Minutes:
(1) Mr Carter, the Leader of the Council, highlighted the significance of items 7 and 8 on the County Council agenda (Select Committee: Loneliness & Social Isolation and Brexit Preparedness: Kent County Council Update) and stated that his report would focus on addressing budgetary matters, asylum issues in Kent, high needs funding and business rate retention.
(2) Mr Carter referred to the full Council Budget debate on 14 February 2019 and predicted a modest underspend for the current financial year. A Budget Monitoring report would be submitted to Cabinet on 25 March 2019.
(3) Mr Carter emphasised the importance of addressing substantial recurring unmet costs to Kent County Council by The Home Office in relation to young people seeking asylum in Kent. He acknowledged Kent County Council’s impeccable track record in supporting many extremely vulnerable young people seeking asylum in Kent. He expressed his concerns in relation to the misleading statements that had been made by cross-party immigration ministers regarding funding to address asylum-seeking issues. He stated that he had urged the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, to respond to his recent letter which had comprehensively set out the scale of the underfunding in relation to supporting asylum-seeking young people and the impact on the national dispersal system.
(4) Mr Carter referred to the national issue regarding high needs funding and the impact that it had on the budget of all mainstream schools as a consequence of the changes made by the Children and Families Act 2014. He said that schools had seen an 8% reduction in their revenue budgets over recent years and that they were under significant pressure due to the ever-increasing demand for high needs funding. Mr Carter stated that the significant increase in applications for Education, Health and Care Plans across the country had led to greater demands for special school placements and raised parental expectations.
(5) Mr Carter commended a recent report by ISOS for the Local Government Association on enabling school improvement. This report provided expansive detail on the national impact that the changes to the Children and Families Act 2014 had brought, the impact on mainstream schools and budgets and the statistics of the significant rise in the demand for high needs funding. He emphasised the need for government to devise an appropriate solution to funding the consequences which had arisen from the changes made by the Children and Families Act 2014
(6) Mr Carter referred to the new Fair Funding Formula and business rate retention and confirmed that Mr Shipton (Head of Finance (Policy, Planning and Strategy) would provide comprehensive briefings to all groups which would highlight future plans in relation to the piloted business rate retention split.
(7) Mr Bird, the Leader of the Opposition, started by congratulating Kent County Council’s Finance officers for the balanced budget for 2019-20 despite cutbacks in monies from central government.
(8) Mr Bird supported Mr Carter’s comments in relation to addressing unmet asylum funding issues with The Home Office. He reminded Members of their duty to support young people seeking asylum in Kent.
(9) Mr Bird expressed his heartfelt sympathy to the families of the victims of the five recent attacks on mosques in Birmingham.
(10) Mr Bird supported the views expressed by Mr Carter in relation to high needs funding and said that financing the inclusion of the most challenging special needs children in mainstream education was imperative.
(11) Mr Bird referred to business rate retention and the need to address shrinking business rates and expressed his concerns in relation to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Spring Statement 2019 which did not sufficiently address the issue. He welcomed Mr Shipton’s group briefing relating to upcoming business rate retention changes and emphasised the importance of fundamental flaws in business rates being address by government.
(12) Mr Bird commended the positive steps that had been undertaken in relation to addressing knife crime in Kent and stated that he would support the establishment of a short term Select Committee on that subject.
(13) Mr Farrell, Leader of the Labour Group, expressed his heartfelt sympathy to the families of the victims of the recent terrorist attacks in Christchurch and Utrecht and reminded Members of their duty to bring communities in Kent together and unite as one.
(14) Mr Farrell supported the views expressed by Mr Carter and Mr Bird in relation to addressing funding issues with The Home Office regarding young people seeking asylum in Kent.
(15) Mr Farrell thanked officers for ensuring that appropriate business continuity arrangements were in place in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
(16) In relation to national schools funding, Mr Farrell referred to the letters that had been sent to families by 7,000 headteachers in England detailing the funding issues within state schools and the consequences caused by the lack of funding.Mr Farrell highlighted the significant increase in special educational needs and disability (SEND) pupils in England over the last three years and the repeated calls made to government by Head teachers for funding to support the ever-increasing number of SEND pupils. Mr Farrell encouraged Members to continue to lobby government for additional funding to support the increase in SEND pupils in Kent.
(17) Mr Farrell stated that he would support the establishment of a Select Committee on knife crime in Kent and welcomed any steps taken by Kent County Council to improve the safety and lives of young people across Kent.
(18) Mr Whybrow, Leader of the Independents Group, commended schools in Kent that took part in the recent School Strike 4 Climate in a bid to address the lack of government leadership on climate change. He mentioned the recent announcement from Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, in relation to a predicted shortage of water within 25 years in England as a result of the country’s rising population and climate change.
(19) Mr Whybrow expressed his heartfelt sympathy to the families of the victims of the recent terrorist attacks and of the recent plane crash in Ethiopia.
(20) Mr Whybrow referred to the recent Council Tax increase across Kent and the impact that the increase would have on families in Kent that were already struggling to pay their bills and keep on top of personal debts. He supported the views expressed by Mr Carter in relation to fairer funding for local government and the need to focus on supporting Kent’s most vulnerable residents.
(21) In replying to the other Leaders’ comments, Mr Carter referred to the proposal to establish a Select Committee which sought to address issues associated with knife-crime in Kent and the positive actions that Kent County Council had taken to help and support the safety of young people in Kent.
(22) In relation to High Needs funding, Mr Carter emphasised the importance of redressing the balance between special school placements and mainstream inclusion. He emphasised the desperate need for government to reflect on the changes that were made in the Children and Families Act 2014.
(23) Mr Carter referred to business rate retention, the commercial rates growth in Kent and the need to support Kent’s people-based services.
(24) In conclusion, Mr Carter emphasised the need for a fairer funding formula for local government. He highlighted the concerted campaign by the County Council Network and the Local Government Association to ensure that the 2019 Spending Review reflected the growth in demands and pressures placed on local government services.