Agenda and minutes

Before the commencement of formal business Cabinet received oral reports from Mrs Hohler, Mrs Turner and Mr Mills on the actions that were currently being taken within their Directorates to ensure there was full and proportionate cover for any key members of staff who had been prevented from returning to work due to the closure of UK airspace. The position was being closely monitored and management action was in place in order to respond to what was a constantly changing situation.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 29 March 2010 were agreed and signed as a true record.

- Report by Mr John Simmonds, Cabinet Member for Finance; and Lynda McMullan, Director of Finance )

(1)       Mr Simmonds said that the main point to note from this report was the gross underlying revenue under spend (excluding schools and asylum) was now standing at £7.574m but this was expected to increase by year end to some £7.786m (excluding schools and asylum) after assuming implementation of management action, as detailed in the report.   With regard to the Capital Budget, Mr Simmonds said there had been some re-phasing but that was due to a number of reasons such as delays through the planning process.

(2)       Resolved :  

(a)       to note the latest forecast revenue and capital budget monitoring position for 2009-10 and the changes to the capital programme.

(b)       that £3.579m of re phasing on the capital programme be moved from 2009-10 capital cash limits to future years.

- Report by Mr John Simmonds, Cabinet Member for Finance and Ms Lynda McMullan, Director of Finance)

(1)       The County Council’s Strategic Risk Register is compiled from key cross cutting themes identified at directorate level and major individual risks that could impact upon the Council as a whole.

(2)      The Register was regularly reviewed and updated as appropriate and as an example since its preparation the number of Children’s Social Workers recruited by the County Council had increased with the situation continuing to improve. Highlighted risks that needed to be monitored included ensuring service transfers to the County Council were adequately funded and the placing by other local authorities of vulnerable children and adults of all ages into Kent. On the latter of these issues Mr Carter said that discussions were taking place with London local authorities designed to develop a protocol governing these types of placements which hopefully would lead to agreed practices that would prove beneficial to all. It was agreed that the Register ought to also include an entry around the possible effects of national financial difficulties on local partnerships and organisational resilience.

(3)       Resolved that subject to the inclusion in the Risk Register of the additional point set out in paragraph 4 (ii) above, the content of the Strategic Risk Register be endorsed.

- Report by Mr Mike Hill Cabinet Member for Communities and Ms Amanda Honey, Director of Communities) (Angela Slaven, Director of Youth Services and Community Support and Mr Charlie Beaumont, Effective Practice and Performance Manger were present for this item) 

(1)       This report provided the context for an introduction to the core objectives of the Kent Youth Justice Strategic Plan            for 2010/11. The report also identified the resources which the County Council was providing towards the funding of the multi-agency Youth Offending Service.

(2)       During the Course of discussion Mr Hill said that against the backdrop of youth offending being a matter of national importance the steady improvements shown in the Kent Plan were welcome and reflected the hard work which was being done by the County Council together with its partners to address youth offending issues.  Angela Slaven said whilst the improvements in performance were the result of much good and hard  work, there was no room for complacency and the Council with its partners would be working hard to maintain this level of performance and striving to move it forward even more.

(3)       Resolved that the objectives of the Kent Youth Justice Strategic Plan be noted together with the contribution the County Council was making with respect to improving both public safety and the life chances of those both at risk of entering the youth justice system and those who have offended.

- Report by Mr Alex King – Deputy Leader and Mr Peter Sass - Head of Democratic Services and Local Leadership).(The Chairman declared consideration of this item to be urgent on the grounds that because of the timing of the meeting it had not been possible to circulate it with the agenda but Cabinet needed to consider and agree its recommendations as appropriate)  

(1)            This report set out the matters discussed at the meeting of the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee held on 9 April 2010. Because of the timing of that meeting there had not been time for the responses of Cabinet members to be recorded in the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee report. The relevant Cabinet Members therefore gave an oral update on the responses with an undertaking that these would be formally submitted to the next meeting of the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee.