Agenda item

To receive the report from the Cabinet Member for Community Services and Corporate Director for Growth, Environment and Transport and to consider and endorse, or make recommendations to Cabinet.

(1)       The Cabinet Committee received a report of the Cabinet Member for Community Services and the Corporate Director of Growth, Environment and Transport.  Mr Hill introduced the report and said that the results of the consultation had been impressive; 101 parish councils had responded and the value and importance of the Community Wardens and their local connections had been supported.

(2)       Paul Crick, Director of Environment, Planning and Enforcement, and Stuart Beaumont, Head of Community Safety and Emergency Planning, were in attendance for the item and in particular referred to the following:

(3)       The preferred option was to maintain the current reduced establishment at 70, which was a reduction of 31 posts from the original establishment.  This would deliver savings of £700k in a full year.  As vacancies were unevenly spread across the county some service redesign would be necessary.  As there were several resignations and retirement requests from warden staff pending it was probable that the uniformed service could be reduced to 70 posts.

(4)       Over the next 12 months the potential of developing local service provision with Kent Police and of recruiting volunteer wardens at  parish level would be explored as this was integral to the success of the preferred option.

(5)       Formal exploratory discussions would also commence with interested parish councils, supported by the Kent Association of Local Councils, to investigate possible funding and to determine if community wardens could increase their support to local community safety units.

(6)       Parishes and communities that currently had a nominated community warden would continue to have a designated officer contact point.  The resource allocation would mirror the current uniformed presence across the county which had been reduced since 2012 from 101 posts to 72 posts using vacancy management.  The uniformed presence would not therefore be reduced to the level set out in the public consultation proposal.  KCC community wardens would continue to build on the flexible working arrangements currently in place and would expand their roles to include other priority areas only where resources allowed.  Community wardens would continue to be based in parish/community locations to preserve as much community-based front line delivery resource as possible and to maintain the “local knowledge element” which 77% of those who responded to the public consultation had considered to be the service’s greatest strength. 

(7)       The redesign was still being developed and parish council input was essential and would be welcomed.

(8)       Volunteer wardens could be used to provide advice.  The service would be modelled on the lines of special constables but detailed issues such as whether they would be uniformed and how the public would distinguish a volunteer from a warden, were being considered.

(9)       Volunteer wardens would be in addition to the 70 uniformed wardens.

(10)    Replacing the old warden vans with new ones with seats as well as storage would enable wardens to travel in teams rather than separately resulting in reduced mileage claims.

(11)    Wardens had to attend a seven week Home Office accredited course and as this training was expensive it was done in blocks. 

(12)    Mr Baldock moved and Mr Caller seconded that the option outlined in paragraph 8.3 of the report and set out below be endorsed.

The service could use vacancy management to reduce numbers to the level determined by budget availability over a longer period. This would deliver savings over a longer time but as vacancies are likely to arise unevenly across the county some service redesign would still be necessary to balance service delivery and maintain operational cover.

(13)    Mr Beaumont said that to achieve the £700k savings some redundancies were required and vacancy management might mean that these savings were not achieved by 1 April 2015.

(14)    Following the debate the Chairman put the motion to the vote.  As a recorded vote had been requested the results were as follows:

For (4):                Mr M Baldock, Mr C Caller, Dr M Eddy, Mr B MacDowall

Against (10):      Mrs P Stockell, Mr M Balfour, Mr I Chittenden, Mr M Harrison, Mrs S Hohler, Mr A King, Mr A Marsh, Mr J Ozog, Mr C Pearman, Mr M Whybrow

Lost

(15)    The Chairman then put the recommendations as set out below to the vote and agreement was unanimous:

The preferred option is to maintain the current reduced establishment. Using vacancy management the uniformed establishment would be reduced to 70, which is a reduction of 31 posts from the original establishment. This could deliver savings in the region of £700k savings in a full year. As vacancies are currently unevenly spread across the county some service redesign would still be necessary to balance service delivery. Integral to this option, work would commence over the next 12 months to explore the potential of developing local service provision arrangements with Kent Police and also to recruit volunteer wardens to support the service at Parish level. Formal exploratory discussions would also commence with interested Parish Councils (supported by KALC) and District Councils to determine the feasibility of funding income to supplement resources. Discussions would also take place with districts to determine if community wardens could increase their support to the work of local community safety units by accepting appropriate additional operational duties from this source.

(16)     RESOLVED that the preferred option for the future delivery of the KCC Community Warden Service as outlined above be endorsed.