Agenda and minutes

The Director of Governance and Law reported apologies for absence from the following Members:

Mr Nicholas Bond

Mrs Pam Brivio

Mr Lee Burgess

Mr Ian Chittenden

Mr Steve Manion

Mr Clive Pearman

Mrs Eileen Rowbotham

(1)       Mr Cowan declared an interest as both he and his wife were foster carers for Kent County Council.

(2)       Mr Gibbens declared an interest in relation to Question 10 in that his wife was an employee of the Canterbury & Herne Bay Volunteer Bureau.

(3)       Mr Caller declared an interest in Item 10 Pay Policy Statement 2013-14 as his wife and another member of his family were employed by KCC.

(4)       Mr Hoare declared an interest in Item 8 Kent Troubled Families Programme as a director of a community interest company that gets young people into work in the construction industry.

(5)       Mr Koowaree declared an interest as he has a daughter who worked in a Children’s Centre.

(6)       Mr Maddison also declared an interest in Item 10 Pay Policy Statement 2013-14 as his son was employed by KCC.

RESOLVED: that the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 July 2013 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

a)         Adrian Crowther

(1)          The Chairman informed Members that he understood Mr Crowther had had to have a blood test first thing but he was expected to attend the meeting.  The Chairman had, following Mr Crowther’s recent illness, written to extend his and the Council’s best wishes for a speedy recovery and his attendance at the meeting appeared to indicate that he was well on the road to recovery.

b)         Lunch

(2)          The Chairman reminded Members that there would be no Chairman’s lunch provided as there was a substantial and sensitive inquest being held in the building.  He asked that when Members left the meeting that they endeavour to do so as quietly as possible.

c)         English Counties 101 Swim

(3)       The Chairman stated that he was delighted to be joined at the meeting by writer, broadcaster, social enterprise guru and past Government adviser – both to the Coalition and the last Government - Francis Davis.  Mr Davis’ aim was to swim 101 miles across every county in the country aiming to finish at the County Councils’ Network Annual Conference on 17th November.

(3)          The Chairman explained to Members that Mr Davis was raising funds for Combat Stress, a great charity supporting army, air force or naval veterans who had suffered mental health difficulties because of their service and to raise awareness of mental ill health and how swimming could contribute to defeating depression and aimed to raise at least £500 in every county.  The Chairman and Leader had had photos taken with Mr Davis and were delighted to send him on his way. 

(4)          Mr Davis spoke briefly to the Council and thanked them for the warm welcome.  He explained that Combat Stress took their learning and shared it with Rethink, Mind and the rest of the mental health community so that what they learnt in the forces could be shared with a much wider audience.  He said he had started in Hampshire and arrived in Kent via the Isle of Wight and that his swim in Kent was his first outdoor swim and would be taking place at the Tonbridge Swimming Pool.

October County Council meeting

(5)          The Chairman stated that he had met with the Leader earlier in the week to discuss the draft agenda for the October meeting of the County Council and he advised Members that there are no items scheduled for that meeting that required a County Council decision.  Accordingly, through Democratic Services he had consulted Group Leaders, all of whom agreed that the 24 October meeting could be cancelled. He asked Members to adjust their diaries accordingly.

Under Procedure Rule 1.17 (4) 10 questions were asked and replies given.  1 question fell as the Member who submitted the question was absent and 2 questions remained unanswered at the end of the thirty minutes and written answers were given.

(1)          The Leader opened his speech by stating that there had been much frenetic activity in the corridors of power since the July Council meeting in facing up to the challenges ahead through the Transformation Plan but that he would speak on this more later in the morning.  He wanted to use his time to dwell on the good news that arrived to County Council during the course of August, and at the top of the list must be the education results from Kent schools at all key stages.

(2)          He stated that he was delighted with the improvement in Kent’s primary school results at key stages 1 and 2 and the phenomenal outcome and results at key stage 4 by our year 11 pupils – with improvements on the gold standard of 5 A-Cs including English and Maths by some 4% when nationally the country had returned results of -1%.  This was, the Leader stated, an extraordinary differential in key stage 4 performances.  There had also been an increase in the performance of A Level students in Kent school sixth forms and the Leader stated that he was sure everybody in the Council Chamber would like to join in congratulating all of the young people who contributed towards these outstanding results, as well as teachers, school staff and the Council’s School Improvement team.

(3)          The improvement in exam results was coupled with more apprenticeships growing rapidly across the county of Kent and over the last year a reduction in the number of young people aged 16-18 who were not in education, employment or training which again was bucking the national trend.

(4)          With the third report from Ofsted on the re-inspection of Children’s Services the Leader stated that there was definitely something to celebrate in the fact that Kent had been removed from the ‘inadequate’ category in all three inspections.  He stated that there was still a big job to do, but all credit to front line staff and the Cabinet Member who had driven forward, with the senior management team, the substantive turnaround in two and a half years to pull the Council out of ‘inadequate’ in all three areas.

(5)          The Leader stated that he was pleased to report the outcome from central government on the targeted capital bid; Kent would be the recipients of £32m of grant against their submission to expand and grow 19 specified schools with that allocation.  This should not mask the fact that the schools expansion programme would cost well in excess of £100m with a potential shortfall in the order of some £10-£12m.   

(6)          This brought him on to the Children’s Centre review and the consultation which was now underway.  Feedback was expected in October with decisions being reached towards the end of that month which he was sure would be reported in some shape or form to the December County Council meeting.  The Leader stated that it was a genuine consultation, the Council was genuinely in listening mode, and it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

(1)       Mr Carter moved, Mr Simmonds seconded that the County Council agreed the following recommendations:

a)            endorse the Whole-Council Transformation Plan: Phase 1;

b)            note the detail of staff and team alignment to new integrated service teams which will be considered by the Council in December 2013;

c)            note the Programme Roadmap timescales and milestones for delivery of Phase 1, as set out in section 4 of the report.

(2)       Following the debate the Chairman put to the vote Recommendation (a) as set out in para (1) (a) above when the voting was as follows:

For (46)

Mrs A Allen, Mr M Angell, Mr M Balfour, Mr A Bowles, Mr D Brazier, Mr R Brookbank, Miss S Carey, Mr P Carter, Mr N Chard, Mrs P Cole, Mr G Cooke, Mrs M Crabtree, Mrs V Dagger, Mr M Dance, Mr J Davies, Mr T Gates, Mr G Gibbens, Mr R Gough, Mr P Harman, Mr M Harrison, Mr M Hill, Mrs S Hohler, Mr S Holden, Mr P Homewood, Mr E Hotson, Mr A King, Mr J Kite, Mr R Long, Mr G Lymer, Mr A Marsh, Mr M Northey, Mr P Oakford, Mr J Ozog, Mr R Parry, Mr L Ridings, Mr J Scholes, Mr C Simkins, Mr J Simmonds, Mr C Smith, Mrs P Stockell, Mr B Sweetland, Mr A Terry, Mr J Wedgbury, Mrs J Whittle, Mr A Wickham, Mrs Z Wiltshire

Abstain (4)

Mr H Birkby, Mr J Elenor, Mr C Hoare, Mr R Latchford

Against (26)

Mr M Baldock, Mr R Bird, Mr C Caller, Mr B Clark, Mr G Cowan, Ms J Cribbon, Mr A Crowther, Mr D Daley, Mrs T Dean, Dr M Eddy, Mrs M Elenor, Ms A Harrison, Mr M Heale, Ms S Howes, Mr G Koowaree, Mr B MacDowall, Mr T Maddison, Mr F McKenna, Mr B Neaves, Mr W Scobie, Mr T Shonk, Mr D Smyth, Mr N Thandi, Mr R Truelove, Mr M Vye, Mr M Whybrow

Carried

(3)       The other two recommendations within the report were carried without a vote.

(4)       RESOLVED that the County Council:

a)            endorse the Whole-Council Transformation Plan: Phase 1;

b)            note the detail of staff and team alignment to new integrated service teams which will be considered by the Council in December 2013;

c)            note the Programme Roadmap timescales and milestones for delivery of Phase 1, as set out in section 4 of the report.

(1)       Mr Hill moved, Mr Wickham seconded that the County Council note the progress of the Kent Troubled Families Programme.

Carried without a vote

(2)       RESOLVED that the County Council note the progress of the Kent Troubled Families Programme.

(1)       Mr Simmonds moved, Miss Carey seconded that the Council note the report.

(2)       RESOLVED that the report be noted.

(1)       Mr Cooke moved, Mr Carter seconded that the Council agree the pay statement for 2013/14 based upon last year’s statement as set out in Appendix 1 and approved at Personnel Committee on 10 September 2013 and that compliance with the principles of transparency of senior salaries and severance packages are discharged via the Council’s agreement to the senior structure and pay ranges and the compromise protocol as outlined in the report.

(2)       RESOLVED that the pay statement for 2013 be agreed and compliance with the principles of transparency of senior salaries and severance packages be discharged.

(1)       Mr Cooke moved, Mrs Allen seconded the Council agreed the following recommendations:

(a)          To delay the implementation of the requirement to record officer decisions until such time as a viable and pragmatic solution can be found and adopted by the Selection & Member Services Committee.

(b)          To amend the Key Decision criteria to reflect current legislative requirements

(c)          To amend the Urgency procedures to reflect current legislative requirements and good practice, as detailed in the report.

(d)          To amend the rules relating to exempt information and private meetings to reflect current legislation.

(e)          To amend the Members rights of access to information to reflect the additional rights included in current legislation

(f)           To amend the council’s filming policy to reflect current Government guidance.

(g)          To amend the Council’s call-in requirements and criteria.

(h)          To note the changes to the requirements and practice of submission of minutes.

(i)            To make any non-substantive changes required to the Constitution to reflect those changes detailed above.

(j)            To include the decision making flow chart in the Constitution as a guide for officers and Members.

Carried without a vote

(2)       RESOLVED that the changes to the Constitution as set out in para (1) (a)-(j) above be agreed.

(1)       Mr Cooke moved, Mrs Allen seconded that the County Council adopt the Member Development Policy Statement attached to the report.

(2)       RESOLVED that the Member Development Policy Statement be adopted.

Mrs T Dean, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, will propose, Mr M Whybrow, Green Party representative, will second that:

"This Council agrees that it is important that employees should receive a wage which reflects the cost of living in Kent. The Council therefore agrees to undertake a cross-party investigation into becoming a Living Wage Employer, the findings of which will be reported to the Personnel Committee. The aim is that, as a minimum, KCC will pay the Living Wage, as defined by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, to all staff and that this would also become a mandatory requirement for all new commissioned service contracts and, where feasible, would be added when existing contracts are renewed. KCC would seek Living Wage Employer accreditation through the Living Wage Foundation."

(1)       Mrs Dean moved, Mr Whybrow seconded that:

"This Council agrees that it is important that employees should receive a wage which reflects the cost of living in Kent.  The Council therefore agrees to undertake a cross-party investigation into becoming a Living Wage Employer, the findings of which will be reported to the Personnel Committee.  The aim is that, as a minimum, KCC will pay the Living Wage, as defined by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, to all staff and that this would also become a mandatory requirement for all new commissioned service contracts and, where feasible, would be added when existing contracts are renewed. KCC would seek Living Wage Employer accreditation through the Living Wage Foundation."

(2)       Mr Vye moved, Mr Bird seconded an amendment to the Motion for Time Limited Debate that all the text after the words “Personnel Committee” be deleted, as follows 

"This Council agrees that it is important that employees should receive a wage which reflects the cost of living in Kent.  The Council therefore agrees to undertake a cross-party investigation into becoming a Living Wage Employer, the findings of which will be reported to the Personnel Committee."

(3)       The Chairman put the amendment to the vote when the voting was as follows:

For (33)

Mr M Baldock, Mr R Bird, Mr H Birkby, Mr C Caller, Mrs P Cole, Mr G Cowan, Ms J Cribbon, Mr A Crowther, Mr D Daley, Mrs T Dean, Dr M Eddy, Mrs M Elenor, Ms A Harrison, Mr P Harman, Mr M Heale, Mr C Hoare, Mr S Holden, Ms S Howes, Mr G Koowaree, Mr R Latchford, Mr R Long, Mr B MacDowall, Mr T Maddison, Mr F McKenna, Mr B Neaves, Mr J Ozog, Mr T Shonk, Mr D Smyth, Mr A Terry, Mr N Thandi, Mr R Truelove, Mr M Vye, Mr M Whybrow

Abstain (3)

Mr J Elenor, Mr B Sweetland, Mrs Z Wiltshire

Against (36)

Mrs A Allen, Mr M Angell, Mr M Balfour, Mr A Bowles, Mr D Brazier, Mr R Brookbank, Miss S Carey, Mr P Carter, Mr N Chard, Mr G Cooke, Mrs M Crabtree, Mrs V Dagger, Mr J Davies, Mr T Gates, Mr G Gibbens, Mr R Gough, Mr M Harrison, Mrs S Hohler, Mr P Homewood, Mr E Hotson, Mr A King, Mr J Kite, Mr G Lymer, Mr A Marsh, Mr M Northey, Mr P Oakford, Mr R Parry, Mr L Ridings, Mr J Scholes, Mr C Simkins, Mr J Simmonds, Mr C Smith, Mrs P Stockell, Mr J Wedgbury, Mrs J Whittle, Mr A Wickham

Lost

(4)       As the vote on the Amendment was lost the Chairman put the original Motion to the vote whereupon the voting was as follows:

For (25)

Mr M Baldock, Mr R Bird, Mr H Birkby, Mr C Caller, Mr G Cowan, Ms J Cribbon, Mr A Crowther, Mr D Daley, Mrs T Dean, Dr M Eddy, Ms A Harrison, Mr P Harman, Mr M Heale, Mr C Hoare, Ms S  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.