Council tax bills could be frozen for people from neighbouring areas if they become part of Brighton and Hove, it emerged on Monday night (22 September).
And the idea that Brighton and Hove City Council was ambitious to expand just to have more land for housebuilding was a mistaken idea, councillors were told.
But the Labour leader of the council, Bella Sankey, admitted that the people of Peacehaven, Telscombe Cliffs and East Saltdean weren’t keen on being part of a bigger Brighton and Hove.
It was much the same story elsewhere in the country, she said, with council reorganisation happening in several places – and meeting resistance as people worried about change.
But keeping the status quo was not an option, Councillor Sankey said, as Brighton and Hove City Council’s Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee met at Hove Town Hall.
Members received an update on the proposal that the council plans to submit to the government later this week, subject to the approval of the council’s cabinet tomorrow (Thursday 25 September).
As well as East Saltdean, Telscombe Cliffs and Peacehaven, Brighton and Hove City Council is looking to serve the whole parish of Falmer.
Part of it is currently covered by Lewes District Council and East Sussex County Council – but both are due to be scrapped as part of the coming shake up.
They will be replaced by at least one new unitary council, with the favoured approach likely to be “One East Sussex” – one council replacing the current county council and all five districts – Lewes, Eastbourne, Wealden, Rother and Hastings.
In West Sussex, a consensus seems to be forming around the two-tier system of a county and seven districts being replaced by two new unitary councils.
At the moment the counties and district provide different services in the same area while unitary councils such as Brighton and Hove provide all council services in the area that they serve.
Today (Wednesday 24 September), Brighton and Hove City Council is due to discuss a proposal to replace all of the council in Sussex with five unitaries – before the cabinet meeting at Hove Town Hall on Thursday.
The sweeping changes being proposed would cost almost £200 million, with Brighton and Hove – already a unitary council – facing only adjustments at a cost of less than £10 million.
The government wanted a holistic “whole Sussex” approach, councillors were told last night, ideally agreed by all of the existing councils – with a deadline of Friday 26 September.
But there is no agreement and only Brighton and Hove appears to be offering a whole Sussex approach.
The government is also looking at “financial sustainability” – and this is where the cost of the Brighton and Hove proposal could harm its chances.
The Greens criticised the whole exercise and aspects of Brighton and Hove’s approach but Brighton and Hove Independent councillor Bridget Fishleigh praised the Labour council’s thoughtful approach – and the public engagement.
Green councillor Raphael Hill asked how Councillor Sankey could win over Peacehaven, East Saltdean and Telscombe Cliffs where people objected to being included within the Brighton and Hove boundary.
Councillor Hill said: “The area that is the most affected is against … so essentially the consultation documents show opposition from Peacehaven, East Saltdean and Telscombe Cliffs to the proposals.
“Is that something you can accept and is it something you can persuade people on? Because you’ve been told by government that you have to expand, you may think that’s the least worst option. But your own consultation shows that people don’t want what you’re proposing.
Councillor Sankey said that most of the feedback was cautious or against reorganisation but the situation was the same in every area of the country going through the same process.
She said that the comments made by Lewes District Council that Brighton and Hove was looking to expand to build thousands of houses had affected people’s perception of what was happening.
Reflecting on the public meeting hosted by the council in Saltdean last month, Councillor Sankey said: “Over the course of that meeting it became clear there was quite deep misunderstanding publicly about what was on the table and not on the table.
“People thought they were being asked to compare our proposal with the status quo and many people had missed the East Sussex and Lewes District consultation that had been done.
“There weren’t public meetings about that consultation so there has been a bit of an issue with people really understanding the entire process and what they’re being asked to compare and contrast.
“It’s not our proposals versus the status quo whereby districts and county councils’ arrangements will continue.
“What is being proposed, on the other hand to our proposals, is a mega super unitary of over 500,000 people where arguably things would feel more remote to people.”
Conservative councillor Ivan Lyons asked about references to a “glide path” which turned out to mean that everyone in the new Brighton and Hove unitary council area would pay the same council tax.
Those in areas neighbouring Brighton and Hove currently pay more. Bills would not be cut those who became part of Brighton and Hove would have their bills “equalised” over a number of years – on a gradual “glide path”.
Councillor Lyons also asked about funding for the shake up. Councillor Sankey said that it would come from capital receipts, reserves or extra money from the government. He wanted to know what would be sold off.
Councillor Fishleigh, who represents Rottingdean and West Saltdean, praised the Labour leadership’s proposal for five unitary councils to serve Sussex.
She said: “It is a thoughtful and sensible approach and far more mature than the stamping feet and complete strops of some councillors in East Sussex and the MP who refuse to change the East Sussex footprint.”
But, she said, people still didn’t seem to realise that Lewes District Council was going to be scrapped – whatever changes went through. She added: “That change is coming.”
She asked whether any expansion could be limited to Falmer and East Saltdean – and she asked about the cost of the changes.
Labour councillor John Hewitt, the council’s cabinet adviser for devolution and local government reorganisation, said that the division of Saltdean was an “anomaly”.
He said that Brighton and Hove’s proposals were based on the whole of Sussex rather than what might look good just for Brighton and Hove. He added that pulling in smaller areas would leave the way open for other potential unitary authorities.
Councillor Hewitt said: “We had to look at merging with Peacehaven and Telscombe Cliffs because we can’t have a (size) disparity with the other unitaries in our proposal.
“We based our submission on an ‘all Sussex’ look rather than focusing on what looks great for us in Brighton and Hove. You can’t make a proposal that ‘lopsides’ other unitaries. We took that into consideration.”
On the finances, council chief executive Jess Gibbons said that the estimated cost to Brighton and Hove for local government reorganisation was £8.7 million.
What came through that meeting to me is that people, including some councillors, still struggle with the difference between local government organisation and devolution being two separate things. I think this highlights how all the councils involved should put a lot of work into explaining what these mean in layman’s terms, to avoid misunderstandings and improve knowledge on the subject, for informed discussion.
I found the glide path question to be a bit bizarre. It had been explained previously in a meeting they were present in as an equalisation of council taxes over time. It’s fairly tautological.
But under Council Tax, “glide” all areas will pay the same as Brighton and Hove residents in the near future so the potential takeover towns and areas might want to ask more questions about this.
Surely all areas under the same council should pay the same coiuncil tax rates?
Given the CT is HIGHER is Lewes than in B&H they will have to wait until B&Hs catch up before their bills increase thereafter.
It’s about time it was made clear that council tax in Lewes is higher than in B&H!
So much for the claims their taxes would rise to cover the i360 debt! They are going to be frozen only until B&Hs catch up.
And Cllr Fishleigh is 100% corerct in pointing out that Lewes District Council has been focussed on the B&H ‘takeover’ and has seemed to have ignored the fact that whatever happens LDC will be abolished – a point I’ve made previously.
It’s not that people are worried about CT rising to cover i360 but that the current CT gets used for BHCC vanity projects in the city that do nothing for the coast further down.
And saying it “only” cost £10m for the adjustments is a load of rubbish as well. They can’t even renew and maintain the current service levels on their territory and then they want to take on more.
I’ve said this before, sort your own house out first, otherwise it might be better for BHCC itself to be split and no longer be a ivory tower of it’s own
It’s not that people are worried about CT rising to cover i360 but that the current CT gets used for BHCC vanity projects in the city that do nothing for the coast further down.
And saying it “only” cost £10m for the adjustments is a load of rubbish as well. They can’t even renew and maintain the current service levels on their territory and then they want to take on more.
I’ve said this before, sort your own house out first, otherwise it might be better for BHCC itself to be split and no longer be a ivory tower of it’s own