Councillors have responded to more than 1,000 inquiries from Brighton and Hove residents since the elections in May.
Most of the data gathered about the inquiries relied on those being made through Brighton and Hove City Council’s Contact Your Councillor web page but includes responses to some direct emails to councillors.
Of the 1,225 inquiries submitted from Tuesday 16 May to Monday 31 July, 1,008 or 82 per cent of received a response within five working days.
Across the 23 electoral wards, councillors had an average response time of three days, nine hours and 36 minutes.
Councillors in Rottingdean and West Saltdean, Woodingdean and Hangleton and Knoll wards received the most inquiries.
Woodingdean councillors made the most requests for action to council departments.
The lowest number of inquiries were made to councillors in South Portslade, followed by Patcham and Hollingbury and North Portslade.
Inquiries from the public ranged from topics such as overgrown trees and verges to anti-social behaviour, housing repairs, rubbish and recycling.
Council leader Bella Sankey said: “We introduced our councillor inquiries system in October 2022 – and we can already see its impact in improving customer service for our residents.
“It speeds up response times by linking the reasons people give for getting in touch with the council officers best placed to respond.
“It also allows us to spot trends and emerging issues and to monitor our own performance better.
“We want to be a listening, responsive and efficient council and this system is helping us to reach all those goals.”
The breakdown of responses for each ward is as follows.
Brunswick and Adelaide
Inquires responded to within target 69 per cent
Average response time 4.18 days
36 inquiries
26 requests to council services
Main issues: anti-social behaviour, events, rubbish and recycling, on-street parking, condition of beach
Central Hove
Inquiries responded to within target 88 per cent
Average response time 2.7 days
41 inquiries
43 requests to council services
Main issues: parking enforcement, bike storage, traffic calming requests, anti-social behaviour, overhanging or overgrown trees
Coldean and Stanmer
Inquiries responded to within target 76 per cent
Average response time 3.75 days
56 inquiries
67 requests to council services
Main issues: parking enforcement, rubbish and recycling, conditions of parks, overhanging or overgrown verges, anti-social behaviour
Goldsmid
Inquiries responded to within target 78 per cent
Average response time 3.49 days
54 inquiries
40 requests to council services
Main issues: anti-social behaviour, communal bins, requests for traffic calming, allotments and bike storage
Hangleton and Knoll
Inquires responded to within target 72 per cent
Average response time 3.88 days
94 inquiries
82 requests to council services
Main issues: housing repairs, anti-social behaviour, condition of parks, trees and verges, rubbish and recycling collections
Hanover and Elm Grove
Inquiries responded to within target 77 per cent
Average response time 3.59 days
32 inquiries
13 requests to council services
Main issues: climate change, dangerous structures, anti-social behaviour, rubbish and recycling, street fixtures
Hollingdean and Fiveways
Inquiries responded to within target 77 per cent
Average response time 3.91 days
65 inquiries
47 requests to council services
Main issues: parking schemes, parking permits, fly-tipping, sustainability, new developments, making improvements to the area
Kemptown
Inquiries responded to within target 93 per cent
Average response time three days
66 inquiries
46 requests to council services
Main issues: council tax reduction, events in the city, public toilets, pay-by-phone parking, street cleaning, weeds and controlled parking zones
Moulsecoomb and Bevendean
Inquiries responded to within target 87 per cent
Average response time 3.2 days
71 inquiries
61 requests to council services
Main issues repairs, housing customer services, commercial bins, potholes, rubbish and recycling, condition of playgrounds, overhanging trees and grass verges
North Portslade
Inquires responded to within target 78 per cent
Average response time 3.48 days
22 inquiries
27 requests to council services
Main issues: trees or grass verges, fly-tipping, access to libraries, anti-social behaviour, repairs, condition of parks
Patcham and Hollingbury
Inquiries responded to within target 100 per cent
Average response time 1.5 days
21 inquiries
Two requests to council services
Main issues: rubbish and recycling, communal bins, access to public toilets, community safety
Preston Park
Inquiries responded to within target 75 per cent
Average response time 3.65 days
89 inquiries
69 requests to council services
Main issues: rubbish and recycling, controlled parking zones, inclusion support, overhanging trees, bushes or verges, access to public toilets
Queen’s Park
Inquiries responded to within target 77 per cent
Average response time 3.29 days
61 inquiries
87 request to council services
Main issues: anti-social behaviour, broken pavements, estate cleaning, parking permits, repairs, housing supply, graffiti
Regency
Inquiries responded to within target 89 per cent
Average response time 3.28 days
56 inquiries
55 requests to council services
Main issues parking permits, trees or grass verges, bus routes, anti-social behaviour, rough sleeping, condition of the beach
Rottingdean and West Saltdean
Inquiries responded to within target 80 per cent
Average response time 2.93 days
123 inquiries
98 requests to council services
Main issues: rubbish and recycling, parking enforcement, garden waste, overhanging trees, bushes and grass verges, allotments, potholes, street cleaning
Roundhill
Inquiries responded to within target 75 per cent
Average response time 3.61 days
32 inquiries
12 requests to council services
Main issues: pay-by-phone parking, housing advice, obstructions on the pavements, parking permits, parking scheme, events, repairs
South Portslade
No data on responses
11 inquiries
Main issues: rubbish and recycling, events in the city, local transport plan, parking enforcement
West Hill and North Laine
Inquiries responded to within target 71 per cent
Average response time 4.14 days
24 inquiries
21 requests to services
Main issues: parking tickets, Homemove, obstructions on the pavement, accessing help, bus routes, parking restriction requests
Westbourne and Poets Corner
Inquiries responded to within target 85 per cent
Average response time 3.24 days
46 inquiries
41 requests to council services
Main issues: rubbish and recycling collection, anti-social behaviour, concessionary travel, development in neighbourhood, bus shelter damage, allotments
Westdene and Hove Park
Inquiries responded to within target 77 per cent
Average response time 3.54 days
73 inquiries
61 requests to council services
Main issues: overhanging or overgrown trees, bushes, and verges, weeds, rubbish and recycling, potholes
Whitehawk and Marina
Inquiries responded to within target 80 per cent
Average response time 3.27 days
45 inquiries
60 requests to council services
Main issues: repairs, anti-social behaviour, communal bins, condition of parks, home-to-school transport
Wish
Inquiries responded to within target 86 per cent
Average response time 3.34 days
50 inquiries
43 requests to council services
Main issues: Rubbish and recycling, weeds, condition of parks, dangerous structures, broken pavements, parking restrictions, overgrown trees, bushes or verges, development in neighbourhood
Woodingdean
Inquiries responded to within target 75 per cent
Average response time 3.46 days
112 inquiries
124 requests to council services
Main issues: street fixtures such as benches, bollards, railings etc, highway signs, parking enforcement, condition of parks and parking restrictions
Oh, I am a sucker for data. I think Cllr. Sankey is right regarding spotting trends for prioritisation and creating a strategy based on what people care about. Communication has definitely improved since the local elections, in my experience.
Yep – got a letter a few weeks after the election tailored to my street only with a list of common residents complaints and how they intended to improve those things. It remains to be seen if they will follow through but that was more communication than many many years with useless Green councillors.
Communication definitely has improved, Benjamin, which is very very welcome – and at last we don’t have unnamed and faceless ‘council spokespersons’ constantly spouting defensive rubbish from a script , although there is still some of that. Presumably they have been somewhat gagged by the elected administration, who are taking responsibility, which is welcome. However, performance doesn’t seem to have improved markedly as yet, and I do understand that it is early days, we have a ‘legacy’ from the previous administration(s) and there are major financial issues for the council. Maybe the CEO (temp) can get a grip on the issues behind the scenes? The ‘behind the scenes’ stuff is possibly the log-jam in the process? Your thoughts are welcomed.
Effective two-way communication has been so central. Having ward councillors accessible; having open, honest, and amicable dialogue with council departments; and recognition of resident representation have been three key areas I’ve personally been working on engaging the council on.
Once in place, it has always been positive and productive, albeit sometimes a challenge to get certain departments on board – which I feel might be down to historical abuse they have received. People can be quite passionate about issues, and anyone who’s ever worked in retail I am sure would know how it feels to be on the receiving end of one of those. I think frustrations can arise from not knowing why something can’t be done, or why it can’t be done as quickly as we would expect, and a lot of that goes back to communication.
Even the “non-update” update can be a positive thing, because it reminds people that their concern is still being looked into, that they haven’t been forgotten, and helps to temper expectations. Because, as you say, those legacy issues were caused by the previous administration, and it is now the responsibility of the new one to try to sort those out – it’s going to be an uphill battle.
Ultimately, treating humans like humans and talking to them respectfully is a fantastic first step that costs nothing, and is a great foundation whilst things behind the scenes are gotten into order.
Main issue in H&EG – climate change. Bless!
Must’ve been councillor Hills’ swansong before she did a runner.