Minutes:
1. Mr Hill, Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services, provided an update on the following:
(a) Two submissions from Kent Libraries had been shortlisted for the Libraries Connected Awards and included the Playground project in the children’s award category and Kent Prison Libraries in the reading award category. The results would be announced in June 2023.
(b) The new ceremonies room had opened at Oakwood House and the first citizenship ceremony had taken place. The new coroner’s courts and accommodation would open in Oakwood House later in the year.
(c) The Connected Communities Project had come to an end and a conference took place in France in March 2023 to evaluate the four-year social prescribing project. The team shared their project journey at the conference along with success stories and lessons learnt.
(d) Active Kent and Medway’s Active Partnership Board had a new Chair, Mr Graham Razey, who was the Chief Executive Officer of East Kent Colleges Group.
2. Mr Murphy, Cabinet Member for Economic Development, gave a verbal update on the following:
(a) Mr Murphy had visited No Use Empty (NUE) sites around the county, most recently at Folkestone, where 14 flats had been constructed on the site of the Royal Victoria Hospital and would be sold to Folkestone & Hythe District Council as affordable lets.
(b) In February 2023 Mr Murphy accompanied the Leader, and colleagues from Essex County Council to Zeeland for the commemoration of the1953 flood disaster.
(c) Mr Murphy would be attending a series of meetings over the coming weeks with organisations at Discovery Park, with the CEO at the Port of Dover regarding the EU Entry/Exit System (EES), with East Kent Colleges Group regarding their skillset programme across Folkestone, Dover, and Ashford, and with the Environment Agency regarding planning enforcement.
(d) A discussion had taken place with the Head of Transition and Co-operation Unit in the Welsh government to share lessons learnt from the Council’s involvement with the Straits Committee and to discuss potential future cooperation between the Welsh Government and KCC in terms of trade and environment.
3. Mr Jones, Corporate Director for Growth Environment and Transport, gave a verbal update on the following:
(a) Active Kent and Medway had undertaken an Active Lives Children and Young People survey which covered the 2021/2022 academic year and showed that activity levels in Kent and Medway had returned to pre-pandemic levels.
(b) The Kent Community Safety Team continued to work with partners, learn from domestic homicide reviews and undertake workshops to assist district and borough community safety units in complying strategic assessments. These assessments were critical in bringing together the statutory Kent Community Safety Agreement.
(c) Community Wardens across Kent had undertaken numerous welfare visits to vulnerable people affected by the rising cost of living and energy costs and had been giving advice on energy grants and how to use energy more efficiently.
(d) Early findings from the evaluation of the Connected Communities Project showed that social prescribing across the partner regions successfully reduced social isolation, loneliness and anxiety following an intervention.
(e) Mr Jones accompanied Mr Hill to the screening of the Playground project at the Jasmin Vardimon Company studio in Ashford and would be joining a session in Edenbridge with the team. Playground was a unique programme of highly creative activity for babies and young children and their families.
(f) Mr Jones highlighted some activities carried out by the Culture and Creative team including the Place Partnership Project Fund award to Creative Estuary, feasibility work for a new film facility at Dreamland in Margate and the Creative Industries Clusters Programme.
4. Mr Jones responded to the following questions and comments from Members:
(a) Asked about the future funding for the Playground project, Ms Holt-Castle said Playground had three years’ funding from the Arts Council.
(b) Members commented on the valued social prescribing work carried out by community wardens and questioned how the savings identified within the Council’s budget would affect this. Mr Jones said the model was currently being considered and a report would be brought back to the Committee in due course.
(c) Asked about community safety and whether crime statistics could be related to police activity, in consideration of public confidence and police performance, Mr Hill agreed this would be of interest to both the Kent Community and Safety Partnership and the Police and Crime Panel.
RESOLVED that the verbal updates be noted.