-
Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: Freedom Works 1-3 Robertson St / MSTeams
Contact: Democratic Services on 01424 451484 email: democraticservices@hastings.gov.uk
Items No. Item Apologies for absence
Minutes:
Sean Dennis
Jeremy Kerswell
Zoe Jackson
Rebecca Conroy
Bruce Campbell
Richard Watson
Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce
Plumpton College
Education Future Trust
ESCG
DWP
Public Health East Sussex
Declarations of Interest
Minutes:
None
Minutes and Matters Arising (Chair) PDF 116 KB
Minutes:
Tracey Rose highlighted two spelling errors that have now been corrected.
Minutes of the meeting 5th June 2023 accepted as an accurate record.
(10:10) Flooding Update
Councillor Paul Barnett – Leader of Hastings Borough Council
Minutes:
Councillor Barnett gave thanks to East Sussex Fire and Rescue for their help dealing with the recent flooding. The group discussed the need to establish what happened, why it happened, and how to stop it happening again. Simon Neill explained that flooding is dealt with as an emergency response and the day of the flooding was a prolonged emergency.
The group discussed how the voluntary sector was affected by the floods with work continuing to relocate the services. It was highlighted that insurance policies will be increasing and that there is a large group of volunteers ready to help with emergencies. Councillor Barnett explained an open letter has been sent to Southern Water who have agreed to provide a response by the end of the year.
Jane Hartnell updated that Southern Water were not happy with the flooding report and have committed to completing a new report.
Councillor Barnett reported that Southern Water have issued an apology, accepted that there are issues happening in Hastings that are not happening at other parts of the coast and that a strategic investment plan for Hastings is required.
Councillor Evans updated that the Garden Town Project have commissioned ARUP, this will be the first project in the Southeast with greening and sustainable urban drainage. They will produce plans for a wider area of the town centre, ready for consultation early in 2024.
Action: Add ‘Flood Update’ to next agenda and retain as a standing item until concerns have abated.
Councillor Barnett (Chair) requested Item 7 to be discussed first.
(10:40) HBC Budget Planning Consultation (Tracey Rose to Chair) PDF 115 KB
https://www.hastings.gov.uk/my-council/consultations/budget-consultation-2024/
Councillor Paul Barnett – Leader of Hastings Borough Council
Minutes:
Councillor Paul Barnett as Leader of Hastings Borough Council presented the report. He explained the Council has a £4m budget deficit. This is largely due to the national housing crisis. The proposals are to protect front-line services and review back-office staff. Many organisations are now interested in sharing services when previously this was not the case. The capital expenditure will be reduced to only essential. The regeneration work needs to be completed and will have a protected team.
Councillor Barnett explained the consultation will continue to Friday 1st December.
Councillor Haffenden asked what the public response has been to the proposals. Councillor Barnett explained the responses have been mostly positive with some questions regarding the future reviews. The group discussed the need for further details, but agreed this is an opportunity to collaborate. The group highlighted the importance of young person’s input through the Youth Council. Tracy Dighton explained that it would be helpful to see the budgets after the proposed cuts have been made. Councillor Barnett agreed there could be more information and it would also be helpful to add areas that will not be cut. Tracy Dighton requested further representation from senior Council officers who can make decisions at Hastings Community Network meetings. The group discussed the moving of a lot of services to online or digital. Councillor Barnett added access routes need to be created for people who struggle with accessing these services.
(11:40) Universal Healthcare Programme Update PDF 201 KB
Peter Aston - Strategic Development Lead for Health Inequalities (East Sussex and Brighton & Hove)
Minutes:
Peter Ashton gave an update on Universal Healthcare Programme in Hastings since the last briefing in January 2023. Over 100 community members and professionals in Hastings and St. Leonards have participated in the process. Through the workshops, they have co-created twelve prototype initiatives and completed testing on eight of them. The next phase of the programme will be for twelve months. The outcome will be able to demonstrate the impact the prototype initiatives have had during further testing, the cost of scaling up principles and approaches from the prototypes and how this wider support aligns to Integrated Community Teams to best serve local people.
The Chair thanked the health service for funding this project. Simon Neill highlighted the importance of sharing data regarding fuel poverty and opportunities for support
Future Agenda Items
Minutes:
Hastings Local Plan
ESCC Economic Growth Strategy Update
Katy Thomas ESCC (April 2024)
Next steps in the Local Transport Plan process
Lisa Simmonds, ESCC
Councillor Barnet highlighted the need to look at the framework of the LSP and proposed to review the membership of the LSP and the functions of the LSP.
Action: Add ‘LSP framework review’ to next agenda
Future Board Dates (tbc)
Minutes:
TBC
-
My council
Contact
Got a question about democratic services?
Content
The content on this page is the responsibility of our Democratic Services team.