Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 October 2013 were agreed and signed by the Chairman as a true record.

TheLeaderoftheCouncil,Mr Carter,reportedthatno urgent reportswould be received,however, in responseto asmallprotestbeingconductedoutsideofCounty Hallregarding therecent reviewof Children’sCentres inKenthe provideda brief update ofthe current position.

A report to the Social Care and Public Health Cabinet Committee had been published on 27 November for consideration at the meeting scheduled for 5 December.  The report detailed the outcomes of the recent consultation and the proposals for the future of Children’s Centres.  He welcomed the thorough and genuine consultation and thanked the Cabinet Member for Specialist Children’s Services for her hard work in engaging with those who may be impacted.  He invited the Cabinet Member for Specialist Children’s Services to comment on the paper.  Mrs Whittle made the following statements:

•        Anextensive consultationlasting 3monthshad takenplaceand wasnow concluded.

•       Theoriginal proposalconsulteduponhadbeento close23Centres buthad been amended followingthe consultationto 12.

•       Thanks  were  extended  to  KCC  Members  and  Kent’s  MP’s  for  their involvement   in   the   process,   as   well   as   to   Children   Centre   staff, professionals and parentswho had responded.

•       Thatshoulda centrebe closedin aparticularlocality, serviceswouldbe continuedinnearbylocal alternativecommunityvenues.

•       The  current  proposals  to  be  discussed  by  the  Cabinet  Committee  and eventuallyto beconsidered foradoptionby herself,would helpto protect services  in  the  future  and  would  be  able  to  survive  and  respond  to continueddifficulteconomictimes.

– reportof theDeputy Leaderand CabinetMember forFinanceand Procurement and AndyWood,CorporateDirectorfor Financeand Procurement)

Cabinetreceived areportproviding thesecondfullfinancialmonitoringreport ofthe

2013 -14 financialyear.  Mr  Simmonds  introduced  the  report  to  cabinet  and  in particular  referred  to  the  following  details  contained  within  it,  pertaining  to  the revenuebudget:

•        Thatthereport waspositive andthe Councilremainedon targettodeliver an underspend.

•        An   underspend   of   £5.179million   was   currently   reported   before   any managementactionhadbeentaken,which would bereducedto £2.647million bythe rephasingofprojects/programmesincludingSocial Fundmoniesand Kent YouthEmployment.  Following scheduledmanagementactionit was expectedthat the underspendwould increaseto £4.049million

•        Sincethelastreport,the increasein theunderspendbeforemanagement action  and  roll  forward  requirements  could  be  largely  attributed  to  three factors,therephasingof theKentYouthEmploymentProgramme, an underspendrelatedto wastemanagementand savingsin thecustomerand communitiesportfolio.  Thishad beenoffsetby increased pressureonthe propertybudget and ashortfallin theEducationalservice grantrelating to schoolsconvertingto academies.

•        That£4.506million grantfundingreceived fromcentralgovernmentatthe beginning of theyear had beenhelpfulin achieving thesatisfactory6 month position.

•        Th  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

– report ofthe Leader andCabinetMember forBusiness Strategy,Audit and Performance, MrPaulCarter andCorporateDirector forBusinessStrategyand Support,David Cockburn)

Cabinetreceived areportdetailingperformancein keyareas duringthe firstquarter of thefinancial year.

TheLeaderandCabinetMemberforBusinessStrategy, Audit &Transformation,Mr Paul Carter,introducedthereport for members,he commentedon theneedto managedemandled servicesand theimportanceofpreventative servicesin managing areductionin thoseareas.   HerequestedthatRichardFitzgerald, PerformanceManager BSS,spoketodrawattention toany areasofparticular relevanceor variation.Mr Fitzgeralddrew attentionto the followinginformation:

•        Thattherehad beena smallreductionin thenumberofLooked AfterChildren

•        Thatfora   numberofperformancetargets showingas amberperformance was  close  to  or  better  than  the  national  average  with  the  amber  rating reflectingchallenginglocaltargets whichhadbeen set.

•        Thatthe three‘reds’reportedwhereas atthelastQuarter.  Namely,Social workerposts filled,NHShealthchecksand Schoolsin category.

•        NHSHealth Checksshoweda positive direction oftravel.

•        14Indicatorshadimprovedwhile 14reportedlower thanat thelastquarter which wasa balancedposition.

TheLeadercommentedthat thecurrent levelsof schoolsin category andtemporary social workersemployedwere big issues,and as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

 – report of the Leader and Cabinet Member for Business Strategy, Audit and Performance, Mr Paul Carter and Corporate Director for Business Strategy and Support, David Cockburn)

Cabinet received a report presenting the latest version of the Kent County Council Corporate Risk Register.

Mark Scrivener, Corporate Risk Manager was in attendance to talk to the item.  He introduced the report to Cabinet explaining that the Corporate Risk register was a living document and as such risks were deleted, escalated or adapted according to various factors.  The report detailed such changes for consideration, and any actions being taken to mitigate risks reported.

No further comments were received.

It was RESOLVED: