Agenda item

Mr M Balfour, Member for Malling Rural East; Mrs C Bell, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health; Mrs B Cooper, Corporate Director Growth, Environment and Transport; Mr A Scott-Clark, Director of Public Health; Mr B Watts, General Counsel and Mr M Rolfe, Head of Kent Scientific Services were in attendance for this item.

1.    Mrs Bell provided a verbal overview of the decision timeline and justification. Mr Scott-Clark outlined the public health requirements which had resulted from new government regulations. He contextualised Kent’s Covid-19 position in early October, when the decision was taken. 

2.    Mr Scott-Clark summarised the work and cooperation which had taken place with the Hop Farm and event organisers to raise issues and seek assurances. He confirmed that adequate assurances had not been received prior to the decision.

3.    Mr Watts outlined the public health regulations which had permitted the Cabinet Member’s decision, the impact the regulations had on KCC as an authority and the subsequent Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020 which had come into force on 5 November 2020. He confirmed that the powers had been used and governed within the scope of KCC’s existing urgent key decision governance framework.

4.    The Chair asked whether local engagement with Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council had taken place prior to the decision. Mrs Cooper confirmed that there had not been direct engagement with Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council prior to the decision, the urgent nature and short timeframe for the decision-making process were highlighted. Mrs Cooper assured the committee that local engagement would be stronger before future decisions of the same nature were taken.

5.    A Member asked how KCC had been made aware of the issue with the event organiser’s public health measures. Mr Scott-Clark confirmed that Kent’s district, borough and city councils had provided KCC with lists of licensed public events, the event in question had been highlighted through this means by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council. He furthered that the Kent multi-disciplinary cross enforcement information cell had met and the Public Health advice to issue the order was given following the meeting. Mr Rolfe added that the multi-disciplinary cell was a component of the Kent Resilience Forum.

6.    The consideration of Covid-19 case rates in the decision Risk Assessment was discussed. A Member asked how local rates in Tonbridge and Malling as well as the wider area had influenced the Risk Assessment. Mr Scott-Clark confirmed that rates in Tonbridge and Malling, adjacent areas in Kent and south London had been considered as the event had been judged to attract individuals from a wide area and that the transfer of the virus by cross community transfer was a core concern.

7.    Clarification was sought by a Member regarding the decision to rescind the order. Mrs Cooper confirmed that KCC had continued to engage with the event operator following the imposition of the order and that once assurances were received the decision to rescind the order was taken. Mr Rolfe noted that both decisions were made based on the Public Health Risk Assessment exclusively.

8.    A Member asked whether the regulations gave scope for the health and economic impact of orders to be considered. Mr Watts informed the committee that the regulations under which the Cabinet Member decision was taken concerned to public health risks exclusively, though he noted that the subsequent (No. 4) regulations considered economic and business risks to an extent.

9.    Mr Scott-Clark was asked whether information derived from NHS Track & Trace had been used to inform the decision. He confirmed that NHS Track & Trace information had not been used, that the venue had not been implicated in an outbreak and that the key grounds for advising the order had been the venue layout.

10.The Chair recommended that Member briefings be offered to provide information on subsequent new regulations and powers which affect the County Council.

11.Members agreed that ‘lessons learnt’ should be actioned upon and included in future reports concerning similar decisions taken by Cabinet Members.

RESOLVED that the Scrutiny Committee note the report.