Agenda and minutes

The Director of Governance and Law reported apologies from Mr P Harman, Mr B MacDowall, Mr J Wedgbury and Mrs J Whittle.

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

(2)          Mr Hoare declared an interest in that he was a director of an employment agency and public interest company called Conduit that sought to get young people into employment in the construction industry.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 September 2014 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to the amendment of the following typographical errors, Minute no 31 – (d)  “Nijmegen” , Minute no 33 (5) – “Members’”;(6) – “Mr Carter”; (7) – “priority”; (10) – “saddened”; (11) -  “Leader’s”;(21)  “transformation” and  (29) – “ CCN”  “NPPF”.

(a)                  National Multi-Faith Week

The Chairman made the Council aware that 16 to 22 November 2014 was designated national multi-faith week.  Kent County Council’s Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education, which was chaired by Mr Manion, was celebrating this by holding its second youth conference on 18 November 2014, which would provide an opportunity for young people to improve their understanding of multi-faith issues.

(b)                  FT Innovative Lawyers Awards 2014

The Chairman stated that he was delighted to announce that on 8 October, Geoff Wild had been named Most Innovative European In-House Lawyerat the FT Innovative Lawyers’ Awards 2014. The FT awards were widely recognised as being the most prestigious international legal awards and were the product of in-depth independent research. In winning the award, Geoff fought off competition from across Europe, including General Counsel for EDF Energy, Reckitt Benckiser, E.ON and Roche Products, and was the first public sector lawyer ever to receive the award. The awards panel said “After transforming the council’s legal team into a revenue generator, Geoff Wild is recognised as an industry leader and has had a positive impact on perceptions of public-sector lawyers”.

(c)          CASA (Consortium for Assistive Solutions Adoption) Award for Innovative Excellence

The Chairman stated that he was pleased to announce that the Kent Integration Pioneer Innovation Hub had been recognised by the EU, as a site of excellence. The Integration Pioneer team, together with the international team in Brussels, had delivered innovative work around assistive technologies creating an Innovation Hub and integrated working with the health service. 

The work of the Kent team under the leadership of Dr Robert Stewart, Chairman of the Integration Pioneer, and Anne Tidmarsh, Director Older People and Physical Disability, had been recognised as a good practice example and the award was received by Mr Gibbens at a conference in Brussels of all CASA representatives.

(d)               Dandelion Time’s ‘Rowathon’

The Chairman expressed his thanks to Members and officers who gave such generous donations in support of Dandelion Time’s ‘Rowathon’ earlier this month.

He informed the Council that Dandelion Time was a charitable project for children and young people displaying emotional distress through aggressive or withdrawnbehaviour. The charity, based in West Farleigh, helped children to overcome previous suffering, develop confidence and self-esteem, and discover a new and positive path to follow.

He explained that a team of seven KCC representatives managed to row more than 10,000 metres in 50 minutes, and in so doing raised over £1,000 for the charity, which would make a significant difference to the life chances of the children and families that came to Dandelion Time.

(e)                  Visit to HMS Kent

The Chairman stated that he was very proud to have been invited to visit HMS Kent at Portsmouth prior to its six-month deployment focusing on maritime security operations in the Indian Ocean.

In accordance with Procedure Rule 1.17(4), eight questions were asked and replies given, which are attached as an appendix to the minutes. 

(1)          The Leader updated the County Council on events since the previous meeting.

(2)          Mr Carter referred to the launch of the public consultation for the medium term budget proposals for the next three years.  He expressed the view that these had generally been well received.  He hoped that opposition Members were pleased with the content, which was a rigorous thrust to deliver effective and efficient services to residents and businesses making sure that best value was extracted from every council tax payer’s pound. He believed that the solutions that had been arrived at would allow the Council to pursue with rigour the continuous improvement of good quality frontline services.  He referred to what had been said by Mr Hill earlier in the meeting in relation to the community wardens.  This related to finding other ways of supplementing community wardens with community volunteer wardens.  There was also the potential for parish and town councils to precept if they wanted to retain the same or increased presence.

(3)          Mr Carter mentioned that the transformation agenda was gaining pace under the banner of Facing the Challenge and big decisions would be needed very soon. He therefore felt sure that Members would support the principle of establishing the all-party advisory board on commissioning which would be chaired by Mr Hotson, subject to the Council agreeing the recommendations later in the meeting. 

(4)          Mr Carter then referred to the need to focus on working towards the outcomes framework for the authority, which was currently scheduled to come to the December County Council meeting. That framework would start to articulate the outcomes required to achieve the component parts that made up the complex array of services and support that was delivered in Kent.   There was a need for clarity about the component parts of KCC’s business to ensure they were delivered in the most efficient and effective way.  He said that it was important to ensure that services were effective and efficient regardless of who was commissioned to provide them. Even if services were retained in house the same business rigour had to be applied to the way they were configured and delivered.  This message needed to pervade the whole organisation.  He stated that KCC needed to be much more commercial in how services were delivered.

(5)          Mr Carter mentioned the publication of “NHS Five Year Forward View” which had been produced by Simon Stevens (Chief Executive of NHS England).   The report majored on the point that there was no one size fits all solution and, therefore, there was no need for a homogenous delivery pattern across the NHS. This was very much in line with the direction of travel that KCC was taking in delivering social care and public health with clinical commissioning groups and providers such as the acute hospital trusts.  This document started to deliver the vision of good quality neighbourhood national health services and social care emphasising the role of community based preventative services.   It suggested that the Department of Health  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

(1)          Mr Hotson moved and Mr Carter seconded the following recommendations as set out on page 29 of the report:

“County Council is asked to:

a)        Note and comment on the deliberations and findings set out in section 3 of the report. 

b)        Agree that a cross-party, informal advisory board, chaired by a backbench Member,  should consider commissioning decisions in depth and advise Cabinet Committees accordingly before Key Decisions are made, with the arrangement reviewed after a 12 month period

c)         Agree that given the majority of significant commissioning decisions facing the council over the next 12 months will come from the Facing the Challenge transformation programme, that the advisory board should also take on the responsibilities of the Transformation Board, with the arrangement reviewed after a 12 month period

d)        Delegate to the Head of Democratic Services, in consultation with the Group Leaders, the establishment of a cross-party, advisory board as set out in this report.”

(2)       RESOLVED that the recommendations set out in paragraph (1) above be approved.

a)               Devolution

Miss Carey will propose and Mr Marsh will second:

"Kent County Council calls upon central government to devolve more powers and money not just to Scotland but to existing levels of local government at County, district and parish level.  We also call for a transfer of powers from unelected and remote quangos to existing democratically elected bodies.”

b)              Reduction in the voting age

Mr Clark will propose and Mr Bird will second,

"This Council supports reducing the voting age to 16 and believe that encouraging participation in the political process is a valuable means of engaging young people in modern society.

We recognise the important contribution of 16 and 17 year olds to the recent Scottish Independence referendum and believe that the young people of Kent should also play a role in determining the future of their county and country.

Therefore, we propose that the Chairman should write an open letter to the Prime Minister urging him to introduce legislation to reduce the voting age to 16.”

a)            Devolution

(1)          Miss Carey moved and Mr Marsh seconded the following motion:

“Kent County Council calls upon central government to devolve more powers and money not just to Scotland but to existing levels of local government at county, district and parish level.  We also call for a transfer of powers from unelected and remote quangos to existing democratically elected bodies.”

(2)          Dr Eddy moved and Mr Truelove seconded the following amendment:

“Kent County Council calls upon Central Government to devolve more powers and finance from central government to appropriate communities across England. We call for a Constitutional Convention as proposed by the Local Government Association, to determine what powers should be devolved in England and to determine the appropriate structure to dispense these powers in a more democratic and accountable way. We also call for a well-planned transfer of power from unelected and remote quangos to democratically elected bodies”

(3)          Mr Parry moved and Mr Baldock seconded the procedural motion “that the question be put” and the votes cast were as follows: 

For (63)

Mrs A Allen, Mr M Angell, Mr D Baker, Mr M Baldock, Mr M Balfour, Mr R Bird, Mr N Bond, Mr A Bowles, Mr D Brazier, Mr R Brookbank, Mr L Burgess, Miss S Carey, Mr P Carter, Mr N Chard, Mr I Chittenden, Mr B Clark, Mrs P Cole, Mr G Cowan, Mrs M Crabtree, Ms J Cribbon, Mr A Crowther, Mrs V Dagger, Mr D Daley, Mr M Dance, Mr J Davies, Mrs T Dean, Dr M Eddy, Mr J Elenor, Mr T Gates, Mr G Gibbens, Mr R Gough, Mr M Harrison, Mr M Heale, Mr M Hill, Mr C Hoare, Mrs S Hohler, Mr S Holden, Mr P Homewood, Mr E Hotson, Ms S Howes, Mr G Koowaree, Mr G Lymer,  Mr S Manion, Mr A Marsh, Mr F McKenna, Mr B Neaves, Mr M Northey, Mr P Oakford, Mr J Ozog, Mr R Parry, Mr C Pearman, Mr L Ridings, Mr J Scholes, Mr T Shonk, Mr C Simkins, Mr J Simmonds, Mr C Smith, Mr B Sweetland, Mr A Terry, Mr M Vye,  Mr M Whybrow, Mr A Wickham, Mrs Z Wiltshire.

Against (9)

Mr H Birkby, Mrs P Brivio, Mr C Caller, Ms A Harrison, Mr R Latchford, Mr T Maddison, Mrs E Rowbotham, Mr W Scobie, Mr N Thandi.

Abstain (2)

Mrs M Elenor, Mrs P Stockell.

Procedural motion carried

(4)          The Chairman then put the amendment outlined in paragraph (2) above to the vote and the votes cast were as follows:

For (19)

Mr N Bond, Mrs P Brivio, Mr L Burgess, Mr C Caller, Mr G Cowan, Ms J Cribbon, Mr D Daley, Dr M Eddy, Ms A Harrison, Ms S Howes, Mr T Maddison, Mrs E Rowbotham,  Mr W Scobie, Mr T Shonk, Mr D Smyth, Mr A Terry, Mr N Thandi, Mr R Truelove, Mr M Whybrow.

Against (55)

Mrs A Allen, Mr M Angell, Mr M Baldock, Mr M Balfour, Mr  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.