Minutes:
(1) The Leader updated the Council on events since the previous meeting.
(2) Mr Carter, the Leader of the Council, referred to the recent announcement by the Government of £4m toward the construction of a new medical school campus in Canterbury, with a further £4m in the following autumn subject to the anticipated cancellation or delays of current South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) projects. Mr Carter confirmed that the Canterbury medical school, which was a joint venture between the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University, would take its first cohort of 100 medical students from September 2020.
(3) Mr Carter referred to the apprenticeship nursing programme that was offered by the Kent Community Health Foundation Trust and confirmed that Kent would gain an additional 50 qualified nurses each year through the programmes.
(4) Mr Carter outlined the proposed changes to the governance arrangements in relation to LEPs and the consequences of these changes for the future of Kent and Medway’s membership of the South East LEP which would be affected by the scheduled changes.
(5) Mr Carter presented a series of slides which contained extracts from an open letter to the two candidates for the Leadership of the Conservative Party, which he had written on behalf of the Conservative Group of Leaders, as Members of the County Council Network. The letter set out significant social and funding issues facing local government. The responses from Mr Hunt and Mr Johnson were displayed.
(6) Mr Carter had expressed the view in a recent interview for Radio 4 that any new Ministers would have a lot of work to do not only in relation to Brexit, but also regarding the Fair Funding Review and various social issues affecting local government.
(7) Mr Bird, the Leader of the Opposition, welcomed the recent announcement by the Government of £4m to be invested into the new medical school in Kent and the positive impact that the new medical school would have on Kent’s residents.
(8) Mr Bird outlined the advantages and disadvantages of LEPs, the future of LEPs and the importance of ensuring that the Kent and Medway Economic Partnership continued to drive forward economic growth, whilst considering the ever-increasing population in Kent and Medway.
(9) Mr Bird expressed his views in relation to the responses that had been provided by the Conservative Party Leadership candidates to Mr Carter’s open letter.
(10) Mr Bird referred to the process for policy making within the Liberal Democrat Party and shared information with Members which related to the Party’s plans for the devolution of tax powers to local authorities, focusing more closely on primary care, social care and specialised care services and tackling inequalities within the education system through funding.
(11) Mr Farrell, Leader of the Labour Group, referred to the Conservative Party Leadership election and the need for significant investment in public services for this period of austerity. Mr Farrell highlighted the important role of Councillors across the country in addressing the challenges facing society and the need for central government to define new relationships with local councils.
(12) Mr Farrell welcomed the recent announcement by the Government of £4m to be invested into the new medical school in Kent and the positive impact that the new medical school would have in driving up standards in healthcare and encouraging the brightest Kent minds to stay within the county.
(13) Mr Farrell reiterated Mr Bird’s comments in relation to LEPs and expressed the view that councils were best placed to drive strategic growth drawing upon the skills and expertise of the business sector.
(14) Mr Whybrow, Leader of the Independents Group, referred to the information contained within Mr Carter’s open letter to Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt and emphasised the importance of local government receiving long term funding from central government. He stated that the lack of continuity at central government level had led to an inability to have long-term discussions with them on local government and this was a key issue.
(15) Mr Whybrow referred to a positive debate which had taken place at a recent Scrutiny Committee meeting on SEND funding and how it was linked to issues within the education system.
(16) Mr Whybrow emphasised the significant need for additional funding and power for local authorities to address the climate emergency.
(17) In replying to the other Leaders’ comments, Mr Carter stated that public finances were in a much better state then they had been for some time. Mr Carter clarified that the £4m funding from NHS England for the medical school was capital funding. He referred to a recent discussion which took place at the Sustainability Transformation Partnership Programme Board relating to the potential for the health economy in Kent to find additional revenue funds for the new medical school in Kent.
(18) Mr Carter highlighted the need for the country’s future Prime Minister to recognise the importance of the partnership between the business community and local government and restore the parity, at least 50:50 of how LEPs were constituted especially in light of the potential prosperity fund.
(19) Mr Carter referred to the importance of the responses received from the candidates for the Conservative Party Leadership which would enable them to be held to account. Also, there was recognition of the significant need for additional high needs funding within schools for children with special educational needs.
(20) He emphasised the recognition of the positive steps that needed to be taken by government in relation to post 16 skills and ensuring that all young people were given the opportunity to explore their skills, analyse their strengths and weaknesses and pursue a career by accessing the appropriate training.