Agenda and minutes

21.1     RESOLVED – to confirm as a correct record the minutes of the County Council meeting held on 9 May 2023.

22.1     Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Godfrey Daniel, Penny Di Cara, Joanna Howell, Christine Robinson, and Phil Scott.

COUNCILLOR BARRY TAYLOR

23.1     The Chairman began with the sad news of the death of Councillor Barry Taylor. Councillor Taylor was first elected to represent the Eastbourne Meads division in 2005, and served on Eastbourne Borough Council until May 2023. As a County Councillor, Barry was most recently the Vice Chair of the Planning Committee and sat on the council’s Standards Committee. He was also a dedicated member of the East Sussex Fire Authority. The Chairman offered his condolences to Councillor Taylor’s family and friends. The Leader of the Council and the other group leaders offered condolences and shared memories of Councillor Taylor. The Council stood for a moment’s silence as a mark of respect to Councillor Taylor.

HIS MAJESTY’S BIRTHDAY HONOURS

23.2     The Chairman congratulated all those living or working in East Sussex who had been recognised in the King’s birthday honours list.

CHAIRMAN’S ACTIVITIES

23.3     The Chairman reported that he had attended a number of engagements since the last County Council meeting including: the Mayor of Eastbourne’s ‘Thank You’ party at Willingdon Golf Club, the ceremony of Mayor making at the annual meeting of the council at Lewes Town Hall, the Rye ceremony of Mayor making at Rye Town Hall, a reception with the Lord Lieutenant at Westfield House, the official launch in Crowhurst of manufacturing investment in machinery for SUDwell, a resin bonded slab company. The Chairman also attended Sussex Day at Demelza Children’s Centre in St. Leonards, a celebration of the new King at the EBM Centre in Peacehaven, the raising of the Armed Forces flag at County Hall, the Conservators of Ashdown Forest board meeting at the Cat’s Protection League, two citizenship ceremonies in Crowborough, the Veterans and Armed Forces day at the Martello Fields in Seaford, the ABF Soldiers Champagne Reception at Pashley Manor in Ticehurst, and the Chairman’s Summer Reception at Buxted Park.

23.4     The Chairman thanked the Vice Chairman for his ongoing support, including his attendance at a Samaritans AGM. 

PETITIONS

23.5     The following petitions were presented before the meeting by members:

Councillor Julia Hilton             - calling on the County Council to make 20mph the

                                                default speed on residential streets.

Councillor Pat Rodohan          - calling on the County Council to create a crossing to

                                                Hartfield Square on the Avenue, Eastbourne.

PRAYERS

23.6     The Chairman thanked Reverend Ben Brown of St. Anne’s Church in Lewes for leading prayers before the meeting.

24.1     Copies of the questions from members of the public and the answers from Councillor Claire Dowling (Lead Member for Transport and Environment), Councillor Fox (Chair of the Pension Committee), Councillor Glazier (the Leader of the Council), and Councillor Standley (Lead Member for Education and Inclusion, Special Educational Needs and Disability) are attached to these minutes. Three supplementary questions were asked and responded to.

25.1     There were no declarations of interest.

26.1     The Chairman of the County Council, having called over the reports set out in the agenda, reserved the following for discussion:

Cabinet Report – paragraph 1 (Council Monitoring) and paragraph 2 (Reconciling Policy, Performance and Resources – State of the County).

Report of the Lead Member for Transport and Environment – Paragraph 1 (Notice of Motion - Bishopstone Junction, Seaford) and Paragraph 2 (Notice of Motion - to review and update policy PS05/02 Local Speed Limits).

NON-RESERVED PARAGRAPHS

26.2     On the motion of the Chairman of the County Council, the Council adopted those paragraphs in reports that had not been reserved for discussion as follows:

Governance Committee – Paragraph 1 (Change in Membership of the Corporate Parenting Panel) and paragraph 2 (Appointments to Committees: Planning Committee and Standards Committee)

Paragraph 1 (Council Monitoring Q4 2022/23 Year End)

27.1     Councillor Glazier moved the reserved paragraph.

27.2     The Motion was CARRIED after debate.

Paragraph 2 (Reconciling Policy, Performance and Resources (RPPR) – State of the County)

27.3     The Chairman indicated that there would be a single debate on the Cabinet Priorities for 2022/23 (Item 6) and the State of the County report.

27.4     Councillor Glazier outlined the priorities for the forthcoming year and introduced paragraph 2 of the Cabinet report. The other Group Leaders commented on these, following which there was a debate.

28.1     This item was taken with paragraph 2 of the Cabinet report.

Paragraph 1 (Notice of Motion – Bishopstone Junction, Seaford)

29.1     The Chairman stated that as the recommendation of the Lead Member for Transport and Environment was to reject the motion rather than proposing an amendment the Council would vote on the original motion as proposed by Councillor Lambert and seconded by Councillor MacCleary as set out in paragraph 1.1 of the report.

29.2     Councillor Claire Dowling introduced the reserved paragraph in the Lead Member’s report.

29.3     A recorded vote on the following motion was requested and taken:

On 15 February 2021, Cllr Darren Grover and Cllr Carolyn Lambert submitted a Notice of Motion (NOM) to the Lead Member for Transport and Environment. The NOM called attention to two accidents in two days that closed the A259 in Seaford, the biggest town in Lewes District.

The NOM requested the Cabinet to undertake a proper survey of the whole town, not just the Buckle by-pass, with particular focus on all the junctions with the A259, to identify the areas of greatest risk to both car users, cyclists and pedestrians, and to come up with some concrete proposals to enhance road safety.  The NOM recognised that the County Council was already undertaking a review of the A259 from Seaford to Brighton in terms of congestion and argued that the safety of both car users, pedestrians and cyclists should form part of that study. The Cabinet was asked to:

 · impose lower speed limits on the approaches to Seaford and to work with partners to ensure these are enforced;

 · provide safe pedestrian crossings at key points of the A259 including at the Bishopstone junctions.

These requests were refused on the grounds that:

-               a study was already being carried out;

-               reducing the speed limit would require a significant level of engineering work;

-               the request for a pedestrian crossing at Bishopstone needed to be considered    holistically as part of the study and in any event, funding was not available.

At the County Council meeting of 7 February 2023, Cllr Carolyn Lambert submitted a further written question to the Lead Member, pointing out that the situation with the A259 was now critical and that Seaford, in particular, was suffering. The A259 continues to be regularly gridlocked and there have been further serious accidents. The outcome of the study has been delayed and any practical proposals are still awaited leaving residents still regularly facing dangers and delays on this difficult road. 

Given the further delay to the study, and the length of time residents have been waiting for improvements, this NOM calls on Cabinet to:

-               Provide temporary traffic lights at the Bishopstone junction to assess the effectiveness of this as a traffic management solution.  The County Council is reminded that, despite initial resistance from the local authority, temporary traffic lights have worked well at Exceat and have been well received by residents;

-               Seek to provide a safe route for pedestrians and cyclists over the A259 at Bishopstone by bidding for funding for a footbridge  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

(a) Oral questions to Cabinet Members

(b) Written Questions of which notice has been given pursuant to Standing Order

44

30.1     The following members asked questions of the Lead Cabinet Members indicated and they responded:

Questioner                 Respondent               Subject

Councillor Osborne     Councillor Claire         Community Match Schemes and change

Dowling                       to the Council’s Highways contractor

Councillor Murphy      Councillor Standley     Free nursery provision for three and four

year olds

Councillor Lambert     Councillor Claire         Grass cutting and gulley cleaning

Dowling                       programme

Councillor Collier         Councillor Bennett      Climate migration and the Council’s

Risk Register

Councillor Denis          Councillor Bennett      East Sussex County Council’s climate

and net-zero policies

Councillor Taylor         Councillor Claire         Road works in Forest Row

Dowling

30.2     Five written questions were received from Councillors Lambert, Taylor and Hilton for the Lead Member for Resources and Climate Change, the Lead Member for Adult Social Care and Health, the Lead Member for Education and Inclusion, Special Educational Needs and Disability and the Lead Member for Transport and Environment. The Lead Members responded to supplementary questions.