Agenda and draft minutes

To receive apologies for absence and notification of any substitutes present

Apologies were received from the following: Mr T Cannon, Mr N J Collor, Ms M Dawkins, Mr A R Hills, and Mr A Sandhu MBE.

No declarations of interest were received.

RESOLVED that the minutes be approved as a correct record and that they be signed by the Chair.

Matt Wagner, Interim Chief Analyst; and Simon Jones, Corporate Director for Growth, Environment &Transport were in attendance for this item

1. This would be the fifth performance dashboard of the 2024-25 financial year. The report captured all data collated up to and including November 2024.  There were 13 of the 17 key performance indicators (KPI) RAG (Red, Amber and Green) rated green on the respective current performance targets.

2. One KPI which was rated below target in the report. (streetlights, illuminated signs and bollard repaired within timescale). was based on provision data. Since submission of the report, the data for this KPI been finalised and the updated performance was 94% for November, which had moved it above target. The revised total stood at 14 out of 17 KPIs rated as green.

3. It was highlighted that the three remaining RAG ratings were below target but above the floor standard with an amber rating.

4. Demand on the highway service with new enquiries and work in progress (WIP) had remained within expected levels. Targets for recycling household waste had been met. An increased demand on sites was also a noted.

5. Members discussed the issuing and frequency of permits. It was suggested that some information may be absent from the dashboard. Members asked for further clarification on the large number of utility companies that Kent Highways did not have oversight over.

 6. It was requested that KPI’s be implemented in a way to capture permits issued to utilities companies and Kent Highways separately. It was requested that the duration of identified permits and associated roadworks should be captured within the KPI.

7. KCC’s limited powers to manage street works permits of utility companies was discussed. Officers agreed with the rationale of splitting utility permits from those issued to Kent Highways. Complexities of the work that Kent Highways could directly interject was discussed. Barring any technical reasons on why this split cannot be added to future reports the option remained a worthwhile action to pursue. In addition, a separate paper is being worked up for June in relation to the duration of street works.

RESOLVED to note the performance Dashboard

Mr Neil Baker, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport and Mr Robert Thomas, Cabinet Member for Environment, presented their updates.

1. KCC had been awarded in December 2024 just under £1.9 million of active travel fund tranche 5 funding. (£1.67 for capital and £215,000 for revenue). This funding would support new construction aspects such as less complex high impact schemes and the retrofitting of routes to existing housing developments.

a)    It was noted that change control funding had been used to unblock existing schemes to secure delivery, deliver essential maintenance and to address safety or accessibility concerns on existing routes to a maximum of overall budget. These funds would also aid in the early development of future active travel schemes. Individual schemes had been identified and would be required to be submitted to Active Travel England (ATE) for assurance by the end of March 2025.

2. KCC had also been awarded a Consolidated Active Travel fund of £5.78 million (£4.45 m for capital and £1.3m for revenue). This revenue funding would support network planning, community engagement and identified training activities. The fund would be a combination of the Active Travel Fund and Capability Fund for the 2025/26 financial year. Work to identify named schemes in combination with the AFT5 programme would begin shortly.

3. £35.1m of BSIP funding would be used to support public transport initiatives. Aspects such as school routes that had the withdrawal of commercial operators would be reviewed. Funding would also be used to support and assist families with the Kent Travel Saver allowing the cost to remain supressed. Three major bus priority schemes in Rennie Drive in Dartford, Pencaster Road in Dover and the Thanet LOOP Superbus scheme had now been delivered or was nearing completion.

4. The latest bus grant funding offer from the government was £11.9million in capital and 9.9 million in revenue. This funding was essential in supporting 60 services that may otherwise face commercial withdrawal. The public team had worked through the enhanced partnership meetings and aimed to agree a delivery plan that would be submitted to Government by the end of March 2025.

5. In May 2024 the proposed procurement for the next road asset renewal contract was discussed. This had been awarded to GW Highways LTD. Work would commence in April and award approximately £20 million per year in road renewal and construction works. The key focus during procurement was to ensure that the very best value for money whilst retaining a high-performance expectation of the service remained. Competitive prices for the next 5-10 years had been secured and included an embedded carbon reduction framework; this would include an annual performance assessment of the carbon emissions throughout the lifecycle of the contract.

 6.Last year the earth bank behind the road of remembrance (Folkestone) collapsed. Highway Officers had been working on design works to stabilise the bank to enable the road to reopen. The design for stabilisation had neared finalisation and would undergo several more technical and verification checks. Legal matters  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Sally Harvey - Environmental Agency Area Director and Richard Penn – Environment Partnership and Engagement Officer were in attendance.

1.  Mrs Harvey presented the Pollution and Aquatic Environment presentation to the attending members. It was highlighted the importance of limiting pollution within the county and discussed the following aspects:

·       The current levels of Chronic, Historic, Current and acute pollution present.

·       Permitted and unpermitted discharges to the environment.

·       Pollution incidents and their categorised impacts.

·       Potential sources of pollution from sewage, agriculture and others.

2. Mr Penn discussed the second phase of the presentation, the challenges faced in measuring water quality within the water framework directive (WFD) and defined locations such as bathing waters (BW). Water quality aspects:

·       WFD-Waterbody level assessment-chemical and ecological

·       WFD-Classifications published every three years.

·       BW-Defined locations.

·       BW-Published each year with a duty to inform the public of the results.

3. The monthly WFD monitoring and three-year reporting would inform the response levels of the Environmental Agency and identify any sources of pollution. Mrs Harvey shared the designated coastal bathing areas slide in Kent and the methodology used to measure these sites. Ratings were provided annually over a four-year average.

4. Mr Penn raised the complex picture of multiple water utilities throughout Kent and the role of OFWAT as the financial regulator and the key role it plays in water supply and sewage infrastructure. DEFRA and its involvement were also noted upon within the presentation, the pivotal role that Natural England plays in the removal of waters from the environment and its works with the Environmental Agency were also extensively discussed.

·       PR19 Periodic review of environmental improvements average total cost of £5.4 billion. PR24 due to end in 2030 investment to reach £22 billion.

·       Further funding secured from government to improve inspection regimes.

·       Inspections to increase from 4000 in 2024 to 11000 by 2027 targeting the largest areas of failures.  A dip before improving was noted to occur.

5. Mr Penn closed out the presentation by discussing the security of supply and the contributing aspects to infrastructure failure. Future industrial investments were also discussed to support the demand for new homes.

6. The Cabinet Member and Officers responded to questions of detail and noted comments, which included the following:

·       Members queried on the four-year average methodology used for the classification of bathing waters and noted that an isolated incident can impact this classification and had a detrimental impact on the local community. Members further asked if an option to retest as soon as the incident had passed. Mrs Harvey responded that testing occurs within the statutory requirement, noting that a consultation on extending the bathing water monitoring testing threshold was well underway. It was clarified that any one-off anomalies in testing at site with clear rationales could be ignored.

·       Members highlighted the current pollution levels on the Medway and asked if there was any way in which organisations could supplement the Environment Agency samplings. Mrs Harvey acknowledged the fragmented approach in testing and added that partnership options were in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Mr Phil Lightowler- Head of Public Transport was in attendance.

1.    Mr Lightowler prefaced the paper for the bus stop maintenance and civils contract.

2.    The Cabinet Member and Officers responded to questions of detail and noted comments, which included the following

·       A Member questioned paragraph 2.1 page 27 on the existing BSIM contract tender award. It was enquired if this tender had been a recent competitive tender or one that was pursuant of the previous contract. It was confirmed that the contract was awarded in 2019 and was now at the full extent of its five years term.

·       It was noted that the contract had not come up for review beforehand. Members suggested a greater degree of diligence be applied as the last competitive tender was undertook in 2019.

·       Members asked if any consideration to bringing the contract in house had been raised. Officers responded that an in-house option had been explored nine years ago. A decision was made not to pursue, and the contract became the current BSIP edition.

·       Clarifications for the submitted costings was sought. Officers clarified that the maintenance aspect of the contract incorporated the ‘breaking ground’ aspect which was not covered by the current BSIP contract.

·       Members questioned the delegatory authority to the corporate director aspect and asked if this would result in a general extension being brought back to committee. It was noted that the delegated authority was limited to the initial three-year term and was to seek a two-year extension only.

3.    RESOLVED to endorse the proposed decision, namely:

That the Cabinet member for Highways and Transport agree to:

I. To APPROVE the procurement and subsequent contract award for Bus Stop Maintenance and Civils

ii. To DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of Growth Environment & Transport, to take relevant actions to facilitate the required procurement activity.

iii. To DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of Growth Environment & Transport in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, to take relevant actions, including but not limited to, awarding, finalising the terms of and entering into the relevant contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary, to implement the decision.

iv. To DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of Growth Environment and Transport, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, to award extensions of the contract in accordance with the relevant clauses within the contract

Due to Technical issues Mrs Tara O’Shea (Kent and Medway Safety Camera Partnership Project Manager) was unable to present the report remotely. Mrs Nikola Floodgate (Growth, Environment and Transport) presented item 9.

1.    Mrs Floodgate introduced the report which set out the procurement of the fixed camera system used in the existing Kent and Medway Safety Camera Partnership. It was highlighted that the current contract was due to expire in August 2025 after 10 years of duration. This had consisted of an original 5-year contract with a 5-year extension that had been activated.

2.    The Cabinet Member and Officers responded to questions of detail and noted comments, which included the following

·       Members were informed that spend for five years was £1.296 million and had been significantly less than the previous contract period.

·       Members asked for if this was an extension of the current contract or an entirely new contract as envisaged in the last to paragraphs of the supporting documentation. Officers apologised for any confusion within the supporting documentation and clarified that there was a need for a new contract via the existing Crown Commercial Services framework.

·       Members noted the response and raised that whilst small technical contracts with a reduced supplier base could be challenging there should be an expectation that Kent County Council would be undertaking the correct tender process.

·       Officers explained that due to the strict governance associated with the installation of the camera equipment that the associated teams had engaged with professional due diligence from KCC’s Commercial Services Team. An open tender could not be pursued due to the sensitive equipment having to be overseen by the Home Office. Members acknowledged the response but highlighted its absence from the associated paperwork.

·       The contract would be a direct award under the existing Crown Commercial Services Contract and be governed by the Home Office and associated judicial requirements. Spend was to be limited to maintenance only. Funding was directly sourced from partners such as National Highways, Medway Council and KCC.

·       Members asked for clarification on the partnership funding aspects. It was asked if KCC was to pay to suppliers directly on behalf of all partners and would seek contributions from partners once payment has been made. Officers acknowledged that section 5.5 in the documentation may be unclear in indicating that KCC are spending £75,000 in its own revenue funds. Officers clarified that funds would be pooled together from the relevant partners.

·       The issue of non-payment from associated partners was raised and asked if KCC would cover costs if partners had been unable to contribute. It was noted that KCC in terms of non-payment liability would be discussed at the Kent and Medway Safety Camera Partnership and any unitary authority not contributing would have maintenance ceased.

·       Additional camera costs would draw from the core road safety budget. Monitoring of replacement items was subject to the scrutiny of the Kent and Medway Safety Camera Partnership.

·       It was requested that a paper was to be provided to committee at a later  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Mr Toby Butler- Traffic and Networks Solutions Asset Manager presented the item remotely.

1.    Mr Butler introduced the report. The current maintenance contract would cease on March the 31st 2026.Officers added that there was a desire to go to market to procure a replacement service.

2.    The use of existing revenue and capital budget would be used in the respective procurement process. No significant impact on staffing levels or raised TUPE concerns were noted.  Three identified companies had been approached and market engagement with all three had taken place to ensure competitive bids would be submitted.

RESOLVED to endorse the proposed decision, namely:

That the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport agree to:

I:                DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of Growth, Environment and Transport Progress and complete a procurement process and enter into commercial contracts as necessary for the delivery of the service, subject to the approval of Strategic Commissioning

ii.              APPROVE KCC officers to specify, project manage and supervise the service to meet the needs of all road users.

iii.            DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of Growth Environment & Transport in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, to take relevant actions, including but not limited to, awarding, finalising the terms of and entering into the relevant contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary, to implement the decision

Jamie Watson-Senior Programme Manager (Active Travel) was in attendance.

1. Mr Watson introduced the report which provided an update on the Kent Street junction and the widening of the A228 at Moyne Road. It was outlined that the projects background included the section 106 developer contributions. Finalised design had followed previous design options and consultations had been discussed at the Tonbridge and Malling joint transportation boards with reconditions to construct. The final design was now complete, and construction was due to begin in April 2025.

2. Environmental, ecological and biocultural assessments had all been commissioned, and an estimated cost of the scheme was to be £1.3 million and jointly funded by developer contributions and KCC.

1.    RESOLVED to endorse the proposed decision, namely:

That the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport agree to:

i.               Approve the delivery of a traffic calming scheme to mitigate the impact of traffic arising from the Kings Hill Phase 3 development

ii.               Approve that the cost of staff and consultant time to project manage, input into the delivery and supervision of the scheme, be recoverable against the S106 Developer Contributions and Kent Lane Rental funding.

iii.              Approve to progress all statutory approvals or consents required for the scheme.

iv.            Approve the implementation of permanent Traffic Regulation Orders, if required as such associated with any speed limit reductions, subject to completing the statutory consultation process associated with Traffic Regulation Orders.

v.              Approve any additional consultation/engagement as required for the scheme.

vi.            Approve to enter into construction contracts as necessary for the delivery of the scheme subject to a review of the procurement strategy by the Strategic Commissioning team; and vii. Delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Growth, Environment and Transport in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport to take relevant actions, including but not limited to finalising the terms of and entering into required contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary to implement the decision.

To Follow

Mr Barry Stiff, Project Manager – Major Capital Programme Team was in attendance. Mrs S Hamilton attended in her capacity as the Councillor for Tunbridge Wells Rural

1.  Mr Stiff introduced the paper and discussed the relating junction improvements that have occurred at two locations on Battle Road, Paddock Wood. The previous key decision occurred in 2021 and was now seeking changes due to the original proposals not having the desired benefits.

2.  Due to the changes implemented in 2018 by the Environment Agency and the designation of the area as a flood zone had impacted negatively the requirements of the design. Alternative options to the crossroads solution had been explored but these were not deemed viable.

3. The only option available was to widen the existing Badsfield Road into the land that’s provided through the 106 agreement and mitigate the traffic impact of the three developments that were providing funding for the scheme. A widening of the road would move the road six metres from the adjacent properties and enable maximization of retained area to flood mitigate. There would be a negative impact with the removal of several trees.

     4. The only viable option was progression of the scheme to deliver the required  mitigations. If the option was not progressed there would be no provision of traffic mitigation and an incurring abortive cost of £400,000 would also impact.

5.The Cabinet Member and Officers responded to questions of detail and noted comments, which included the following

·       It was suggested that communication to Paddock Wood residents needed to Improve. Residents had been left bitterly disappointed by the previous scheme failures Member explained.

·       Members highlighted that development mitigation had been added to the flood modelling; the current drainage channels had remained dry as an indication of successful mitigation. Advice would need to be sought from the Environment Agency to determine if the Leigh flood barriers upgrades had impacted.

·       The removal of the western cycle path and the addition that the footpath on the Northern section would allow for a shared route. This aspect would be one that should be reviewed as part of the detailed design.

1.    RESOLVED to endorse the proposed decision, namely:

That the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport agree to:

i)               Approval to defer the improvement of A228/B2017 junction improvement.

ii)              Approval to use any surplus S106 funding to progress the feasibility and opportunities for voluntary land acquisition of an alternative A228/B2017 junction improvement for a larger roundabout

iii)            Approval to progress the amended B2017/B2160 junction improvement as shown indicatively on Drg. No. 60660469-ACM-01-SW-DR-HR-0105 through surveys, design and construction.

iv)            Approval for the proposed B2017/B2160 junction improvement shown on Drg. No. 60660469- ACM-01-SW-DR-HR-0105 to be used for Land Charge disclosures and development control.

v)              Approval to take a transfer of land for the B2017/B2160 junction improvement from an adjacent housing development under a section 106 planning obligation and to acquire any other land and rights as necessary.

vi)             Approval to progress any statutory approvals and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

Mark Scrivener (Head of Risk and Delivery Assurance) and Mr Mike Hand - Risk and Delivery Assurance Officer were in attendance.

1. Mr Hand introduced the annual report which set out the strategic risks on KCC’s corporate register, notably those of a particular relevance to the committee.

2. The Cabinet Member and Officers responded to questions of detail and noted comments, which included the following

·       Clarification on risk CRR0052 (Adaptation of KCC services to climate change impacts) was asked. Members asked if this had been an acknowledgment of increased pressure due to climate change or an admission that there would be a struggle to fund mitigation. Officers responded that conversations had taken place around risk reduction and the implementation of suitable plans in place to control those aspects that remain within KCC control.

3.RESOLVED to note the content of the report

Mr Richard Emmett-Senior Highway Manager was in attendance

1. The update on the winter service captured and incorporated up to end of January 2025. KCC winter service had commenced on the 18^th of October 2024 and would cease on the 18^th of April 2025. Officers further discussed the four named storm events that had occurred late 2024 and the increased demand that had been placed on services in highways.

2.  An additional 1,000 inquiries had been received during storm events indicating that the provided data graphs had been aligned to show the impact of such events. 34 salting shouts covering 1,805 individual salting routes had been completed using 7708 tonnes of salt. Last year at the same stage and for the same of number of salting runs only 6,000 tonnes of salt had been used.

3.  February had seen the highest number of salting runs with 638 completed. January had the highest number per month over a five-year period with 1,328 individual salting runs. Operational performances were running at 99.1% with a 98% benchmark.

4.  It was highlighted that each depot had received 200 tonnes of salt with an additional 500 tonnes to be delivered throughout February to ensure Statutory requirements are met. Spend at the end of January stood at £2.9 million. Salt Rock was transported to Kent via ship to Tilbury and then further distributed via road transportation.

1.    RESOLVED to note the content of the report

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Mr Phil Lightowler, Head of Public Transport was in attendance.

1. Last year’s joint works with BSIP funding, had allowed the price to stabilise and not show a significant increase in cost to the end user. It was proposed that the upcoming scheme year of September 2025 to July 2026 prices for the Kent Travel saver full pass would see an increase of £30 from £550 to £580.

2.  The low-income pass would see a £15 increase from £120 to £135.The pressures that families had faced in getting children to school was acknowledged.

3.The Cabinet Member and Officers responded to questions of detail and noted comments, which included the following

·       Members acknowledged the hard work that has been conducted to keep the costs at a reasonable level.

·       A concern was raised that a 15% increase for low-income families would be detrimental and further queried that the bus service improvement plan funds that had been able to keep costs down, if unavailable would this drive costs up

·       It was discussed at depth how the use of funds in the local authority and other authorities have enabled a bus service to remain functional. Removal of these funds would have a severe impact on the delivery of services. Officers felt this was the smallest increase that could be viable.

·       Members asked how the model would function if it was entirely on an operator-based ticketing system. Constraints on geographical location and services could see a cost between £900 to £1300 per pass. Members were assured that lobbying for EFT funding would continue.

 4.RESOLVED to note the content of the report

Mrs Helen Shulver-Head of Environment was in attendance.

1. The review was presented with a refresh of the 2019 UK government climate change declaration. Budgetary commitments and the impacts of the high court judgement for the Government to produce a new climate change plan by the 2nd of May were noted.

2.The solid progress in the KCC net zero plan was explained. The adoption of the plan had seen a 51% reduction in greenhouse gases from the baseline. Two solar farms had become operational and a 57% reduction in oil use, 56% reduction in electricity and a 17% reduction in gas emissions across sites had also been observed.

3. Net zero had been predominantly funded by government schemes however, changes to those schemes would require KCC to match funding. 11,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions would still need to be delivered to reach the net zero ambition. Current plans would blend the operational footprint and its scope one and two emissions.  Scope three emissions had elements that would sit outside of direct control and not within the offsetting requirements of the current plan.

4.Feedback and direction would be sought from the committee on priorities that could aid in the development revision to the plan. it was explained that this could include updating and extending targets, reducing leftover emissions and exploring fuel alternatives. Other aspects beyond the plan such as new infrastructures for EV charging, and Solar PV could also be explored.

5. The Cabinet Member and Officers responded to questions of detail and noted comments, which included the following

·       Several Members noted the 90% reduction of emissions in the transportation of rock salt and the reduction in the scope 2 emissions. Members asked if a trajectory of performance graph and supporting data could be provided towards the 2030 target.

·       In response to members questions a graph of trajectory would be provided to Members. LED lighting replacement would only occur when fixture had been damaged or needed replacing but a dedicated replacement scheme was not in place.

·       Alternative fuels for KCC transport fleet were limited to a small number of vehicles transition to EV. Storage options reviews would be reviewed.

·       Roof top solar panels had been explored. Scope three plan would be prioritised if identified in the new plan. Work on residential infrastructure had taken place but a need for KCC own EV infrastructure improvements was discussed.

1.    RESOLVED to note the content of the report.

The work programme was noted.