Agenda item

Mr P B Carter, Leader of the Council; Mr P Gilroy, Chief Executive; and Ms T Oliver, Head of Strategic Development, will attend the meeting at 3.00 pm to answer Members' questions on this item.   

(1)       Mr P B Carter, Leader of the Council; Mr P Gilroy, Chief Executive; and Ms T Oliver, Head of Strategic Development, attended the meeting to answer Members’ questions on this item, which covered the following issues:-

Constitution of Board of Governors

(2)       In answer to a question from Mr Smyth, Mr Carter said that no decision had yet been taken on the constitution of the Board of Governors.

(3)       Mr Gilroy explained that the latest thinking was that the Board of Governors should include representatives of other public services in Kent (District Councils, Police, Fire and Health); of all political parties; of the Kent business community; plus a member from the communications industry (with no connection with the chosen provider).

Independence of Kent TV

(4)       In answer to a question from Mr Smyth, Mr Gilroy said that the Board of Governors would be independent in terms of editorial control and the contracted provider, not KCC or the Board of Governors, would control the news output.  In addition, Kent TV would comply with OFCOM regulations governing news broadcasts, even though, as a broadband broadcaster, it was not required to do so.

Use of Consultants

(5)       In answer to a question from Mrs Dean, Ms Oliver confirmed that Armitage Bucks Communications (ABC) had signed a disclaimer to say that they had no connection with any of the companies that had tendered for the Kent TV contract.

(6)       In answer to a question from Mr Parker, Ms Oliver said that ABC had been paid £8k for their work on Kent TV, and this sum was included in the overall budget for Kent TV.

Involvement of Members

(7)       In answer to questions from Mrs Dean and Mr Scholes, Mr Gilroy explained that the normal procurement rules applied which meant that the Business Plan and tender documents for Kent TV had to be treated as commercially confidential.  He regretted that this meant that the amount of information which could be shared with Members generally – and indeed amongst officers – had had to be restricted.  Nevertheless, the plans for Kent TV had been discussed in detail at meetings of Cabinet Members on a number of occasions.

(8)       Mr Gilroy added that once the provider had been appointed, all Members would be kept fully informed of developments with Kent TV.

Financing

(9)       In answer to questions from Mr Lake and Mr Parker, Mr Gilroy explained that other public services in Kent and commercial organisations had indicated that they were interested in investing in Kent TV.  He confirmed that there were plans to obtain income through advertising.  The preferred provider had estimated that advertising income would be £100k in the first year of operation, £200k in the second year, and increase year on year after that.  Mr Gilroy added that, by using Kent TV, KCC was likely to able to make savings on its existing paper-based publicity.

Reductions in Paper-based Publicity

(10)     In answer to questions from Mrs Dean, Mr Law, Mrs Stockell and Mr Smyth, Mr Carter said that it was hoped that Kent TV would allow KCC and other public services in Kent to make a gradual migration from paper-based publicity to on-line publicity.  The success of this would be dependent on good marketing and promotion of Kent TV and a requirement for this had been included in the tender documents.  Mr Carter confirmed that Kent TV would be interactive and so could be used for consultation with the public.

Accessibility of Kent TV

(11)     In answer to a question from Mr Fullarton, Ms Oliver said that Kent TV was available to anybody with a broadband connection.  Over 500,000 people in Kent had direct access to broadband, and access to broadband was available free at all Kent libraries.  In addition, all Kent’s schools had a broadband connection. 

(12)     In answer to a question from Mrs Newell, Mr Gilroy and Ms Oliver said that broadcasting via broadband meant that Kent TV could be viewed on all sorts of equipment, including a normal TV set, as well as computer monitors, mobile phones, iPods, MP4 players, etc.  Ms Oliver added that, in common with other broadband channels, Kent TV would not broadcast the sort of programmes that people would watch for long periods.  Instead, it would provide programming that people could dip into for short periods.

Employment Creation

(13)     In answer to a question from Mr Parker, Ms Oliver said that the tender documents made it clear that Kent TV was to be Kent-based.  The preferred provider had said that it would employ approximately 12 people locally.  Kent TV was also expected to generate work in other local media companies.

(14)     RESOLVED that:-

(a)       Mr Carter, Mr Gilroy and Ms Oliver be thanked for attending the meeting and answering Members’ questions;

(b)       disappointment be expressed that Cabinet felt itself unable to share information about the proposals for Kent TV more widely;

(c)        the Chief Executive be requested to arrange a presentation on Kent TV for all Members of the Council by the appointed provider as quickly as possible;

(d)       the offer by the Leader of the Council to circulate regular updates on progress with implementation and uptake of Kent TV be welcomed.