Agenda item

(1)       Mr Hill and Ms Honey updated Members on the issues listed in the paper circulated with the agenda and answered questions from Members.

Troubled Families

(2)        Ms Honey updated the Committee on the current situation regarding the Troubled Families programme. She stated that the focus over the summer had been on validating and cross referencing the data across all districts and partners.  She expressed her gratitude to the Community Safety Partnerships for their assistance.  Representatives from the Department of Local Government and Communities had visited Kent to hear about the delivery model and had been impressed by it.  KCC had the third largest programme in the country aiming to work with 1082 families in the current year.  The DLGC were being realistic about the amount of time that it would take to turn the lives of these families around and accepted that this work would take some time to have an impact.

(3)        Ms Honey explained that the priority this year was to ensure every one of these families had a full assessment of their needs.  The four early adopter areas were Dartford, Thanet, Tunbridge Wells and Ashford.  KCC was the accountable body for the Troubled Families programme but it was a team effort with partners and Districts.  All agencies were looking at how they could transform their services to achieve better outcomes for these families. 

(4)        A Member mentioned that there had been a briefing on this programme at a recent meeting of the Kent Police Authority. 

(5)        A Member referred to the lack of a Locality Board in Thanet which was a pilot area for the Troubled Families programme and the possible impact that this could have on Members receiving feedback on the scheme.  Mr Hill stated that 11 of the 12 Districts had Locality Boards and the target was that all 12 would be established by the end of the year.  He undertook to make sure that Members were kept informed and consulted about the Troubled Families programme in their area.

Global Youth Camp

(6)        Ms Honey referred to the Global Youth Camp that had been held in the summer. This was the second one organised by KCC and had been a huge success. 240 young people and their leaders from 14 countries, including South Korea had attended the week of activities to coincide with the Olympics.

(7)       Ms Honey thanked Nigel Baker for the work that he had carried out to make the Global Youth Camp such a success.

Youth Service Transformation (Commissioning)

(8)       Mr Hill informed the Committee that 52 organisations had submitted 221 bids for the commissioning of Youth Services across the County.  He was very pleased with the response. An initial analysis of the bids had shown there to be a good spread of bids across the County and a mixture in the size of the organisations submitting bids, including some bids from social enterprises.  There would be a report to the next meeting of the Committee to update Members on the commissioning of services. 

 The Beaney

(9)        Mr Hill reported on the opening of the Beaney in Canterbury which had been joint project with Canterbury City Council.  The majority of the funding had come from a Heritage Lottery Fund Grant and had resulted in a fitting building for the Library and Gallery in Canterbury.

(10)     A local Member emphasised what a wonderful facility The Beaney was and encouraged Members to visit.

Broadstairs Library

11)      Mr Hill Informed the Committee that the Broadstairs Library had re-opened recently.  It had been a complicated project, which moved the majority of adult education provision into the new Library.  At the opening there were many compliments from local residents about the huge improvements presented by the new building.

Funding Successes (Culture, Sports, etc)

(12)     Ms Honey reported on the funding obtained for Kent by the Arts Development Unit/Sports Development Unit.  This included £1.4m from the Arts Council England Creative people and places fund, which was a consortium led by KCC.  £74k had been secured for a project to develop a programme across Kent to showcase the work being done in archives.  £1.1m had been secured from Sports England to enable 26 community sports clubs to upgrade and refurbish their facilities. 

(13)     Officers undertook to supply Mr Sandhu with a list of where the £1.1m of sports funding that had been obtained for Districts was going to be used.

  Olympics & Paralympics

(14)     Mr Hill referred to the Olympic and Paralympic events across Kent including the Cultural Olympiad and the Olympic Torch Relay.  The Paralympic Road Cycling at Brands Hatch had demonstrated what Kent was able to do.  He stated that he would like to bring a full report on the Olympic campaign to a future meeting of the Committee. 

(15)     Members remarked on the excellent transport links from Kent to the Olympic Park and also the amount of the publicity for tourism in Kent along the route.

(16)     The Chairman, on behalf of the Committee, expressed thanks to Mr Hespe and his team for their work in relation to the Olympics and Paralympics.

(17)     RESOLVED that the update, and any comments made by Members, be noted.