Agenda and minutes

The General Counsel reported apologies from Mr Baldock, Mr Beaney, Mr Cannon, Mr Chard, Mr Collor, Ms Constantine, Mrs Dean, Mr Hill, Mr Hills, Mr Meade, Mr Simkins, Mr Sole and Mr Watkins. 

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 27 May 2021 be approved as a correct record.

Chairman’s Charity

(1)          The Chairman announced that she had chosen to support Kent Foster Care Association as her charity for the year.  She said this was a Kent-based charity that supported registered foster carers and the children in their care.  The charity also promoted the professionalism of foster carers in the significant role they play in managing the care of children and young adults and organised a variety of inclusive events including sport, outdoor events, and the creative arts.  Further information about the charity can be found on its website at www.kfca.org.uk. 

The Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2021

(2)          The Chairman said that a number of Kent residents had received honours in the Queen’s Birthday Honours this year, including Bill Ferris, the recently retired Chief Executive of Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust and a serving Deputy Lieutenant of Kent, who was awarded a CBE and Jo Holmes, Head of the Civic Office at Kent County Council, the Deputy Clerk to the Kent Lieutenancy and a serving Deputy Lieutenant of Kent, who was awarded an MVO.  She asked  members to join with her in congratulating them, and everyone who had received an honour in this year’s Birthday Honours list, especially those based in Kent.

LoCASE Award

(3)  The Chairman said that Kent County Council was recognised at a national level for its work in supporting sustainable and clean growth and that the Low Carbon Kent team, chiefly through the Low Carbon Across the South-East (LoCASE) project, had been unanimously voted winners of the Delivering Clean Growth category at the President of the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) Awards.  She said that the LoCASE project had been running since 2016 and was a partnership between Kent County Council, East Sussex County Council, Essex County Council, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, Thurrock Council and the University of Brighton.  In addition, KCC had recently been given the green light to extend this programme to include LEP areas across the South as part of an ambitious multi-LEP collaboration.  She asked members to join her in congratulating everyone involved in the project on their success and on being recognised in this way.

Graduate Scheme Awards

(4)          The Chairman said that KCC had been placed at 35 in the rankings for the Top Companies for Graduates in the UK and had also come top in the ‘Charity, Education and Public Sector’ category for the first time.  In addition, KCC was the only local authority to make the graduate list too.  She asked members to join her in congratulating everyone involved in the scheme on their success and on being recognised in this way.

In accordance with Sections 14.15 to 14.22 of the Constitution, 5 questions were asked and replies given. A record of all questions put and answers given at the meeting is available online with the papers for this meeting.

As Mr Chard and Ms Constantine were not present during this item a written answer to their questions has been provided.

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

(2)          Mr Gough outlined the reasons for holding the County Council meeting away from County Hall and said some members had sent apologies as they were self-isolating following notifications from the NHS Covid-19 app.  He went on to say that the most recent figures for Kent showed weekly cases of Covid-19 infections to the 18 July of 407.1 per 100,000, which was an increase from 230 the previous week, but below the national average and the average for the South-East. He referred to the success of the vaccination programme, and its effect on weakening the links between infection and hospitalisation and between infection and serious illness or death. He said that almost all legal restrictions imposed to deal with Covid-19 would be lifted from Monday 19 July and that the authority would pay heed to the continuing guidance issued by government. He said all 18 public libraries in Kent would re-open but in accordance with government guidance, there was an expectation that staff and visitors would continue to wear face masks.  He also acknowledged the impact of self-isolation on both KCC and other organisations.

(3)          Mr Gough said the initial transition arrangements for leaving the EU had concluded on 31 December 2020, but in reality there would be a series of transitions including the introduction of import controls from 2022.  He said preparation for the transition had been seen as a major success for KCC both in terms of working with district councils and with members of parliament to secure government commitment to the international border facility in Dover and border health facilities located nearby.  He said the authority had successfully made the case that this was an important investment in Kent, and that it would avoid a single point of failure, undermining resilience and putting excessive strain on the inland border facility at Sevington.  He referred to the lifting of passenger travel restrictions on 19 July and said that Operation Brock had been activated on the M20 motorway to deal with increased passenger traffic, longer passport checks and any staff shortages arising from self-isolation requirements.  He said the Kent Resilience Forum was continuing to monitor the situation and that KCC was well-prepared to discharge its responsibilities such as driver welfare if needed.  He also said it might be possible to stand down Operation Brock in the coming days; however, longer- term investment to ensure the border and the infrastructure supporting it was both smart and resilient and major issues, such as the impact of HGVs on the county of Kent, would be a major focus of the authority’s continuing conversation with government. 

(4)          Mr Gough drew members’ attention to references to Levelling Up and new deals for counties in the Prime Minister’s speech the previous week.  Mr Gough believed Kent had grounds for good and important engagement with the government and would focus on the need for skills and for border infrastructure.

(5)          Mr Gough said public  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

(1)  Mr Gough proposed and Mr Oakford seconded the motion that

“The County Council notes the Performance Report”.

(2)  Following the debate the Chairman put the motion set out in paragraph 1.

(3)  RESOLVED that the County Council notes the Performance Report.

(1)  Mrs Chandler proposed and Mr Gough seconded the motion that

“the County Council notes the content of the report”.  

(2)  Following the debate the chairman put the motion set out in paragraph 1.

(3)  RESOLVED that the County Council notes the content of the report.

(1)          Mr Gough proposed and Mrs Bell seconded the motion that

“the County Council

(a)  Approves the development of a partnership framework to underpin the County Council’s continuing partnership with the Integrated Care System based on the requirements of the White Paper.

(b)  Endorses further exploration with Health leaders to identify shared areas of ambition and opportunities for new ways of working as the Integrated Care System develops.

(c)  Agrees to the principles for partnership working with the emerging Integrated Care System as at section 7 the report.

(d)  Agrees to the transition of the Kent and Medway Joint Health and Wellbeing Board to the Health and Care Partnership Board subject to the agreement of all Partners”.

(2)          Following the debate the chairman put the motion set out in paragraph 1 to the vote and the voting was as follows:

For (50)

Mrs Allen, Mr Baker, Mr Barrington-King, Mr Beart, Mrs Bell, Mrs Binks, Mr Bond, Mr Booth, Mr Brazier, Mr Broadley, Miss Carey, Mr Carter, Mrs Chandler, Mrs Cole, Mr Cole, Mr Cooke, Mr Cooper, Mr Crow-Brown, Mr Dance, Mr Dendor, Mrs Game, Mr Gough, Mrs Hamilton, Mrs Hohler, Mr Holden, Mrs Hudson, Mr Jeffery, Mr Kennedy, Mr Kite, Mr Love, Mr Manion, Mr Marsh, Mrs McArthur, Mr McInroy, Mr Murphy, Mr Oakford, Mrs Parfitt-Reid, Mrs Prendergast, Mr Rayner, Mr Richardson, Mr Ridgers, Mr Robey, Mr Ross, Mr Shonk, Mr Sweetland, Mr Thomas, Mr Weatherhead, Mr Webb, Mr Wright, Mrs Wright.

Against (7)

Mr Brady, Mr Campkin, Ms Dawkins, Mr Harman, Mr Lewis, Mrs Meade, Dr Sullivan.

Abstain (8)

Mrs Brunneau, Mr Chittenden, Mr Daley, Mr Hood, Mr Hook, Mr Lehman, Mr Stepto, Mr Streatfeild.

Motion Carried

(3)          RESOLVED that the County Council:

(a)  Approves the development of a partnership framework to underpin the County Council’s continuing partnership with the Integrated Care System based on the requirements of the White Paper.

(b)  Endorses further exploration with Health leaders to identify shared areas of ambition and opportunities for new ways of working as the Integrated Care System develops.

(c)  Agrees to the principles for partnership working with the emerging Integrated Care System as at section 7 the report.

(d)  Agrees to the transition of the Kent and Medway Joint Health and Wellbeing Board to the Health and Care Partnership Board subject to the agreement of all Partners.

(1)      Mr Gough proposed and Mr Oakford seconded the motion that

“The County Council

(a)      Determine the total number of Committee places; the allocation of those places between the political groups; and the allocation of places on certain bodies;

(b)      Note that Selection and Member Services made the necessary appointments to outside bodies, except for those which fall to be made by the Leader of the Council; and

(c)       Agree to give delegated authority to the Democratic Services Manager, in consultation with the four Group leaders and the Monitoring Officer to adjust the allocation of committee places in order to conform to overall proportionality requirements”.

(2)      Following the debate the chairman put the motion set out in paragraph 1 to the vote.

(3)      RESOLVED that the County Council

(a)  Agrees the total number of Committee places; the allocation of those places between the political groups; and the allocation of places on certain bodies;

(b)  Notes that Selection and Member Services made the necessary appointments to outside bodies, except for those which fall to be made by the Leader of the Council; and

(c)  Agrees to give delegated authority to the Democratic Services Manager, in consultation with the four Group leaders and the Monitoring Officer to adjust the allocation of committee places in order to conform to overall proportionality requirements.

(1)  Mr Gough proposed and Mr Oakford seconded the motion that

“County Council notes the report”.

(2)  Following the debate the chairman put the motion set out in paragraph 1.

(3)  RESOLVED that the County Council notes the report.

(1)          Mrs Binks proposed and Mr Brazier seconded the motion that

“the County Council approve the proposed amendments to the Terms of Reference of the Governance and Audit Committee”.

(2)          Following the debate the chairman put the motion set out in paragraph 1.

(3)          RESOLVED that the County Council approves the proposed amendments to the Terms of Reference of the Governance and Audit Committee.