Worthing Labour Group
Budget Speech
February 2021
Coronavirus has stopped us all in our tracks – quite literally! We have all had to take stock of where
we are, what resources we have, and what our futures might look like. There is still some way to go
until we are on the other side of this Pandemic. This Council should use this time to refocus and to
reset the way we work. We can’t go back to business as usual. Too much has changed.
Over the past 3 years, the Labour Group in opposition has listened to the decisions taken by this
Conservative administration as a consequence of the budgets it has set and then we’ve listened to
what our residents are saying they want from their Council …. and there’s a big gap between the
two. This administration has stopped listening to residents and fixed its programme for the town in
the increasingly unwieldy Platforms for our Places document. But it’s just not working – the town is
changing and will change even more as a consequence of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, we’ve seen what’s happening in our wards and across the Borough. We’ve watched the
gap grow between the haves and the have-nots, and that has inevitably led on to increasing levels of
ill health, both physical and mental. All this has been set against a backdrop of a climate emergency
that, if treated as anything other than immediate priority, will render all our other efforts
meaningless.
So our approach to this budget is different. We’re asking different questions about how this Council
approaches its responsibilities to provide services for its residents and inevitably we’re coming to
very different conclusions. In particular, in considering the budget we’ve asked four key questions
that are clear indicators of the way the Labour Group think the Council should now consider its
future development:
- Is the budget and the work of the Council reflecting and responding to the Voice of the
Community? Are we listening to what people want? - Is the budget contributing to Community Health and Wellbeing?
- Is it addressing and helping to reduce inequality in the Community?
- Is it responding to the need to address the Climate Emergency?
As the incoming administration following the Elections this May, we would apply all those questions
to every aspect of the Council’s work and the services it provides, and we would set about the
process of redesigning what the Council offers its residents. The budget amendments you have in
front of you are an indication of how we would start this process of change. They are indicative of
our direction of travel and will signal a move towards a wellbeing economy which will put the health
and wellbeing of our residents and our communities at the heart of what we do, rather than narrow
economic goals.
This is not a naïve approach to planning what this Council does that ignores the economic
constraints that we find ourselves in as a Local Authority. Quite the opposite. It’s a recognition that
economic pressures and the pandemic demand a different response. We can’t go back to business as
usual. It’s time to move on to better and more productive ways of working with our Communities.
We’ll drive out the view taken by the current administration that they should decide what residents
need from the Council. In its place we’ll put partnership and empowerment of the community. The
pandemic has shown us with so much clarity that communities are often much better at identifying
needs and designing solutions than institutions are. Many of us have been part of those community-
led initiatives and seen the energy and enthusiasm that they have generated. To ensure that the
benefits of this change reach all parts of our communities we need the community engagement skills
of the new officer we are proposing in the first of our budget amendments. We would expect that a
team would be built around that person as a result of the growing interactions with our
Communities.
A wellbeing economy is at the heart of what drives these budget amendments, because the health
of our people is indicative of the success or otherwise, of the services the Council provides.
Inequality, prejudice, and exclusion breed poor mental and physical health. For many in our
Communities who face financial pressures, poor quality housing and the challenges of having to deal
with the benefits system, the housing register, and the job centre leave them experiencing poor
physical and mental health.
There aren’t any easy fixes here, particularly for issues that are matters of National Policy, but we
can re-orientate our Council focus. With the skills of an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer, we
would work with the people at the sharp end of these systems, and work to find solutions that
empower and reassert a sense of dignity and self.
Access to safe, inclusive and welcoming shared, public spaces is also key to a thriving wellbeing
economy. In Worthing, we have many of these spaces across our Borough, ranging from local parks
and high streets to our town centre and seafront. In our budget amendments, we signal a clear
commitment to developing these shared spaces in partnership with our Communities.
The pandemic has shown us how much people value open spaces as places where they can socialise
and exercise. The use of our promenade, our parks and other open spaces has grown significantly
this year. In our view, this budget allocates funding disproportionately to Brooklands Park and we
propose reallocating funding more equally across our green spaces that may not count as “jewels in
the crown” but are still incredibly important spaces for us to socialise and exercise. We also consider
that the substantial funding allocated to Brooklands, is intended to provide features that do not
reflect the opinions and ideas very clearly expressed in the public consultation. This is a good
example of how this administration, even when it does engage in public consultation, ignores what
people say. In line with our commitment to putting the Community Voice front and centre, we
would revisit this consultation and look again at what users of the park want in terms of a design
that would really maximise the use, enjoyment, and sustainability of this great space for our all our
residents.
The pandemic has also demonstrated just how much we value our local high streets and shopping
parades. Very little investment has gone into these important community hubs and by increasing the
funding for improvements to these areas, we aim to help them to survive and to thrive.
The Town Centre and the Seafront are key areas for Worthing. To date they have been the focus of
much of our retail and entertainment offer. Now they are waiting to be re-imagined in a way that
meets the changed needs of a post-Covid world. We took a step in this direction during the
pandemic, when we did a survey of residents, and got their views on how they would like to see
their town centre develop. Alongside the anticipated responses that hoped for fewer empty shops,
people also had an enthusiasm for greenery, seating and better communal meeting areas. They were
clearly anticipating a changing use for the town centre.
This survey could be the springboard for a wider project involving the community, and key
stakeholders such as the TCI, local businesses from both the retail and hospitality sectors, and
voluntary groups to map out what we want for our town centre. In particular, we need to get a
clearer understanding of how we can use public realm improvements, to provide a better town
centre for locals, but also an attractive destination for visitors who could underpin a new phase of
economic growth for Worthing. Schemes like pedestrianizing Portland Road, should never be looked
at in isolation and must be considered in the broader context of what our town centre could and
should become.
As we look to improve our town centre we must also focus on our seafront offer and it is important
that we improve our public amenities to meet the needs of the planned increased footfall. We
propose that the public convenience budget is earmarked for upgrading these amenities. In line with
ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion, we propose that a changing place and gender-neutral
facilities are included.
Our focus on the seafront is not just on the purely functional. We can’t ignore the beautiful and
iconic building, the Lido, that in our view has been sadly neglected for far too long. In 2019, the Local
Labour Party asked residents to sign a petition to show support for the regeneration of the Lido. The
petition attracted over 2000 signatures and demonstrated just how keen residents are to see it
returned to its former use.
This is a building that can potentially be restored as a pool for the community, and could be a venue
for live events post Covid. As a unique facility on this stretch of the Sussex coast, we’re sure it would
be a strong driver of tourism to the town. As a regeneration project, it would be a strong catalyst for
drawing the community together with the common objective of providing a community space for
locals. It would be a joy and a privilege to be part of the Council that joined up with the Community
to get this done.
A thriving wellbeing economy also requires people to be able to access good standards of housing,
whatever their income. 20 years ago, the Council transferred its Housing stock to Worthing Homes, a
partnership that has yielded disappointingly little in terms of new social and truly affordable housing
for our residents. This in turn has led to widening inequalities in our Borough, with more and more
people having to wait for years on our housing register in the hope of getting a home they can
afford.
It is time for the Council to become an active partner again in this key area of our residents’ lives.
Rather than looking to Worthing Homes for our solutions, we propose that the Council should look
to establish and have ownership of a Registered Social Landlord. We appreciate that Worthing has a
limited amount of land left that can be built on, so it’s even more important that we maximise our
options and find innovative solutions that can deliver high quality social and truly affordable
housing, and that meets the highest environmental standards.
Widening inequalities are also accentuated by continuing increases in Council Tax for our residents.
Raising Council Tax won’t make up for the funding gap left by the National Conservative
Government’s slash and burn of Local Government budgets. As we know from our monthly
Governance risk register, we are taking a calculated chance by investing the money we have in a
commercial portfolio that is only as reliable as the increasingly unreliable free market.
Added to that, we know that Council Tax is a highly regressive tax. Those who have the lowest
incomes are proportionately paying the most to keep services going that benefit those who are
financially the most secure, as well as those on the breadline. This is at the heart of the National
debate about how we build a fairer economic system.
In this Council, we can play our part in recognising the problem of those with the lowest incomes by
consulting on an intent to remove the £5 Council Tax minimum cap which is effectively an additional
charge as it reduces the amount of Council Tax Support that would have been allowed if we kept to
the National scheme. This restriction has the greatest impact on the poorest members of
the Borough who cannot afford an extra £261 per annum. This was also highlighted further in the
Council’s recently commissioned insightful report on Covid Measures Benefit impact on Vulnerable
Residents where 16% of Worthing residents are now in Council Tax arrears compared to 5% in Adur.
The report states (and I quote) that “this difference can in part be attributed to the Council Tax
support schemes.”
A wellbeing economy is a sustainable one, and that means immediate prioritisation of policies to
address the Climate Emergency. We note and applaud the Climate Assembly the Council ran in 2020
and, in line with our intention to put the Voice of the Community front and centre, we would want
the initiative to have a continuing role in helping us to combat climate change. But we need to start
tackling some of the most difficult issues that challenge our commitment to being Carbon neutral by
- The biggest of those is reducing heat loss from poorly insulated homes. So we are proposing
that, rather than cladding car parks, we should put together a fund to help those families in fuel
poverty with grants, loans and technical help to retrofit their homes with much-needed insulation.
We would also unlock access to underused national schemes like the Green Homes Fund.
It wouldn’t be a proper budget speech if I didn’t mention the bins! Our environmental pledges are
intrinsically linked with our ability to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill. To this end,
we are making joint budget proposals with our Labour colleagues in Adur to address the issues that
many people in HMOs continue to face with waste disposal recycling. We are also proposing we
make progress this year on the issue of food waste disposal. Again, these proposed amendments are
key to our commitment to a wellbeing economy in addressing inequalities and responding to the
Climate Emergency.
We put these proposals to the Council for consideration as a series of individual amendments to the
2021/22 budget. But it is important that they are seen together as indicators of the clear and
cohesive direction of intent that a Labour-Led Council would take.
We have heard the phrase “Build Back Better” a lot of late, but I would like to end this speech with a
phrase that Sir Michael Marmot coined in his Covid-19 Review. He has produced a number of reports
over the past 10 years evidencing the widening inequalities in our society’s health and wellbeing that
Coronavirus has both highlighted and exacerbated. In a post-Covid world he is advocating that we
should “Build Back Fairer.” For Worthing Borough Council, I think that this is an excellent starting
point.
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