Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 15 July 2019 were a correct record and that they be signed by the Chairman. 

Rachel Kennard was in attendance for this item.

1.            Miss Carey introduced the report which presented performance for the first quarter to the end of June 2019.  Of the 35 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) contained within the report 24 were rated as Green, 7 were Amber and 4 were Red. 

2.            Three KPIs had moved to Green in this quarter, these were:

                                  i.    Customer Services – Percentage of complaints responded to within timescale.

                                ii.    Children, Young People and Education (CYPE) – Percentage of children in care with 3 or more placements in the last 12 months.

                               iii.    Adult Social Care – Number of admissions to permanent residential and nursing care for older people – rolling 12 months. 

3.            The number of KPIs rated red had increased from 3 to 4, these were:

a.    CYPE

                                  i.    Percentage of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) issued within 20 weeks – rolling 12 months

                                ii.    Percentage of 16-18 year olds who start an apprenticeship

                               iii.    Percentage of cases closed by Early Help Units with outcomes achieved. 

b.    Environment and Transport

                                  i.    Percentage of routine pothole repairs completed within 28 days.  (However June performance was back above target). 

4.            Overall performance was positive the majority of indicators were green but there was a small number below acceptable and this would continue to be monitored closely. 

5.            Mr Gough, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education commented on the strong areas of performance such as the 91% of schools in Kent which were, in June, Good or Outstanding compared to the national figure of 86%.   Whilst there had been a decline in apprenticeships this had been less than the national decline, the report set out the range of activity undertaken in this area.  Referring to Early Help, cases closed with outcomes achieved this was due to a higher than usual number of families declining support at first contact and disengagement from support at a later stage in the pathway.    The EHCP measure was the most concerning and the Council was extremely focussed on this.  The report set out two elements in relation to EHCPs, one was caseworker capacity and the other was the delay in Educational Psychology assessment. 

6.            The Leader referred to the high number of other local authority children in care placed into Kent and the failure of the system to have any impact on the agreement with London Boroughs that children would be placed closer to home. 

7.            Overall there had been a significant and positive improvement on some vitally important areas of business for the Council. 

8.            Matt Dunkley considered that it would be useful to ensure that the ‘Percentage of cases closed by Early Help Units with outcomes achieved’ indicator should be reviewed to ensure it reflected the work of Early Help supporting complex young people.  This was supported by the Leader but he confirmed that the performance management information was independent of the Senior Management Team and Members. 

9.              Mr Dance referred to Broadband, Kent had achieved 95.7%  ...  view the full minutes text for item 111.

1.            Mr Barrington-King, Chairman of the Select Committee introduced the report of his Select Committee, which began its work in April 2019 following concerns raised at County Council about knife crime in Kent.  The Committee was charged with being agile, responsive and to deal with the problem in an urgent fashion. 

2.            Mr Barrington-King drew out the key points of the report, tackling knife crime required a joined up approach with input as early as possible with the education of young people.  Mr Barrington-King briefly explained the background to each of the 7 recommendations and Members discussed these recommendations. 

3.            Mr Chittenden commented on the report which aimed to stop the escalation into knife crime, communication between agencies was key and he considered recommendation 1 to be essential.  There needed to be a joint effort between agencies and schools and exclusions needed to be monitored closely.  Mr Chittenden recommended the report to Cabinet.

4.            The Leader emphasised that although the incidents of knife crime had increased in Kent the county was below national average.  The rise was of massive concern which had led to the urgent Select Committee report. 

5.            Mr Farrell commented on the reduction of police officers and the closure of youth centres.  He considered that young people were left with a sense of no future, the Select Committee heard overwhelming evidence that young people no longer felt safe and there was a need to deal with the symptoms of knife crime such as poverty.  Mr Farrell explained that he disagreed with some of the recommendations such as that referring to Trading Standards.  He supported the report but was disappointed not to have received comparable budget data for youth services.  He commented on exclusion rates in schools and the correlation between exclusions and knife crime.  He considered that there was a clear role for the British Transport Police with reference to county lines, and Mr Chittenden concurred with this comment. 

6.            Mr Farrell and Mr Chittenden thanked the Chairman and Officers who supported the Select Committee, particularly Gaetano Romagnuolo the Research Officer.  

7.            The Leader commented that further work could be done with regards to the recommendations but it was accepted that the report was that of the Select Committee.  Mr Watts, General Counsel thanked Members of the Select Committee for the commitment they showed and the unprecedented speed at which the review progressed.  He formally thanked the officers involved.  The Leader endorsed the thanks, on behalf of himself and his Cabinet, to Officers, Select Committee members and the Chairman.  

8.            Mr Long commented on the flourishing sector of youth services across the country, such as the Scouts, Guides and MoD youth services, operating and serving many thousands of young people across Kent.  He considered that the picture of withdrawal of youth services was misleading.

9.            Mr Oakford thanked Members and Officers for their work on the difficult topic which was growing in size and concern.  KCC had a huge role to play in prevention before it got  ...  view the full minutes text for item 112.

RESOLVED: That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

(Open Minute of Exempt Item)

1.    Mr Hotson and Ms Spore updated Members on the Maidstone East Development.

RESOLVED that Cabinet note the update provided.