Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 May 2012 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman. Mrs Whittle referred to paragraph 33 of the minutes and said the report on the Transformation of Children’s Services would be coming to the July meeting of Cabinet.

– Report by Mr J Simmonds, Cabinet Member for Finance and Business Support and Mr A Wood the Corporate Director of Finance and Procurement)

 (1)      The draft of the Council’s accounts for 2011/12 had been handed to the Council’s auditors and the indication was that there would be a likely under spend of some £16.2m. The report detailed the main reasons for this movement in position and Mr Simmonds said whilst the under spend reflected the Council’s good financial management the budget situation would remain tight over the next 2 to 3 years. Mr Sweetland said the £6m proposed to be allocated to the rolling reserve for highways maintenance would, following the successful pothole repair scheme be targeted at road re-surfacing schemes. Mr Cockburn said the £2m earmarked for investment in technology and communications would be built around a robust business case. Mr Hill said investment in these areas would lead to improvements and make savings.

(2)       Cabinet resolved to:

(a)       note the provisional revenue outturn position for 2011-12,

(b)       agree the transfer of £6m to the rolling budget reserve for highways maintenance, to be drawn down in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways & Waste; and,

(c)        agree the transfer of £2m to the rolling budget reserve for investment in technology and communications, to be drawn down upon agreement of a robust business case.

- report by Mr Roger Gough, Cabinet Member for Business Strategy and Support and Mr David Cockburn – Corporate Director Business Strategy and Support) (Mr Richard Fitzgerald, Performance Manager was present for this item)

(1)       Mr Gough said that the 30 Key Performance Indicators included in the Performance Report showed an encouraging movement from Red and Amber towards Green for the final quarter of the year. . Moving forward, future reports would include more qualitative indicators including ones linked to the Customer Services Strategy and also lead indicators such as information around demand levels.  Mr Carter said the role of the Cabinet Committees would be important in helping evolve the reporting process, looking at moredetailed directorate dashboards and looking at the quality and relevance of the indicators and ensuring the right things were being measured.

(2)       During the course of discussion several Cabinet Members provided further updated information on targets relevant to their portfolios following which Cabinet Resolved to note the report. 

– report by Mr Mike Whiting, Cabinet Member for Education, Learning and Skills and Mr Patrick Leeson, Corporate Director for Education, Learning and Skills)

(1)     Bold Steps for Education sets out Kent County Council’s, Education, Learning and Skills vision, priorities and improvement targets to 2015 and the document had already been discussed by the Education Cabinet Committee and by  Head teachers. Mr Whiting said the monitoring of the targets would mainly be through the Education Cabinet Committee but in addition two working boards would also be established to ensure targets remained focused and on course for delivery. There would also be an annual update to Cabinet. Overall Bold Steps for Education was a focused and ambitious strategy which would improve and champion educational excellence and support the drive towards ensuring Kent was one of the best places in the country to be educated. Mrs Dunn spoke of the importance of the 14 to 24 strategy aimed at building links between schools and businesses to help and aid young people move from education into work. There was also a need to look at narrowing the gap of attainment for young people with disabilities.  Mr Carter said it was essential for the County Council to take this opportunity to develop momentum around the need for schools to develop programmes which met the needs of its pupils and the business community.

(2)       Following further discussion Cabinet resolved to endorse the Education, Learning and Skills’ Vision and Priorities for Improvement, in order to create the conditions in which pupils experienced the best teaching and learning, so that:

·        excellence was promoted across the system and the County had more good and outstanding schools;

·        the Council commissions and provides sufficient school places of good quality

·        educational standards improved and every child and young person in Kent met their full potential; and

·        every young person benefited from a broad range of pathways to further learning and employment, both for their own achievement and future employability and for the success  of the Kent economy.

7 – report by Mr Roger Gough, Cabinet Member for Business Strategy and Support and Amanda Beer, Corporate Director for Human Resources)

(1)       This report providedan update on progress in all areas covered by the Change to Keep Succeeding programme of organisational change including progress on populating the senior level of the new operating framework, changes to staffing across the Authority since April 2011, restructures and other key organisational development activity. 

(2)       Mr Gough said the past 12 months had seen a reduction in staff numbers of 1,296, which in terms of full time equivalent posts equated to 966. The number of redundancies was 605 with an overall cost of £5m which averaged to £8k per case. Mrs Beer said the restructures currently under consultation and planned would likely see a further reduction in posts and a reduction in the number of tiers of management. The agreed model for tiers and management accountability was being consistently applied across KCC.  Staff communication and engagement remained significantly important in order to ensure there was understanding and engagement as these changes evolved.  The Organisational Development and People Plan was being embedded in all directorates.  Mr Carter said the restructuring had seen some tough decisions needing to be taken over the past 12 months and it was essential as staff numbers changed that there was rigour in ensuring the right people remained with the organisation as it moved forward.  Mr Carter placed on record his thanks to staff for maintaining high levels of service and standards during this period.

(3)       Cabinet resolved to note the report

8 – report by Mr Alex King, Deputy Leader and Mr Peter Sass Head of Democratic Services)

Cabinet resolved that this report be agreed