Issue - meetings

– report by Mr K Lynes, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Claudette Forbes, Interim Director of Economic Development)  (Mr John Simmonds together with Caroline Hooper and Emily Haswell were present for this item)

(Mr Graham Gibbens declared an interest in this matter on the basis that his wife is a founder Member and Loans Officer for the District of Canterbury Credit Union. He therefore took no part in the discussion on this item)

(1)       This report sought agreement to the interim governance structure for the proposed Kent Credit Union.

(2)       Mr Lynes said that the County Council had already committed a one off spend of £250k to assist in the establishment of a Credit Union.  The proposal had also been considered in some detail by an Informal Member Group (IMG) chaired by Mr John Simmonds, and the Business Plan had been robustly challenged at all stages of its development.  Mr Lynes said the principles of the Credit Union were very much in line with the Council’s “Backing Kent People” campaign and he commended the report and its recommendations to Cabinet.  Mr Lynes said that the establishment of a Credit Union would help vulnerable people living in challenging circumstances and he believed it would make a real difference to people’s lives.

(3)       Mr Simmonds said that the Credit Union would be a key part of the Council’s social care and Supporting Independence Strategy and would help people who were disadvantaged and unable to get access to credit at reasonable rates.  He said for the proposal to be successful it was essential that other partners became involved such as district councils, the business community, housing associations, the Citizens Advice Bureau and representatives from existing Credit Unions.  In concluding his comments Mr Simmonds said it was essential to have in place robust governance arrangements and three years funding had to be secured prior to an application being made to the FSA.  Mr Simmonds said that he firmly believed establishing a Credit Union would make a significant difference and he commended these proposals to Cabinet.

(4)       Caroline Hooper said that the establishment of a Kent Credit Union had been discussed with the FSA and the Business Plan was now out for consultation.  The Shadow Board had already held one meeting and work was in progress to develop a Memorandum of Understanding with two of the existing three Credit Unions within Kent with work progressing on developing a third with the other Credit Union.  In addition a number of Housing Associations had promised to make a financial contribution and approaches were also being made to district councils as well as the PCTs.  Work was continuing to meet the requirements of the FSA to have in place three years of funding prior to an application being made and on that basis it was hoped that the application would be submitted in May of this year.  There would be a report back to Cabinet before a final decision was taken to implement the scheme.  Mr Gilroy  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18

(1)       Mr K A Ferrin MBE, Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Waste; Mr R W Gough, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Supporting Independence; Mr A Wilkinson, Managing Director; Mrs E Haswell, Economic Development Officer, Environment and Regeneration Directorate; and Mrs C Toher, Kent First, Chief Executive’s Directorate, attended the meeting for this item.

(2)       Mr Ferrin explained the background to the Credit Union proposals.  Cabinet had felt that there was a real problem of financial exclusion for deprived people in Kent and that Credit Unions should be looked at as a way of tackling that problem.  Mrs Toher had been commissioned to research the subject.  She had found that there were a variety of different Credit Union models and she had looked in detail at four existing Credit Unions – Bristol, Portsmouth, Canterbury and Thanet.  Her findings suggested that one of the most successful Credit Unions was the one at Portsmouth.  Unlike many others, it had professional managers, operated from town centre premises, and offered a variety of financial products, not just low-interest loans.  As such it appealed to a wide market, not just the financially excluded.  It had proved successful and was now in the process of expanding across Hampshire.  Mrs Toher also found that the existing Credit Unions in Canterbury and Thanet, both of which were run by volunteers, would welcome the establishment of a Kent-wide, professionally managed, Credit Union.  As a result of Mrs Toher’s findings, it had been decided to pursue the idea of a Credit Union, hence the report to Cabinet which was now before the Committee.

Financial Commitment by KCC

(3)       In answer to questions from Mr Law and Mr Horne, Mr Gough clarified that the Feasibility Study was expected to cost approximately £20k.  If the Feasibility Study suggested that further work on establishing a Credit Union should not be pursued, then that would be all that the Council would spend.  However, if the Feasibility Study suggested that further work should be undertaken – and Mr Ferrin gave an assurance that this would be subject to a new Cabinet decision – then the other £80k mentioned in the Cabinet report would be required for the staffing and other expenses needed to complete a full business plan. 

Risks to KCC

(4)       In answer to questions from Mr Simmonds, Mr Bullock, Mr Chell and Mr Lake, Mr Gough accepted that there would be risks to KCC – both financial and reputational – in establishing a Credit Union.  However, KCC had so far committed only £20k in order to carry out a Feasibility Study, one of the purposes of which was to identify and analyse the risks, so that these could be used to inform the decision on whether to proceed any further.

(5)       Mr Gough added that, if it was decided to proceed with the establishment of a Credit Union, it was likely to be on the basis of a free-standing body, with funding from sources other than KCC,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47

(Item 7 – Report by Mr Keith Ferrin, Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Waste; Mr Roger Gough, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Supporting Independence and Mr Adam Wilkinson, Managing Director of Environment and Regeneration)

(Mr Gibbens made a declaration of interest as his wife was a founder member of the Canterbury Credit Union)