A new way to govern Brighton and Hove This document has been produced by the Association of Green Councillors, November 2014

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1 A new way to govern Brighton and Hove This document has been produced by the Association of Green Councillors, November 2014 Brighton and Hove Green councillors took over the running of this important unitary authority in May They are a minority administration, whose initiatives are frequently blocked by Conservative and Labour councillors combined. Here are some of their achievements. Equality, fairness and saving money The council now spends less on senior management than it has in a decade because it cut the chief executive s salary by 40% and raised the pay of the lowest grades, bringing the ratio between the highest and lowest paid council staff to just over 10:1. Living Wage On taking office the Greens not only introduced a living wage for its staff and care home workers but also supported the Chamber of Commerce to run a Living Wage Commission to encourage private companies to adopt it. As of July 2014 the city is home to 130 of the UK s 500 living wage paying private companies. Equal pay The Greens grasped the nettle of equal pay for male and female council staff which had been avoided by previous administrations by raising the allowances for some and lowering them for others. It triggered a bin strike but ended with equal allowances for men and women at a time when women lag men by 15 per cent. Referendum In 2014 it became the first UK council to propose a referendum on raising council tax 4.75% to protect services for the city's most vulnerable. Labour and Conservative councillors combined to vote down the proposal. Prevention works In Oct 2013 new figures showed fewer people in the city are ending up in hospital because of alcohol, more drug users are being treated and crimes against young people had fallen for the third year in a row. Standing up to homophobia Stonewall put the council in first place in their 2014 Education Equality Index. Stonewall has described the council as leading the way in celebrating difference and supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. Trans inclusivity Brighton s scrutiny panel was in June 2014 named joint national winner of the Centre for Public Scrutiny s award for its work investigating Trans inclusivity issues in the city. Restorative justice The number of young people entering the criminal justice system in the city fell over the three successive years to Oct 2013 as the council s youth crime prevention team joined with police to help young people understand the impact of their behaviour and make amends. Open budget discussion The Green councillors publish annual budget proposals earlier and with more detail Than previous administrations so that they can be scrutinised by everyone, ahead of time, and making this transparent to all other political parties, citizens and the media.

2 Neighbourhood governance The Greens introduced pilots for Neighbourhood Governance schemes, which support communities to take local decisions with local budgets. Urban dereliction to community space They transformed a large, decaying urban open space, Level Park in the centre of town with new gardens, a new water feature, a new children s playground, new public toilets, a cycle café, better lighting and furniture, a new skate park, and more green space. It did this by securing 2.75m of outside funding and using just 250,000 of council taxpayers money. Food waste to compost They expanded community composting across the city; in ten of the city s 26 schemes, residents can turn their food waste into free compost. More than 500 people are now using the community compost service. Getting recycling rates back up Recycling rates have stabilised and are coming back up after a successful trial of a communal system for blocks of flats in one area has now been rolled out to all blocks. Rates had been falling because new Italian-made communal bins inherited from the Tory administration had proved impractical. Recycling rates were further knocked by bin strikes and lorry breakdowns. Latest figures not yet available. Ethical Purchasing Greens introduced an ethical procurement strategy to improve minimum standards for the products the council buys in. For example, the World Wildlife Fund has granted the council a Gold standard for timber purchasing. Open-access to green space in perpetuity They declared over 800 acres of councilowned down land and farm land as open access land, meaning residents can freely use land which was once closed to them. They added another 670 acres in July 2014, protected in perpetuity. Protection for pets New council tenancy agreements include a requirement that dogs living in council-owned homes should be micro-chipped. This has encouraged more tenants who own dogs to behave responsibly as their pets are much easier to trace. Planting for nature B&H Greens have been including more diverse and sustainable planting in its open spaces such as perennials, wildflowers, and bee and butterfly banks. Affordable Homes By November 2014, Greens had overseen the delivery of 389 affordable homes (as part of wider residential and mixed developments). Another 130 are due to be completed before May 2015, and at least another 232 due in the year after the election. Filling empty homes By July 2014 the Green administration had brought some 416 council homes and more than 460 empty private homes back into use. The average time it takes to re-let an empty council home is now just over two weeks the lowest in many years and one of the best turn-round times in the UK

3 Building new homes In the Green Party s term of administration it will have overseen the building 639 homes. A further 681 affordable homes, including more than 200 new council homes, are in the development pipeline. Safety for private tenants In Nov 2012 it introduced a new licensing scheme by which private landlords letting a property for sharing by three or more people must bring it up to an agreed standard. More than 1,500 licences were applied for by April 2014 with new fire alarms and other prevention measures installed. Warmer homes, cheaper bills For the first time in living memory, communal heating bills in some Brighton and Hove council blocks have fallen as council tenants benefit from a major programme of energy efficiency retro-fitting which, where possible, include solar panels and new heating systems. Imaginative Solutions Rather than wait for the Government to provide funds for building new schools, the Green administration bought a disused police station in Hove and revamped it as a satellite to the nearby junior school so that they could increase the number of children they take. Youth employment In 2013, thanks to ensuring investment in their team helping young people back into training or work, Brighton & Hove became one of the most improved areas in England with only 6.6% of year olds not in employment, education or training the lowest figure since 2004 when this measure was first calculated. Improving education Education in Brighton & Hove was for long a major concern to parents in the city but since the Greens came to office results have improved. The 2013 GCSE results were the best ever, though they fell in 2014 after We are very proud to be starting work on our second major site in Brighton, one of the most forward thinking and creative cities in the UK Richard Upton, Chief Executive of Cathedral Group (Holdings) July 2014 tougher marking was introduced across the country. A level results continued to improve in % of sixth form and colleges are good or outstanding as judged by the school inspectorate Ofsted. Early years provision All Children s Centres have been kept open across the city with no loss of services, in contrast to many councils and despite government cuts in this area. All the council s early years provision is judged outstanding by Ofsted. Helping council tenants In October 2012 the Greens set up a Housing Inclusion Team, to offer financial help and advice to tenants hit by benefit cuts. The group joined forces with advice charity MAC and by August 2013 had helped nearly 400 people access 350,000 in unclaimed benefits and savings on household bills. No bedroom tax evictions In May 2013 the council was the first in the country to declare a no evictions policy for tenants who could not pay the bedroom tax. It has been extended to 2014/15. Community Banking The Green administration invested 100,000 in a local credit union partly to help it set up an online system for residents to access loans, making the credit union as accessible as high interest payday lenders. It also banned such lenders from advertising on council billboards.

4 City renaissance The Greens signed innovative deals in September 2014 to convert the derelict site Circus Street in the city centre into an innovation quarter with an academic building, library and gallery for University of Brighton, a new dance studio, theatre and offices and flats. It signed a similar deal with the university to redevelop a derelict army barracks, which is estimated to create 740 new jobs over a 10-year period, including a new business school, 300 homes, and central research laboratory to support hi-tech startup companies. Our experience in Brighton and Hove has shown just what can be achieved if you get the right individuals and organisations together to develop a common vision of how they want to change their food system and then support them in turning that vision into reality. For many years, Brighton and Hove has been ahead of the game. Clare Devereux, Director at Food Matters August 2013 speedily and successfully to planning after they had stalled under the previous Tory administration. Business start ups The concentration of start-ups and small and medium enterprises in the city grew while the Greens were in office from 2011 to 2013 by 5% giving it the third highest concentration in the country. In June 2014 it was also rated the third best city in the country for small enterprises with high growth strategies. Two new libraries While other councils have been closing libraries Brighton greens opened two in 2014 at Mile Oak and Woodlingdean. Health for all 18 months after the Greens introduced a concessionary card for entry to leisure centres for people on certain benefits, 1,300 people had signed up and made 34,000 visits to the council s leisure centres. Healthy, quality food In July 2014, Brighton & Hove city council became the first in the country to introduce Soil Association food buying standards for all catering contracts over 75,000, including local and healthier food. Hospital redesign partnership working The Greens worked in partnership with the Royal Sussex Hospital to ensure that the proposals for the 420 million rebuild of its Victorian hospital, the city s biggest ever regeneration project, were brought forward Edible Landscaping In spring 2011, in a moved later recognised by Sustainable Food Cities network and the World Green Building Council it was the first council in the country to encourage urban food growing in its planning guidance, with encouragement to grow on walls, rooftops and balconies. In the twelve months following 44 out of 98 planning applications (45%) proposed food growing as part of development. Examples include a sixth floor raised bed allotment.

5 TRANSPORT: The ambitious plans of Brighton and Hove s Green administration, clearly articulated, meant that it was able to beat other areas in competitions to obtain a total of 24 million of outside transport that meant council tax payers bills were kept to a minimum. The city has proved itself to be a paradigm of excellence, inspiring and serving as a model to guide and stimulate the further development on sustainable mobility initiatives in Europe. Civitas Steps taken 20mph It has introduced the largest contiguous 20mph area in the UK with the whole of Brighton centre covered. After it was implemented, traffic speeds reduced on 74% of the roads, collisions in a 5 month period dropped by 20% and casualties by 19%. Phases 2 and 3 extended 20mph to most of the suburbs. Cycle hub Behind the train station, work has nearly finished on a new three-storey cycle hub with shower and changing facilities, a bike shop, café, cycle repair outlet and bike hire, as well as storage for 500 bikes, free and open 24/7. It cost 900,000 but council tax payers only contributed 100,000. Cycle priority and head-start lights for bikes at junctions. Proper cycle Lanes They built cycle lanes on major arterial routes to segregate bikes from fast traffic. Where this was done cycling increased by 14% in one year. Cycle contraflow On narrower one-way roads, cycle contraflow lanes were created. Floating bus stop Under the Greens, the council has become the first in Britain to introduce a floating bus stop where a cycle lane runs behind it to avoid the buses. (see picture) Travel planning They continued the work of earlier administrations on personal travel planning. Since 2006 some 70,000 people had been visited at home and offered advice. They also introduce eco driving courses showing how people could save petrol. Car club hire vehicle numbers have grown and the city has the third largest fleet of such vehicles in the UK after London and Edinburgh. Improving buses Bus initiatives have included electronic realtime boards at bus stops linked to satellite tracking, smartcard and smartphone ticketing. Junctions for people Dangerous junctions such as Seven Dials and the Vogue Gyratory reconfigured.

6 The Results: Seven Dials junction reconfigured for people European City of the Year: Brighton & Hove was named Europe s City of the Year in September 2014 for its sustainable transport policies by CIVITAS. In 2012 the Campaign for Better Transport named Brighton & Hove the least car dependent city outside London Bus journeys climb Bus usage in the city increased by 5% in 2012 and then by another 3.6% the following year. Bus journeys by Brighton & Hove residents increased from 44.8 million to 46 million, more than residents anywhere else in the UK outside London. It has now doubled in 20 years from 22 million. Air quality improves In the last two years nitrous oxides pollution fell at 44 of 46 monitoring stations in Brighton & Hove. Carbon dioxide emissions dropped. Figures from July 2014 show a further fall in CO2 emissions from transport, from 317 tonnes to 301. Bike city Number of people cycling to work doubled in the 10 years to From 2009 to 2012 there was an average 11% rise in daily cycle journeys across the city. Road injuries drop The latest Dept. of Transport figures showed that casualties on Brighton & Hove s roads fell for the third year running and by just over 18% in the 3 years since the Greens took office. There were 200 fewer people killed and injured in 2013 than in 2011 before the Greens took office. Thanks Brighton, it's been fun. We're ready for anything now: the world on two wheels! Travel writer Joanna Simmons in The Guardian Bitten by the biking bug in Brighton and Hove