Agenda item

(Mrs S Garton, County Performance and Evaluation Manager, Mr R Hardy, Head of Improvement and Engagement, Ms Carolyn McKenzie, Greener Kent Manager, Ms L McMullan, Director of Finance, Ms T Oliver, Director of Strategic Development and Public Access, Mrs Debbie Smith - Policy Officer (Public Health) and Miss Pauline Smith - County Manager - Supporting Independence Programme were present for this item.)

(1)       Mrs Garton presented the report which set out the process for finalising the second Towards 2010 Annual Report prior to approval by County Council on 16 October 2008 and a draft of the report on progress on the 13 targets which came within the remit of this Committee.  Each of the officers responsible for these targets gave a brief overview and invited comments from Members.

(2)       Members questions and comments included the following:-

• In response to a question Ms McMullan stated that the there was not a hard government target for KCC spend with Kent Based Small Medium Sized Enterprises (SME’s), however the current figure for KCC was 65% of total expenditure.  The Government has quoted a figure of 35% which KCC was exceeding.
• Ms McMullan gave Members some feedback from the meeting that Mr Chard and Mr A King had had with representatives of the Federation of Small Business and undertook to supply a resume of this meeting to Members.
• Page 17 – 2^nd bullet point – 20% of Highways contracts outside of the Alliance contracts, in response to a question on whether this was related to the percentage of work for SME’s, Ms McMullan stated that the intention was that this work should not simply be provided by one supplier and that there was an opportunity for work to go to smaller Kent based contractors.
• The Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee informed Members that a Trading Activities Sub-Group had been established to ensure that KCC contracts were transparent and that there was greater communication with the private sector.
• In response to a question on funding for film, Ms Oliver stated that SEEDA and the SWEDA were the only development agencies which did not invest in film.  This put Kent at a disadvantage when competing against other areas of the UK to attract film companies to use Kent as a location.  Ms Oliver stated that attracting of EU money usually required a project bid which was not necessary appropriate for attracting film production companies.  She was however submitting an Interreg bid.
• In response to a question on whether her team were working with Borough/District Councils and other local agencies that do good work on the ground to make sure that KCC adds value, Ms P Smith explained that part of her role with the Supporting Independence programme was to facilitate conversations at a local level, it was essential that issues were owned locally, and she was also able to take an independent Kent wider view and see how this linked in at the local level.
• Target 18 – 1,000 apprenticeships offered by a Kent Apprenticeship scheme – clarification was sought of whether these were in addition to the apprenticeships already being offered by Kent Companies.  Ms P Smith confirmed that the 1,000 were facilitated by the Kent Apprenticeship scheme and were in addition to those already being offered by other organisations.
• In response to a question Ms P Smith confirmed that apprentices received a minimum of £80 a week, and not the minimum wage.  A large number of apprentices on the Kent Apprentice Scheme achieved full employment within 3 – 6 months. 
• Ms P Smith confirmed the impact of the economic climate on the Apprenticeship scheme was monitored.
• In response to a question on how to ensure that  working neighbourhood funding was paid to the relevant District Council to use in their area rather that being use to support current KCC services, Ms P Smith confirmed she would wish to ensure that this money was used to make real sustainable change in the area and would be working with employers on this.
• Target 19 – in response to a question on whether the 78% of young people with the Kent Community Project teams who had been supported into further education came from across Kent, Ms P Smith confirmed that this was the case.
• Target 24 – Kent TV – In response to a question on funding, Ms Oliver confirmed it would be a Member decision on the ongoing funding for Kent TV and highlighted the savings made through publications as a result of Kent TV existing.  The current financial year has a target of £200k saving and this was on course to be met.  Income generation was proving more difficult in the current financial climate but efforts were being focused on larger corporate sponsors.  The Kent TV Board of Governors decided not to focus on smaller-scale advertising as local media companies were concerned about the impact on their revenue generation.
• Ms Oliver clarified that the reference to “customer profiling” on page 34 referred to the means by which we were working with partners to try to understand more about the customers who were using the Gateways in order to provide the most effective services.
• Members requested the Webcast viewing figures for each Committee be supplied.
• Target 41 – In response to a request for examples of new builds, Ms McKenzie referred to Turner Contemporary and the Kent Highways Depot. 
• Ms McKenzie clarified that “very good” in relation to BREEAM standards was not the highest standard as there was also excellent and exceptional.
• Target 48 – In response to a question from a Member, Mrs Garton explained that “Healthy Eating” came under Target 51 which was within  Children, Families and Education Policy Overview Committee’s remit. 
• The issue of retailer re-sizing children’s clothes (i.e. making them larger within the same age range), which re-enforced the trend towards childhood obesity was mentioned.
• Target 48 – the importance of ensuring that any funding for physical exercise initiatives focused on sustainability and that it supported activities that people wanted to undertake was emphasised.

(3)       RESOLVED that the report and the comments made by Members on the targets be noted.