Agenda and draft minutes

No apologies were received

Mr Peter Oakford declared an interest in item 9 – Financial Hardship Programme - in that he was a Trustee of the North West Kent Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting on 20 June 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)  Each year on 21^st June the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association join with the wider MND community, including professionals and volunteers involved in the planning and delivery of health and social care services to honour both those living with MND and their carers. Mr Watkins attended the event which was held at the University of Kent and received a number of requests to ensure that those suffering with MND received the required care and support in a timely fashion. Mr Watkins confirmed that this work would be followed up accordingly with officers.

Alcohol Awareness Week ran from 1^st to 7^th July 2024. Many people in the UK drank sensibly, and a growing number did not drink at all. However, around a quarter of adults in England and Scotland, including 300,000 residents in Kent, regularly consumed more than the recommended 14 units a week. A reduction in alcohol consumption had a number of both short-term and long-term benefits, including better sleep, healthier weight, lower blood pressure and reduced the risk of some cancers developing. The Know your score quiz offered practical steps on measuring and monitoring alcohol consumption; however, for those looking for support, Kent County Council (KCC) offered the One You Kent Service which could be accessed via the initial online referral form. KCC also commissioned specialist treatment. Forward Trust ran the East Kent Community Drug and Alcohol Service while Change Grow Live delivered the West Kent Drug and Alcohol Wellbeing Service.

(b)  Both KCC and Medway Council were backing calls from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS for pregnant mums to get vaccinated against whooping cough to protect their babies. Cases continued to rise across England and infants who were too young to start their vaccinations were at greater risk. Parents of babies over 8 weeks old were also urged to get their young children protected against the disease that is caused by a bacterial infection of the lungs and breathing tubes, and which could cause serious problems including pneumonia and seizures. In rare cases it could be fatal. Mr Watkins urged those who were pregnant and who had not been vaccinated, along with those who had a child who had not been vaccinated to contact their GP practice.

2.    Mr Love, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, provided an update on the following:

(a)  Mr Love attended the MJ Awards ceremony which acknowledged the tremendous efforts of those in local government and the difference they made to the communities they served. Mr Love paid tribute to Sarah Hammond, Corporate Director for Children, Young People and Education who was recognised as ‘highly commended’ for her achievements in the ‘Corporate Director of the Year’ category.

(b)  Mr Charlie Guthrie, Chief Executive Officer of Endeavour Multi-Academy Trust had been appointed as Chair to the Pathways for All Post-16 Board. Collaborative working would continue to ensure  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

Report to follow.

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 report that set out the  proposed process and timetable for updating the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) which was presented to full Council on 19th February 2024 including consultation, scrutiny and final approval which would be sought by full Council in February 2025. Mr Oakford commented on the welcome news regarding a multi-year settlement from government from 2025-26 onwards; however, the Council needed to continue to identify efficient ways of making savings. Cabinet remained fully committed to finding £20m of policy savings in 2025-26 to replace one-off measures taken to balance 2024-25.

2.    Mr Shipton (Head of Finance, Policy, Strategy and Planning) advised that the current plan showed forecast spending growth was higher than the assumed funding growth and the paper presented to Cabinet outlined the timescales and processes to be carried out by Finance to update both the spending and saving figures to identify if there were any gaps that needed to be addressed or a surplus.

3.    Price growth was forecast to decline in line with inflation forecasts (the rate of inflation had been declining steadily in recent months). The MTFP was based on the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts made in November 2023 and based on an annual rate of 3.6% for 2024 which fell to 1.8% for 2025. The actual rates for 2024 were lower than the OBR forecast (3.5% in the first quarter, 2.3% in April 2024 and 2.0% in May 2024). However, the May Bank of England forecast for 2025 was 2.8% in quarters 1 & 2 falling to 2.6% in quarter 3 and 2.4% in quarter 4.  These were higher than the 1.8% that the OBR had forecast. Officers were waiting for the August Bank of England projections to review inflation rates.

4.    Updates would continue to be received as outlined in the report and as proposed, Scrutiny Committee in November would focus on the policy choices within the budget proposals relevant to each Committee, rather than the overall assumptions on which budget proposals were based. Each Committee would receive a tailored report with an overall budget plan as background information, rather than the standard report that had been published in recent years. The BI dashboard introduced for the 2024 budget would continue to be used, however, enhanced in line with the suggestions put forward by Scrutiny Committee.

5.    The Budget Consultation for 2025-2026 was launched on 13^th June. To date the response rate had been lower compared to the same time last year. A comprehensive communications campaign had been launched alongside the consultation; however, this was due to be reviewed to ascertain as to whether additional activity was required to increase response rates.

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

• Clarity was needed from Government, particularly in relation to Social Care reform in terms of funding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

Report to follow.

Ben Watts (General Counsel) and Amanda Beer (Chief Executive) were in attendance for this this item.

1.    The Leader introduced the report which provided an update on the current operational and legal position regarding the arrival of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in Kent. Members were reminded that following a number of hearings over the past year, the final judgment in the High Court proceedings that was brought against the Government by Kent County Council (KCC) was handed down on 5^th June 2024. The judgment concluded the position that KCC had reported through a number of Section 5 reports, regarding its inability to meet its statutory duty regarding UASC and the issue concerning the inequitable National Transfer System (NTS) which placed a disproportionate burden on Kent. The judgment was clear that the Council and the Home Office had to do everything possible to get the Council back to a position of lawfulness. Following discussions and funding from the Home Office for this explicit purpose, the Council had developed additional capacity at pace. However, the challenge remained in ensuring KCC had sufficient capacity to meet the high number of arrivals and work was ongoing to accommodate this. Following the General Election and the appointment of Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP as the new Home Secretary, the Leader confirmed that he would be writing to her, setting out KCCs current position and would seek to engage with Government to find solutions for a national problem which would be positive and long-lasting. The Leader commended the Children’s Services team, along with infrastructure, legal and finance for the work they had done in addressing the challenges.

2.    Mrs Chandler (Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services) addressed the significant amount of work that had been undertaken across the Council, specifically in relation to ‘trigger point 4’ under the Early Warning System (EWS) whereby on a number of occasions KCC and central Government narrowly averted crisis and ensured placements were identified within timeframe to accommodate UASC arrivals. The level of participation from other Local Authorities in the NTS had not been maintained, which emphasised the Council’s contention that the NTS was not operating in an equitable manner to ensure children were evenly distributed across the country. The level of UASC arrivals remained high and tensions would persist over the summer period. Furthermore, Mrs Chandler noted that that the cohort of KCC’s UASC Care Leavers was greater compared to other Local Authorities, however, funding from Government continued to remain inadequate  in comparison to funding received for those under 18. Again, this was a national issue which KCC had to effectively manage with very limited resources.

3.    Mr Watts (General Counsel) advised that all measures would be taken to mitigate requirement for further litigation. He noted that the litigation did however ensure a package of funding and increased investment to support the steps required by the Court and thus avoided funding from Kent taxpayers. Mr Watts noted the opportunity that was presented to the Council to share and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

Report to follow.

Ben Watts (General Counsel) was in attendance for this item.

1.    Mr Watts (General Counsel) introduced the report which performed the role of one of the actions which was to be delivered as part of the Annual Governance Statement and ensured Cabinet Members were sighted on areas of the Council where statutory compliance had been identified as a risk. This report replicated some of the discussions held as part of the Performance Monitoring at previous Cabinet meetings. Cabinet Members continued to work with Corporate Directors to address the areas identified as being at risk. The annual internal and external audit and the Annual Governance Statement was due to be presented to County Council in September 2024. Mr Watts thanked all those who continued to support him in effectively dealing with the legal challenges presented to the Council, including Gurpreet Singh (Barrister, Head of Law), Tristan Godfrey (Senior Governance Manager), Lizzy Adam (Operations & Client Relationship Manager) and Joel Cook (Democratic Services Manager).

2.    RESOLVED that Cabinet note the report.

Report to follow.

Dr Anjan Ghosh (Director of Public Health) and Jenny Dixon-Sherreard (Policy Advisor) were in attendance for this item.

1.    The Leader introduced the report which provided an update on the development of the Integrated Care Strategy Shared Delivery Plan (SDP) which in turn encompassed the Delivery Plan for the Integrated Care Strategy, which serves as Kent’s Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy (JLHWS), and noted the extensive work undertaken to create a system wide approach.

2.    Dr Ghosh (Director of Public Health) informed Members that the Shared Delivery Plan was underpinned by the Logical Framework (logframe) which was an extensive collection of strategic indicators that were linked to the six shared outcomes within the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Strategy . The Shared Delivery Plan was designed to be a useful mechanism to gain oversight and assurance in the coherent delivery of actions across the system. The Shared Delivery Plan also functioned as the NHS Joint Forward Plan which was a statutory requirement of the Integrated Care Board (ICB). The Shared Delivery Plan spanned two years (2024-2026) and therefore took into account the current financial challenges. Dr Ghosh noted that the final version of the Plan would be presented to the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and had been approved by Medway Council. The final draft was due to be presented to the Integrated Care Partnership on 27 August for endorsement.

3.    Mrs Dixon-Sherreard detailed the changes that had been made to the Shared Delivery Plan (as set out within the report)

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

• Members commented on the extensive input and the feedthrough of plans down to district and boroughs through the Kent Association of Local Councils (KALC). It was important that delivery of the plan was consistent.

• Whilst it was important to ensure progress through extensive monitoring, a central aspect in being able to measure the outcomes of the Shared Delivery Plan would be through the ability to demonstrate the personal outcomes of those individuals.

• The Shared Delivery Plan was a live document that spanned two years (2024-26), after which it would be refreshed to take account of progress and any national or local changes. The Integrated Care Strategy was a five year document, after which a full review would take place.

• In response to concerns regarding the performance of the NHS within Kent and the impact this had on the ability to deliver the aims and objectives set out within the Integrated Care Strategy and Shared Delivery Plan, Mr Ghosh advised that the key areas which aimed to be addressed through the work included prevention and tackling health inequalities through providing care closer to home; the other was around strengthening primary care to release pressure in the acute Trusts, both of which are objectives for the new Labour Government. Mr Ghosh advised that 80% of health outcomes sat outside the NHS and the work that was being done through the Integrated Care Strategy and Shared Delivery Plan aimed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60.

Report to follow.

1.    The Leader introduced the report which provided a high-level overview of the support provided in response to the ongoing financial pressures, focussing in particular on the work funded by the Helping Hands Scheme, and the delivery of the Department of Work and Pensions Household Support Fund. The Leader thanked the officers for their hard work which had enabled the programme to operate beyond its initial timeline, March 2025.

2.    Ms Alesbrook (Financial Hardship Programme Manager), presented a series of slides (not included within the agenda pack) which set out the key areas of the Financial Hardship Programme: Residential, Digital Inclusion and Capabilities, Crowdfunding and Business.

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

• In response to the increase in statistics concerning the uptake in residents using NHS online services (17.25%) and online government services (5.62%) and whether this was a direct result of the digital inclusion workstream, Ms Alesbrook confirmed that the digital inclusion workstream provided training and drop-in sessions for residents to both improve their knowledge and understanding of those services. The evaluations had been taken from surveys of those people both before and after training to track their inclination to use services online and their confidence in doing so. The statistics were a direct outcome of the work done with a specific set of people, they were not from other independent surveys. Ms Alesbrook agreed to provide further information on the evaluation process and how this fed into the narrative.

• In regard to whether there was a coordinated approach to the digital inclusion work to avoid duplication, Ms Alesbrook confirmed that the Programme worked closely in partnership with a number of organisations to reduce duplication and ensure that efforts were focussed on achieving positive impacts for Kent. There were a number of steering groups (led by KCC) along with the Financial Hardship Task and Finish Group, and strong partnership working within the voluntary sector. Whilst there remained no central lead, a number of effective formal and informal channels were established to ensure a joined up approach and which mitigated duplication of efforts. The Financial Hardship Programme had also received funding from other organisations in recognition of the expertise offered and some partners had funded work directly, all of which had helped to ensure the effective coordination of work.

• It was confirmed that as part of the Device Recycling Scheme, old devices that potentially could not be refurbished would be disposed of in the most environmentally friendly way. A significant number of KCC devices were refurbished and reused. 

4.    RESOLVED  that Cabinet note the report.