Even Cyber Security requires independent scrutiny from councillors
One of the most important functions of a councillor is to provide scrutiny of council affairs, and as a member of Mid Sussex District Council’s Audit Committee, I was concerned that the new internal auditors provided a report at tonight’s meeting which referred to a completed Cyber Security Review, without even detailing any of the recommendations. I highlighted at the meeting that the Council had a duty to provide these to members and was reassured that my request for the Committee to go through some of the recommendations was agreed, albeit in closed session.
I have requested a full report is circulated to members, and whilst I was reassured by the responses of Council officers to the detailed issues raised, it is important that councillors have independent oversight, and that auditors are able to report directly to councillors, so I will continue to press for proportionate information to be provided.
This fire damaged property was left in a dangerous state yet members of the public were not able to contact the out of hours number.
Mid Sussex District Council’s out of hours phone number is a vital lifeline for residents wishing to report an urgent issue to the Council outside office hours. Yet twice in the last few weeks I have had reports that the phone number has gone unanswered despite the respondent holding on for 30 or 45 minutes, including where a fire had left a Council owned building in a dangerous condition. These are unacceptable waiting times and I have got an assurance from the Council that their provider has agreed to provide more resource for the service and that their performance will be better monitored.
The Council needs to manage its contract with the provider more proactively by seeking appropriate management information and exception reporting for when things go wrong to ensure a proper standard of service is provided. I would urge residents to feedback directly to the Council using their feedback form if you believe the service provided is not up to standard, or contact me directly.
Conservative community governance proposals were successfully overturned following a previous Town Council petition
Community governance proposals that see the Northern Arc Incorporated into Burgess Hill were agreed by tonight’s Mid Sussex District Council’s Scrutiny Meeting despite previous opposition by Conservative councillors from East Grinstead and Haywards Heath, yet the same Conservatives still ignored the views of Burgess Hill by voting to amend the name of two new wards, that following consultation with local residents, were proposed to be named Bedelands and St Paul’s, and instead to rename them the anonymous Brookleigh North and Brookleigh East.
The move appears to be a continuation of Conservative moves to suggest the Northern Arc be incorporated into Haywards Heath, as I pointed out the two most prominent landmarks are Bedelands Nature Reserve and St Paul’s Catholic College, yet it seems once against Conservative councillors showed their disregard for the views of local residents.
Hopes of the early adoption of a gigabit capable Full Fibre digital network have been dashed, as it seems it will still be some time before the service will be commercialised for small businesses and domestic residents. The announcement in 2020 that the District Council would “deliver gigabit speed broadband to more than 6,400 homes in Mid Sussex” has yet to materialise despite the Council announcing last May that the “network in Burgess Hill is now ready to use and will soon bring dramatically improved broadband connections to homes and businesses within the town”.
Although the bare bones of the network have been successfully delivered, and ‘dark fibre’ connections will be made available to provide broadband, network services and digital services, wider use is dependent upon operators assessing a business case to make the required investment to provide a service for small businesses and domestic consumers.
The Council now says the completion of the fibre link between Brighton and Burgess Hill, and for its Rural project, will be tested and completed in Spring 2022, and that connections will be available “based on suitable demand in each area from Autumn 2022.” Businesses and domestic consumers can register an interest at https://cni.coop/ and this is particularly important as the level of interest will be used to assess potential demand.
We are lucky in Burgess Hill to already have fibre broadband delivered by Virgin Media, however the new network has the potential to bring faster, cheaper broadband connections, not just in Burgess Hill but Haywards Heath and some surrounding rural areas. The Council needs to be careful not to over promise on the benefits to end users, as the ultimate service delivery is dependent upon its commercial partners, but I look forward to the expected benefits of this project being finally realised.
