Councillor Calls For Brighton & Hove Policies To Be More Family-Friendly

School closures and the falling number of children in Brighton and Hove primaries have prompted a call for the council to adopt more family-friendly policies.

Conservative leader Alistair McNair plans to propose a motion on the issue at a Brighton and Hove City Council meeting in the coming week.

Councillor McNair said that there had been a 22 per cent drop in children aged 0 to 4 living in Brighton and Hove from 2011 to 2021.

And the proportion of children and young people aged 0 to 19 was 20.5 per cent compared with 23.1 per cent both for the south east and England as a whole.

The number of children in primary schools has been falling since 2019, leaving hundreds of spaces going spare.

The council has cut the intake at several schools including Balfour, Mile Oak, Moulsecoomb and Westdene primary schools and Downs Infant School.

Six more schools have been asked to reduce their intake from September next year – Brunswick, St Luke’s, Saltdean and Goldstone primary schools and Stanford and Patcham infant schools.

The council decided to close two schools from August – St Bartholomew’s Church of England (CofE) Primary School, in Brighton, and St Peter’s Community Primary and Nursery School, in Portslade.

At the annual budget meeting, the Labour leader of the council Bella Sankey said that proposals put before councillors included the prospect of closing six schools because of falling numbers, with the administration opting for the two smallest.

Councillor McNair said:

“The falling number of children is one of the most urgent concerns in the city. Schools are closing and will continue to close without policies to attract families.

“We realise that swimming pools are being planned. And some housing – though often flats which are less attractive to families – is on stream.

“We also realise that new projects take time. However, we see little evidence that families are front and centre of the council’s thinking.

“We have also had policies for many years that are deeply off-putting to families – very high council tax and high parking charges, deteriorating parks, tents allowed in parks, graffiti and the generally unkempt state of the city.

“It is clear that the incoming cabinet and their long-term plans will need to put families front and centre if our city is to have any prospects of long-term growth.

“Vulnerable individuals and communities, older people, people with disabilities and black and racially minoritised communities are quite rightly frequently referred to in equalities assessments in reports.

“However, given the dire impact of a falling birth rate, coupled with the fact that Brighton has so much to offer families, it seems clear to the Conservative group that more strategic thinking is required.

“Putting families as a separate category in ‘equality impact statements’ in council reports would be one small step in the right direction. We look forward to the Labour administration’s plans for family-centred growth.”

Councillor McNair said that ways to attract families to Brighton and Hove included building more family-sized homes and improving infrastructure including NHS and doctors’ surgeries.

He wants officials to prepare a report setting out options for policies to make Brighton and Hove an attractive place for families and young people.

He also wants families with children under 18 to become a category in the council’s equalities impact assessments.

Councillor McNair is due to propose his motion at a meeting of the full council at Hove Town Hall on Thursday (March 29). The meeting is scheduled to start at 4.30pm and to be webcast on the council’s website.