Minutes:
1) Mrs Bell said the government had announced changes in the guidance for living with Covid-19. It was to be managed like other respiratory illnesses, while minimising mortality rates and maintaining the ability to respond if a new and potentially more dangerous variant emerged. The 4 key elements of living with Covid-19 were: removing domestic restrictions and encouraging safer behaviours through Public Health advice, protecting people who were the most vulnerable, maintaining resilience through ongoing surveillance and contingency planning, and securing innovations and opportunities from the Covid-19 response.
In terms of the local response to the new guidance, it was confirmed that the two test centres at Ashford and Maidstone were to close on 31 March, with a phased reduction of opening hours based on usage from 4 March.
On 2 March, the first Kent Care Summit was held at Detling Showground and over 300 people attended, in person and virtually. Thanks were given to Gina Walton and team for the organisation of the event. The Summit was opened by the Leader of KCC and delegates heard powerful and moving accounts from people with lived experience of social care. A panel of local and national representatives, including the Director General for Adult Social Care at the DHSC, the Chief Executive of Kent and Medway NHS Integrated Care System and the Head of Inspection at the Care Quality Commission shared their thoughts and views and took questions on a variety of issues.
Mrs Bell introduced the afternoon session at the Summit where delegates were split into small groups to discuss 5 key changes which had been identified to address the many challenges and how the future of social care could be shaped. The 3 main themes which emerged from the day were: support for carers, being person-centred and workforce recruitment and retention.
Feedback from the day was being collated and evaluated and would be put into an action plan and it was felt there was a recognition and understanding of the challenges and the need to work together. There was a huge amount of energy and commitment to making the changes necessary to deliver care in the future.
2) Mrs Chandler said there had been substantial progress in the completion of educational psychology assessments within SEND. At the beginning of September 2021, there had been a considerable number of historic referrals from the previous academic year on the waiting list. All children who were referred for Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment in 2021 had been allocated to an Educational Psychologist and children referred in February 2022 were now being allocated. In order to address the provision of education psychology assessments for children on the waiting list and new referrals there had been a small dip in the timeliness of reports but it was expected that this would be back on track soon.
The 27th Try Angle Awards ceremony was to be held on 20 March. The scheme had been running for a long time and the Awards ceremony was an uplifting and motivated experience.
3) Mrs Prendergast said that the top priority over the last few weeks had been SEN Transport which was to be discussed at Agenda item 6.
Tuesday 1 March was National Offer Day for secondary school places. A total of 18,311 Kent parents/carers applied for a place for their child in a school for September 2022 - the highest number of Kent applications ever seen. 79.6% of Kent families were offered a place at their first preference school - an increase just shy of 10% on last year. While last year’s results were affected by the increased number of preferences parents were offered due to COVID, this year’s results still exceeded the 77.7% achieved for the 2020 intake. Overall, 95.4% of families were offered a school of preference, maintaining the same level as last year – despite an increase in numbers.
Unfortunately, there remained a small proportion of families without a school of their preference - all pupils, however, had been offered an alternative school. Unfortunately, fewer than 8% of these parents made full use of their preferences to name eligible schools - which significantly limited KCC’s opportunity to offer them a school of their preference. Kent’s process was to continue to provide opportunities to secure alternatives before the start of the new school year. Parents were advised to read their offer letter, which explained how these ongoing processes work. KCC staff members were ready to speak to parents and carers to answer any questions as well as offer information, advice and support.
Kent had seen an increase in the number of disadvantaged children securing a Grammar assessment through the Kent Test. On National Offer Day, while the whole cohort figures for securing a grammar school places saw a small reduction (42.6% compared to 42.8% for 2021 intake), 25.8% of tested FSM pupils secured a grammar school compared to 23.9% last year. Similarly, 26.4% of tested Pupil Premium children were offered a Grammar school compared to 25.1% last year.
Following further negotiation, all Kent Grammar schools had agreed to include priority for Pupil Premium pupils in their oversubscription criteria. This news was very welcome.
Through the Reconnect Programme, Invicta National Academy had been commissioned to deliver a full-scale Home Study Support offer accessible to all pupils in Years 5 and 6 at primary schools and all KS4 (GCSE years) pupils at secondary schools. The Home Study Support, launched on 28 February, gave virtual access to a qualified teacher two evenings a week and was to operate throughout term time in terms 4, 5, and 6.
The Reconnect Programme had also commissioned Salus to deliver its fully evaluated “A for Attendance” programme in secondary schools across the County. This was a school-based programme, working with small groups of pupils referred by their school because their attendance falls below 90%. Salus was to work closely with the participating schools and the Pupil Referral Unit, Inclusion and Attendance service.
Visit Kent had launched a brand-new project which aimed to support Key Stage 2 (KS2) teachers to deliver a series of engaging lessons to help fill the gaps in learning left by the COVID-19 pandemic and reconnect children to their local areas. The ‘Lesson in a Box’ project, designed carefully as part of the Reconnect programme, was to provide a packed learning resource to KS2 teachers across the county filled with everything needed to deliver a six-module lesson. It offered a fun and exciting way for pupils to develop their knowledge about historic places on their doorstep, as well as valuable skills such as team-working and persuasive writing. It was hoped KS2 teachers would be quick to take advantage of this wonderful and unique opportunity.
4) Mr Brazier said that much work had been done around the Kent Travel Saver and supported buses following the agreement of KCC’s Budget. He had made a number of appearances on television and on radio. He had spoken on BBC Radio Kent about the council’s decision to waive fees permitting road closures to facilitate street parties in celebration of Her Majesty, The Queen’s 70 years on the throne.
On 1 February, Mr Brazier accompanied the Leader and Deputy Leader to Thanet Parkway Station which was under construction. The station on its embankment was largely completed as the pilings, the platform and access towers had been constructed. The building was to be completed in large part in May 2022, although the reconstruction of the level crossing at Cliffsend was to delay its commissioning until May 2023. He had met with the Leader and the Chief Executive of Thanet District Council (TDC) a few days prior to the site visit and TDC eagerly awaited the opening of the station and the economic and travel improvements it would bring to the area.
On 2 March, Mr Brazier went to the offices of Dover District Council (DDC) and with KCC’s representatives and representatives of Colas, the principal contractors, witnessed the DDC Leader turning the first sod in the Fasttrack network which was to be completed by autumn 2023.
Following the Budget, Mr Brazier was looking forward to the additional swathe cut on highway verges which was to enhance biodiversity and encourage bees and other pollinators.
5) Miss Carey said that Plan Bee had been named positively by Tracey Crouch, MP in a parliamentary debate. Plan Bee had led to a difference in KCC’s work and a budget commitment had been made to make more wildlife corridors on rural swathes. Following the success of Plan Bee, the next stage in the work on the natural environment was ‘Plan Tree’. It was to go out to Public Consultation in March 2022. Thanks were given to all the staff in Environment and Waste Teams. Work was ongoing to deliver solar parks and it was felt that recent events had highlighted the real need for energy resilience and security. It was felt that more solar energy would be part of building energy resilience. It was felt that Kent and Dungeness would make a good location for modular nuclear reactors.
6) Mr Murphy said the National Empty Homes Week 2022 was marked in Kent by the news that KCC’s No Use Empty Initiative (NUE) had passed its record for the number of projects carried out in the fiscal year. This coincided with news that the scheme had been awarded a further £2.5 million from the government’s Growing Places Fund to boost the cash available to bring more empty properties back into use. Delivered by KCC in partnership with all 12 district councils and Medway Council, NUE provided a model which could be replicated offering financial assistance alongside advice and guidance. Its coordinated approach had brough 7256 empty homes back into use through a range of interventions. Thanks were given to Steve Grimshaw and his team for their work on NUE.
Brompton Bicycles were to build a revolutionary and sustainable factory in Ashford on wetland near the designer outlet. The factory was to open by 2027 with the aim of producing 200,000 bicycles a year. Initially, the factory was to employ 1500 staff and once fully operational, the factory was to employ 4000 people. Brompton Bikes had pledged to work with Kent universities, schools and colleges to develop a skilled workforce. The wetlands park was to be incorporated into the development.
Grow Up Farms, a producer of high-quality salads was to build a vertical farm at Discovery Park, Sandwich. Salads were to be grown on racks inside, using 90% less water and without the need for pesticides and the farm would be powered by renewable energy. It was a sustainable enterprise and 40 people would be employed.
There was a meeting with Damian Collins, Rolls Royce and the leader of Folkestone and Hythe District council, David Monk, regarding the future of Dungeness. Development of the site offered significant opportunities to the area and economy of Kent.
7) Mr Hill said on 16 February, the Civil Society Strategy was launched. KCC had worked very hard to improve relationships with the voluntary and social sector and the structure was now in place as to how to work together and how to support each other. He looked forward to the full implementation and thanks were given to officers for their work on the Civil Society Strategy.
Millie Knight from Canterbury and James Barnes-Miller from Broadstairs were selected to take part in the Winter Paralympics. It was Millie’s third Paralympics and KCC Members wished them both good fortune.
8) Mr Sweetland said the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions had caused a knock-on effect on the local tracing partnership, which was being wound down. Some Agilisys call centre staff had moved to other jobs and others were going to work in KCC’s Contact Centre. All of the information from the Prime Minister’s announcement had been put on KCC’s website.
Managers in the Contact Centre had boosted staff numbers for the weekend of Storm Eunice. Thanks were given to front line staff for their work over a difficult weekend.
9) Mr Oakford said he was looking at the war in Ukraine and how it impacted on KCC and its companies. Actions had been taken to make sure KCC was not funding through procurement Putin’s war. A review of the supply chain and procurement activity through KCC had been requested and it transpired there were no contracts or dealings with Russia. However, very few cases in the energy market were found and any new transactions had been stopped.
There were concerns about cyber security and an increase of attacks on KCC’s network. Having spoken to the appropriate people, Mr Oakford had been assured the situation was being monitored closely and he, the Leader and David Cockburn were being provided with regular updates.
The impact on the KCC Budget from inflation and increased cost of procured products was being looked into and monitored. The importance of the actions that were taken as part of the Budget process had been highlighted and making sure there was the right level of reserves and emergency reserves. Reserves would be needed in the coming months and years,
10) Members noted the need to differentiate between the actions of the Russian state and Russian individuals living in Kent or in Russia.