Agenda item - Petitions for Council Debate

Petitions to be debated at Council.  Reports of the Monitoring Officer (copies attached):

(a)       Save the Brighton & Hove Animal Welfare Team.  Lead petitioner Rhian on behalf of Brighton Dogwatch.

(b)       Solution Based Proposals to End Homelessness.  Lead petitioner Ree, on behalf of Love Activists Brighton.

75.1.      The Mayor stated that the council’s petition scheme provided that where a petition secured 1,250 or more signatures it could be debated at a Council meeting.  She had been notified of two such petitions which had sufficient signature to warrant a debate and therefore would call on the lead petitioner to present their petition before opening the matter up for debate.

75.2.      The Mayor invited Mr. Castell to come forward and present the petition.

75.3.      Mr. Castell thanked the Mayor and presented the petition which called on the Council to not cut Animal Welfare Team. He confirmed that the petition had over 4,000 signatures and stated that the local community would be willing to support the team in its work and find alternative ways of enabling it to continue e.g. advertising on dog bins could provide some revenue.  The Animal Welfare Team was an important asset to the community and he hoped could be maintained rather than reduced.  The petitioners believed that additional help could be found from volunteers and suggested that Animal Community Support Officers could be established, but urged the Council to reconsider the proposed cuts to the team which would only result in a number of important aspects of its work being lost. He also noted that Brighton Dogwatch had been formed two and half years ago and was run by dedicated volunteers on a 24/7 basis and had found the support of the Animal Welfare team to be invaluable.

75.4.      Councillor Barradell thanked Mr. Castell and welcomed the positive ideas that had been suggested as ways of working with the Animal Welfare Team and supporting its work.  She noted that the Council was looking for innovative ideas as part of a council-wide scheme to identify ways of addressing the financial challenges faced by the council and hoped they would be put forward as part of that process.  She stated that it was not possible at this stage to rule out any savings that had been identified although alternative options could be considered, as long as the overall savings requirements were met.

75.5.      Councillor West welcomed the petition and stated that he believed there was a significant number of signatures which meant that it needed t be taken into consideration.  The Animal Welfare Team provided a wide-ranging service which was appreciated by residents and the petition rightly questioned how the service could be maintained given the level of proposed savings to be made.  He believed it would result in a significant reduction in the level of patrols and investigations which would be detrimental to council.  As such he wished to move an amendment to the recommendations that would ask the Policy & Resources Committee to identify alternative savings and to maintain the current level of provision for the Animal Welfare Team.

75.6.      The Mayor stated that any such amendment should have been made available in writing and been circulated to Members so that they had time to give it consideration.  As such she was not prepared to accept the amendment which did not appear to have an alternative proposal to achieve the required savings.  She then asked the Monitoring Officer to clarify the position.

75.7.      The Monitoring Officer referred to the Council’s Procedural Rules and noted that an amendment could be tabled at a meeting and the Mayor or Chair could then request it to be provided in writing to all Members.  In regard to the proposed amendment it appeared to be seeking to change proposals that directly affected the budget which made it a more complex matter.  However, the Mayor had the final decision on whether to accept the moving of an amendment and that decision could not be challenged at the meeting.

75.8.      The Mayor noted the information and called on Councillor Barradell to respond to the petition.

75.9.      Councillor Barradell stated that she sympathised with the views of the petition and welcomed the proposals that had been put forward, however she could not confirm the outcome of the proposed savings as this point in time.

75.10.   The Mayor stated that she was not prepared to accept the amendment put forward by Councillor West and therefore put the recommendation to refer the petition to the Policy & Resources Committee for consideration to the vote, which was agreed.

75.11.   RESOLVED: That the petition be referred to the Policy & Resources Committee for consideration at its next meeting.

75.12.   The Mayor invited Ree to come forward and present the petition on behalf of Love Activists.

75.13.   Ree thanked the Mayor and presented the petition which called on the Council to expand the Housing First model to offer housing to all of the city’s homeless people and work with the community to address the issue of homelessness.  She hoped that the council would take on board the proposals outlined in the petition and seek to encourage other Authorities to implement the measures nationally.  She stated that the aim had to be to avoid any more deaths on the streets in the city and referred to a recent Supreme Court ruling which stated that all homeless people should be seen and given priority need.  This was something that was not being actioned as available resources were being used as a factor rather than need.  She also noted that a doctor at the Housing summit last year had detailed how many homeless people were being treated and called it the human face of an inhuman statistic.  She stated that people could not wait until 2020 as was the council’s current objective to meet the needs of the homeless and that action needed to be undertaken now.  She hoped that the council would implement the solution based proposals as outlined in the petition.

75.14.   Councillor Meadows thanked Ree for her presentation and referred the points raised in the petition and stated that the council and officers were seeking to address the situation and find ways to help those who were homeless.  She noted that supported housing was available and cases were assessed as quickly as possible, although not every person could be accepted as being vulnerable.  The council was committed to finding accommodation and had identified 2020 as a target for addressing the homeless situation and had piloted the Housing First model.  However, there was a need to recognise that people presented with a wide-range of needs which would have to be addressed.  She also noted that some aspects required changes nationally and was happy to provide a full response on the matter in writing given the limited time at the present meeting.

75.15.   Councillor Mears welcomed the petition and stated that she looked forward to the debate at the Housing & New Homes Committee.  She believed the council had a duty to the most vulnerable in the community and had to provide a front-line service to support the homeless population.  She also noted that the government had maintained funding for local authorities and hoped that this would help to prevent numbers from increasing.

75.16.   Councillor Gibson stated that he hoped the council could work with Love Activists to address the problems identified and noted that there was a housing crisis in the city which was not in the direct control of the authority.  He hoped that pressure could be put on the government to commit to supporting homeless people and to provide more homes.  It could impose rent controls which would then ease the private rented sector and make more accommodation available.

75.17.   Councillor Moonan welcomed the petition and stated that the council did want to work the community and Love Activists to tackle the situation and noted that a new Housing Strategy was being developed.

75.18.   The Mayor noted the information and called on Councillor Meadows to respond to the petition.

75.19.   Councillor Meadows stated that the Rough Sleepers Strategy was being reviewed and the council was very aware of the need to support and help the homeless people in the city.

75.20.   The Mayor then put the recommendation to refer the petition to the Fairness Commission for information and the Housing & New Homes Committee for consideration to the vote, which was agreed.

75.21.   RESOLVED: That the petition be referred to the Fairness Commission for information and the Housing & New Homes Committee for consideration at its next meeting.