Agenda and minutes

No declarations of interest were received

To agree the minutes of the previous meeting, held on 23 March 2015, as a correct record.

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as a correct record and signed accordingly by the Chairman.

To agree the amended Adult Learning, Skills and Employment Strategy for publication and to also agree the development of a more detailed Action Plan to deliver priorities and targets set out therein.  

(Item 4 – report of the Mr Roger Gough, Cabinet Member for Education and health Reform and Patrick Leeson, Director of Education and Young People’s Services)

Cabinet received a reporting the results of the recent consultation on the Adult Learning, Skills and Employment Strategy and seeking endorsement of the draft as amended for adoption by KCC.

Mr Roger Gough, Cabinet Member for Education and Health Reform introduced the report for members; in particular he referred to the following:

1. That the draft strategy presented to Cabinet was the final version of a document that had been subject to changes as a result of consultation and in particular recommendations from the Education and Young People’s Cabinet Committee who had endorsed the draft following a detailed discussion and on the basis that certain recommendations were reflected in the final draft.
2. The strategy sought to map current provision, attainment and economic need and from these findings the four priorities were drawn.  The priorities were a mixture of general priorities for increased skills and employment levels and more specific focus on priority and vulnerable groups to ensure that levels of attainment and success were raised for those who needed it most.
3. The national context within which the strategy would sit presented challenges; funding had been reduced and a shift to loans for adult learners had occurred.  The strategy recognised these issues and attempted to mitigate them in order to achieve the objectives of KCC to raise levels of skills, attainment and employment.
4. Priority sectors were identified and the importance of working with employers, LEP and KCC in order to ensure that learners achieved the relevant skills and experience for those sectors was recognised in the strategy.  A detailed action plan would now be developed in order to deliver the aims set out in the strategy.

Patrick Leeson, Corporate Director of Education and Young People’s Services, spoke to the item to draw the following further information to the attention of members:

1. That the strategy was key to maintaining and improving relationships with key stakeholders, partners and other agencies in this area of work.
2. That it was not possible to close skills gaps identified in priority sectors by raising the attainment of young people only and therefore it was crucial that older adults were also targeted.
3. That the strategy built on, and would work in conjunction with, a suite of strategies aimed at different age groups and sectors, namely the 14-24 Skills Strategy, the Community Learning and Skills Growth strategy and the LEP Skills Strategy.
4. That the strategy was not only a helpful too for KCC but was used by employers and training providers as a framework to guide decision making and provision.

Following a question from the Leader Mr Leeson added that the targets in the strategy were aimed at raising levels in Kent to those of other South Eastern authorities and were challenging but realistic.  The need for a detailed delivery plan had been identified as part of the consultation and work was underway  ...  view the full minutes text for item 112.

To consider financial monitoring information since the last Quarterly Report was received and to seek agreement to necessary changes to the capital programme.

(Item 5 – Report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Procurement, Mr John Simmonds and Corporate Director for Finance and Procurement, Andy Wood)

Cabinet received a report providing the budget monitoring position for January 2014-2015 for both revenue and capital budgets including an update on key activity data. 

Mr Simmonds, Cabinet Member for Finance and Procurement introduced the report for members and in particular, referred to the following:

Revenue budget:

1. That the projected underspend for 2014/15 was currently £8.3million after management action, which would be reduced by scheduled roll forwards of projects including the Kent Youth Employment Programme, Troubled Families programme and the rephasing of local member grants.  These planned roll forwards were expected to reduce the underspend to approximately £5million.
2. That the key factors were as previously reported with pressures existing in the areas of:

·         Specialist Children’s Services as a result of continued demand pressures

·         Unaccompanied minors seeking asylum, although this pressure was reduced by the recent decision of the Minister to allow some netting-off of grant to be used toward costs of over 18s.

·         Domiciliary care

·         SEN transport

Capital budget:

3. The current working budget was currently £279million, with a working total of £238million the variation was attributable largely to the rephasing of projects which would be rolled over to the next financial year.

Mr Simmonds concluded by thanking Cabinet Members and Directors for the work that had been undertaken to turn the initial challenging predictions in to an underspend.

Mr Carter, Leader of the Council,  agreed that the management action deserved recognition and congratulated Directors accordingly.  He also requested that further work be undertaken on asylum costs, particularly for those under seeking asylum before they were 18 years old.  He welcomed the permission from the Home Office to vire grant to adult asylum seekers from those under 18, but reminded Members that this arrangement was not guaranteed to continue and therefore it would be necessary to assess the feasibility of managing support within the government grant by delivering it differently or building a solid evidence base to request further funding.

Mr Balfour, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, spoke to address the issue of waste tonnage costs, which although showing a reduction for the January report, had previously experienced a period of consistent growth.  He reported that evidence suggested the increase could be attributed to the recovery of the economy and the consequent purchase of goods, in packaging, by residents.  KCC was continuing to work with District Councils to lobby businesses to reduce packing in order to address the problem at source.

It was RESOLVED that

To consider the progress made toward the establishing of a Growth and Infrastructure Framework for Kent and Medway

(Item 6 – Report of Mr Matthew Balfour, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport and Barbara Cooper, Corporate Director of Growth Environment and Transport )

Cabinet received a report detailing the progress made toward the development of a Growth and Infrastructure Framework for Kent and Medway.

The Leader reported that although there was no requirement to create a Growth and Infrastructure Plan as there had been previously, Kent County Council, and other some other Council’s, had agreed that it was a sensible and useful tool and therefore would be progressed.

Paul Crick, Director of Environment, Planning and Enforcement introduced the report for members and made a presentation detailing progress to date.  [The full presentation is attached as an appendix to these minutes].  In brief the presentation covered the following:

1. The basis of the Framework
2. Identified growth requirements
3. Related infrastructure requirements to support that identified growth
4. Next steps for the framework

Mr Carter, Leader of the Council, spoke to the item, he suggested that the framework would not only provide evidence for funding requests to Central Government but would also provide guidance for partnership working with the private sector and would enable pressure to be brought on utility companies to ensure that resources were targeted appropriately and services provided sufficient for any new developments

Cabinet Member for Education and Health Reform, Mr Roger Gough confirmed that, as described in the presentation received, health infrastructure would be critical to the infrastructure framework and that CCG’s realised the importance of this kind of work and were ready to be engaged.  To this end a report on the matter would be received by the Health and Wellbeing Board at its next meeting.

Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, Mr Balfour, spoke to praise the partnership working, with District Council’s and Medway that had produced such good statistical basis for the report.  This robust approach would allow KCC to pursue its strategic aims with Government and other stakeholders.  He reiterated a point made within the presentation; the document would be a ‘live’ document and would be updated on a regular, rolling basis in order to ensure that it remained relevant and useful.

Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Mr Dance reported that he had recently attended a meeting with various London Borough Council’s to address the impact of emigration, and potential future emigration, from the capital to Kent.  It was clear that there would be further work to be done and the framework would be helpful to that process.

Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health, Graham Gibbens referred to the slide within the presentation which predicted the changing demographics of Kent, specifically the increase in numbers of the elderly and very elderly.  He urged members to consider the increased demand on resources that this would bring and the need for those delivering social care services to be prepared and have in place efficient delivery methods, that may require a radical approach, particularly aimed at promoting independence.  Andrew Ireland, Corporate Director of Social Care, Health  ...  view the full minutes text for item 114.