze confirmed at the time by former Councillor Druitt in this very chamber when he was sitting somewhere over there?

20.40   Councillor Sankey replied, that last recruitment freeze was before my time and I don’t have an answer as to when that was ended, but we will certainly follow up with a written response to Councillor Bagaeen.

20.41   Question 12 - Councillor Bagaeen

20.42   Councillor Bagaeen asked a question, The question is on idling vehicles, and I think like rat running we know that idling means leaving a vehicles engine running while it is stationary. While this is often because of everyday traffic, there are some instances such as waiting for children outside schools and sitting in total gridlock as you do in the city, where idling is not necessary and should be avoided. Clean air by our schools is hugely important. How will the Council be policing idling outside schools in the city?

20.43   Councillor Muten replied, at the very first City, Environment, South Downs and Sea Committee in June, the Labour Administration brought forward a plan to fine car drivers who sit in their cars idling their engines as you describe. This committee agreed on enforcing fines for engine idling to be £40, reduced to £20 if paid within 10 days. We believe that behaviour change will be an important contribution to improving air quality and can help solve the climate emergency as we go towards carbon neutrality. Too often, idling car engines are polluting the air close to schools and residents, effecting the health and wellbeing of some of the youngest and most vulnerable in our community. This important step shows Labour’s commitment to improve air quality and protect people’s health. Specifically, to your question about how, the matters of enforcement will be dealt with by the Police.

20.44   Councillor Bagaeen asked a supplementary question, I don’t know how the Police will enforce this, but that’s absolutely fine because it’s normally traffic wardens who issue PCN’s, but how will the Council prioritize where it enforces idling, because obviously the Police will need to be told where to go, so how will we do that?

20.45   Councillor Muten replied, I’m just being advised it will be Council enforcement teams, rather than the Police, that would enforce some of these, and we’re working with the Council enforcement teams to prioritize particularly those areas which are known to be poor air quality and in most of schools.