Agenda and minutes

(1)       The Committee noted that the detailed costings for the pilot scheme for Assisted Travel for 11-16 Year Olds (Minute 59(2)(f)) would be reported to the next meeting of the Informal Member Group on Budgetary Issues.

(2)       RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 20 February 2007 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

RESOLVED that:-

(a)       the recommendation of the Informal Member Group in Note 2(5) that the Cabinet Member for Finance be requested to commission work to identify the reasons why some schools were much more financially successful than others, so that the lessons could be disseminated more widely within Kent schools, be endorsed;

(b)       the remaining notes of the meeting of the Informal Member Group on Budgetary Issues held on 8 March 2007 be noted.

RESOLVED that the report on the actions taken as a result of the Committee’s decisions at previous meetings, and the updated report on progress with Select Committee Topic Reviews, be noted.

Mr J D Simmonds, Cabinet Member for Education and School Improvement; Mrs A Gamby, Head of Early Years/Childcare; Mr K Abbott, Director, Finance and Corporate Services; and Ms J Smith, Quality Assurance Co-ordinator, Early Years and Childcare, Children, Families and Education Directorate, will attend the meeting at 2.05 pm to answer Members’ questions on this item.

Mr Parker declared a personal interest in this item as an LEA governor of Lawn Community Primary School.

Mrs Dean declared a personal interest as a member of the steering committee of the Children’s Centre to be sited at St James’ School, West Malling.

(1)       Dr T R Robinson, Cabinet Member for Children and Family Services; Miss S J Carey, Lead Member for Education and School Improvement; Mrs A Gamby, Head of Early Years/Childcare; Mr K Abbott, Director, Finance and Corporate Services; and Ms J Smith, Quality Assurance Co-ordinator, Early Years and Childcare, Children, Families and Education Directorate, attended the meeting to answer Members’ questions on this item, which covered the following issues:-

Criteria for Site Selection

(2)       In answer to a question from Ms Harrison, Mrs Gamby explained that Round 2 Children’s Centres were required to reach out to children under 5 in the 30%, and ideally the 50%, most disadvantaged areas (Super Output Areas) in the county.  While sites had been and were being identified so that the first 52 Round 2 Children’s Centres met this criterion, they were not being selected in order from most deprived area to least.

Process for Site Selection

(3)       In answer to questions from Ms Harrison and Dr Eddy, Ms Smith circulated a flow-chart illustrating the process for site selection.  Each Children’s Centre had to serve 800 under-8s so this determined the geographical area covered.  However, Ms Smith explained that a Children’s Centre was not just a physical building.  It was actually the provision of the full range of Children’s Centre services throughout an identified catchment area.  Mrs Gamby explained that the site selection process illustrated in the flow-chart had been introduced in October 2006 and had evolved since then as and when potential improvements had been identified. 

Involvement of Local Members

(4)       In answer to questions and comments from Ms Harrison, Dr Eddy, Mr Bassam and Mr Parker, Mrs Gamby said that her team had originally thought that engagement with District Consortia (step 4 in the flow-chart) would include consultation with local Members.  When it was realised that this was not happening, local Members had been specifically added at step 7.  Miss Carey gave some examples of where local members had taken an active role in the selection of children's centre sites and assured the Committee that the Cabinet Member for Education and School Improvement welcomed input from local Members and would be delighted to hear from any Member who knew of potential sites in their area.

Funding of Children’s Centres

(5)       In answer to a question from Mr Law, Mrs Gamby explained that the DfES had allocated capital funding of £9.1m to the County Council for the provision of 52 Round 2 Children’s Centres, an average of £177k per Centre.  In addition, the DfES provided revenue funding of approximately £180k per year for each Children’s Centre as part of the general Sure Start grant.  This grant was for the day-to-day operation of each Centre.  The services delivered from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

Mr P B Carter, Leader of the Council; Mr A J King, Cabinet Member for Policy and Performance and Deputy Leader; Mr P Gilroy, Chief Executive; and Mr P Raine, Managing Director, Environment and Regeneration, will attend the meeting at 3.05 pm to answer Members’ questions on this item.

(1)       Mr P B Carter, Leader of the Council; Mr A J King, Cabinet Member for Policy and Performance and Deputy Leader; Mr P Gilroy, Chief Executive; and Mr P Raine, Managing Director, Environment and Regeneration, attended the meeting to answer Members’ questions on this matter, which covered the following issues:-

Total Costs Incurred or Committed on the Project

(2)       In answer to questions from Mr Capon and Dr Eddy, Mr Carter and Mr Raine said that the total costs incurred by all the partners in the project were £825,310, made up as follows:-

Cost to KCC

(3)       In answer to a question from Mr Wells, Mr Carter explained that the County Council’s share of the costs came from the Regeneration Fund, which was funded by the investment income from the Kings Hill development.  This year that investment income had totalled some £1.5m.  Mr Raine explained that the purpose of the Regeneration Fund was to allow the County Council to make one-off investments in projects with a calculated financial risk in order to seek to stimulate economic regeneration.

(4)       Mr Carter added that some investments, such as the Kent-Virginia Flights project proved unsuccessful but, in the overall context of the County Council’s entrepreneurial activity, unsuccessful projects were small in terms of both numbers and costs. 

Potential and Actual Benefits from KCC Involvement in Project

(5)       In answer to questions from Mr Capon, Mr Law and Dr Eddy, Mr Carter said that, if the project had been successful in terms of ticket sales, it could have generated up to £5m of revenue from US tourists to Kent.  Mr Raine explained that this figure was based on 3,000 US tourists (out of a total of 8,000 travellers) flying into Manston, each staying for three nights in Kent and spending £250 per day.

(6)       Mr Carter went on to say that even though the project itself had not been successful, there was a residual benefit in terms of increased awareness of Kent as a tourism destination amongst the residents of Virginia.

Reasons for Terminating Project

(7)       In answer to questions from Mr Law and Dr Eddy, Mr Raine explained that Cosmos had supplied ticket sales figures to the County Council and the other partners in the project on a weekly basis.  By the time the original contract with Cosmos expired in February, it was decided not to renew it because ticket sales had been lower than expected; no other partners were prepared to share the risks; and so the potential cost to KCC and its Council Tax payers was too high.  Mr Carter added that US ticket sales had undoubtedly been affected by adverse movements in the exchange rate and the downturn in the US economy.

Risk Assessment

(8)       In answer to questions from Mr Parker  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.