Agenda and minutes

– report of Mr Mike Hill, CabinetMember forCommunityServices and CorporateDirector Customerand Communities)

(1)     Cabinet receiveda reportproviding an updateon the responseby KCCand partners tothestormsand floodingexperienced overthe Christmasand NewYear period.

(2)     TheCabinetMember,Mr Hillintroduced thereport andinparticularreferredtothe following:

i.        That althoughthepoliticalandmediainteresthad focusedon particularareas ofthe county,many areashadbeenflooded.  28,500propertieshad been withoutpower and19,000calls hadbeenreceived bythe KCCcontact centreand1500to KCCHighways departmentregarding fallentrees, in addition134 rescues hadbeenperformedby the KentFire and Rescue Authority.

ii.    Thatthe circumstances hadbeenexceptional andchallenging combiningnot only rain and floods buthigh winds.  In addition the emergency was prolongedand fellover the Christmas period.

iii.   Some issueshad alreadyemerged and wouldbe consideredfurtherforthe future:

a.    Communicationsbetween individualsand agencieshad beendifficult.  Therefore staffhadbeen needed ‘on the ground’to communicate safety messages

b.    Additionalstaffhad been needed,particularlyin the contactcentre, howeversome staffhad been workingverylonghours that wouldnot havebeen sustainableforany longera periodoftime

c.    Thehandoverbetween theemergencyand recoverystages was difficultto co-ordinategiventhe ongoingbadweather and n  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

 – Report of the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Procurement Mr John Simmonds and Corporate Director for Finance and Procurement, Andy Wood)

Cabinetreceived a reportsetting out the proposedfinaldraft budgetfor2014/15and Medium TermFinancialPlan (MTFP)2014/17to be presentedto CountyCouncil for agreementon13th February2014.

TheDeputyLeader& CabinetMemberforFinanceand Procurement,Mr Simmonds, introducedthe reportforCabinet.In particularhe referredto the following:

•        Thatthe Councilhad taken£250million fromthe budgetin the lastthreeyears as a resultofpressuresand fundingreductionsand that thetrendwas setto continue.

•        Thatin lightofthesedifficulteconomicpressuresthe newsthat the governmenthad reconsideredthe cessationofthe NewHomes Bonus was welcomed.

•        Thattheproposedbudgetrepresentedthe coreobjectives that continuedto be pursuedby Kent CountyCouncil, GrowthwithoutGridlock, BoldSteps for Kent andprotectingthe vulnerable.

•        Thatthetransformationagendawould be crucialto maintainingservices inthe future.

•        Thatit wascrucial thatthe councilwas awareofthe prioritiesofresidentsof Kent whilespendingan everreducedbudgetwhich made difficultchoices moreand more likely.

•        Thatthefloods had servedas a reminderto membersofthe importanceof beingfinanciallypreparedfor theu  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

– reportof the Deputy LeaderandCabinet Memberfor Financeand ProcurementMr JohnSimmondsand CorporateDirector forFinanceand Procurement,AndyWood)

Cabinetreceived a reportproviding the budgetmonitoringpositionforOctober 2013-14 forboth revenueand capitalbudgets.Dueto revenue financeresources being focusedpredominatelyon preparingthe 2014-15budget,no activitydata was supplied.

TheDeputyLeader andCabinetMemberforFinance andProcurementintroduced the reportforCabinet.He madethefollowing comments:

•        Thatthepredictedunderspendhadbeenreducedto £1mfrom£4mowing to certaincommitments andunexpected increasesto costs,suchas SEN Transport,which wouldrise to£2.4mfollowing managementaction.  However he remainedconfidentthat thetargeted£4munderspendwould beachieved.

In relation to the Capitalbudget

•        Thatthe budgetwas setat £316mbuttheforecastoutturnwas currently £273mowing largelyto the reschedulingofprojects

•        That£3mhad beenmadeavailable fromthe reservesfor severeweather action relatingto roadmaintenancerepairs requiredafter theflooding.

Inresponsetothea questionfrom the Leaderthe Corporate DirectorforFinanceand Procurement detailedwork thatwould beundertakento ensurethatthe targeted underspendof£4mwould beachievedby theendofthe financialyear.  Hereported  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

– reportof theCabinet Memberfor EconomicDevelopment, MrMark Dance andthe Directorof Economicand SpatialDevelopment,BarbaraCooper)

Cabinet receiveda reportintroducing‘Unlockingthe Potential:Going forGrowth’, the draftKentand MedwayGrowthPlan andexplaining howthe document wouldlink to the South East LocalEnterprise Partnership’sStrategic EconomicPlanandpotential future Governmentand Europeanfunding.

TheLeaderspokebriefly oftheprojects at hand referringmembersto the significant fundsavailable throughthe LEP and the importanceofplanningin advancefor fundingwhich mightbe allocated.In additionhe spoke oftheEuropeanfunding availableand urged innovativethinking and deliveryto allow non-statutoryfunctions inlight ofrevenuebudgetcuts.  Finallyhe reportedthe success of regeneration projectsin Kent and hisdesire to see thiskind ofwork continuedthroughnewfunding streams.

Thestronglocal government/ businesspartnershipin Kent, wouldhe believed,be key to thesuccess ofthoseprojects and schemesaboutwhich hehad spoken.

RossGill, EconomicStrategyand Policy Manager,spoke tothe item.  He reported that:

•        ‘Unlocking the Potential’would requiretwo steps before 31 March2014 whenit wouldbe submittedto Government.Firstly,a strategy forKent and Medway that wasconsistent andagreeabletoall partiesmust be agreed by all.  Secondly,the highlevel allocations suggestedfor the use of local growthfundand Europeanmonies,inpart  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

– report of the CabinetMember forSocial CareandPublicHealth, Mr Graham  Gibbens  and  Corporate  Director  of  Families  and  Social  Care,  Andrew Ireland)

Cabinetreceived a reportproviding an updateon oneaspect of the Transformationof AdultSocial CareProgramme,fromthe OlderPeopleandPhysical Disability(OPPD) Divisionand outliningfurtherplannedchangesforthe Division.

TheCabinetMemberforSocial Careand Public Healthintroducedthe reportfor Cabinet;he describedthe updatewhich the report providedon the transformation programmeand the work undertakenin partnershipwith NewtonEurope.  A key elementofthatwork wouldbe the furtherintegrationofhealthand social careand the significantimpactofpartnershipwork on the supportprovided forOlderPeoplein Kent. He summarisedsome ofthe changesthathad taken place:

•        Clinical CommissioningGroup boundarieshad beenadopted bytheOlder People’steam.

•        Staffin hospitalsnow deliverservices7 days a weekand inthe futureall officeswould be workingbetween 8am and 8pm

•        Thata ‘modeloffice’trialhad been successfullyintroduced andwould be rolledout tootherteams aroundKent

Henoted some of theachievementsoflast year’s‘Model Office’initiativein Dover:

•        40% reductionin the numberofonward assessments

•        70% reductionin waitingtime forservice users

•        60% reductionofoverdue reviews

•        20% reductionin thetime thatpractitionersspenton pa  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.