Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence and notification of any substitutions.

No apologies for absence were received.

Mr Graham Gibbens, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health reported that he would leave the meeting at 11am.

No declarations of interest were received.

To approve the minutes of the last meeting as a correct record.

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

To receive a report including the latest monitoring position on both the revenue and capital budgets and agree necessary changes to the capital programme.

Cabinet received a report providing the budget monitoring position for both the revenue and capital budgets as at quarter 3, including an update on key activity data.

Mr John Simmonds, Cabinet Member for Finance and Procurement introduced the item for members.  He began by reporting the key themes from the revenue budget position; in particular he drew attention to the following:

1. The he was pleased to report a quarter 3 projected underspend of £2.04million.
2. That this figure would be impacted by planned roll forwards, including £90k for the Kent Youth Employment programme, £150k for the Kent Safeguarding Board as well as some elements of the Kent and Medway Vulnerable Adults budget.  Taking these in to account the projected underspend was reduced to £1.726million.  In addition there were further roll forwards conditional on a balanced budget that would reduce the projected underspend to approximately £141k
3. Unaccompanied asylum seeking children budgets continued to show a pressure despite the latest grant calculations, but the figures for new entrants had been well within estimate and that was encouraging. 
4. The Adults Social Care portfolio also continued to experience significant pressures, currently showing a pressure of just over £5million in part as a result of increased activity at the end of the 2014/15 financial year. 
5. The Education and Young People’s budget continued to experience pressure on the SEN transport budget, offset in part by savings made on home to school transport and Young Persons Travel Passes.
6. The Growth, Environment and Transport Portfolios showed a satisfactory position; in particular increased income from registration activities was pleasing.

Mr Simmonds concluded, in relation to the revenue budget, that the overall picture was satisfactory but that the last quarter would be critical if the desired budget roll overs were to be achieved.

In relation to the Capital Budget Mr Simmonds informed members that of the £375million budget the forecast outturn was currently £259m.  The £115million variance was largely a result of the normal timing and rephasing issues with only £1.8million being ‘real’ variance.

Following a question from the Leader My Wood, Corporate Director for Finance and Resources confirmed that he was confident that a balanced budget would be achieved.

It was RESOLVED that:

To receive and note the Quarter 3 2015-16 performance report containing information on the key areas of performance for the authority.

 Cabinet received a report containing information on the key areas of performance for the authority as at quarter 3.

Richard Fitzgerald, Business Intelligence Manager – Performance, was in attendance to present the item.  He introduced the item for members and in particular referred to the following:

1. That overall performance for the authority was good with most indicators reported as ‘green’; performance on or above target and the net direction of travel was positive.
2. He continued by drawing members attention to the following specific areas of performance:
   1. Customer Services had showed good performance in relation to call answering but website visitor numbers and user satisfaction remained under target.
   2. Growth, Environment and Transport Directorate performance was good, in particular, performance for waste recycling and diversion from landfill targets had been very good.
   3. Education and Young People’s Services had shown performance ahead of target for schools rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by ofsted and although the number of NEETs aged 16-18 recorded was higher than desired, the number of young people in apprenticeships had increased and youth unemployment was at an all-time low.
   4. Specialist Children’s Services had shown improved performance in the percentage of case file audits judged to be ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ and positive reductions in caseloads were also recorded.  In addition the number of children who were subject to child protection plans was at its lowest since March 2013.  The numbers of children in need were 3% lower and the local number of children in care 5% lower, than at this time last year but pressure remained from unaccompanied asylum seeking children.
   5. In the Adult Social Care portfolio, the number of ‘promoting independence’ reviews undertaken had increased and an improvement in good outcomes following enablement was also recorded although the enablement throughput remained behind target.  An increase in the number of older people entering residential and nursing care was reported for quarter 3 but the numbers remained within target.  Pressure remained in relation to delayed transfers of care and that was a local and national trend.
   6. Public Health had shown reduced performance in relation to the delivery of ‘health checks’ largely attributed to pressures in the primary care environment in which the checks were administered.  A new indicator was reported, following the transfer of health visiting responsibilities to the local authority in October which showed that performance levels had been maintained during the transition period.

The Leader spoke to the item and referred to recent comments from government ministers regarding the nature of local government involvement in education and the benefits of academisation.  He felt that it was therefore timely to conduct some further analysis on the performance of academies and for members to be provided with evidence as to whether academisation had led to improved educational standards.  Mr Carter accepted that some of the work would be difficult to analyse, as the first academies were made up of those who were forced to change as a result of poor performance as well as those schools who voluntarily became academies.  Patrick  ...  view the full minutes text for item 159.

To receive, for approval, the Education Commissioning Plan 2016 – 20.

Cabinet received a report seeking agreement of the updated Commissioning Plan for Education 2016-20.  The Leader invited Mr Roger Gough, Cabinet Member for Education and Health Reform and Patrick Leeson, Corporate Director of Education and Young People’s Services to introduce the item and reported that Professor Ann Bamford, of the Arch Diocese of Southwark would be speaking to the item.

Mr Gough began by referring to the following matters:

1. That the Commissioning plan had been in existence since 2012 and was updated annually.
2. He reported that the plan predicted an accelerated increase in the need for secondary school places.  In recent years the focus had been on the expansion of primary schools and this was maintained in 2016-17 where 16 additional permanent forms of entry were planned compared to 6 in secondary schools.  This would level out in the following year with secondary expansions taking over from 2018-19.
3. The Commissioning plan was designed taking in to account evidence and projections from a number of sources including birth rates, inward migration and significant actual, and planned, house building and although the increase was likely to be county wide there were likely to be pockets of acute pressure, North West Kent in particular.
4. The report included information on financing and it was clear that there were likely to be pressures on delivery of the plan.  Work would be undertaken to ensure that the programme was delivered and alternative means of delivery investigated to ensure that this was done in the most cost effective manner while still achieving the objectives of the local authority.
5. Other changes to the plan included strengthening of sections on Special Education Needs, Early Years and Post 16 education.
6. Referring to the speaker in attendance, Professor Ann Bamford, Mr Gough reported that they had met and discussed each school in detail and that he hoped it had been helpful.  He liaised with District Councils about the plan as a matter of custom and felt it was sensible to also include the three diocese in Kent in these discussions

Patrick Leeson, Corporate Director of Education and Young People’s Services spoke to the item and thanked the schools of Kent for the help that they had provided to the local authority in delivering the plan to date.  Approximately 25% primary schools had been expanded and that could not have been achieved without significant input and cooperation from Head teachers and governing bodies.  Going forward, the plan would be even more challenging to deliver; by 2019-20 the plan projected the need for 40 additional forms of entry in primary schools and 39 in secondary schools. This would create 4000 additional places, as reported, the balance would shift toward the need for secondary school places and they could often be more challenging to provide.  In addition the capacity to expand existing schools would continue to reduce and therefore create a reliance on new schools being created.  One route to achieving the creation of new schools was through sponsored arrangements for free schools and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 160.

To consider and comment on the draft KCC response to the Lower Thames Crossing consultation currently being conducted by Highways England.

Cabinet received a report outlining the proposed response from KCC to Highways England’s (HE) consultation on the Lower Thames Crossing (LTC) route options.

The Leader introduced the item and set out briefly the reasons for executive support for option C.  Although he empathised with residents who may be affected by the route, he and the executive believed it to be the best option subject to two crucial matters being resolved; firstly that the ‘WSL’ route be used to link the A2/M2 to the option C solution and secondly that the proposed links to the A226 should not be undertaken objection.

Mr Mathew Balfour, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport introduced the item, in particular he referred to the following:

1. That KCC was responding to a consultation and not making any decision on the proposals.  He expressed sympathy with anyone who might be affected by the proposals for a new crossing but also regarded relief of issues for residents of Dartford and elsewhere as a priority.
2. That the channel tunnel was crucial to trade and delivery in Britain and, as it could not be moved, Kent must facilitate HGV traffic in a way that was as efficient as possible and that impacted upon local roads as little as possible.  This was the basic principle behind the support for option C.
3. KCC supported the inclusion of a tunnel that was as long as possible in order to protect the environment and reduce the impact of emissions.
4. That the WSL was crucial to the support of KCC for option C and for the success of an option C Thames Crossing.

Katie Stewart, Director of Environment, Planning and Enforcement reported that the response for consideration was the product of consultation with both the Growth, Economic Development & Communities Cabinet Committee and the Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee and with local councils potentially affected by the proposals.

The Leader expressed concern regarding the lack of long term strategic vision displayed by HE and felt that it was crucial to achieving satisfactory outcomes for the strategic highways network in Kent, in particular the links between the option C solution and the M2 corridor and M20 corridor.  

Mr Mark Dance, Cabinet Member for Economic Development reported form the last meeting of SELEP:  Medway Unitary Council would also be supporting the WSL option; and a debate took place about the length of time that the development would take to deliver and how to ensure that plans made now would be fit for purpose once realised.

Joe Ratcliffe, Transport Strategy Manager, spoke to the item to further confirm the need for a strategic overview to any proposals, including the link between the M2 and the M20; the A249 connection and all the other improvements and other considerations contained within the proposed response and on which KCC support was dependent. 

It was RESOLVED that the proposed response be endorsed.

To receive a report, exempt from publication and likely to be considered in closed session, on the future of KCC Legal Services.

[This is a public minute of an ‘exempt’ item].

Cabinet received a report providing details of the conclusions drawn from the Facing the Challenge market engagement for Legal Services and putting forward recommendations for approval on the outcome of the procurement process, the implementation of the council’s commissioning strategy and a new service delivery model for Kent Legal Services. 

Geoff Wild, Director of Governance and Law introduced the report for members and highlighted the key findings of the work undertaken and the recommendations for consideration by members. 

Ben Watts, Head of Law – Litigation and Social Welfare and Guy Record, Strategic and Corporate Services, Finance and Procurement were also in attendance to provide information for members.  Guy Record gave a presentation which set out the approach taken to assessing value for money and a comparison of the two options considered.

Cabinet welcomed the report and the information provided by officers present.  Cabinet considered carefully the information received, put forward views and asked questions of officers who in turn provided responses.

It was RESOLVED that