Agenda and minutes

1.    The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and explained that a call-in request had been received from Mrs Dean, supported by Mr Farrell which the Committee would now consider.  Mr Lake offered Mrs Dean the opportunity to expand on her reasons for call-in. 

2.    Mrs Dean explained that she felt that Members had not been given enough information in relation to this decision.  She had requested an officer briefing which had been refused, although comprehensive written answers had been given to the questions she had asked.  Had there been opportunity for an officer briefing this call in meeting may not have been necessary.  The main reasons behind the call-in related to the process and principles of decision making.

3.    Mrs Dean considered that the principles of decision making had not been fully delivered; there was confusion over costing which should have been clearly set out in the papers submitted to the Cabinet Committee.

4.     Mrs Dean explained that there was a variance of opinion between some local members and East Kent Housing figures of the age and dependency of clients.  There were concerns over the people affected who were still to be engaged in discussions and whether the County Council was working with partial information.  There were concerns that the Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) had not been fully completed before members were asked to support the decision.  Guidance stated that the EqIA must be completed before any decision was made.  Mrs Dean requested more information to reassure her that the decision proposed to be taken was firmly placed.  In addition to these points Mrs Dean explained that, she would have been reassured if Mr Gibbens had stated that he would report back once the issues had been worked through in further detail, however on this occasion this was not offered. 

5.    The Chairman then asked Mr Farrell if he had anything to add to Mrs Dean’s comments.  He also had concerns over the processes followed prior to this decision being taken.  He stressed the renewed importance of information being available to Cabinet Committees in light of the paper due to be submitted to the meeting of the County Council on Thursday regarding the role of the Cabinet Committees in relation to budget reductions.  Full information was needed before decisions were made. 

6.    A Member confirmed that Cabinet Committees did not make decisions, they were able to endorse or note before decisions were made by the Executive.  It was apparent from the agenda pack that the required information was in place by the time the decision was made by the Cabinet Member rather than by the time the decision was discussed by the Cabinet Committee.

7.    Mr Gibbens confirmed that if he had been asked for a briefing he would have willingly obliged and he repeated his offer to meet with the opposition groups.

8.    The Cabinet Committee met on 20 July 2017 and Mr Gibbens took the decision on 26 September 2017 around the proposed changes to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.