Agenda and minutes

The Minutes of the meeting held on 12 October 2009 were agreed and signed as a true record.

(1)               In presenting this report Mr Simmonds said one of the main pressures on the revenue budget was the cost arising from bodies and agencies from outside Kent placing their clients in the County and those clients then taking up residency meaning they then  become the responsibility of the County Council.  Mr Simmonds also reported that the County Council had successfully negotiated a satisfactory outcome with the contractors for the original Turner Contract who had paid to the Council some £6m.  Mr Simmonds also gave an update on the Capital Budget and areas where projects were being re-phased.

(2)               Mr Carter said Asylum costs was still something the Council was pursuing robustly with the Government and he was optimistic that there would be a satisfactory outcome by the end of the year.

(3)               Following further discussion Cabinet:

§         noted the latest monitoring position on the revenue and capital budgets;

§         noted and agreed the changes to the capital programme, as described in the report;

§         agreed that £4.763m of re-phasing on the capital programme be moved to 2009-10 capital cash limits from future years; and

§         noted the latest financial health indicators and prudential indicators.

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

(1)       This report provided Cabinet with an update on the progress being made to recover monies deposited in Icelandic owned banks.

(2)       Mr Simmonds said that overall the negotiations to secure repayment of the Council’s deposits were going well.  Heritable had already paid a dividend and a second was expected by the end of the year.  KCC had preferential status in terms of payments to be made by Landsbanki and expected to also get this status with Glitnir.  At present the overall assessment was that the Council should get back at least 90% of its deposits.

(3) Following Further discussion Cabinet noted the report.

Report by Mr Roger Gough, Cabinet Member for Corporate Support Services & Performance Management, and Mr Peter Gilroy, Chief Executive)

(Mrs S Garton was present for this report)

(1)       This report summarised the 2009/10 half-year monitoring results forKCC’s annual business unit operating plans and included the Managing Director’s summaries of progress to date.  The half-year monitoring would be going to the next round of Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committees for discussion which would be in January 2010.

(2) Cabinet noted the report.

Report by Mr Nick Chard, Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways & Waste, and Mr Mike Austerberry, Executive Director Environment, Highways and Waste)

(1)       The East Kent Joint Waste Project is a groundbreaking initiative across both tiers of local government to deliver more cost effective waste collection, processing and disposal services and improved recycling performance in East Kent.

(2)       Attached to the Cabinet report was a report from the project partners (KCC, Thanet District Council, Dover District Council, Shepway District Council and Canterbury City Council) submitted to the East Kent Joint Arrangements Committee (EKJAC) at a meeting on 25 November, recommending each partner Authority seek their own internal approvals to commit to the project.  This would take the form of each partner signing a non-legally binding Memorandum of Understanding, and a formal legal agreement based on the principles of the Memorandum as soon as possible thereafter.

(3)           During the course of discussion Mr Carter and Mr Chard spoke in support of this initiative and commended it to Cabinet.

(4)     Cabinet agreed:

(i)        To express support and commitment to the East Kent Joint Waste Project by endorsing the Memorandum of Understanding set out at Annex 1 to the EKJAC report of 25 November 2009;

(ii)      that the Leader of the County Council be authorised to sign the Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the County Council;

(iii)    the Executive Director of Environment, Highways and Waste be authorised to take all necessary steps to progress the project together with the partner authorities;

(iv)    that Kent County Council’s participation in the legal agreement (based upon the Memorandum of Understanding) with the four east Kent authorities would be  taken as a separate Key Decision by the Cabinet Member for Environment Highways and Waste.

Report by Sarah Hohler, Cabinet Member for Children, Families & Education, and Rosalind Turner, Managing Director, Children, Families and Education)

(1)       In commending this report Mrs Hohler said Round Three Children Centres would build on existing services, and would not therefore be seeking to create new services, and reflected sound business management.  She also spoke about the importance of having engagement with local members.  Mrs Turner said monitoring of Children’s Centres would be undertaken against a back drop of national and international research which was helping the Council to model effective ways of working.

(2)       Following discussion Cabinet noted the report and endorsed its content.

Report by Mr Mike Hill, Cabinet Member, Community Services, and Amanda Honey, Managing Director, Communities)

(1)               This report provided an update on the Museum of Kent Life and the actions undertaken to give it a long term sustainable future.  These actions included placing the day to day management of the museum with the Continuum Group Ltd although the Museum Trustees remained the governing body with responsibility for the Museum’s collection.  Mr Hill outlined the actions which had been taken to put the Museum on a stable management and financial footing and Mr Brazier and Mrs Hohler both spoke about the positive changes which had taken place in the management and running of the Museum and the pleasing increases in visitor numbers.

(2)       Cabinet noted the successful transfer of the operational responsibilities for the Kent Museum of Rural Life to a commercial company.

Report by Mr Alex King, Deputy Leader, and Mr Peter Sass, Head of Democratic Services and Local Leadership)

This report set out the decisions from the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee held on 21 October 2009 and the responses made as appropriate by the Cabinet members.