Agenda and minutes

The Director of Governance and Law reported apologies from Mr Burgess, Mr Kite, Mr Manion, Mr Ozog and Mr Ridings.

(a)          Mr Cowan declared an interest in that both he and his wife were foster carers.

(b)          Mr Gibbens declared an Other Significant Interest in agenda item 7 (Treasury Management Annual Review 2014/15 – Page 25) as he was in receipt of a pension from the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd and left the meeting during consideration of item 31.

(1)          In response to questions on the accuracy of the recording of the voting in relation to the Motion on Time Limited debate (minute no 24) the printed record of the votes cast was checked by the Director of Governance and Law who confirmed that the voting had been accurately reflected in the minutes.

(2)          RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 16 July 2015 be approved as a correct record.

(a)       HMS Kent – Visit

(1)          The Chairman introduced Commander Daniel Thomas, Captain of HMS Kent, and Lieutenant Commander Angela Forbes, his Logistics Officer.

(2)          Commander Thomas addressed the County Council and stated that they were on a two day visit to reaffirm HMS Kent’s relationship with the County.  The Ship had returned from a busy deployment and would be going through open sea training prior to being deployed in the new year around the UK and Europe.  Commander Thomas emphasised HMS Kent’s link to the County and extended an invitation to Members to visit and have a tour of the ship.

(b)      Points of Order and Personal Explanation

(3)          The Chairman referred to the tabled paper which set out the provisions in the Constitution relating to points of order and personal explanation and clarified the way in which he intended to deal these at County Council meetings.

(c)                  The Chairman’s Long Service Award for Members

(4)       The Chairman presented a long service award to Mr James Scholes (Elected Member for Tunbridge Wells South).

 (b)      Allan Willett, former Lord-Lieutenant of Kent

(5)       The Chairman stated that it was with much sadness that he had to inform the County Council that Allan Willett, former Lord-Lieutenant of Kent, had died on Saturday 18 July, following a long illness.

(6)       There would be a Memorial Service which would take place in Canterbury Cathedral on Friday 2 October at 11.30am. Available space at the Cathedral was already limited but if any Member wished to attend they should contact the civic office.

(7)     Mr King, Mr Latchford, Mr Cowan, Mr Vye and the Chairman paid tribute to Mr Willett

(c)                  Kent Volunteers Advisory Group

(8)       The Chairman stated that he had had the pleasure of chairing the Kent Volunteers Advisory Group which was a partnership between Kent County Council, statutory agencies and representatives of the voluntary sector working to promote volunteering across the county. The overall aim of Kent Volunteers Advisory Group was to support the development of volunteering and volunteering opportunities in Kent.

(9)       The Chairman explained that volunteers provided hours of service to our communities in Kent and he intended to spend some time this year visiting sites and organisations to see the activities that were being undertaken.  He encouraged colleagues to visit and support the work of organisations in their own divisions and Kent Volunteers Advisory Group. 

In accordance with Procedure Rule 1.17(4), ten questions were put and answers given at the meeting are available online with the papers for this meeting.

(1)          The Leader stated his intention to update the Council on events since the previous meeting including, operation stack, unaccompanied asylum seeking young people and local government devolution.

(2)          Mr Carter referred to operation stack and the increase in unaccompanied asylum seeking children into the County. He expressed his thanks to staff in highways and children’s services who had done an extraordinary job in supporting all these pressures.

(3)          In relation to operation stack, Mr Carter stated that the deliberations of the stakeholder group chaired by Mr Balfour were now being considered by the Department of Transport and Highways England. It was hoped that government investment would be able to deliver a marshalling park able to hold 3,000 to 4,000 lorries and further work on the strategic logistics of managing in excess of 7,000 HGVs at any one time. A solution needed to be achieved which, kept the Queen’s Highway in Kent open at all times to remove disruption to travellers and businesses.

(4)          Mr Carter then referred to the asylum issue and set out the context of the challenge facing the County Council. Up until approximately 9 months ago the County Council had been responsible for 250 to 350 unaccompanied asylum seeking young people both below and above the age of 18.  The County Council now had a duty of care for 1122 young people and this duty would continue in a number of cases for up to 4 years.  This was generating an additional revenue cost to the County Council in the region of £6m to £7m.  He mentioned the announcement that had been made by Mr Clark, MP, acting on behalf of the Cabinet, that all reasonable costs placed on local authorities by accommodating those asylum seeking young people arriving in Kent would be met by Central Government as part of a voluntary distribution mechanism.  A Cabinet Sub-Committee chaired by Mr Clark, MP and including David Simmonds from the LGA was working closely on a national dispersal system.  He had written to the Home Secretary and made it clear that it was impossible to continue to manage the ongoing responsibilities of that number of asylum seekers and that the voluntary distribution mechanism had not worked. Therefore the Cabinet Sub-Committee needed to work on a solution for a national distribution network. This was a matter of urgency for Kent as the number of unaccompanied asylum seeking young people coming into the County would start to disrupt the placement of Kent’s own vulnerable young people due to the impact upon the number of foster care placements, accommodation etc.  In this time of local government austerity, Kent’s reasonable cost for asylum seeking young people needed to be met.

(5)           Mr Carter referred to the 20,000 Syrian refugees that had been promised entry to the UK during the life of this Parliament.  These would be vulnerable people from the camps who had been displaced from their homes due to the crisis in that area.   The LGA anticipated that local authorities would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

(1)          Mr Simmonds moved and Miss Carey seconded the motion that the report be noting.

(2)          In proposing the motion Mr Simmonds informed the County Council that £48.8m of the £50m had been recovered from Iceland and it was anticipated that the remainder was likely to be received by the end of the year along with a contribution to cover the lost interest. Kent was the only local authority to have achieved this.  

(3)          The motion was agreed without a formal vote.

(4)          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

(1)          The Chairman moved and the Vice-Chairman seconded the following motion:

“The County Council is asked to receive and consider the conclusions of the Member Remuneration Panel, as set out in paragraph 3 of the attached report.”

(2)          Mr Carter moved and Mr Simmonds seconded the following amendment:

“That the report of the independent Member Remuneration Panel be noted and referred to the Selection and Member Services Committee for consideration with the Remuneration Panel members present; and that the matter be re-considered by this County Council at a future meeting.”

(3)          Following a debate the Chairman put the amendment set out in paragraph (2) to the vote and the votes cast were as follows:

For (43)

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 M Harrison,  Mr M Hill, Mrs S Hohler, Mr S Holden, Mr P Homewood, Mr E Hotson, Mr A King, Mr R Long, Mr G Lymer, Mr A Marsh, Mr M Northey, Mr P Oakford, Mr R Parry, Mr C Pearman, Mr J Scholes, Mr C Simkins, Mr J Simmonds, Mr C Smith, Mrs P Stockell, Mr B Sweetland, Mrs C Waters,  Mr J Wedgbury, Mrs J Whittle, Mr M Whybrow, Mr A Wickham

Against (32)

Mr M Baldock, Mr H Birkby, Mrs P Brivio, Mr N Bond, Mr C Caller, Mr B Clark, Mr G Cowan, Ms J Cribbon, Mr A Crowther, Mr D Daley, Dr M Eddy, Mr J Elenor, Mrs M Elenor, Mr P Harman, Ms A Harrison, Mr M Heale, Mr C Hoare, Ms S Howes, Mr G Koowaree, Mr R Latchford, Mr B MacDowall, Mr T Maddison, Mr F McKenna, Mr B Neaves, Mrs E Rowbotham, Mr W Scobie, Mr T Shonk, Mr D Smyth, Mr A Terry, Mr N Thandi, Mr R Truelove, Mr I Chittenden

Abstain (4)

Mr R Bird, Mrs T Dean, Mr M Vye, Mrs Z Wiltshire 

Amendment carried

(4)          The Chairman put the substantive motion as set out in paragraph (2) to the vote and the voting was as follows:

For (40)

Mrs A Allen, Mr M Angell, Mr A Bowles, Mr D Brazier, Miss S Carey, Mr P Carter, Mr N Chard, Mrs P Cole, Mr G Cooke, Mrs V Dagger, Mr M Dance, Mr J Davies, Mr J Elenor, Mr T Gates, Mr G Gibbens, Mr R Gough, Mr M Harrison, Mr M Hill, Mrs S Hohler, Mr S Holden, Mr P Homewood, Mr E Hotson, Mr R Long, Mr G Lymer, Mr A Marsh, Mr M Northey, Mr P Oakford, Mr R Parry, Mr C Pearman, Mr J Scholes, Mr C Simkins, Mr J Simmonds, Mr C Smith, Mrs P Stockell, Mr B Sweetland, Mrs C Waters,  Mr J Wedgbury, Mrs J Whittle, Mr M Whybrow,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

(1)          Mr Oakford moved and Mrs Whittle seconded the following motion:

“County Council is asked to:

(a)       COMMENT on the progress and improvements made during 2014/15, as detailed in the Annual Report from Kent Safeguarding Children Board

(b)       NOTE the 2014/15 Annual Report attached.  Following this meeting, this document will be available for download at the KSCB website.”

(2)          Ms Gill Rigg, Independent Chairman of the Kent Safeguarding Children’s Board addressed the meeting and answered a number of questions from Members.

(3)          Following further debate, the motion was agreed without a formal vote.

(4)          RESOLVED that the 2014/15 Annual Report and the comments made on the progress and improvements made during 2014/15, as detailed in the Annual Report from Kent Safeguarding Children Board’s, be noted.

County Council Questions and Answers

Proposed by Mr M Baldock and seconded by Mr R Latchford, OBE

“This Council agrees to amend the Constitution in order that Questions asked in Council meetings and the answers given are included in the minutes of the Council Meeting.

In the absence of any provision in the Constitution, the matter is left to the Chairman’s discretion. Whereas the immediate past Chairman agreed to include questions and answers in the minutes, which was most welcome and appreciated by elected Members and members of the public alike, the current Chairman does not.

This Motion would ensure that the minutes are a true record of the complete meeting and the procedure is firmly embedded in the Constitution, rather than it being at the Chairman’s discretion.”

(1)          Mr Baldock moved and Mr Latchford seconded the following motion:

“This Council agrees to amend the Constitution in order that Questions asked in Council meetings and the answers given are included in the minutes of the Council Meeting.

In the absence of any provision in the Constitution, the matter is left to the Chairman’s discretion. Whereas the immediate past Chairman agreed to include questions and answers in the minutes, which was most welcome and appreciated by elected Members and members of the public alike, the current Chairman does not.

This Motion would ensure that the minutes are a true record of the complete meeting and the procedure is firmly embedded in the Constitution, rather than it being at the Chairman’s discretion.”

(2)          Mr Long moved and Mr Wedgbury seconded the following amendment:

“This Council agrees to amend the Constitution in order that Questions asked in Council meetings and the answers given are included in the online minutes of the Council Meeting.

In the absence of any provision in the Constitution, the matter is left to the Chairman’s discretion. Whereas the immediate past Chairman agreed to include questions and answers in the minutes, which was most welcome and appreciated by elected Members and members of the public alike, the current Chairman does not.

This Motion would ensure that the minutes are a true record of the complete meeting and the procedure is firmly embedded in the Constitution, rather than it being at the Chairman’s discretion.”

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

For (49)

Mrs A Allen, Mr M Angell,  Mr M Balfour, Mr D Brazier, Mrs P Brivio, 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 D Daley, Mr M Dance, Mr J Davies, Mr T Gates, Mr G Gibbens, Mr R Gough, Ms A Harrison, Mr M Harrison, Mr M Hill, Mrs S Hohler, Mr S Holden, Mr P Homewood, Mr E Hotson, Mr A King, Mr R Long, Mr G Lymer, Mr T Maddison, Mr A Marsh, Mr M Northey, Mr P Oakford, Mr R Parry, Mr C Pearman, Mrs E Rowbotham, Mr J Scholes, Mr W Scobie, Mr C Simkins, Mr J Simmonds, Mr C Smith, Mrs P Stockell, Mr B Sweetland, Mr N Thandi, Mrs C Waters,  Mr J Wedgbury, Mrs J Whittle, Mr A Wickham, Mrs Z Wiltshire

Against (30)

Mr M Baldock, Mr R Bird, Mr H Birkby, Mr N Bond, Mr A Bowles, Mr C Caller, Mr I Chittenden, Mr B Clark, Mr G Cowan, Ms J Cribbon, Mr A Crowther, Mrs T Dean, Dr M Eddy, Mr J Elenor, Mrs M Elenor, Mr P Harman, Mr M Heale, Mr C Hoare, Ms S Howes, Mr G Koowaree, Mr R Latchford, Mr B MacDowall, Mr F McKenna, Mr T Shonk, Mr D Smyth, Mr B Neaves, Mr A Terry,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.