What have your Green councillors achieved?
After the 5 May 2011 city council elections, the Greens became the largest party on the council and formed the administration after working in opposition for the last four years.
Action and achievements 2007 - 2011
Green councillors on Brighton & Hove City Council (B&HCC) have been:
- Establishing closer links with the business community through membership of the Brighton and Hove Economic Partnership and with the cultural industries, particularly working on New England House
- The only party group to issue a response to the council's consultation on licensing policy in 2010, including setting a limit for 11.30 for new licenses in "residential areas", incorporating North Laine and St James St among others, specific addition of dispersal policy, and through our lobbying we have influenced inclusion of measures to combat smoker noise
- Successfully amending the 11/12 budget to reverse the removal of a cycle lane and cuts in council tax and parking charges to put back into services. Voted against final Tory cuts budget
- Leading on B&HCC becoming the first local authority to achieve environmental management system standards ISO 14001 and environmental management standard for events BS 8901. These affect events (Pride, Brighton Marathon), venues (Brighton Centre and Hove Centre) and Hove Town Hall
- Leading a successful Notice of Motion about the 10:10 campaign, committing the council signing up
- Contributing to the Core Strategy - the city's long term plan
- Pushing for and securing a fully fairtrade range at council meetings
- Campaigning for and achieving the Bronze Food4Life partnership award for catering
- Making significant contributions to the Sustainable Communities Strategy, including carbon reduction targets, transport and the notion of living within environmental limits
- Proposing and encouraging the council to opt in to the Sustainable Communities Act, and facilitating community involvement
- Securing high sustainability standards for all new homes and offices
- Influencing procurement practices ensuring that rather than outsourcing all environmental responsibility to the provider, they too are obliged to comply with certain levels, including free range eggs across catering outlets and energy efficiency in vehicle fleets and buildings
- Working hard to secure a policy of training council tenants on energy efficiency in the home
- Making the case for no new landfill sites in Sussex within the ongoing waste strategy
- Ensuring that the seafront rent review occurred in-house, saving buisness tenants money
- Bringing about the introduction of financial health checks for all new council tenants
- Suggesting the introduction of smart procurement for housing maintenance.
- Securing the establishment of a GMB learning centre at the new housing maintenance centre in Moulsecoomb.
On Sussex Police Authority (SPA)
- Winning a commitment from the SPA to enforce the Hunting Act fully within Sussex.
- Encouraging the SPA to sign up to 10:10.
- Adding an Environment chapter to main SPA strategy, ensuring that CO2 targets are set.
- Guaranteeing promotion of biodiversity on police premises, including bat boxes.
- Pushing for an emphasis on waste reduction, including more efficient police vehicles.
- Campaigning for the introduction of a sustainable buildings policy - BREEAM standard.
- Proposing an introduction of a Local Policing Plan to protect human rights and facilitate protest.
- Setting out Sussex licensing policy consultation response.
- Creating an Environment Strategy and having the Authority include it as part of their core document
- Involved in renewables/refurb scheme in Birmingham, though turned down for political reasons. Prompted council to look into it themselves.
Notices of Motion at council meetings (links to Brighton & Hove City Council website)
- South Downs National Park - led to working group being formed, aimed at making early realization of full economic and well being benefits for city.
- 10:10 commitment - led to the council signing up to the 10:10 campaign.
- Letting Agents (carried) - highlighting problems with lettings agents charges and complaints systems
- Maternity Services (carried) - welcoming midwife-led unit
- Intelligent Commissioning and cuts (lost) - opposing IC
- Housing Benefit (carried) - highlighting negative impacts of housing benefits changes
- Neighbourhood Policing (carried) - asking for neighbourhood policng model to be protected, and for officers to consider ways this council could directly fund PCSOs in the city
- Cuts to Children & Young Peoples' Services (carried) - condemning local and national cuts to CYP services, inc Connexions, FSM, and road safety
- Bright Start Nursery Campaign (carried) - opposing procedure behind nursery's closure, and calling for a working group to examine alternatives.
- Private Rented Sector Rents (carried) - noting the increase in rental prices, and asking CEx to lobby government for a freeze in private sector rents
- Local Government Finance Settlement (carried) - rejecting national government's settlement decision and how it will inevitably affect services and jobs
- Postal Services (carried) - opposing relocation of London Rd Post Office and the outcomes of the Postal Services Bill
- Educational reforms (carried) - deploring the cuts to EMA and increase in tuition fees that will affect young people.
- Alcohol abuse (carried) - condemning Govt's ‘Responsibility Deal' and requesting a coherent strategy written by health professionals not the drinks industry
On Scrutiny Panels involved in:
- Support Services for Victims of Sexual Violence
- 20mph speed limits (called-for)
- Dual diagnosis
- Winter Services (called-for)
- Alcohol & young people
- Older people
- Private GP Clinics
- Living wage (called-for)
- Renewable Energy (called-for)
- Private Sector Lettings Agents (called-for)
- Autistic spectrum services
On citywide campaigns
- 10:10/Transition Towns
- Free School Meals
- Protecting Third Sector funding
- Defending PCSOs
- Protecting local control of budgeting in policing, through participatory budgeting.
- Ongoing pressure regarding food waste
- Supporting the expansion of food growing initiatives across the city
- Campaigning for democratic integrity, challenging corruption, high salaries and lack of transparency. Have come to be considered ‘the real opposition'.
- Campaigning with the Brighton Stop the Cuts coalition, the Bright Start Nursery campaign, and with the NUJ/Argus strikers.
Earlier achievements
Standing up for the local community
In 2008, a Green proposal saw Brighton & Hove City Council vote to ‘opt in’ to the Sustainable Communities Act, a new piece of legislation from Westminster that opens up the powers local councils have to protect and enhance their local communities.
Councillors from across the city voted to support the Green Group’s proposal, which will see the council create ‘local panels’ made up of the city’s residents to work with the rest of the community on developing new ideas to enhance the well-being of the city.
Proposals can cover anything from measures to tackle the decline of local post offices or to help out local small businesses facing difficulties during the recession, and successful ones may well be adopted by the Government as new national policies.
Working towards free school meals for all
In December 2008, the Green Group laid down a motion at a Full Council meeting asking that Brighton & Hove City Council apply to the Government for funding for a pilot scheme giving all primary and secondary school pupils in the city free school meals.
In a down-to-the-wire vote, which saw both the Labour and Lib Dem Councillors support the Greens, the motion was passed and the council is now in the process of applying for this funding.
Greens believe that providing free, healthy school meals for all our children is the first step in ending health inequalities.
Not only would this help close the gap between rich and poor children when it comes to life expectancy; free school dinners could also prove a lifesaver for low income families facing rising food prices - recent figures suggest they could save in the region of £300 per child on the costs of paying for school meals or pack lunches.
Creating a cycle friendly city
In February 2009, Green Councillors successfully persuaded the Tory Cabinet Member for the Environment to provide a ‘contra flow’ cycle lane in the city’s central Ship St - a change of heart on the part of the council.
Not only will this enable cyclists to use the street, even when heading in the opposite direction to car traffic, it also means school children at nearby Middle School have the option of cycling to and from school.
Challenging rogue developers
In January 2009 Bridgetown Properties, a Surrey-based property development company, was fined a total of £30,000 by Sussex Crown Court for felling five protected trees at a site on Preston Road, Brighton in June 2007. The case was the first of its kind to be brought by Brighton & Hove City Council since its inception more than a decade ago and followed a long campaign by Green councillors.
The local ward councillor submitted a petition with some 600 signatures arguing that the council employ its full powers in pursuing Bridgetown Properties. Typically, the maximum punishment for destroying listed trees is peanuts to rogue property developers: many simply factor in the cost of the fine in their plans rather than obey the law in the first place. This case should make them think twice.
Planning for a large student population
With two universities and countless colleges, Brighton & Hove has a large student population.
While this brings many benefits, it can also prove a problem when it comes to the city’s housing provision.
Green Councillors representing one of the wards with a high proportion of students have made sure the council takes this into consideration when drawing up the city’s housing strategy, through successfully calling for a scrutiny into ‘studentification’ and it’s effects.
Defending sheltered housing residents against service cuts
In December 2008, Green Councillors joined forces with local residents in defence of services provided to those living in Sheltered Housing.
As a result, Brighton & Hove City Council was forced to drop plans to switch to a ‘floating’ style of support for sheltered housing tenants, which would have seen a reduction in the number of ‘on-site’ scheme mangers.
Plans to move away from this style of support were hugely unpopular - 92 per cent of sheltered housing residents signed a petition saying they wanted to stick with the current system, but the decision to stay with on site scheme managers still bucks the national trend.
Ensuring healthier school dinners
In 2008, a campaign by Green Councillors saw the city council become one of the first to sign up to ‘Food For Life's’ Bronze Standard for school meals. To achieve the Bronze Standard, school meals served across the city must meet several criteria for health, animal welfare and the environment.
These include: ensuring school dinners are at least 75 per cent freshly prepared, providing menus based around seasonal produce and serving only 'farm assured' meat and eggs from cage free hens at dinnertime.
Not only will this make a difference to the quality of food school children eat, moving onto the silver standard will see a change in the way food is sourced. Ensuring schools dinners are fresh, healthy and sustainable is of benefit to our children, our economy and our planet.
Putting more bobbies on the beat
The Green Group of Councillors in Brighton & Hove has a rep on the Sussex Police Authority, one of only two green police authority members in the country.
During last year’s annual budget setting process, the Green rep successfully placed an amendment that gained cross party support for more funding for neighborhood policing agreed. 27 extra Police Community
Support Officers are now out and about on the beat as a result. 2009 saw the same budget commitment agreed.
Building a sustainable city
The Green Group of Councillors, in line with our colleagues around the country, have long called for a local ‘Green New Deal’ to rescue the city from the triple crunch of climate change, economic chaos and peak oil.
Our determined support for ‘green collar’ jobs locally has led to the creation of an all-party inquiry into the development of environmental industries in Brighton & Hove. The inquiry, Chaired by a Green councillor, will see a range of organisations including those working in the fields of sustainability, innovation, research and development give evidence about the potential for growth in this area.
Looking at the economic, environmental and employment benefits to the city, it will recommend what actions should be prioritised by the Council and its key partners to support local environmental industries.
Fending off clone town Britain
When Starbucks announced plans to open up a 7th branch in Brighton, Green Councillors campaigned long and hard against their receiving planning permission.
Though this was denied, Starbucks went ahead anyway. Brighton & Hove City Council, at first tentative about taking action against the large multi national company, is now taking enforcement action against Starbucks for breaching planning regulations at the branch in St James' Street, Brighton.
The decision to pursue Starbucks through the courts came about after Green Councillors, working hard with local campaigners, convinced Brighton & Hove City Council to act.
Lessening fuel poverty
At the annual budget council in 2009, the Green Group of Councillors in Brighton & Hove proposed a massive roll out of free insulation across homes in the city. Though the proposal fell, the Tory council recognised the need for greater insulation across the city.
As a result, they introduced the new Family Insulation Grant available to private residents with young families living in homes with one or two bedrooms.
The scheme offers grants to improve the energy efficiency of homes and help residents save money, and is expected to benefit around 3,500 local families.
Shining a light on young people’s alcohol problems
In Brighton & Hove, young people’s drinking rates are above the national average. More girls than boys are engaged in ‘binge-drinking’, with a third reporting getting drunk in the previous week.
Drinking rates are highest in the city‘s more deprived eastern areas, and between ten and 25 children and young people aged less than 18 attend A&E in Brighton with alcohol-related problems every month.
Green Councillors have successfully proposed that the council investigate the problem, and a ‘scrutiny’ panel is now underway.
Working with the local NHS and the police, the panel (which includes 2 Green Councillors) hopes to identify the root causes of the problem, and so make practical recommendations to improve the situation.
Making sure older people are safe in the community
Older People and Community Safety is the subject of a cross-party council investigation, as a result of a Green Cllr’s request.
A scrutiny panel is currently looking at the effects of crime on older people and analysing what can be done to ensure they feel, and are, safe in the community. With Green Councillors and a rep from the Older People’s Council sitting on the panel, they hope to come up with some practical steps the council, and partners, can take.
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