Agenda and draft minutes

No apologies were received.

No declarations of interest were received.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting on 25 January 2024 were a correct record and that they be signed by the Chair. 

1. Mr Watkins, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, provided an update on the following:

(a)  The Tobacco and Vapes Bill which aimed to protect future generations across the UK from the harmful impacts of smoking and build a better future for children was introduced by Parliament on 20^th March 2024. Under the new Bill, it would be an offence to sell tobacco products to those born on or after 1 January 2009, meaning that anyone who turned 15 years or younger in 2024 could not legally be sold tobacco products and it imposed certain restriction around vapes. Mr Watkins wrote to Kent MPs on 19^th March, seeking support that the same measures be enforced for vapes. This would have a big impact on Public Health outcomes if achieved.

(b)  A number of consultations had been launched, including:

·         Best Start for Life - Nurturing little hearts and minds: a perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationship strategy sets – closes 3^rd April

·         Best start for Life - Nourishing our next generation: a 5-year infant feeding strategy – closes 3^rd April

·         Adult Social Care Charging Policy – closes 7^th April

·         The Future of Blackburn Lodge Care Home – closes 7^th May

(c)  The Technology Enabled Lives Service (TELS) was launched at the end of 2023 which enabled adults to stay safe and live more independently in their own home through the use of person centred, innovative technology. To showcase the equipment offered through the service, a stall would be on display at Full Council on 28^th March.

2. Mrs Chandler, Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services provided an update on the following:

(a)  On Thursday 22nd February Mrs Chandler, alongside the Leader and Corporate Director for Children, Young People and Education, met with Michael Tomlinson, the Minister for Countering Illegal Migration, at a visit to the Kent Intake Unit in Dover. Concerns were raised in relation to the challenges that Kent faced with large numbers of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) arriving on Kent’s shores and the measures in place, including the opening of new Reception Centres, to ensure that Kent continued to meet its statutory obligations. Minister Tomlinson welcomed the progress Kent was making and welcomed the continued close cooperation between Kent County Council and the Home Office to ensure robust safeguards were in place for those children who come into the county.

Kent County Council continued to make the case for fair distribution of UASC across the other local authorities via the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) to ensure that the council could continue to meet its legal responsibilities for what was a national, not a local issue.

(b)  There had been a number of UASC arrivals at the start of the year, which had been the busiest on record. Preparations were actively underway to open new Reception Centres in 9 locations around the county to help manage the continued pressures presented through the arrival of new UASC.  Mrs Chandler had met with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

Dave Shipton (Head of Finance, Policy, Strategy and Planning) was in attendance for this item.

1.    Peter Oakford, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Corporate and Traded Services introduced the report which detailed the late changes to the approved 2024-2025 revenue budget. The changes to the 2024-25 share of Retained Business Rates growth (+£1.9m), Business Rates collection fund (+£2.7m) and estimated 2024-25 share of Business Rate pool (+£1.0m) and other specific grants (+£0.3m) increased the net revenue budget requirement from £1,423.6m to £1,429.5m, an increase of £5.9m in 2024-25. The paper also included a recommendation that the collection fund was added to the local taxation equalisation reserve in accordance with existing policy and that the remainder was set aside in resilience reserves. This paper also updated Cabinet on other late changes since the County Council Budget meeting held on 19^th February which did not impact on the net revenue budget requirement.

2.    RESOLVED to agree to the recommendations as outlined in the report.

Dave Shipton (Head of Finance, Policy, Strategy and Planning) was in attendance for this item.

1.    Mr Oakford (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Corporate and Traded Services) introduced the December 2023-2024 budget monitoring report. The overall forecast position as at 31 December 2023-2024 was a revenue overspend of £30.0m before management action and capital underspend of £143.4m. The forecast overspend represented 2.3% of the revenue budget and continued to present a serious and significant risk to the Council’s financial sustainability. Within the overall outturn position there were still significant forecast overspends in Adult Social Care & Health totalling £31.3m, and in Children’s, Young People and Education totalling £28.3m. Application of the risk reserve contribution of £12.0m would considerably reduce the in year overspend; however, it was anticipated that a further substantial drawdown of reserves would be required. Further management action had been identified to help bring the forecast outturn to within budget and the results of that management action would be delivered in due course. The Capital underspend of £143.4m comprised £15.14m underspend on projects that had been rephased and £10.7m overspend where projects had run over cost.

2.    Further to comments and questions from Members it was noted:

·         That whilst the reduction in overspend had been reduced to £30m, there remained a significant upward pressure, reinforcing the need to continue to deliver savings for 2024-2025

·         Members expressed their thanks to staff across the organisation for delivering on the management action which had resulted in a considerable reduction of overspend

3.    RESOLVED to agree the recommendations as outline in the report.

Matthew Wagner (Chief Analyst, Strategy, Policy, Relationships & Corporate Assurance) was in attendance for this item.

1.    Mr Wagner outlined the report for Quarter 3 (Q3) which set out the performance data up to the end of December 2023. Mr Wagner said that out of the 38 KPIs contained within the Quarterly Performance Report (QPR), 17 achieved or exceeded target (rated Green), 12 achieved or exceeded the floor standard but did not meet the target (rated Amber), and 9 did not meet floor standard (rated Red). The direction of travel analysis indicated 7 with a positive trend; 20 were stable or with no clear trend (one more than the previous Quarter), and 11 were showing a negative trend (one fewer than the previous Quarter). Mr Wagner addressed the KPIs assessed as Red and the projected direction of travel, along with those that had seen an improvement in their performance levels.

2.    Further to comments and questions from Members it was noted:

·         That whilst the number of Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) completed within a 20 week timescale was expected to remain below target, there had been  a steady month-on-month improvement. These were as a result of new training, staff development, service restructuring and additional funding.

·         The KPIs for the Environment and Transport directorate were largely impacted by weather conditions and whilst they were essential to evidence trends, it was key to recognise that there was a lag in the figures reported and therefore did not reflect the current condition of the roads. However, real-time data was available, and this was reported on a weekly basis within the Highways and Transport team. Local and national resources had started to be utilised to improve the conditions of Kent’s roads; however, this work would again only become evident in future quarterly reports. Reassurance was provided that whilst demand remained high, a significant amount of work continued to be delivered to ensure Kent’s roads operated as efficiently as possible.

·         A paper would be presented to a future Cabinet by Mr Watts in his capacity as Monitoring Officer with a focus on statutory compliance issues, including Freedom of Information requests (FOIs) and Subject Access Requests (SARs), which required attention from Cabinet in respect of the current challenging operating environment.

3.    RESOLVED to agree the recommendations as outline in the report.

Simon Jones (Corporate Director Growth, Environment and Transport) and Rebecca Spore (Director of Infrastructure) were in attendance for this item.

1.    The Leader introduced the report which set out the new European Union Entry Exit System (EES) which would bring in new border controls for tourists and freight, and highlighted both the operational risks to Kent and the Council’s response to date, including proposed solutions and future actions in preparation for the implementation of the EES.

The EES was due to come into effect on 6^th October 2024 and was expected to have a significant impact on businesses, residents and non-EU nationals. To mitigate the potential risks inherent to the implementation of the EES and ensure appropriate plans were in place, KCC had worked with the Department for Transport (DfT) to set up a number of task and finish groups which reported into Central Government. KCC were also in close communication with government officials, the British Embassy in Paris and the European Union to ensure Kent’s issues were heard and where funding was required, seek assurance this would be available to mitigate the damaging effects should they arise. The Leader emphasised the impact that the EES would have across the entire Council and the degree of work that needed to be undertaken to ensure KCC services remained resilient amongst potential pressures.

2.    Further to comments and questions from Members it was noted:

·         That the British Embassy had provided assurance that the risks to Kent were being raised at a national level between the UK and EU government and agreed to provide regular updates to ensure that KCC could effectively communicate local issues with its residents. Mr Murphy (Cabinet Member for Economic Development) was due to meet with colleagues in Calais regarding the use of existing stations at Ashford and Ebbsfleet International to ease the pressure of delays at St. Pancras. The Leader assured Members that all possible mitigating proposals, including pre-registration, had been evidenced to the Parliamentary European Scrutiny Committee.

·         Members commented on the need for a communication strategy to ensure residents and businesses were aware of the possible local and national impact.

·         That whilst the EES was not within KCCs control, it would have a significant impact on the assets which were within the Council’s control and would require financial recompense for the mitigation mechanisms required to ensure as minimal disruption as possible to Kent residents, businesses and  tourists. To seek recompense from Kent taxpayers on a cross-border issue would be unreasonable.

·         Senior officers within KCC were putting structures and processes in place based on   worst-case scenario, but a clearer picture was needed to plan effectively. A report would be presented to Cabinet at a future date which would demonstrate the mitigations in place in advance of the EES implementation date of 6^th October 2024.

·         The UK had developed a new ‘Borders Target Operating Model’ (BTOM) which aimed to standardise controls in relation to the safety and security of incoming goods from all trading partners,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.