Agenda item

(1)       Mr Hill and Ms Honey updated Members on the following issues:-

28 July 2010 - Top 200 Visit to Margate

(2)       Ms Honey reminded Members of the work that had been carried out in two wards in Margate as part of the Total Place pilot.  She explained that Kent had been selected as one of three areas in the County to have a visit from the top 200 civil servants across all departments.  This had been organised as part of an initiative commissioned by the Cabinet Secretary, to work on the issues around disadvantage in neighbourhoods and to come up with ideas around the Big Society which would feed into the Comprehensive Spending Review.  This gave an opportunity to share KCC’s concerns and put forward suggestions including the establishment of an intervention area for the two wards and to share thoughts on housing.  The report from the top 200 would be circulated to the Committee when it was available.  Members agreed that they would like more information on the work that was being carried out in Thanet and how the resources that were being put into that area were being utilised. 

14 September 2010 - Review of Prisons in Kent and its impact on Public Services

(3)       Ms Slaven referred to the document that had been produced in the summer which looked at the impact having a relatively large number of prisons had on Kent.  Better partnership working would lead to better outcomes for prisoners who lived in Kent and also those who were not residents of Kent.  On 14 September 2010 a group including the Chief Probation Officer, representatives from Health, Housing, the Department of Work and Pensions, Youth Offending Service and Drug Services had met to discuss how they could work together to improve outcomes especially for the Thanet area.  This was a first step and the outcomes would be developed by Mr Bainbridge and the Community Safety Partnership.

Euro-Camp

(4)       Ms Honey referred to the Euro-Camp which had been organised by the Kent Youth Service.  This included a whole week of activities and had been based at Swattenden.  She thanked the Youth Service for organising and it was hoped that there would be a second event on a bigger scale in 2012. 

YOS ISS Arts Council Awards

(5)       Ms Honey congratulated the eight young people from the Youth Offending Services who were awarded bronze arts Council award after attending a Summer Arts College.  These eight young people were at high risk of re-offending but all of them had got college places for the autumn.  In response to a question Ms Slaven explained that this was the first time that these awards had been held, it had been experimental and had been achieved over a short period of time.  All those involved were congratulated on an excellent project.

Open Golf 2011

(6)       Mr Hill reported that arrangements were well advanced for the Open Golf at Sandwich in 2011.  The spin off for Kent was estimated to be £70 m of inward investment.

Planning for the 2012 Olympic Games

(7)       Mr Hill reported that planning for the 2012 Olympic Games was going very well.  Plans were underway for the next Kent school games in 2012.  Kent had more training camps than any other English County and there were even more anticipated. He referred to other parallel events such as the four nations under 17 athletic international, Kent Power World Cycling Tournament.  No decision had yet be made in relation to the where the Olympic torch would enter the UK, this was expected in the next few months.

Turner Practical completion

(8)       The date of practical completion for Turner Contemporary was 8 December 2010.  There would be a soft opening in April/May 2011 with a formal opening later in the year.

Kent Drug and Alcohol Action Team (KDAAT) Performance  

(9)       Mr Hill stated that four and a half years ago the performance of the KDAAT was not where it should be, since then it has been transformed.  In the past year there had been a 7% increase in the number of people into effective treatment.  KDAAT was one of the best in its family of services.

 Update on Capital Schemes

(10)     Mr Hill updated the Committee on the Ashford Gateway, Gravesend Library, the Beaney refurbishment and Kent History and Library Centre.  He was proud of Community Services Capital projects which had been delivered on time.

The Launch of Communities Resilience Scheme

(11)     Mr Hill explained that the Communities Resilience Scheme had come from an idea by Mr Cloake, the Head of Emergency Planning to enable communities to help themselves in emergency situation, such as the snow last winter. This had been piloted on a couple of areas and had been well received.

Ofsted Inspection of Adult Education

(12)     In June 2010 Community Learning and Skills (CL&S) had been subject to an Ofsted inspection.  They had been rated as “Good” and included in the comments was reference to the staff being confident in their roles, partnership working being effective and success rates being high.  There were a couple of areas which needed to be addressed and an action plan was in place to do this.

Trading Standards legal cases

(13)     Ms Honey undertook to arrange for the information on Trading Standards legal cases to be circulated to Members of the Committee.

Kent Venture Boat – New Petra – Oostende

(14)     Mr Sandhu updated the Committee on his visit on 7 July 2010 to the Petra Barge in Oostende.  When he visited there were 10 young people on board including 5 young people from a Special Needs School in Dover.  They were all enjoying the facility and explained that it built their confidence and self esteem. 

(15)     RESOLVED that the update be noted and that that a progress report be submitted to the November meeting of the POSC on the work being carried out in the two “total place” pilot wards in Thanet.