Unanswered questions over £100m housing project made councillor's stomach churn

Joe Miller, who is the youngest councillor in Brighton and Hove at 22, unleashed a 90-minute barrage of questions on Wednesday evening.

He was at the housing committee where the joint venture between the local authority and Hyde Housing to build 1000 homes was discussed.

The project, which was featured in yesterday's Argus Spotlight, would see the council borrow £52.7 million.

Councillors refused to vote it through and it has been put on hold.

Cllr Miller, who asked more than 30 questions, said he had been shocked by the pre-release materials.

He said: “When I read it I wasn’t particularly happy, it made my stomach churn because of how many questions were left unanswered.

“We were being asked to OK a blank piece of paper for officers to fill in at a later date.

"And when I asked the lawyers questions they said ‘that remains unanswered’ or ‘we haven’t thrashed that out yet’.”

The project would see the council borrow £52.7 million from the Public Works Loan Board - the same body which helped fund the i360.

He added: “With the i360 it was a £38 million loan and we had four financial presentation, it took a long time to get approved.

"Here we’re investing in the entire housing market not a tourist attraction, and there’s been a lot less scrutiny.”

He also raised concerns over the governance of the scheme.

A six-man board is proposed with an even split of Hyde employees and council officials.

Crucially there would be no elected councillors.

And the list of "reserved matters" over which councillors would have power is set to be agreed between officers - not councillors.

He added: "If we don’t have members on that board we won’t be able to influence that. That’s not democratic.

"You still have to have due diligence."

Speaking to The Argus yesterday, law graduate cllr Miller, said no funds had been set aside to cover the costs of any legal disputes which might arise in the course of the 64-year partnership.

If any issues arose, they would have to paid for out of the council's general fund - which could hit services.

The general fund would also be the backing for the £52.7 million loan needed, rather than the housing revenue account (HRA).

Cllr Miller said: “If we borrowed against the HRA the risk would be firewalled from frontline services. But construction costs could rise, or rental values fall, there’s economic cycles, and the public might have to pay for that down the line.”

He said: “The problem is people’s vision has been clouded by the prize.”

Council leader Warren Morgan said: “It’s disappointing that this decision has been stalled until November, meaning hundreds of people in the city desperately in need of an affordable home will have to wait longer.”

LAW GRADUATE SPENT 10 HOURS PREPARING QUESTIONS

WHEN Warren Morgan’s £100 million housing plan came up after five hours of debating on Wednesday evening, Labour members must have hoped their initiative would pass quickly.

Two hours later, with 11pm fast approaching, the plan lay in tatters after a repeated assault by Green and Conservative councillors, unhappy that it appeared “rushed” and “risky”.

Chief among the administration’s tormentors was indefatigable Conservative councillor for Rottingdean Coastal, 22-year-old Joe Miller.

It is fair to say that he does not look like your typical Tory councillor.

This Brighton boy, who attended Cardinal Newman School, graduated with a first in law from the University of Sussex this summer and still lives with his mum in Lewes Road.

He was so young when he first stood for election four years ago that now-council leader Warren Morgan wrote an open letter criticising the Conservatives for fielding an 18-year-old.

He asked how someone with such little life experience could perform the role and deal with the workload.

Councillor Morgan, who has spearheaded the housing plan, refused to comment on the letter yesterday.

Councillor Miller, who has been widely praised for his forensic cross-examination on Wednesday, said of the letter: “It was party political posturing from Warren, I’d expect nothing less.”

Cllr Miller was defeated at that 2012 election but elected to represent the people of the Rottingdean Coastal ward in 2015.

Councillor Dawn Barnett, for whom Cllr Miller was substituting at Wednesday’s meeting, said: “I’ve had a couple of people phone me up and tell me how well he did, he’s up and coming that one.

“I can’t say I would have done as well.

“I believe he had 31 questions; he must have sat up all night the night before.”

In fact, Cllr Miller spent 10 hours researching the proposal.

Armed with a first in law, Cllr Miller has had offers from three London schools to further his studies with a view to becoming a barrister.

But he has deferred a year, hoping for a scholarship or an advance from a confirmed pupillage, since only one in four graduates get accepted at a chambers.

For the time being he is without a day job – although this summer you might have seen him waiting tables at Glyndebourne Opera House, where he has worked for several years.

Law was always his end goal and he only joined the Conservatives after the 2010 election, unhappy with the way Labour had handled the financial crisis.

He enjoyed his three years at university where he allowed himself to let his hair down.

By these days you are more likely to see him in the park exercising his cockapoo dog, Nessie.

Many have questioned his limited life experience but he hit back: “I pay rent to my mum and I have bills to pay – it’s a different experience.

“Why should every councillor have a mortgage and children? Then you have a huge swathe of the population who aren’t represented.”

As for the future? He has expressed an interest in making it to Westminster.

He said: “If a parliamentary opportunity comes up, I wouldn’t say no but that’s a long way off. And it’s for the party and the electorate to decide - all I can do is do my best.”

If Wednesday’s tour de force is anything to go by, it is a case of when rather than if.