Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Mr Lewis, Mr Baldock and Mr Chittenden for whom Ms Meade, Mr Stepto and Mr Passmore were present.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 15 November 2023 were an accurate record and that they be signed by the Chairman.

1) Mr Oakford introduced the report.

2) Members raised the following in response to the report:

·       It was suggested that more ‘invest to save’ measures should be considered, bringing services in-house and earlier involvement of opposition groups in budget process.

3) RESOLVED to note updated Revenue Budget and Medium Term Financial Plan, Draft Capital Strategy and Programme, and Treasury Management Strategy.

1) Mr Jon Yates from Southern Water presented to the cabinet committee. Please see the linked presentation:

Web link to presentation

1) Mr Baker said that Storm Henk had followed Storm Ciaran and had caused highway drainage issues and fallen trees. Highways teams had barely recovered from the first storm as enquiry demand numbers were very high again for Storm Henk. On Tuesday, 2 January, over 200 fallen trees were reported with a total of over 330 emergency enquiries. The wet weather impacted on road conditions with reported defects remaining extremely high throughout December 2023 and the first week of January 2024. 

There were 2718 pothole enquiries in December 2023, which was higher than in December 2022, when there were 2480 enquiries. There were 947 drainage enquiries in comparison to 706 enquiries in the same period in 2022. There were 339 insurance enquiries for December 2023, which was double the previous December’s 170 and the highest enquiry numbers for the month of December for 5 years. 

Chestfield tunnel lighting system upgrade was successfully installed in 2023 and the project was submitted to the New Civil Engineer Tunnelling Awards 2023 in two categories. Unfortunately, KCC did not win but credit was given to the teams involved in the delivery of the successful project. 

During 2023, KCC continued to participate in Association for Public Service Excellence?network performance for highways, winter maintenance and street lighting. Street lighting was nominated as a finalist in the best performer category but unfortunately again did not win.

The report on the consultation on the emerging draft new Local Transport Plan 5 that took place between June and September 2023 had been published on KCC’s website. The Member Task and Finish Group steering the development of the new plan was reconvened in December 2023. Work was underway on a full plan which was to go to public consultation in the summer of 2024. 

Three parish seminars were held last year in November and December 2023 with around 200 attendees. These were very successful and following the discussions, an All-Member briefing on the role of Highways in planning applications is being arranged for 30 January. This was to be held online.

Procurement for the services of back-office functionality and camera equipment to permit enforcement of moving traffic offences continued and a supplier was to be confirmed in January 2024. KCC was to then mobilise with the appointed supplier to get cameras installed at the first locations such as Beaver Road in Ashford. The service aimed to commence enforcement at these locations in March/April 2024.  

Responses were being reviewed from further consultations for bus gates for part of the Fasttrack Route in Dartford and adjacent to the train station on Clive Road in Gravesend. ? 

A new consultation had been launched on KCC’s Lets Talk Kent website. These included proposed enforcement of a bus gate between Chapelfield Way and Howard Drive in Maidstone and 2 further locations on the Kent Fasttrack route in Dartford. The consultation commenced on the 9 January 2024 and was to run for a period of 6 weeks. KCC officers were also engaged with Tunbridge Wells Borough  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Matt Wagner (Interim Chief Analyst) and Simon Jones (Corporate Director, GET) were in attendance for this item

1) Mr Wagner introduced the report. There were 19 key performance indicators (KPIs); 13 were rated green, 5 amber and 1 red.

The indicator rated red was under Highways and Transport: Customer satisfaction with service delivery.

2) Further to Members’ questions, it was noted:

• There had been a 9 year high in the number of reported potholes. Enquiries were logged on the work management and allocation system. Fault reports were then inspected, and a work order was generated on the basis of the inspection. The performance against the work order was measured.
• Some of the issues with performance have come from the sheer volume of calls and work generated.
• Emergency repairs were being made where a pothole was hazardous to road users and then a permanent repair was made at a later stage.

3) RESOLVED to note the Performance Dashboard.

1) Mr Baker introduced the report.

2) RESOLVED to approve the recommendations as outlined in the report.

Simon Jones, Corporate Director (GET) and Tim Middleton, Network Innovations Manager were in attendance for this item

1) Mr Baker introduced the report.

2) Mr Jones outlined the report.

3) Members asked questions and it was noted that:

·       The distribution of the funding would be countywide to support the existing infrastructure but also to expand the technology.

·       It was queried about the retention of control of the infrastructure. SENEX had set the fund to be set up in a certain, geared towards a concession model. The ownership was to revert back to KCC after 15 years. There was a certain level of risk which officers were keen to mitigate.

4) RESOLVED to agree the recommendations as outlined in the report.

James Wraight, Project Manager, Major Capital Programme Team and Lee Burchill, Local Growth Fund Programme Manager were in attendance for this item

1) Mr Baker introduced the report.

2) Member asked questions and it was noted:

·       The project looked to be well supported in the local community from the responses to the consultation.

·       Access to Manston Airport was considered when the plan scheme was being planned.

3) RESOLVED to agree the recommendations as outlined in the report.

Mr Rayner and Mrs Meade asked for it to be noted that they had abstained from the vote.

Simon Jones, Corporate Director (GET) was in attendance for this item

1) Mr Baker introduced the report.

2) Members asked questions and it was noted that:

·       Lessons had been learnt and conversations had taken place about how the problems had arisen leading to the need for an urgent decision. A systemised approach would be taken in future and embedded in practice.

3) RESOLVED to agree the recommendations as outlined in the report.

David Beaver, Head of Resource Management & Circular Economy was in attendance for this item

1) Mr Hills introduced the report

2) Mr Beaver outlined the report.

3) In response to questions from Members:

·       Second-tier authorities do not have to use KCC to dispose of waste collected. If a second-tier authority dispose of the waste themselves, KCC as the authority responsible for disposal would need to pay the difference. Mr Beaver said that costs were around £1.8 million for just one category of material. The amount proposed to be paid in the decision report was £1.3 million. It was considered an ‘invest to save’ measure and it was argued that not working in partnership undermined other strategies.

·       Members said they did not accept  the officer’s suggestion that collecting authorities would change their work schedules and send more waste for incineration if KCC were to withhold the payment. 

·       Members said that regulatory changes in the next year would mean collecting authorities would be required to carry out their recycling programmes by law without KCC's subsidies.

4) It was proposed by Mr Rayner, seconded by Mr Dendor that the following recommendation be made to the Leader of the Council:

This committee recommends that the funds shown in 5.1 of the agenda report not be paid to the authorities.

Upon being put to the vote, the motion was declared CARRIED.

The work programme was noted.