Agenda item - Oral questions from Councillors

70.1         The Mayor noted that 11 oral questions had been received and that 30 minutes were set aside for the duration of the item.  She then invited Councillor Mac Cafferty to put his question to Councillor Mitchell.

 

(1)       Councillor Mac Cafferty – City Clean

 

70.2         Councillor Mac Cafferty asked the following question “Yet again I’m having to bring another question about tagging and graffiti to full council because of the inaction of the Labour administration on the issue. Many residents have suggested many things to me about how we move forward on this issue from alarms on scaffolding right through to tougher fines which might actually work to stop taggers and graffiti so called artists. So why is it that Brighton & Hove don't respond to the DEFRA review of fixed penalty notices for environmental offences in April 2017 which said very clearly of the majority of the authorities that responded, that was 87%, agreed that fixed penalties for graffiti should be increased?”

 

70.3         Councillor Mitchell replied, “The policy in relation to graffiti and tagging removal has not changed since your administration. The Council does not remove graffiti or tagging from private property. The costs would be absolutely enormous and then you have to take into consideration all of the insurance implications that would also have to be applied. We do remove offensive graffiti as quickly as possible.

 

In relation to extending the enforcement for tagging, of course the perpetrators would have to be caught and that is a provision for the police. It is the police's duty to catch those perpetrators and to attach any punishments to that where necessary.”

 

70.4         Councillor Mac Cafferty asked the following supplementary question, “When is Councillor Mitchel going to finally accept that her Labour administration has cut CityClean too hard and too fast?”

 

70.5         Councillor Mitchell replied, “City Environmental Services have been under significant pressure having made huge savings. CityClean’s value for money has improved with costs per household going down and improved benchmarking against other authorities but this has not come without challenge to staff and the service.

 

A modernisation programme has started in order to settle and provide a sustainable future for the service in the face of continuing reductions to council budgets, increases in customer demand and an expanding service offer to residents. The modernisation programme follows a full review of the service with the objective of further improving them and access to them by residents by taking a whole system approach that is also being applied to the several projects currently underway or being planned.”

 

(2)       Councillor Hyde – Housing Stock Maintenance

 

70.6         Councillor Hyde asked the following question, “Just prior to Christmas I decided to take a different bus home to Rottingdean rather than the coast road so that I could see all the Christmas trees in people's homes and thoroughly enjoyable it was to. The bus took me through the Craven Vale estate and I was disturbed to see the appalling condition of the flats in Craven Vale, known as Queensway. Especially taking into account they are in East Brighton Ward, which is the Ward of the Leader of the Council Councillor Warren Morgan and the Deputy Leader of the Council Councillor Gill Mitchell. My question is why have these homes been permitted to deteriorate to such a deplorable state of disrepair and why have they not been maintained on the planned maintenance rolling programme?”

 

70.7         Councillor Meadows replied, “With regards to the house maintenance programme, that is driven essentially by the Housing Asset Management Strategy, which tenants and Councillors look at and agree at the Housing & New homes Committee and that was agreed in 2016. So if you have a particular issue around part of that management structure I’m sure your colleague Councillor Mears will be happy to take that to the Housing & New Homes Committee.”

 

70.8         Councillor Hyde asked the following supplementary question, “Is Councillor Meadows embarrassed that her administration has failed with the maintenance of council homes in which residents of Brighton and Hove have to live?”

 

70.9         Councillor Meadows replied, “I am happy that our tenants have got a decent homes standard that was set by the Conservatives actually back when they were around. The flats have new roofs, new central heating, new windows, new doors, programmes decided and agreed with tenants. If you have an issue with that I'm sure Councillor Mears will be happy to speak to a few tenants to see if they have any issues with the way their homes are being managed.”

 

(3)       Councillor Page – Changes to Bus Timetables

 

70.10      “Councillor Page asked the following question “With the January bus changes there are less buses now and we had a deputation about night buses and then it's not just the deputation its Bus Watch as well and the 10,000 people whose petition has perhaps been steered to the bus company not here, I don't know, but 10,000 petitioners who feel that the night buses had been cut too far, Buswatch certainly feels that way.

 

My question to Councillor Mitchell is; does she feel as a Councillor that we can have some influence on the bus company even if as she says it's a matter for them as they’re a private company?”

 

70.11      Councillor Mitchell replied, “We certainly as a Council can have influence on the bus companies and of course we do work closely with all bus operators via the Quality Bus Partnership and indeed the very valuable Buswatch meetings that you have just mentioned and I do say again that any reduction in the current level of bus services in the city is indeed a matter for regret. This was discussed at the Buswatch meeting and further than that I'm afraid this is a matter for the bus company, who as I understand made this decision on commercial grounds. They have said that they will keep that decision under review.”

 

70.12      Councillor Page asked the following supplementary question “So do I take it that as a Ward Councillor, in East Brighton, Councillor Mitchell has done nothing really about the cuts to the night Bus Service which is now not going to East Brighton at all; the N1 and indeed the 21A which has gone down to once an hour to North Whitehawk when it was half hourly. Has she nothing on these things as a Ward Councillor?”

 

70.13      Councillor Mitchell replied, “As I said in my previous answer I have been meeting and discussing with bus company officials the reasons for these changes to their timetables and I have put forward the views and the concerns on behalf of my constituents. The night bus number 7 will still run through East Brighton Ward. The last bus that is part of the regular network will go to Whitehawk at 1am.  I do appreciate that it will inconvenience some people who wished to take a bus later than that. In relation to the number 21 I am currently discussing that very issue. I understand that regrettable cut to service and the bus does still run but in some parts of its route it's frequency has been reduced. That was in order to maintain the viability of the whole of the 21 service.”

 

(4)       Councillor Bell – Leaseholder Engagement

 

70.14      Councillor Bell asked the following question, “How is the engagement with leaseholders conducted?”

 

70.15      Councillor Meadows replied, “I'm happy to explain how leaseholders are recognised and how our consultations are dealt with. Leaseholders receive six monthly service charge update newsletters and there is a leaseholders advice line, handbook, website page, formal works consultation and lots of other means, including a well-publicised leaseholder dispute procedure which I detailed in some length at a previous meeting so I won't do that again.

 

On a more collective level leaseholders can seek the Council’s recognition for tenants associations they form under section 29 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. We've set up and recognised the Leaseholders Action Group which has an Annual General Meeting along with quarterly meetings attended by officers. Last year we initiated a Councillor's Working Group for leaseholders organising a workshop with Councillors, leaseholders and officers to take forward improvements in communication, customer service and involvement with major works projects in a committee report setting out key aspects of the Council's relationship with leaseholders. In addition to this, this later Labour administration has put extra resources into the budget for extra staff to enable leaseholder consultation to be more meaningful as we feel that is so important and we hope that we will get support from other parties on that.”

 

70.16      Councillor Bell asked the following supplementary question, “In my own ward I requested a list of planned maintenance works in leasehold properties on all sides of engagements and I have been told that it is not available for me to have a copy and both myself and Councillor Simson would obviously like to bring that when we go to our tenants and residents' meeting. I also have a situation where there are certain leaseholders who cannot afford the payments and the monies which they have been told that they have got to pay for works which are carried out on their properties. I would like to know how we engage with these people, who find themselves leaseholders, and obviously put themselves at great risk to buy their homes when they are in a situation where they cannot pay the amount of money that being charged for works. What is the Council and the administration doing to aid these people because it is causing a lot of stress and a lot of concern for them?”

 

70.17      Councillor Meadows replied, “There is a list of planned maintenance or blocks with leaseholders within those blocks that you're looking for and we can get that to you. When you talk about leaseholders being unable to pay, you’re right it is a very big expense for many resident leaseholders in the city and that is why we have around eight different payment types of which officers can sit with those residents leaseholders to work through which would be the best one for them. Obviously when you buy your own property you need to be able to maintain that property and leaseholders unfortunately may not always understand the expenses that may be due on the entire block and that they have but we have eight different ways to support them with that.

 

With leaseholders who are landlords it is a slightly different issue as I'm pretty sure those landlords are not charging affordable rents in any sense of the word so I'm sure that the way that they can increase their mortgage or find other ways of finding that money is possible.”

 

(5)       Councillor West - Litter

 

70.18      “Councillor West asked the following question, “Over the past three years the Labour party has been in charge of the Council of the City and the litter in our streets and open spaces have been getting steadily worse and worse in some areas and East Brighton is a prime example the unkempt appearance which adds to a feeling of reducing safety. As a visitor and tourist destination we must all be very concerned about the appearance of the city. Is Councillor Mitchell content with the drifts of debris that swirl about people's feet under Labour?”

 

70.19      Councillor Mitchell replied, “I hardly recognise my own ward from the picture being painted. I live and work in East Brighton and I do not walk through piles of swirling litter, I can assure you.  People that speak to me actually say they feel that the city is looking cleaner and better cared for since Labour has been taking a more proactive approach to cleaning it up. We operate to all of the good requirements within the Environmental Protection Act and, in addition, as you know we continue to run our education campaigns that have significantly increased our engagement with the public and local businesses. For information we are now contacting all of the groups and businesses that we work with regularly in relation to starting the Great British spring clean from 2-4 March 2018 and I look forward to your participation in East Brighton.”

 

70.20      Councillor West asked the following supplementary question, “When we’ve been speaking to people we certainly get different responses than Councillor Mitchell. When the Labour party campaigned so vigorously in 2015 they promised to get the basics right.

 

Would Councillor Mitchell agree with me that the voters were deceived by Labour on this? When it comes to litter now polluting our city Labour clearly haven't got the basics right. Will Councillor Mitchell agree the CityClean budget has been cut too far and pledge now to give CityClean increased funding?”

 

 

70.21      Councillor Mitchell replied, “No I will not agree with you on that point. When we came in as an administration in May 2015 we inherited severely declining customer satisfaction in relation to the way that you had run environmental services.  In relation to managing on a tight budget I would refer you to the answer that I gave to your colleague Councillor Mac Cafferty. The management programme is now in place to support the service.”

 

(6)       Councillor Wares – Sustainable Transport

 

70.22      “Councillor Wares asked the following question, “When we are rightly so keen on having sustainable transport in the city wards such as Patcham, Hangleton and Knoll, and Portslade and others do not benefit from the bike share scheme or the car club as those living in central wards do. Why are these area always excluded as the forgotten suburbs; the arc of neglect?”

 

70.23      Councillor Mitchell replied, “I very much hope that in due course the bike share scheme can be extended further out to the outreaches of the city. I am meeting with the operators tomorrow and the Local Enterprise Partnership and I will take great pleasure in raising this issue on behalf of Councillor Wares.”

 

70.24      Councillor Wares asked the following supplementary question, “I'm grateful actually for that answer Councillor Mitchell and as the saying goes ‘build it and they will come’. If we truly want sustainable transport we need to start investing in these areas and providing these facilities which that will create the demand. Let’s not be in a position to blame our population for not participating and I'm grateful that you will speak with these organisations. Perhaps in those conversations we can commission officers to actually come up with some details of when we might see these facilities in these areas and when they will be available for our residents.”

 

70.25      Councillor Mitchell replied, “I will be very pleased to feed back to Councillor Wares the results of my discussions.”

 

(7)       Councillor Sykes – Our City Environment and Council Cuts

 

70.26      Councillor Sykes asked the following question “I was very pleased recently to receive January's newsletter from Hove Civic Society and it reported a public meeting in October last year where Councillor Mitchell was in attendance and the state of our city environment was discussed. Councillor Mitchell was reported in the newsletter as stating that there would not be more cuts to the environmental budget. In the budget papers we've seen savings in environmental and budget of about £1/2 million of which at least £300,000 are actual cuts to services. Will Councillor Mitchell apologise to Hove Civic Society for misleading them?”

 

70.27      Councillor Mitchell replied, “My comments to the Hove Civic Society did indeed relate to the percentage of cuts that City Environmental Services have had to take over the previous two years. My comments were that we are not in a position to take much more and I do absolutely believe that to be the case. Therefore, in a forthcoming budget we are not taking the amount of cuts that we've taken in the past and I refer you to my previous response to Councillor Mac Cafferty regarding the management programme.”

 

70.28      Councillor Sykes asked the following supplementary question, “I am not entirely satisfied with that response and I put it to Councillor Mitchell that when it comes to getting the basics right for the Labour Group these critical basics seem to be saying one thing and doing the opposite, taking credit where it's not necessarily merited, and avoiding blame and responsibility, three you’re doing very well. Would Councillor Mitchell agree?”

 

70.29      Councillor Mitchell replied, “No.”

 

 

(8)       Councillor C. Theobald – Horsdean Recreation Ground

 

70.30      Councillor C. Theobald asked the following question, “Why it is taking the Council so long to process the paperwork to enable Horsdean Cricket and Football Clubs to take on the lease that will enable them to improve the clubhouse? It will also reduce the burden on the Council and will enable them to access outside money for improvements to benefit the wider community, especially the youth who want to play sport.”

 

70.31      Councillor Mitchell replied, “The draft lease has been agreed on most points. One outstanding point in relation to some metal sheds behind the pavilion, which the cricket club has installed, and permissions are awaited in relation to those. Also before the lease can be signed the Council needs to receive the permission certificate from the fields in trust and this has been applied for.”

 

70.32      Councillor C. Theobald asked the following supplementary question, “This has been going on for six years and I don’t know why it has taken so long. I don't know if these clubs know what has been said by Councillor Mitchell, whether they know that these extra things need to happen so I think this matter needs to be closed with some urgency so work can start this summer.”

 

70.33      Councillor Mitchell replied, “I do hope matter will be brought to a conclusion before this summer. If Councillor Theobald would like any more information she's very welcome to contact the relevant officers who I'm sure will provide her with it.”

 

(9)       Councillor Gibson – HRA Capital Programme

 

70.34      Councillor Gibson asked the following question, “We’ve had quite a bit of discussion about the one in 69 people who are homeless in the city and we've had quite a lot of talk about the borrowing cap being imposed and how unfair that is. This question relates to councils that do not use the borrowing cap that they've been allowed by government because there are two sides to it.

 

So it is a city with a desperate need for affordable housing, given that in April 2017 our HRA borrowing stood at £123 million and yet the borrowing cap is a £157 million so we were a massive £34 million underneath the borrowing cap. I completely support calls to lift the borrowing cap but we've got to use it in the first place. I believe that we should be using it and I think some of your Labour colleagues believed that we should be using this unused borrowing that is available to meet the desperate housing need that we have all spoken about in the city. My question is very simple, will you be supporting Green calls to use more available borrowing in the HRA capital budget for next year?”

 

70.35      Councillor Meadows replied, “The HRA capital investment programme which the borrowing cap relates to has an increased budget for fire safety and other health and safety projects, a continued investment in energy reduction and efficiency, funding for the buyback policy to buy back those homes lost under the Right to Buy. All these programmes plus our housing and new build projects all those projects in the pipeline will take us up to that borrowing cap. This is why we are so insistent that our officers and the Council and other councils around the country are lobbying the government because we want that cap raised. We want to build more properties. Taking money out from the borrowing cap and expecting to make houses that quickly is unrealistic, capacity needs to be built and there needs a policy behind it to enable those officers to work appropriately. That money will be spent in full and we will not have any spare which is why we are lobbying so hard.”

 

70.36      Councillor Gibson asked the following supplementary question, “According to the projections that I have seen by the time of the next elections it is anticipated that we will still be about £7-8 million under the borrowing cap. So we’re not really trying hard enough and that in my view is optimistic. I agree that there is an issue about capacity but we can use resources to increase the capacity, we need to be acting now. Do you agree that it would be a tragedy if we are not allowed to increase our borrowing cap simply because we have failed to spend the cap that we've been allowed already?”

 

70.37      Councillor Meadows replied, “We will reach the borrowing cap, we will not be underspending; however, if I had greater support across the Chamber from the other two parties when making decisions on building more affordable housing for the city we won't be spending money in a far greater commitment. I find it unusual to think that the government would take back any underspends in our Housing Revenue account capital spend. It will never happen.”

 

(10)    Councillor Mears – Able & Willing

 

70.38      “Councillor Mears asked the following question, “Following on from their contract with the city set out in the 2015 Labour manifesto, can the Leader of the Council or his spokesperson confirm that this Administration has actively procured work from Able and Willing?”

 

70.39      Councillor Chapman replied, “The Administration has supported Able and Willing and will continue to do so. We will review all the responses to the recent consultation at the next Children, Young People & Skills Committee and look at the right way forward for Able and Willing and how we can best support it.”

 

70.40      Councillor Mears asked the following supplementary question, “Private businesses procure from Able and Willing and inform me they are really happy with the quality of the products that they procure. Can the Leader of the Council or the spokesperson reassure the Council that the welfare of staff at Able and Willing will be protected by this Administration and they are not just used to bolster Print & Design. Previous Administrations have taken their role of protecting Able and Willing very seriously.  Will this Administration give the same reassurance to the Council meeting today?”

 

70.41      Councillor Chapman replied, “Yes and yes.”

 

(11)    Councillor Deane – Facilities in Library Buildings

 

70.42      Councillor Deane asked the following question, “I noticed that in Jubilee Library the row of 4 or 5 of hand basins and hand-dryers have been replaced as three integrated hole in the wall affairs. Given that hand basins generally last pretty much forever, can you please tell me why this was considered necessary?”

 

70.43      Councillor Daniel replied, “I can't tell you that and I will reply to you in writing and copy in the other Councillors in the chambers so everyone has the same response. I'm sorry I wasn't aware of it.”

 

70.44      Councillor Deane asked the following supplementary question, “Could you honestly say that in a time of cost-cutting when libraries themselves are under threat with increasingly empty shelves is it money well spent and could you please provide the cost of these replacements in this library and any others across the city?”

 

70.45      Councillor Daniel replied, “Without the facts in front of me I can’t possible comment on whether that was a good or bad use of money.”

 

Note: 

 

70.46      The Mayor then adjourned the meeting at 6.20pm for a refreshment break.

 

70.47      The Mayor reconvened the meeting at 7.00pm.