CONCERN COUNCIL IS NOT PREPARED TO MARK PLATINUM JUBILEE YEAR IN BRIGHTON AND HOVE
- Conservatives raise concerns about City’s lack of clarity or plans to celebrate Platinum Jubilee year in Brighton and Hove
- City’s Jubilee website page contains no information about events; Council has now missed deadlines to participate in Civic Honours competition and promote funding opportunities.
- Cllr Peltzer Dunn calls for immediate focus to make sure City residents are able to celebrate.
Conservative Councillor Garry Peltzer Dunn has said today that he is deeply concerned that the Council has not adequately prepared to mark the historic Platinum Jubilee in Brighton and Hove and may have failed to apply in time for several opportunities and funding streams available to mark the event.
Cllr Peltzer Dunn spoke out after asking a series of questions at the Full Council meeting on Thursday night and receiving inadequate responses, with the Council Leader unable to confirm whether it had applied as a local authority to participate in Key Jubilee events during the year.
Such events include the Civic Honours Programme, where local authorities have the chance to showcase their civic pride, interesting heritage and record of innovation - putting their hometowns on the map and bringing greater prosperity and opportunity. The deadline to apply for participation in the Civic Honours Programme has now passed, as has the deadline for several funding streams available to the council and community groups.
Despite the Jubilee Year getting underway yesterday with Accession Day, the Council’s Jubilee website page contains no information about any events planned in the City.
Councillor Peltzer Dunn, who previously spoke out when the council forgot to light its beacons for the Queen’s 90th birthday, said that it was worrying that the Council seemed under-prepared in such an important year.
“With Accession Day having been marked, the Platinum Jubilee year is now well underway, however we are concerned that the Council seems under-prepared in such an important year and may have already missed many opportunities” Cllr Peltzer Dunn said.
“The Council has only just launched a Jubilee website page which says ‘more details to come’ which is worrying as the Jubilee year has already begun.
“My questions at Full Council sought to find out more details about what the Council had planned put the answers were limited.
“It would be a huge shame if the Council had forgotten to apply to participate in the Civic Honours competition, which our city with its wonderful heritage and royal history would have been ideally suited towards participating in.
“There are also many funding streams available to local groups for the Platinum Jubilee to hold events but these have not been properly promoted.
“It is important that we mark this historic occasion and make sure it is memorable for residents of the city, not only to boost civic pride but also to provide a boost for the economy as we come out of Covid.
“We are a city with a Royal history and a Royal Palace at Brighton Pavilion. The Queen has visited our city many times over the years – including to confer City status on Brighton and Hove - and deserves our great respect and admiration.
“Time is now running short before the four-day Queen’s Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend and the Council needs to provide more detail and more focus on what it has arranged and how we will be participating” Cllr Peltzer Dunn said.
QUESTION ASKED: 3 FEBRUARY 2022
(18) Councillor Peltzer Dunn
Platinum Jubilee programme of events
- In an answer to my previous written question of 15 July 2021 (Question 29, Civic Honours Competition), the Leader of the Council stated that he was considering whether the city would participate in the Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours Competition.
The Leader of the Council stated there were three areas of this programme that the city was eligible to apply for, including:
-
- Investment;
- The granting of existing cities with Lord Mayoralty;
- Tree Planting initiatives.
Can the Leader of the Council please provide an update on whether the Administration decided to proceed with participation in the above categories of the Civic honours competition.
- Please can the Administration provide a timetable of events in Brighton and Hove for celebrating the Platinum Jubilee, including,
- Events organised by the Council
- Events planned in partnership with the Council or that the Council is aware of.
Reply from Councillor Mac Cafferty, Leader of the Council
The Policy, Partnerships and Scrutiny Team are working with teams across the council to develop and coordinate events and initiatives relating to the Jubilee. The high-level objectives of the group were set out as follows:
- To coordinate the council and city response to Platinum Jubilee celebrations, with the emphasis on supporting communities to celebrate.
- To coordinate the specific response on initiatives that are council related e.g. lighting of the beacons, ‘The Queen’s Green Canopy’, supporting communities with street parties, responding to other requests made by councillors or residents through the democratic process etc.
- To create a timetable of events that include those taking place across the city and to coordinate attendance to those events.
A preliminary report was taken to TECC committee in December outlining initial plans, with a subsequent report being prepared for committee on 10th March, which will contain further and more complete information.
The Council will support communities to hold street parties, participate in the lighting of Beacons, as well as the planting of trees as part of ‘The Queen’s Green Canopy’ initiative.
We will have a dedicated pages on the council’s website with relevant information, guidance and links for people to understand how they can take part, as well as a programme of events that are being held in the city. This information be will promoted across social media, in ‘Homing In’ - the council’s newsletter mailed out to all council tenants and leaseholders - and the information will also be sent to local newspapers and community websites. Councillors will also be updated so can they share the information with their residents directly.
QUESTION ASKED:
15 JULY 2021
Cllr Peltzer Dunn to Leader of the Council (Civic Honours competition)
I would like to draw your attention to the following Platinum Jubilee event that would be ideally suited to Brighton & Hove City Council:
Civic Honours competition - Local authorities have the chance to showcase their civic pride, interesting heritage and record of innovation - putting their hometowns on the map and bringing greater prosperity and opportunity.
This would be an ideal opportunity for our City of Brighton & Hove, which embodies all these attributes.
Rare awards will grant winning towns and cities with ‘city status’ and ‘Lord Mayor or Provost status’ for the first time in 10 years.
Further information on how to participate can be found here:
Please can you advise:
- Whether Brighton and Hove City Council will participate in the Civic Honours competition for Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee?
- If yes, when will planning commence for our participation in this Civic Honours competition?
Reply from Councillor Mac Cafferty, Leader of the Council
Further to a letter I received from Lord True on 8th June, I have asked officers to consider the guidance that has been published about the Civic Honours competition. There are three areas we can apply for: investment, the granting of existing cities such as Brighton & Hove with Lord Mayoralty and Tree Planting initiatives. Planning is in any case already underway to commemorate key events in the coming year including the other initiatives that mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022. Further to your query, this will include whether the city should make an application for Lord Mayor, which should be submitted before the 8th December.
ENDS.
