Agenda item - Petitions for Council Debate

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

(1)      Adopt the Homeless Bill of Rights for Brighton and Hove.  Lead petitioner Barry Hughes.

(2)      Stop the theft of Brighton General Hospital site: Keep it Public!  Lead petitioner Diane Montgomery.

18.1    The mayor stated that where a petition secured 1,250 or more signatures it could be debated at the Council meeting. She had been made aware that there were two such petitions for today’s meeting.

(1)  Adopt the Homeless Bill of Rights for Brighton & Hove

18.2    The Mayor invited Mr B Hughes to come forward to present the petition which asked the Council to adopt the Homeless Bill of Rights for Brighton & Hove.

18.3    Mr Hughes said that there were 2580 signatures to the petition. He said the Homeless Bill of Rights was launched by the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless in November 2017 and had since been adopted by seven European cities. In October 2018 the Housing Coalition launched the Homeless Bill of Rights in the City, all three Brighton & Hove MPs and some local Councillors gave their support to it. The petition called on the Council to adopt the Bill of Rights which would make Brighton & Hove the first city in the UK to do so.

18.4    Councillor Allcock, Chair of the Housing and New Homes Committee, responded to the petition and thanked Mr Hughes for bringing it to the Council. He said that he would first like to remember the late Mr Steve Parry who was a local housing campaigner and Chair of Brighton & Hove Housing Coalition who regularly sought to hold the Council to account. The Homeless Bill or Rights was central to Steve’s beliefs and was part of his legacy. Councillor Allcock said that the home was central to all our lives but for too many people the housing pressures they faced was getting worse not better. The country had a housing crisis and the dramatic rise in homelessness across the UK was symbolic of a national policy failure and was a sign that as a society we were allowing people to fall through the cracks. Brighton & Hove was in the top ten local authorities for the number of rough sleepers, but there were many who were sofa surfing or sleeping in tents etc. According to Shelter there were 320,000 homeless people in the country in 2018.  The Council was responsible for picking up the pieces, but significant cuts and a lack of power to intervene in the housing market meant that the Council was frustrated in what it could do. He said he was keen for the Housing Committee and the Council to consider adopting the Homeless Bill of Rights as an important statement of principle and commit to working for the rights, equality and dignity of our homeless residents.

18.5    The Mayor congratulated Councillor Allcock on his maiden speech on behalf of the council.

18.6    Councillor Heley said that scale of the crisis in the City continued to worsen and it should be a priority for all councillors to eradicate homelessness. Adopting a bill of rights seemed an obvious and practical way of showing a commitment to ending the crisis as well as being a mechanism to support those residents who were homeless. It would provide a further framework for the Council’s work over the next few years, and as Councillors we must support the Homeless Bill of Rights.

18.7    The Mayor congratulated Councillor Heley on her maiden speech on behalf of the council.

18.8    Councillor Mears said the Conservative Group welcomed the sentiment behind this. The City did have a crisis with the number of rough sleepers and the problems needed to be addressed, but she did not want to encourage more people her with expectations that the we may not be able to deliver. The City could not deal with the current demand for housing. There were over 17 organisations working in the city on homelessness and rough sleepers, and as a Council we needed to ensure that we understood all the implications in the Charter before signing it, including the legal and financial issues. The Council also needed to understand the impact on businesses with a large number of tents across the City. The Conservative Group agreed with the recommendation for the Charter to be considered by the Housing Committee, but the Council needed to understand the implications of supporting this Charter and the possible impact on the budget for other areas.

18.9    Councillor Allcock said he would ask officers to bring a report to the next meeting of the Housing & New Homes Committee to consider adopting the Homeless Bill of Rights.

18.10  The Mayor thanked the petitioner and confirmed that the petition would be referred to the next meeting of the Housing & New Homes Committee.

(2)  Stop the Theft of Brighton General Hospital Site: Keep it Public!

18.11  The Mayor invited Mr T Galvin to come forward to present the petition which related to the development of the Brighton General Hospital site and noted that there was an amendment from the Green Group to the recommendations.

18.12  Mr Galvin said that the Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust planned to sell the Brighton General Hospital and develop a new Community Health Hub. Brighton General Hospital Action Group believe that this public land must remain a public asset for the people of Brighton and Hove. The Action Group believed that this site redevelopment offered the opportunity to address some of the much needed and urgent health, social care and housing needs in the City and were concerned that the current proposals were inadequate.  Mr Galvin said that there were 1800 signatures to the petition.

18.13  Councillor Platts, Leader of the Council, said that as the Chair of the Policy Resources & Growth Committee she welcomed the interest in how local land should be used and agreed that the land should remain a public asset for the City. She noted that the NHS Community Foundation Trust had undertaken public consultation in 2018 on the site,  and suggested that Mr Galvin write to her setting out how the consultation on the future of the site could be more meaningful and she would then write to Trust to support his campaign. Such a letter could also be an opportunity to request a meeting to discuss the purpose of the proposals as that was more of an issue for the Trust rather than the Council. The Trust and the Council were working together to find practical ways to address local housing needs. The Health Hub would need to be self-funding due to there being no NHS capital funding. My intention was to stay in touch with both yourself and the NHS Trust to ensure the voice of the community was heard.

18.14  Councillor Gibson proposed an amendment to add two further recommendations which would speed up and reinforce the action which had already been taken. The Council had discussed the housing crisis in the City, the affordability of housing and the number of those in temporary and emergency housing. The additional recommendations included a request that the Policy & Resources Committee commission a report to explore options to buy the General Hospital site including obtaining a preferred buyer status. That report would consider how to embed the acquisition of the site under the departmental plans detailed in the forthcoming corporate strategy and how to maximise the amount of council housing at the lowest possible rents once health provision needs had been addressed.

18.15 Councillor Platts formally seconded the amendment.

18.16  Councillor Mears said that she understood the sentiment behind the petition. This was a large site and the NHS needed the site to improve medical facilities but there was also a demand for housing. Officers had been in discussions with the NHS on the future of the site for some time. The amendment asked for the Council to explore the possibility of purchasing the site, but Councillors needed to be conscious of the cost of doing that and said that the pot of available money was getting smaller and it was important to ensure that the right things were being delivered for the City. The Conservative Group would be supporting the amendment as there did need to be a fuller discussion around the possibilities for the site.

18.17  Councillor Platts the Council did want to purchase the site if it were available and to keep it as a public asset.

18.18  Councillor Peltzer Dunn asked for clarification on the number of signatures to the petition. Mr Galvin confirmed it was 1800. Councillor Peltzer Dunn asked that that be noted as the agenda stated it was 2,475. The Mayor agreed.

18.19  The Mayor asked if Council agreed the amendment and it was confirmed it was agreed.

18.20  The Mayor thanked the petitioner and confirmed that the petition (as amended) would be referred to the next meeting of the Policy & Resources Committee.