Minutes:
1. Mr Hill (Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services) introduced himself to members, explaining that he oversees a complex portfolio encompassing 15 services, and is always happy to speak to members outside of the Committee. Mr Hill said he is also the Chairman of the Kent and Medway Police and Crime Panel.
Mr Hill gave a verbal update on the following:
(a) The 4,000 mile Public Rights of Way (PROW) network has been very busy during the pandemic. A decision paper on PROW Operational Management Policies will come to the Committee at a future meeting.
(b) The County Council’s 9 country parks have been very busy during the pandemic seeing an increase in visitors of 60%. The development of a Country Parks Strategy is underway and will be supported by a member working party.
(c) The County Council has an active partnership with Sports England with the Kent School Games taking place every second year and this proves to be very popular. The Open Golf in Sandwich will take place between 11 and 18 July 2021 with an expected attendance of 32,000 visitors each day, a total of 130,000 visitors over four days.
(d) The Community Warden Service has provided an important visible presence across rural areas throughout the pandemic providing protection for around 4,000 vulnerable people. Two Canterbury Community Wardens, Mandy Quy-Verlander and Roger Lithgow, have received the Lord Mayor’s ‘Community Hero’ Award.
(e) The Coroners’ Service has seen an increased workload as a result of the pandemic which necessitated the building of a temporary mortuary.
(f) Trading Standards have increased their remit and played a major role during Brexit with increased border responsibilities. A paper on the implication and planning for new import duties will come to the Committee at a future meeting.
(g) The Arts Investment Fund has provided a lifeline to small arts organisations with hotspots for creative activities being established in several areas within Kent. The Turner Contemporary is providing a real focus for arts in Margate, with smaller organisations being set up in its shadow.
(h) The Libraries Registration and Archives Service (LRA) has been badly affected by the pandemic with the closing of 99 libraries and 5 mobile libraries. A phased reopening is taking place, in line with government guidelines, with 43 libraries currently open, and it is anticipated libraries across the county will be open by mid-August. Many libraries in town centres have been refurbished but some small libraries require work. A review will be taking place and a paper will come to the Committee at a future meeting.
(i) Birth and death registrations were halted during lockdown but are now fully operational with death registrations taking place by telephone. The service has taken the decision to cease further wedding and civil partnership ceremony bookings for July, August and September this year. The first National Registrars Day to recognise efforts during the pandemic was held on 1 July 2021.
(j) Kent Libraries have announced that the Summer Reading Challenge is back with Wild World Heroes. This year, Wild World Heroes is a celebration of nature and action for the environment and is in partnership with WWF UK. It will run from Saturday 10 July until Saturday 11 September and children aged 4 – 11 years old can take part.
2. Mr Hill responded to comments and questions from the Committee, including the following:
(a) Mr Hill confirmed there were no plans to reduce visits and mobile libraries will form part of the review. The importance of these visits for the community in rural areas was noted.
(b) Mr Hill confirmed the leaking roof of Folkestone Library is in the process of repair and recognised the importance of completing this.
(c) Asked whether there was an intention to cut the opening hours of smaller libraries, Mr Hill responded that there was currently no intention to do so.
(d) Asked about the increase in demand for wedding and civil partnership ceremonies and when things would get back to normal, Mr Hill confirmed there had been a 60% increase in demand and bookings are now being taken for October onwards in line with government guidelines.
(e) Reference was made to the top 10 suggestions for cycling in Canterbury in the Active Travel document and the creation of cycle paths, but as it was the responsibility of the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport it was suggested that the document be sent to him.
(f) Asked whether youth hubs opening would coincide with libraries in mid-August, Mr Hill said that responsibility for youth services was not part of his portfolio but the library service was considering how it might work in collaboration with other services.
3. Mr Murphy (Cabinet Member for Economic Development) introduced himself and his Deputy, Mr Robey, to members and said that he was available for questions outside of the Committee.
Mr Murphy gave a verbal update on the following:
(a) Mr Murphy said he had been in communication with the Chief Executive of Visit Kent regarding rebuilding the county’s tourism sector which had fallen to less than a quarter of what it was before the pandemic.
(b) The Kent Show would not be going ahead as normal this year and was being replaced by the Kent County Summer Fair at the Kent Showground, Detling on 10 and 11 July.
(c) Entries for The Kent Excellence Business Awards 2021 had now closed and winners would be announced in the KM and KM online.
(d) Staff at the Kent Film Office were managing unprecedented demand for filming in Kent which had resulted in a direct spend of £34 million into the Kent economy. This included 905 enquiries and 519 filming days.
(e) Mr Murphy said he had been involved in discussions around the roll out of broadband in the county, inland border facilities at Dover and Sevington, Dungeness B and its decommissioning, and how better to manage Section 106 contributions.
4. Mr Murphy and Mr Jones responded to comments and questions from the Committee, including the following:
(a) Mr Murphy said there will be continued lobbying for infrastructure funding from all avenues including central government, external agencies and Section 106 contributions. Work is also taking place with Network South East and rail providers to look at new cross county rail links and links in and out of London. Mr Murphy suggested that the Committee consider a paper on infrastructure funding at a future meeting.
(b) In response to a question about rural broadband, Mr Murphy said there had been delays in responses from government and information would be shared as soon as possible.
(c) The shortage of HGV drivers nationwide had resulted in recycling waste collections being suspended in some areas. Mr Murphy said nationally 45,000 tests were waiting to be carried out and there had been a migration of qualified HGV drivers back to Europe due to Brexit.
5. Mr Jones gave his update, explaining he was the interim director until a permanent director has been recruited. Since the last meeting bids had been made for the Levelling Up Fund, Community Renewal Fund, and the Active Travel funding pot had been announced.
Services throughout the pandemic have been exceptionally flexible and agile with some services, such as country parks, seeing an exceptional level of high demand. There is an eagerness within the Directorate to get all community services operational, and Mr Jones expressed gratitude and credit to those involved.
6. It was RESOLVED that the verbal updates be noted.