Minutes:
1. Mr M Hill, OBE (Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services) provided an update to Members on the following:
(a) The Kent school games which was held on 25th June 2019 was a Government led initiative designed to deliver competitive school sports for all young people. Mr Hill commended the success of the games with 700 participants and over 55 schools that took part.
(b) The three-week local engagement exercise for the library opening hours had finished and Mr Hill thanked all Members who had encouraged public participation. The level of response had enabled the Libraries, Registration and Archives (LRA) Service to produce an opening hours template that had been tailored to suit customer need and meet an extensive range of preferences. Mr Hill informed the Committee that a revised library opening hour framework would be implemented in the autumn.
(c) With regard to additional funding from Parish Councils to support libraries in their area, Mr Hill said that there were a number of complicated issues that needed to be addressed, and he had asked the cross-party Members Working Group to work in conjunction with officers to devise a policy on how funding contributions from Parish Councils could be utilised.
(d) Folkestone library was closed on 12th June due to structural concerns caused through the penetration of heavy rainfall. Mr Hill was pleased to announce that the ground floor of Folkestone library had been re-opened, however, extensive investigative work needed to be carried out to review the damage and work required to fully replenish the first floor of the library.
2. Mr M Dance, (Cabinet Member for Economic Development) provided an update to Members on the following:
(a) The Kent Excellence in Business Awards was held on 20th June 2019. The event marked its 11th anniversary with over 650 in attendance.
(b) The recent Business Advisory Board was well represented with a number of individuals in attendance from sectors around the county. Mr Dance said that the representatives provided an insightful synopsis of current affairs and the anticipated changes over the coming months leading up to Brexit.
(c) Kent County Council was working with Pas De Calais, West Flanders and Zeeland on the European Straits Initiative to look at the multilateral cooperation of local and regional public bodies to enhance working relationships and share innovative technology around the importation and exportation of trade. Mr Dance welcomed Mr Smith (Director of Economic Development) to address the Committee and provide an explanation of how Kent County Council (KCC) was working with the European embassies.
Mr Smith said that the primary objective was to build good relations for the long-term between KCC and its European counterparts in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. He informed Members that KCC had received support from the National Embassies within the aforementioned countries who had also been in discussion with the Foreign Office to ensure that KCC’s work did not hinder the discussions and negotiations that were taking place around Brexit. KCC continued to look at every opportunity to work with neighbouring countries where they were seen to support respective economies and improve the quality of lives for its residents; initiatives that fitted into the wider UK diplomatic effort. He assured the Committee that the Government was clear in its stance that the UK leaving the European Union was not the UK leaving Europe and that it remained a valued partner in tackling the shared challenges. In March 2019, the Leader of KCC wrote to the French Ambassador with the clear message that, regardless of the outcome of the UK’s exit from the EU, Local Government should continue to enhance its relationship with European counterparts. All learning would be encapsulated in the Memorandum of Understanding. Mr Smith informed Members that a report would be presented to the Committee in the autumn with further explanation.
3. The Cabinet Members and Corporate Director for Growth, Environment and Transport respond to comments and questions as follows:
(a) Mr Hill said that the Kent School games was a bi-annual event, however, the Government had launched its own sport games which was a separate event and this would be held at different intervals.
(b) In response to the contribution from Parish Councils to support local libraries, Mr Hill said that the initial issue was around the funding gap, however, agreed to review the scope of the Members Working Group and whether their remit could be expanded to include the review of other forms of funding.
(c) In response to concerns regarding KCC’s preparation in advance of Brexit, Mrs Cooper said that the issue that posed a greater risk to Brexit was trader readiness. Both traders and freight couriers were not prepared to invest in purchasing the required documents due to the uncertainty of a deal/ no deal Brexit, however, in the instance of a ‘worst case scenario’ no deal Brexit, Kent traders who failed to show the correct paperwork would not be able to continue across the border and this would impact on freight fluidity. KCC continued to press Government for a national campaign around trader readiness. Mrs Cooper informed the Committee that France had already built the required infrastructure to manage the changes brought about by Brexit and had identified freight handling areas within all their ports. Excellent work continued to be done by the communication officers within KCC, the blue light services and the Kent Resilience Forum to tackle trader readiness. In addition, discussions were underway around KCC hosting a seminar conference in September 2019 to help support local traders and ensure they received the guidance and support required ahead of Brexit in October 2019.
(d) Mr Dance confirmed that the Straits Initiative included 12 European countries.
(e) Mr Payne (Deputy Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste) was in attendance and informed the Committee that Environment, Planning and Enforcement hosted a joint KCC and Pas de Calais air quality event in Dover on 20 June 2019 which was attended by the Vice President du Department du Pas de Calais. Mr Payne commended the success of the event.
(f) Mrs Cooper said that operation Brock was Highways England’s response to tackle congestion created by queues at the border. In response to the metal barrier, Mrs Cooper said that it would not be possible for Highways England to dissemble and reassemble the barrier within a short period of time should a strike or blockade occur and therefore Highways England took the decision to keep it assembled permanently. KCC had made a request to Highways England to look at the accident record and enforcement procedures against drivers, and how the barrier could be better utilised to facilitate separate freight traffic to increase traffic fluidity on the M20.
4. RESOLVED that the verbal updates be noted, with thanks.