Agenda item

Mr P Carter, Leader of Kent County Council, will attend the meeting between 10.15am and 10.30am to answer Members’ questions on this item.

(1)       This item had been put forward by Mrs Dean who clarified that she was interested in the paper not just the process around it.

(2)       Mr Carter explained that the Director of Law and Governance had confirmed that it was acceptable for KCC’s logo to be used on a document produced by the Leader of the County Council.   The document had been well received at its launch by all three parties.  He stated that further work needed to be done on how to have more localised control over welfare expenditure in Kent.  If there was a re-design of the regional landscape after the general election, consideration could be given to what would be a reasonable size for regional government.  Total Place was one of the important documents for focusing on a local area, where we could save and deliver massive and substantial amounts of savings in expenditure. 

(3)       Mr Carter stated that an area where Members could get involved was making suggestions of where devolution could work better i.e. by spending less money and supporting citizens more effectively.  In relation to Total Place he referred to access and assessment of need especially for the welfare budget relating to young people and benefits.  If local government were allocated a share of the £10,000 - £12,000 per young person it would be possible to create sensible employment opportunities.  This would be articulated in a paper that was currently being produced.  The key issue was making better use of less resource by using it more effectively especially in the areas of economic development, housing and transport.  Total Place was not just about buildings it was also about expenditure, it required a coalition of the willing and strong leadership at all levels. 

(4)       In response a question on how much involvement District Councils had in the development of this document, Mr Carter explained that the District Councils had seen the document as had authorities in the South East, and had the opportunity to comment and shape it.  The document had been shaped to shed a positive light on the local government family and to make the two tier structure work.  He also referred to work on the new Kent Commitment.

(5)       Regarding local authorities and the provision of healthcare, Mr Carter stated that it would be a massive operation to reconfigure services differently.  The key concept was could we do it differently with less resources.  Local government democracy had more input than they had in the past, local government had a proven track record of the way that they were run and had earned greater autonomy.

(6)       Mr Carter informed the Board that Mr Bowles was leading a group of District Councillors who were looking to define how a control shift could work if empowered by the removal of regional authorities.  He acknowledged that there would need to be revised governance arrangements to achieve this.

(7)       In response to the issue of the public being aware of which tier of local government was responsible for different provisions (and in the case of street lighting in some area all three tier may be responsible for different lights within that area), Mr Carter stated that there was a need to move forward, with District  Council colleagues in developing seamless services.  A good example of joint working was the waste management arrangements in East Kent. 

(8)       In relation to a question on whether all county Councils would be large enough to effectively take over the regional agenda for their area, Mr Carter stated that this was flexible, the paper suggested 46 units the first draft had 35.  Local government borders were obvious basic building blocks but they did not have to be.  Regarding devolution to Districts this was part of discussion with Leaders and Chief Executives about commissioning local based services collectively and getting appropriate governance arrangements.  He acknowledged that service needs were different in different areas and therefore commissioning should be done locally to ensure that what was provided was in the best interests of local residents. 

(9)       In response to a question Mr Carter confirmed that officers were aware of the changes necessary especially in relation to Total Place and Chief officers were working with Members to shape a radical new way forward.  

(10)     RESOLVED that :-

            (a)         Mr Carter, be thanked for attending the meeting and answering Members’ questions

            (b)       Mr Carter report to the Board on progress at a time that he considers appropriate.