Minutes:
(a) The winter period had been busy for the registrations team with over 11,000 birth and death registrations completed between October and the end of January. Mrs Bell had visited the Ashford Gateway and Danson House in Bexley where KCC delivered registration and ceremonial events on behalf of Bexley Council.
(b) Virtual tours had been launched in some of KCC’s libraries to showcase facilities online and help residents plan their visits. The virtual tours were viewable on the Kent Libraries website and app.
(c) Thursday 7 March was World Book Day and displays and activities would take place across Kent libraries, mobiles and online.
(d) The removal of library stock and furniture had commenced at Folkestone Library and a public consultation on the long-term options for the building would commence in Spring 2024.
(e) A national independent review of English public libraries had been conducted and the report was launched in February 2024. The paper raised awareness of the role of libraries and what the government could do to support and recognise them as a valuable community asset. Mrs Bell met with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport’s (DCMS) Head of Library Strategy and Delivery and the DCMS team at the beginning of March and the national review was one of the topics discussed.
(f) Trading Standards were continuing to visit retailers to provide advice and guidance on vapes. Since November the team had carried out 208 advisory visits and 19 ‘Challenge 25’ visits. The number of illegals vapes removed from the high street at the end of January stood at 2,067. The Council’s Victim Safeguarding Officer dealt with 127 scam and doorstep crime victims since April last year.
2. Mr Murphy, Cabinet Member for Economic Development, provided an update on the following:
(a) The No Use Empty (NUE) Scheme had restored almost 600 empty commercial and residential properties bringing the total to 8,185 properties since its inception in 2005, and all funds for 2023/2024 had been allocated. In addition, NUE had funded 230 new build homes across eight Kent districts since 2021 and created 24 business units in Dover.
(b) The Kent & Medway Business Fund and Regional Growth Fund had created 3,812 jobs and protected 1,477 jobs, bringing the total to 5,289. The scheme was relaunched in Autumn 2023 with money secured from government for the next ten years. Mr Murphy thanked officers for their work in securing the funding.
3. Mr Jones, Corporate Director Growth, Environment and Transport, provided an update on the following operational matters:
(a) The team had been working with the Sandwich taskforce in supporting Discovery Park to enable the continuation of business activities following Pfizer’s announcement last year regarding redundancies.
(b) There had been a number of high-level entries for the Taste of Kent awards and planning arrangements for this year’s Kent Invicta Chamber Business Awards in November had commenced.
(c) Works at Margate Library were now complete including refurbishment of the children’s library. Mr Jones thanked the knitting group at Clifton Library who had collectively knitted 199 little vests for the Chip Shop Babies alongside the local Women’s Institute. News of this reached knitters up and down the UK and as a result, tens of thousands of vests had been knitted and sent out to needy babies around the world.
(d) Active Kent and Medway’s FANS scheme (Free Access to National Sports People) provided support to the county’s leading sports performers through free, off peak access to a number of sports facilities within the county. As part of the scheme, FANS members in full-time education in Kent and Medway could apply for grant aid to help them with the costs associated with competing at national level. In the latest round of funding applications grant aid had been awarded to 30 young performers from across the county.
(e) The latest results of the Sport England Active Lives Children and Young People Survey had been released. Nationally 47% of children and young people were meeting the Chief Medical Officer’s recommended 60 minutes of sport or physical activity a day, and in Kent and Medway this was 45.2%. The research showed that inequalities remained and to help address this Active Kent and Medway facilitated a wide range of programmes including the Kent School Games and the Opening School Facilities Programme as well as working with the School Games Organiser Network and local schools to encourage the least active children to be more active.
(f) The Coroner’s Service move to their new facilities at Oakwood House was now complete with four courtrooms in use for inquests every day.
(g) Kent Scientific Services were granted £260,000 from the Food Standards Agency. The instruments those grants had funded were now installed and delivering more efficient analysis, broadening the Council’s commercial offer to clients.
(h) Kent Trading Standards had been busy helping the farming community with bluetongue in Kent and the control zone was lifted on 19th February.
RESOLVED to note the verbal updates.