Agenda item - The following Notices of Motion have been submitted by Members for consideration:

(1)      A Safe Home Campaign.  Proposed by Councillor Williams on behalf of the Labour Group.

 

(2)      Sustainable Adult Social Care Funding.  Proposed by Councillor Appich on behalf of the Labour Group.

 

(3)      Economic Impact of Brexit and Settled Status for EU Citizens.  Proposed by Councillor Hugh-Jones on behalf of the Green Group.

 

(4)      Support for Youth Strikes and Other Climate Action.  Proposed by Councillor Clare on behalf of the Green Group.

(1)  A Safe Home Campaign

 

30.1    The Notice of Motion as listed in the agenda was proposed by Councillor Williams on behalf of the Labour Group and seconded by Councillor Evans.

 

30.2    Councillor Williams said the Domestic Abuse Bill received its first reading in the House of Commons last week, but the Bill did not include a recommendation by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Domestic Violence and Abuse, which called for people who were homeless as a result of fleeing their home following domestic abuse to get priority need in settled housing. A key barrier to people leaving abuse is a lack of access to safe secure housing. Many survivors were put at risk of homelessness as they were not considered to be in priority need for social housing by their local councils. With the prospect of no alternative many survivors had no option but to return to their abusers or face homelessness. People who applied for housing following domestic abuse were obliged to pass a vulnerability test, which required supplying extensive evidence and having to recount their abuse a number of times. Instead a referral from a relevant organisation such as Rise should suffice. Rise, which supported this motion, advised that 22% of the support provided last year was on housing issues. Women’s Aid reported that demonstrating vulnerability could be very traumatic and near impossible for some people, and 53% of women they supported nationally were prevented from making a valid homelessness application by their local authority. Studies also revealed that 16% of homelessness men suffered from domestic violence and St Mungo’s reported that domestic abuse was a direct reason for homelessness for a third of their clients. When making applications for housing, many domestic abuse survivors were found to be intentionally homeless under S191 of the Housing Act 1996. Extending automatic priority need to survivors would remove the need to prove extra vulnerability. It was very important to have this amendment, and it would make the Domestic Abuse Bill more meaningful and would change the culture on how survivors were dealt with when being made homeless and would also alleviate the pressure on housing officers who had to assess the claims.

 

30.3    The Mayor congratulated Councillor Williams on her maiden speech on behalf of the council.

 

30.4    Councillor Evans seconded the motion. In England 61% of homeless women and 16% of homeless men were survivors of domestic abuse. However only 2% of those accepted as being in priority need for social housing were accepted because of domestic abuse. In addition, one in six refuges had closed in the last nine years because of austerity cuts. Approximately 725 women and around 30 men a year were killed by their partners, with thousands more hospitalised. On average there would be 35 assaults before the violence was reported to the police, and around 400 people committed suicide within six months of attending hospital because of their injuries. Of the 750 plus deaths a year, 75% occurred in the first six months of separation which meant that at the very moment that survivors were brave enough to flee under current, and planned, legislation survivors had to jump through hoops to provide enough documents to provide evidence to satisfy the vulnerability test or sleep on the street or go back to the abuser. This situation was wrong, and we needed to do everything we could to change it.

 

30.5    The Mayor congratulated Councillor Evans on her maiden speech on behalf of the council.

 

30.6    The Mayor noted that there was an amendment from the Green Group and asked Councillor Clare to move the amendment.

 

30.7    Councillor Clare supported the Motion and said that the buck stopped with the Government by not providing adequate local authority funding. The Labour administration’s recent planned cuts to the Violence Against Women/Girls budget had been reversed, but there were still cost pressures to services and information from third sector providers was that case load was increasing and they needed more funds to provide their services. The spend per capital was falling, and the Green Group therefore proposed that the Council explore ways to protect per capita funding for local Violence Against Women and Girls programmes.

 

30.8    Councillor Shanks formally seconded the Motion.

 

30.9    Councillor Knight said she had worked for many years as a defence lawyer and much of that time worked with domestic abuse perpetrators and those who had survived the experience. Domestic abuse does not occur over night but over time with behaviour becoming more controlling and violent. Critical in the process is instilling in victims that no one would believe them which was a powerful inhibitor. Domestic abuse was a hidden crime and most people in the Chamber would know someone who had or was being abused. To expect staff to have to ask a person about the abuse when that person was afraid and vulnerable and ask them to provide a level of evidence, which many could not do, was not only oppressive but was inhumane and immoral and only reinforced the message that no one believed them. I would hope that Members would support this Motion, which would send a clear message to those who were thinking about escape that the Council would be there for them and would believe them.

 

30.10  The Mayor congratulated Councillor Knight on her maiden speech on behalf of the council.

 

30.11  Councillor Mears thanked fellow Members for their speeches and in particular Councillor Evans who reminded everyone that men also suffered from domestic abuse and said that the Conservative Group would be supporting both the Notice of Motion and the Green Group amendment.

 

30.12 Councillor Grimshaw said that in 2001, pregnant and with three children, she went to Bartholomew House to ask for help having fled domestic violence from her partner. She said that she only had the clothes that she was wearing, having been locked out of her house, and rather than going to her mother’s house again she decided that she and her children had suffered enough and was determined to make changes. The Council provided bed and breakfast accommodation and shortly afterwards was placed in a one-bedroom flat sharing facilities with other families. She said at that point her baby was due and was sleeping on a sofa bed and feeling very low. Her abuser asked her to come home and said everything would be alright, but she knew that was not true and that the abuse would start again.  Shortly after giving birth she was given the keys to her own home and said that she was overjoyed with happiness was able to lock the front door, felt safe and had control back in her life. That had been a turning point in her life and she was now free to make her own decisions and allow her to be person she wanted to be. She said that she was standing her in this Chamber only because she was believed and supported and given her own home. It was important to support this Motion to ensure that everyone subjected to domestic abuse had the chance to be free as she had.

 

30.13  The Mayor congratulated Councillor Grimshaw on her maiden speech on behalf of the council.

 

30.14   The Mayor asked Councillor Williams if she accepted the amendment and she agreed. The Mayor asked Council if they were happy to proceed to vote on the amended Notice of Motion and they agreed.

 

30.15  The Mayor confirmed that the Motion (as amended) had been agreed.

 

(2)  Sustainable Adult Social Care Funding

 

30.16  The Notice of Motion as listed in the agenda was proposed by Councillor Appich on behalf of the Labour Group and seconded by Councillor Moonan.

 

30.17  Councillor Appich said the underfunding of Adult Social Care had recently been highlighted in a Panorama television programme. The Government’s Green Paper which had been announced over two years ago had failed to materialise, and the Local Government Association (LGA) has asked for its publication within 10 weeks. The LGA have indicated that at least £3.6b in additional funding was needed nationally by 2025, which would be an increase similar to the 3.4% annual increases in the NHS budgets announced recently. Nationally councils had lost 60p in every pound of government grants over the last ten years, and this Council had had to make budget cuts of £68m over the last four years, and further cuts of £40m were expected over the next four years. However, demand for adult social care had increased, with an aging population with the 65+ age group expected to increase by 25% by 2030. Of that increase the National Office of Statistics projected a 20% increase in the 85+ age group in the City by 2030, up to 7100. Brighton & Hove had a much higher percentage of those aged over 85 compared to other authorities. In addition, a high number of citizens are living with multiple health conditions, with 51,000 having two or more issues. Given the situation it was important to focus on preventative care, and failure to address this would store up future problems for the NHS and social services across the city. Our adult social care is already under funded compared with other similar authorities. The 3% maximum increase in council tax currently only raises around 60% of the money we were projecting to require for social care next year, which means that extra pressure would be put on other services. The adult social care service had already had to prioritise and was now dealing with increasingly complex cases and which was taking up an increasingly large share of the budget. Prevention and early intervention as described in Health & Wellbeing Strategy was economically efficient and the Council urgently needed adequate funding to be do that.

 

30.18 The Mayor congratulated Councillor Appich on her maiden speech on behalf of the council.

 

30.19 Councillor Moonan said that the Council had assisted many people including around 4,300 residents with long term adult social care support, 700 in Nursing Homes and had issued around 30,00 pieces of daily living equipment for the most vulnerable people in the city. All services were delivered to a high standard by staff. However, there was a huge strain to the system with ever increasing pressure on our budgets as people were living longer, and the number with long-term complex needs and who needed a high level of support was getting larger. Sustainable savings had been made, and the service had been modernised but that was a finite process and our Council was approaching a situation where services were at risk if appropriate funding were not available. She therefore hoped that the Government would take notice of this Notice of Motion and sort out adult social care funding.

 

30.20  Councillor Bell said that the Conservative Group would be supporting the Motion. He requested that there be an Adult Social Care Committee which would allow Councillors to look at the issues and agree a proper budget process.

 

30.21  Councillor Shanks said that the Green Group welcomed the Motion and agreed that more funding was required. She said she that there should be democratic accountability and as adult social care was the Council’s biggest budget there should be more scrutiny. Currently the Health & Wellbeing Board covered adult social care, and she suggested that that be reviewed.

 

30.22  The Mayor congratulated Councillor Shanks on her maiden speech on behalf of the council.

 

30.23 Councillor Powell said that the Green Group welcomed the Notice of Motion. Adult social care was in crisis and it had been reported that within the NHS Trust there was a current shortage of 100,000 staff, which was one in eleven posts. The current situation with Brexit would impact on EU workers in the care sector. Ten years of austerity and budget cuts had impacted on the system, and it was unfair to punish sick and disabled people. 

 

30.24  The Mayor congratulated Councillor Powell on her maiden speech on behalf of the council.

 

30.25  The Mayor confirmed that the motion had been agreed.

 

          (3) Economic Impact of Brexit and Settled Status for EU Citizens

 

30.26  The Notice of Motion as listed in the agenda was proposed by Councillor Hugh-Jones on behalf of the Green Group and seconded by Councillor Ebel.

 

30.27  Councillor Hugh-Jones proposed the Notice of Motion. She asked Council to note that it referred to James Brokenshire as the Minister for Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) but that had recently changed, and it was now Esther McVey who was the MHCLG. In November 2018 a briefing paper from the UK Trade Policy Observatory predicted the impact of a no deal Brexit would be equivalent to the loss of 2021 jobs in Brighton Pavilion, 829 in Kemptown and 1100 in Hove, a total of 3,950 jobs. The Chancellor of the Exchequer recently said that a disruptive exit from the EU would cost the UK economy £90b. The Brexit scenario testing conducted by the Council in November 2018 identified that a no-deal Brexit would lead to business closures due to loss of staff with businesses facing recruitment and retention problems. The new Prime Minister has made it clear that he is prepared to take the UK out of the EU on a no-deal basis. The earning thresholds imposed on those wishing to come to this country from outside the EU prevent recruitment in sectors where it is most needed. Between 2012/13 and 2017/18 the Council received approximately £1.7m in EU funding, which was £340k per year. The Government is now proposing to give unitary authorities £210k over two years to help prepare for Brexit i.e. over three times less. Going forward Brighton & Hove may no longer benefit from EU funding, and this would impact on key priorities identified for promoting economic growth through the European Development Fund, research and innovation, supporting small and medium enterprises and creation of a low carbon economy – all areas where Brighton & Hove could potentially take a lead and which would have a devastating impact on our ability to create a low carbon economy. The Government says it will cover the loss of funding but that guarantee does not go past 2020 and that is why I urge Councillors to support the Notice of Motion. 

 

30.28  The Mayor congratulated Councillor Hugh-Jones on her maiden speech on behalf of the council.

 

30.29  Councillor Ebel seconded the Notice of Motion. She said that she was one of the 20,000 non-British EU citizens in the city, and since Britain voted to leave the EU the Government had required EU citizens to register under the Settled Status scheme. This involved registering your personal details on a dedicated website and scanning your ID using a special App which was currently only available on Android phones. Only 6% of EU residents had registered for settled status so far, which demonstrated that there was a high level of uncertainty linked to the process. We therefore request that the Council promotes partnerships to coordinate immigration advice available to EU nationals in the City and applied for Central Government funding to ensure the facilities were in place so every EU citizen in the City were able to register for settled status before the deadline.

 

30.30  The Mayor congratulated Councillor Ebel on her maiden speech on behalf of the council.

 

30.31 Councillor Appich spoke in support of the Motion. She said that she was an EU citizen and had come to this country in 1977 and was given indefinite leave to stay in 1979. The EU ran a session in Brighton a few months ago on settled status. That session was oversubscribed, and from comments made from those who attended there was a great deal of confusion in terms of how settled status schemes worked. I believed I wouldn’t have to do anything as I had been given leave to stay, but that was not the case. The 20,000 EU citizens in the City needed support, as well as other organisations in the City such as schools who would benefit from advice.

 

30.32  Councillor Henry said that the current deal was not what the referendum suggested nor what Theresa May suggested but what Boris Johnson wanted. He said that this would be bad for the City and so welcomed the Motion.  In Hove alone there were 10,000 entrepreneurs and small businesses who would be negatively impacted by a no-deal Brexit. The University of Sussex analysis concluded that there would be a negative impact on employment particularly in education, employment and health with around 4,000 jobs at risk. He welcomed the request for the Chief Executive to work on contingency plans to safeguard jobs.

 

30.33The Mayor congratulated Councillor Henry on his maiden speech on behalf of the council.

 

30.34  The Mayor noted that it was agreed to change the name in the Notice of Motion from James Brokenshire to Esther McVey.

 

30.35  The Mayor confirmed that the motion had been agreed.

 

 

 

 

          (4) Support for Youth Strikes and Other Climate Action

 

30.36  The Notice of Motion as listed in the agenda was proposed by Councillor Clare on behalf of the Green Group and seconded by Councillor Osborne

 

30.37  Councillor Clare said that the Council had declared a climate and biodiversity emergency and, on what is set to be one of the hottest days on record, the IPCC now say that we don’t have eleven years to solve climate change before its irreversible, but we have eighteen months. It was therefore important to take action and to take action now. When I attended the Youth Council yesterday the issues they were considering were the same issues which I was considering on climate change when I was on a Youth Council. There had always been a tendency to ignore or patronise young people as they didn’t have a say at the ballot box but now was the time to listen to them and the Youth Strike demands reflected that. We ask that young people are involved in policy making and given a chance to vote. As a Council we should write to the government to ask for that because if you can die for your country and pay taxes you should be able to vote for who leads it. With regard to ecological education young people should be given the information to solve our climate crisis in innovative ways. The Council is responsible for its residents and we need to make sure that our actions are sustainable and that we take action on the climate now, and we want to support residents who are doing the same. Consideration should be given to having a car free day to raise awareness of air pollution in the City and which would then ensure those who were striking had clean air to breathe. As one of the largest employers in the City we should be supporting those who to take action on the climate emergency. We should be working with schools to ensure that young people are allowed to take part in climate change demonstrations and that that is done safely and attendance monitored correctly. We need to push for the government to take action as well as taking steps ourselves. We want climate action and we want it now.

 

30.38   The Mayor congratulated Councillor Clare on her maiden speech on behalf of the council.

 

30.39   Councillor Osborne seconded the Motion. He said that the climate crisis was here, and action needed to be taken now. The Motion was to back the strike action in September, as strikes were one of the most powerful actions and had a long history of instigating change.  The Motion backed the demands of the Youth Strike Action by writing to the Government and asking the Council to work with schools in establishing a protocol and enabling those who wish to strike to do so in a safe way. We want the Council to allow staff who wish to strike to do so without fear of disciplinary proceedings. The Council was one of the biggest employers in the City and supporting the strike would back up their words. The Green Group were advocating for a car free day, so people could strike and walk, cycle or take public transport in clean air. This Motion was about ‘doing’ rather than ‘saying’ and thinking about the future.

 

30.40   The Mayor congratulated Councillor Osborne on his maiden speech on behalf of the council.

 

30.41   Councillor Childs said he welcomed and supported the Notice of Motion. He said that history had shown that only when people took a stand through campaigning or strike action that real change would be brought about. He said we should now stand together as politicians and take action on the issues which affected everyone. The City had declared a climate emergency and the Council were working on a ten-year plan to bring carbon neutrality by 2030. The Council would work with all parties to agree a protocol, in consultation with schools, for strike days and to look at ways in which we could allow employees of the Council to participate in the general strike. The Authority had a number of statutory duties to safeguard the children, to provide education, maintain attendance at school and to maintain services for the most vulnerable citizens. However, it would be possible to meet the demands of the Motion and put our City at the forefront of the climate struggle.

 

30.42   The Mayor congratulated Councillor Childs on his maiden speech on behalf of the council.

 

30.43   Councillor Brown said that the Conservative Group supported the young people’s concerns on climate change and their wish to demonstrate but could not support their actions in leaving school to strike without permission. She said that as a Council we would be failing in our duty of care to them. Parents had the right to be confident that their children were safe at school, and when they were leaving without permission as they did earlier in the year, it became a serious safety issue. The Council must ensure that children attend school, and parents could be fined if they were taken out of school for a holiday and yet this Notice of Motion is encouraging children to take unauthorised leave of absence. There were other ways children could show their concern over climate change in their own time. The Council had declared a climate emergency, and so we should be doing more such as looking at ways to reduce our carbon footprint. We are supportive of the young people and their concerns on climate change, but we should not be endorsing them striking during the school day.

 

30.44   Councillor Pissaridou said we had an enormous responsibility as the future of humanity and biodiversity on the planet depended on what we did in the next ten years. This Council had one of the strongest mandates on climate change in the country. There was an enormous amount to do within a small period of time and the Council needed to change the way it governed and acted and needed to create the spaces and platform for collective leadership and community action. The Council should intervene in every single area that currently creates emissions, harms biodiversity and weakens our resilience to the impacts of climate change. There was no time for lengthy consultations or dithering and we needed a Test, Learn and Review approach. The Council should learn from other cities in the world such as Edinburgh and Paris who have trialed banning combustion engine cars on certain days, but also be able to lead with a conviction that what is good for tackling climate change was also good for our economy, our health and helped to strengthen social bonds. 2020 was the most crucial of years for our climate and biodiversity with major decisions which needed to be taken on raising our global ambition. Let’s make Brighton a case example on which the world can learn.

 

30.45   The Mayor congratulated Councillor Pissaridou on her maiden speech on behalf of the council.

 

30.46  Councillor Bell said he agreed with much of what had been said but could not support children not attending school. Children should be educated on climate change, but the Council should not give them an excuse for not being in school.

 

30.47  The Mayor confirmed that the motion had been agreed.