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  • Agenda and minutes
  • Agenda and minutes

    Venue: Online

    Contact: Joel Cook/Anna Taylor  03000 416892/416478

    Note: In response to COVID-19, the Government has legislated to permit remote attendance by Elected Members at formal meetings. This is conditional on other Elected Members and the public being able to hear those participating in the meeting. This meeting of the Scrutiny Committee will be streamed live and can be watched via the following url - https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZDcyM2RiZjEtMWM5NC00NDVmLWFjNTgtMWE4MTY1MGI4Mzhl%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%223253a20d-c735-4bfe-a8b7-3e6ab37f5f90%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22d4b0fac9-b912-43bd-b643-1ab35f8cdeac%22%2c%22IsBroadcastMeeting%22%3atrue%7d 

    Media

    Items
    No. Item

    28.

    Declarations of Interests by Members in items on the Agenda for this Meeting

    Minutes:

    1.            Dr Sullivan declared an interest, as her husband was employed by the County Council in the Children, Young People and Education Directorate, in relation to Item B1.

     

    2.            Mr Love declared an interest on account of his wife’s employment, in relation to Item B1. It was agreed that Mr Love would leave the meeting and log out before the discussion on item B1.

    29.

    Minutes of the meeting held on 24 January 2020 pdf icon PDF 220 KB

    Minutes:

    RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 24 January 2020 were an accurate record and that they be signed by the Chairman.

    30.

    Call-in of Decision 20/00017 - Recommissioning of Early Help Services pdf icon PDF 200 KB

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Mrs Sue Chandler (Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services), Matt Dunkley (Corporate Director of Education and Young People’s Services), Stuart Collins (Director of Integrated Children’s Services) and Christy Holden (Lead Commissioning Manager) were in attendance for this item. 

     

    1.            The Chairman welcomed the guests.  After a discussion about the involvement of a representative of The Education People in the meeting without a representative from CXK, it was agreed that the officer from The Education People (TEP) would not participate in the meeting. 

     

    2.            The Chairman invited Mr Cooke (as the Member who called-in the item) to introduce the item. Mr Cooke explained that there was a need for transparency over the decision made (to bring the NEET Support Service provided by CXK in-house to The Education People), and that KCC had a good working relationship with the CXK (previously called Connexions) service. He explained that the impression given was that a decision had been made to bring the NEET Support Service provided by CXK in-house to The Education People without any material consideration of the alternatives and without consultation. He also stated that the service provided by CXK had been effective in reducing the level of NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) in Kent, and was well-regarded. He therefore asked how and why the decision to end the NEET Support Service contract with CXK had come about. He also asked KCC officers to explain how the level of performance would be no less if the same service was provided by The Education People rather than that currently provided by CXK. Mr Cooke also referred to a commitment of KCC to the Government to support the sustainability of the voluntary sector, particularly during the pandemic.

     

    3.            Mrs Chandler explained that the decision had been taken after a considerable amount of consultation and that she had made the decision in the interest of young people in Kent.  Regarding the consultation and tender process, Mrs Chandler explained that they were made under the Teckal procedure and that the tendering process would not be the usual process. Mrs Chandler explained that the current providers were consulted, and on the allocation of the last extension the providers were advised that the contract would be recommissioned.

     

    4.             In response to questions Mrs Chandler clarified that this was not a recommissioning of the same contract. She explained that, after the representations made in the Ofsted inspection with regard to those with SEND who were not included specifically in the original commissioning, it was not possible to extend the original contract and not possible to recommission on exactly the same basis.  Mrs Chandler also clarified that the design of the service was about what was offered to young people, and that in this case the service that was offered had a much wider scope and took into account a much larger section of young people.

     

    5.            Mrs Chandler explained that, in terms of TEP and the strategic element, the idea was to provide a service that would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

    31.

    Update on Electric Vehicle Charging Points (to follow) pdf icon PDF 285 KB

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Miss Susan Carey, Cabinet member for Environment, Carolyn McKenzie, Head of Sustainable Business and Communities and Tim Middleton, Transport Innovations Programme Manager, were in attendance for this item.   

     

    Mr Love joined the meeting. 

     

    1.            The Cabinet Member provided an introduction and a brief update. She explained that the government provided a small amount of money for this project, to be distributed in Kent. She referred to the Q&A document that had been produced for the parish councils that have been asked to take part in the initiative, which offered clear information about the project and the grant provided. Miss Carey emphasised that this was a small amount of money to meet a specific need so the offer had been targeted towards the areas that best met the criteria for the grant.

     

    2.          In response to a question Miss Carey explained that she had asked officers to select the parish councils which would be invited to bid for the funding rather than raise unnecessary expectations with over 300 town and parish councils in Kent that could not be fulfilled, given the relatively small scale of the scheme (to provide 10 to 15 electric vehicle charging points). The Cabinet Member explained that there were 15 County Councillors representing the 26 parishes selected and it was clear that there was a high level of enthusiasm as some of them had already contacted her about the scheme. 

      

    3.          Carolyn McKenzie clarified that the criteria that were adopted for the selection were well discussed, planned and rigorous through an evidence-based exercise. She also explained that the views of the chief executive of KALC were sought, and that it was also his view to narrow down the number.

    Tim Middleton reiterated that the process and methodology that were followed were robust.

     4.   In response to questions, Tim Middleton explained that there were broad maps to show power capacity, and that on the UKPN website there were maps showing local sub-stations, however he commented that these maps had limited information and that power capacity was one of the biggest issues that had to be addressed.  He explained that an upgrade to the provision of rapid chargers would be significantly more expensive. He also clarified that the usage level of the charging points would be monitored. Finally, Mr Middleton explained that KCC was looking to adapt the questionnaire to ask the 26 selected parishes to express an interest in the scheme in order to aid the selection process. 

    The Chairman thanked all the attendees for their contribution.

    RESOLVED that the Scrutiny Committee note the update report on Electric Vehicle Charging Points.

    32.

    KCC's approach to the Government's Funding for Active Travel Schemes (to follow) pdf icon PDF 132 KB

    Minutes:

    Michael Payne (Cabinet Member for Planning, Environment, Transportation and Waste, KCC), Simon Jones (Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste, KCC), Tim Read (Head of Transportation) and Nikola Floodgate (Schemes Planning and Delivery Manager, KCC) were in attendance for this item.

     

    1.    The Chairman welcomed the Cabinet Member and the officers.

     

    2.    The Cabinet Member introduced the report and explained that it provided some background about the funding scheme, the existing situation and future steps. He also explained that the government funding had not been received yet. 

     

    RESOLVED that the Scrutiny Committee note the update report on the DfT’s Emergency Active Travel Fund.

    33.

    Short Focused Inquiries - Review Programme (to follow) pdf icon PDF 203 KB

    Minutes:

    1.            The Chairman invited Anna Taylor and Tristan Godfrey to provide a brief outline of the procedure.

    2.            Anna Taylor explained that Members of the Scrutiny Committee were asked to agree the work programme and set out a priority order to undertake the Short Focused Inquiries as set out in the report. The inquiries listed in the report were:

    a.    The Visitor Economy in Kent (including Kent’s leisure and hospitality industry)

    b.    NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training)

    c.    The impact of Coronavirus on care homes, and what mitigation might be required

    3.     Members suggested that an inquiry on the Farming Economy should also be included in the work programme.

    4.     The Committee agreed to include an inquiry into the Farming Economy as an additional option in the work programme before deciding the priority order.

    5.     The Chairman invited the Committee to vote on the first choices of Short Focused Inquiries.

    6.     The priority order decided by the Scrutiny Committee was, The Visitor Economy Inquiry, followed by an inquiry into the Farming Economy.

     

    RESOLVED that the initial work programme for Short Focused inquiries was agreed and that the Visitor Economy be the first inquiry to be undertaken, followed by the inquiry into the Farming Economy, delegating to Officers the arrangements of the first inquiry.