Agenda item

To note the draft budget and MTFP and suggest any other issues which should be reflected in the draft budget and MTFP prior to Cabinet on 23 January and County Council on 9 February 2017

(Mr K Tilson, Finance Business Partner - Growth, Environment & Transport, Mr D Smith, Director of Economic Development, Mr J Pearson, Interim Head of Service and Ms K Stewart, Director of Environment Planning and Enforcement, were in attendance for the consideration of this item).

1.    Mr Tilson introduced the report which accompanied the final draft 2017-18 budget and 2017-20 MTFP published on 12 January 2017, and provided further detail on the key assumptions which underpin the budget proposals and savings relevant to the remit of the Growth, Economic Development and Communities Cabinet Committee.  It also included information from KCC’s budget consultation, the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget Statement and provisional local government finance settlement.

2.    Mr Tilson then advised that Appendix one to the report applied to the Growth and Economic Development Directorate, and not the Cabinet Committees remit, although he had tried to ensure the papers made clear the savings and spending pressures relating to the Cabinet Committee.

3.    The Corporate Director for Growth Environment and Transport then responded to the questions of the Committee Members and made points including the following:

·         Staffing is taken very seriously, and any changes needed to be as a result of the Vision and priorities for the service.  Some services within the directorate were income generating, so these services would not be cut.  Staff reductions were not the first choice when identifying savings.  65% of the total GET budget was contracts, and these needed to be considered first.  However, inevitably there would have to be some staff savings.

4.    Ms Stewart then responded to further questions of the Committee and stated that the capital investment into the Coroners service was to make the service more efficient, including the introduction of a Medical Examiner service. 

She also added that the Thanet Parkway was not dependent on the Airport at Manston.  It would not take away from Ramsgate Station, and the intention was to unlock access to the High Speed Service for the wider population. KCC were not solely funding the project, as Local Growth Fund monies had been allocated by the Southeast Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP).  Engagement was taking place with developers, and the Thanet Local Plan was presently out for consultation.

5.    Mr Smith also responded to questions of the Committee Members and made the following points:

·         In terms of the occupants of Discovery Park, which was the legacy of Pfizer, some were businesses who had come from other parts of Kent, and some were second locations.  Statistics showed that more staff were now employed at the site compared to when Pfizer owned the site.  These statistics could be provided to Committee Members.

·         The owners of the Discovery Park site had received a loan via the Local Enterprise Partnership to do work on site to provide housing.  Planning permission had been sought, but it had been subject to heavy requirements on flood prevention work, and the LEP were working with Discovery Park to address these issues.  The funds for this were retained in the KCC forward budget in the event that the development were to proceed.

·          A schedule of EU funding contributing to Kent projects could be provided to the Committee at a future meeting.  This funding would only be used to support projects which were in Kent’s interest. In anticipation of BREXIT the government had promised that all projects already signed off would be honoured.  This was not the case for any successor bids.

6.         RESOLVED that draft budget and MTFP, including responses to consultation and Government announcements, be noted.