Minutes:
(1) The Leader opened his report by referring to the severe and growing financial stress across local government and explained that one of the key issues for rural authorities was the balance and distribution of funding, the case for which had been put to the Secretary of State. Mr Gough said although the Secretary of State’s speech to the Local Government Association (LGA) spoke of a fairer and more rational allocation of resources across authorities, much of it was focused on simplicity and flexibility in funding which, whilst also welcome, was a different issue.
(2) Mr Gough explained that the Council was involved in three separate judicial review claims in relation to the care of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) and proceedings had recently been issued to the Home Office regarding the operation of the National Transfer Scheme (NTS). He said the three claims would be heard together and an urgent preliminary issues hearing would take place on 20 and 21 July 2023. He highlighted that the National Transfer Scheme had to operate in an effective way for the Council to meet the full range of its statutory duties and explained that whist many placements had been made by the NTS it had not always kept pace with the number of arrivals. Mr Gough stressed that it had always been the Council’s priority, under extremely challenging circumstances, to deliver a safe service.
(3) Mr Gough explained that a change in Department for Education guidelines regarding Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) had meant that four schools in Kent had to close temporarily for roof strengthening works. Alternative provisions were established very quickly, and Mr Gough paid tribute to Members and officers across education, infrastructure, and communications for their work in minimising the disruption and anxiety for schools, children, and families.
(4) Mr Gough referred to central government’s proposals to end support for the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) by March 2024 and said the Council had a responsibility to ensure that the achievements of the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) were maintained under the new arrangements and structure of the Kent and Medway Economic Partnership.
(5) Cabinet on 29 June 2023 considered the devolution agenda and agreed to submit an expression of interest to government. Mr Gough said he believed the right answer for Kent and Medway, under current national policy, was a mayoral county combined authority, and said his aim was to be as wide ranging and inclusive as possible in taking the proposals forward. He highlighted that progress depended on open conversations with government and close working with partners and district colleagues.
(6) Mr Gough referred to the reinstatement of Operation Brock and the pressure on the traffic management system over the summer months. He said this was part of a much wider issue which included the future introduction of the Entry Exit System (EES) and European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS). He said joint working, in the form of task and finish groups, had taken place with the Department for Transport and other key partners to determine long term solutions.
(7) The Leader turned again to the financial pressures on the Council and referred to the twelve-week Community Wardens consultation that began on 12 July 2023. He acknowledged that, unfortunately, it was unlikely this would be the last difficult proposal the Council had to confront.
(8) Mr Gough spoke positively about the Family Hubs consultation which ran until 13 September 2023 and explained that the Council, one of fourteen national trailblazers, was able to access up to £10milion in transformation funding over three years. He said this was an opportunity for the Council to work closely with the NHS and other partners to ensure that children and families received the best start in life. He explained that two pilots were being launched at Seashells Children Centre on Sheppey and Milmead Childrens Centre in Margate.
(9) Mr Gough said the government confirmed, just ahead of the Big Free Bus weekend on 24 and 25 June 2023, the second tranche of the Bus Service Improvement Plan and said a series of measures would be taken forward to support bus travel in the county. He also explained that £6million in additional funding from government was now being deployed to tackle potholes and other road surface problems.
(10) Mr Gough said the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Accelerated Progress Plan was in the final stages of sign off from the Department for Education and he had been pleased to join the Strategic Improvement and Assurance Board (SIAB) recently at one of their meetings.
(11) Finally, Mr Gough commented on migration and resettlement schemes, the use of bridging hotels, and the significant challenges in terms of housing arrangements and school moves faced by children and families. Mr Gough said the Council was actively working with district colleagues to ensure the right support for families was provided.
(12) The Leader of the Labour Group, Dr Sullivan, responded to the Leader’s remarks. She referred to central government’s empty promises of fairer, simpler, and more flexible funding and compared the issues that currently faced the Council to “Groundhog Day”.
(13) Dr Sullivan spoke about the lack of support from central government in relation to Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children and how this had led to the Council’s threat of legal action against the government.
(14) Dr Sullivan thanked the members of the public who had given up their time to protest against the proposed closures of some Household Waste Recycling Centres in Kent. She said the right to protest was an important part of civic duty and public responsibility.
(15) Dr Sullivan commented on the impact of Operation Brock on Kent residents across the county, especially surrounding the ports, and hoped for a long-term solution from central government.
(16) In relation to RAAC, Dr Sullivan joined the Leader in thanking officers for their efficiency in ensuring the effected schools were safe and showed appreciation for the offer of briefings and information surrounding the required urgent key decision. She also thanked the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills for information in relation to a separate urgent key decision, acknowledging that both situations warranted the use of the urgent key decision process.
(17) Dr Sullivan turned to Family Hubs and the Youth Investment Fund and questioned why a smaller amount of funding, than that referred to in Framing Kent’s Future, was being requested. She condemned the closure of some Children’s Centres and the proposal of a more digital offer, noting that this had been tried during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown and had resulted in children not socialising, and an increased need for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and speech and language therapy.
(18) Dr Sullivan confirmed that the Labour Group supported devolution, however, they wanted to see power and resources go further and deeper into communities, and she questioned what the additional, and potentially costly, mayoral county combined authority layer above the Council would bring. She emphasised that fully funded local government with devolution down to communities was needed.
(19) Finally, Dr Sullivan referred to SEND across the public sector where parents and groups within communities were fighting for chances and opportunities that they legally deserved. She asked for open and transparent accountability at the SEND Scrutiny Sub-Committee and the opportunity for Members to question what was being done. Dr Sullivan referred to the Accelerated Progress Plan and its submission to the DfE without sufficient public scrutiny. She referred to the funding gap in the Council’s budget and hoped the Administration would be open to new ideas and solutions.
(20) Mr Lehmann, Leader of the Green and Independent Group, congratulated Mr Passmore on his election victory and welcomed him to the Council.
(21) Mr Lehmann spoke about events since the last Full Council in late May and said it had been the hottest June on record, both globally and in the UK, and the record daily global temperature was broken three times in the space of four days between 3rd and 6th July. He said the climate crisis was no longer a distant threat and any pretence that it was not happening was a failure of central government and of governments around the world. He noted that within the Leader’s remarks there had not been a single mention of the climate. Mr Lehmann compared that with the leader’s speeches from Full Council meetings in June and July 2020 where much of it related to the Covid-19 pandemic and said if the climate emergency was being treated with the seriousness it deserved the same would apply. He commented that sadly, any work on climate and biodiversity was curtailed by the need to balance the short-term financial stability of the Council against the long term sustainability of a habitable planet.
(22) Mr Lehmann said the Green and Independent Group fully supported devolution; however, it was against the form of devolution which was, it appeared, currently on offer from central government. His group’s definition of devolution was based around the passing down, or decentralisation of power, and not the passing up to a directly elected mayor. Mr Lehmann questioned whether any Kent leaders wanted an elected mayor and said he strongly believed that no deal was better than a bad deal at this stage.
(23) Mr Lehmann referred to Brexit and expressed his disappointed at the reinstatement of Operation Brock. He said it was reaching a stage where a school holiday without Operation Brock in place would feel odd and regretfully acknowledged that, with the delayed implementation of the Entry Exit System, it was likely that the situation would worsen. He clarified that he felt Operation Brock made the best of a bad situation, although it was one that could have been avoided.
(24) Regarding RAAC, Mr Lehmann also thanked officers and Members involved in the swift action taken to minimise disruption to pupils. He said he hoped that the necessary repairs and safety measures would be in place rapidly to ensure that the effected schools could resume normal activities as soon as possible.
(25) Mr Lehmann said Community Wardens played a vital role in communities and his group’s attempts last year to try and expand the service and, this year, to try and prevent the cutting of the service, were an indication of the value it placed on them. He said the warden’s role had become more vital since the widespread removal of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) across the county, and residents were losing trusted points of contact.
(26) Mr Hook, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, welcomed new Member for Maidstone Central, Mr Passmore. He summarised Mr Passmore’s background which included time in the Royal Navy, a varied career in business, and his current role as a management consultant helping firms meet their environmental, sustainable, and ethical standards. Mr Hook explained that Mr Passmore’s great grandfather had been a Member of KCC for Sidcup and his great aunt had been a member of KCC during World War 2.
(27) Mr Hook said his group fully supported the legal challenge against central government regarding Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children and highlighted that the protection of refugee children was a morally important issue and a national responsibility. Mr Hook condemned the painting over of children’s murals at the intake centre in Kent and said he thought the spirit of people in Kent, and the country, had been misjudged.
(28) Mr Hook said his group strongly supported the devolution of power to local levels and reminded Members of a motion submitted by his group earlier in the year. He said Kent was big enough to exercise more control and his group opposed a directly elected mayor, acknowledging the difficulties in holding an elected mayor to account. He referred to the changing of governments over time and noted that the proposal for devolution in places like Scotland and Wales was developed over many years.
(29) Mr Hook was pleased that RAAC in schools was being addressed and referred to the future and cost of the Council’s headquarters, Sessions House, and questioned when a decision regarding this would be progressed.
(30) Mr Hook expressed his disappointment regarding the reimplementation of Operation Brock and noted that every school holiday brought Operation Brock and chaos to roads across Kent. He suggested that border controls should be changed when the Brexit agreement was reviewed in the second half of 2024.
(31) The Leader responded to a number of points that were raised. He said he felt all groups were in broad agreement on the asylum issues and reiterated that the National Transfer Scheme had placed a significant number of children in local authorities across the country, without which a crisis would have occurred long ago. He said issues arose where the rate of dispersal did not match the numbers of people arriving and explained that the Council secured in 2020/21 a financial regime from government which meant Kent council taxpayers were not responsible in the way they had been in the past. He said the Council had always been concerned that, without an effective scheme in place, it would not be able to deliver the full range of its statutory services.
(32) Mr Gough said he supported the idea of devolution down to communities and said devolution was vital to address powers relating to buses and other public transport. He acknowledged Mr Hook’s point that it was likely to be a process of many steps and said it was vital that, at this stage, Kent and Medway commenced a dialogue with government, so that powers and funding could be brought to the county sooner rather than later.
(33) The Leader responded to Dr Sullivan’s comments on SEND and said she had always been welcome to join the SIAB Committee, as well as the SEND Scrutiny Sub-Committee. He confirmed there was an open public approach and he had attended the multi-agency partnership board to see how different agencies were working together.
(34) Mr Gough said he thought all the group leaders agreed that Operation Brock was simply mitigation needed to manage pressures and not the perfect solution. He expressed his concern regarding the upcoming EES and ETIAS which would also need mitigation to avoid further disruption. He stressed that the Council’s Administration was deeply involved in seeking long term solutions from government.
(35) The Leader emphasised the importance of Family Hubs in bringing together health and other key partners, to ensure the best start in life for children. Mr Gough explained that through wider outreach, as well as a digital offer, the Council could ensure that services were brought out to communities that most needed them.
(36) Finally, the Leader joined the other group Leaders in welcoming Mr Passmore as a new Member of the Council.
(37) RESOLVED that the Leader’s update be noted.