The Labour Group have today written to the BHCC Chief Executive requesting an emergency meeting of Full Council be held within a week, in order to discuss legal avenues available to the council to make urgent interventions to get vulnerable children out of hotels and into care.

Labour are demanding an urgent meeting in order to consider its proposals (below) to seek urgent legal advice in order to close the hotel in Hove to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and ensure these children are put into care placements under the National Transfer Scheme.

Under Labour’s plans, there would also be an independent inquiry held to investigate the role of Brighton & Hove City Council in the safeguarding catastrophe of vulnerable children being kidnapped and trafficked.

Labour Group Co-Leaders Cllr John Allcock and Cllr Carmen Appich said:

“We’ve written to the Council CEO requesting an urgent Extraordinary Council Meeting to discuss Labour’s plans to immediately safeguard these very vulnerable children.

“We want children out of this hotel and into care placements immediately. We want the missing children found, and we want a review into how any of this scandalous crisis was allowed to happen despite our repeated warnings.

“This meeting must take place as soon as possible so that swift action can be taken to safeguard unaccompanied asylum-seeking children from any further exploitation, kidnap and trafficking.”

Labour’s Cllr Bella Sankey said:

“Our call for an immediate emergency full council meeting is borne of frustration at the refusal of the Green Administration to take effective action to safeguard children in Brighton and Hove.

“We want external legal advice on how to get the hotel in Hove closed down and an independent inquiry into the role of the Administration in this child safeguarding catastrophe.

“There is no excuse for delay, nothing is more important than the safety of unaccompanied children in Brighton & Hove, so we expect this meeting to go ahead in a matter of days.”

Procedure:

Labour members have requisitioned an Extraordinary Meeting of Full Council under Council Procedure 4.4 of the Council’s Constitution, which reads as follows:

4.4 An Extraordinary Meeting of the Council may be called by submission of a      requisition signed by at least five Members, specifying the business to be        transacted. The requisition shall be delivered to the Chief Executive (see             Procedure Rule 1.6*). The Extraordinary Meeting shall be called within seven            days of receipt of the requisition by the Chief Executive to take place as soon as reasonably practicable.