Minutes:
1. Mr Watkins, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, provided an update on the following:
(a) The UK Day of Reflection was due to take place on Sunday 9 March and marked five years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of participation events were being held across the county at parks, libraries and family hubs. County Council staff and Members would also be able to remember others and share experiences on a digital memory wall. The Day of Reflection was a date to remember those no longer with us, those still impacted by the pandemic and the many frontline workers and volunteers who helped through those difficult years.
(b) Care Providers gathered at Westminster on 25th February to call on the Government to urgently address the funding shortfall announced within the autumn budget and which threatened the future of adult social care through increased National Insurance Contributions (NICs). Mr Watkins thanked Mr Oakford for his participation on the day. To date, no response had been received from the Minister following the joint letter from Mr Watkins and the Kent Integrated Care Alliance.
(c) The Public Health Transformation Programme commenced in July 2023 and aimed to improve service delivery across the county, with particular emphasis on targeting of underserved communities. The transformation worked included the introduction of new service models, such as substance misuse, health visiting and infant feeding, school health, oral health, sexual health, NHS health checks and the adult lifestyle programme, all of which had made excellent progress. Kent County Council had a legal duty to deliver those services under the Social are Act 2012 and the Public Health team had worked tremendously hard to ensure that the transition to those new models would be implemented in good time.
(d) A free 24/7 support service for expectant or new parents had launched. Soon to be new parents who were experiencing mental health problems during their pregnancy or with parenting, could speak confidentially to a trained advisor via KCC's free perinatal mental health helpline or text service. Becoming a mum, dad, carer or guardian of a young baby is a significant moment in life. One in five women experience parental mental health issues during or soon after pregnancy and men can also struggle with anxiousness at these times. Given the challenges presented during this period and with the acknowledgement that a wide support network is not always available to new parents to help them navigate the experience, it was hoped that the new helpline and service provided expectant, and new mums and dads, a place to go whenever they need it.
(e) The Batton of Hope campaign aimed to raise awareness of suicide prevention. The Batton was due to start in Blackpool on 1st September 2025 and travel through a total of 20 locations , with its tour through Medway, Maidstone, Canterbury and Thanet taking place on 22nd September 2025, before finishing in Wrexham. All districts were being encouraged to play a role in promoting hope and starting the conversations around mental health and suicide in their communities. Kent and Medway had received a positive response to calls for baton bearers, however, more were needed. The deadline for applications had been extended to 31st of March. Information could be found via: Baton of Hope | It's Time To Start The Conversation
2. Mrs Chandler, Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services, provided an update on the following:
(a) The Children and Young People Conference Day took place on 18th February 2025 which focussed on neurodiversity, a topic that remained crucial for the wellbeing and development of the children and young people that KCC served. The day provided valuable insights on the latest research from the Children's Commissioner, the work of North East London Foundation Trust (NELFT), the neuroscience of learning and biology of stress, and the dynamic support service. It's also offered an extremely valuable opportunity for the members of staff (over 150) to network and update their skills.
(b) An awareness raising film and campaign designed by Kent’s young people to tackle street harassment and violence against women and girls (VAWG) had launched across Kent. On 8th February, over 100 young people at Kent Youth County Council took part in the launch of the ‘Don't Disrespect’ campaign and film, produced in partnership between Kent County Council, Kent Police and the Kent and Medway Violence Reduction Unit. Young people were involved throughout the production and planning of the campaign and their experiences helped to shape the messaging throughout the film. National statistics showed that 75% of girls and women across the country, aged 12 to 21, have experienced public sexual harassment on the street from men and boys, almost half of girls have experienced harassment in schools and college and 1 in 3 girls in the UK have received unwanted sexual attention such as being groped, stared at, cat-called and wolf-whistled in public. The aim was to call for boys and young men to recognise that such actions were unacceptable and to empower friends and peers to take a stand and speak up when they witness this behaviour. Mrs Chandler articulated how proud she was of all the young people involved.
(c) Virtual School Kent recently received further accreditation for the Nurture Program. Tony Duran, the Headteacher of Virtual School Kent, had been asked to be part of an all-party parliamentary group on inclusion and relational approaches in education which stemmed from the work with Nurture UK and the glowing report that they had from that. The accreditation was of particular accolade to Mr Duran for all his work.
3. Mr Love, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, provided an update on the following:
(a) A update report on the latest performance figures was provided which reflected the significant improvements around SEN services. The SEN phase transfer for 2025 had achieved 97.5% decisions published on time, with 91% of families having received a named preference. Mr Love noted the outstanding results and significant improvements after the short-lived statutory improvement notice. Further enhancements had been identified for next year.
(b) In regards to key performance indicators on the time taken to complete Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) for those pupils with the most complex needs and who meet the threshold for coordinated support, Mr Love announced that in February 2024 KCC were in the bottom 15 % of local authorities in England. However, through the exemplary efforts and hard work of the SEN team, the February 2025 figure showed that 89.9 % of EHCPs were completed within 20 weeks. The national average was currently 50.3%. KCC was therefore performing within the top quintile performance amongst local authorities. The SEN team remained committed to trialling, reviewing and refining every part of its processes to improve the customer experience. Mr Love paid thanks to all involved and their incredible work.
(c) The 3rd March was Secondary School National Offer Day, whereby Year 6 pupils were able to find out which secondary school had offered them a place for September 2025. This year saw a 2.5 % increase in the proportion of children who received their first preference, and a 12% reduction in the proportion of children who had to be allocated a place by the local authority. It was the lowest proportion that had to be allocated by the local authority since 2016
(d) Mr Love had visited a number of special schools in the last month which had enabled ongoing fruitful discussions with the Headteachers. Two of the schools visited were currently undergoing expansion through the help of KCC, this evidencing the Council’s commitment to ensure sufficient special school places were available for those children with the most complex needs. The fourth school visited was Brockhill Park Performing Arts College in Saltwood near Hythe whom have incorporated learning from the schools farm into several aspects of the school's curriculum.
4. Mr Baker, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, provided an update on the following:
(a) In 2024, KCC allocated £8.6 million to the pothole blitz programme. For 2025, the pothole blitz would receive £14.5 million towards it. This was an increase of almost 70%.
(b) In regards to the maintenance of roads, including pavements, streetlights, drains and other highways assets, the total spend for overall maintenance for 2025-26 would be in the region of £80 million. All efforts would continue to maximise resources available.
(c) The Director of Highways was in discussion with the Department for Transport to determine the level of flexibility within the funding pots received from central government to ensure funding is allocated to areas of need for Kent residents to ensure they can travel as safely and efficiently as possible.
(d) Mr Baker advised that all efforts continued to urge central government to fund roads in a way that reflected their usage rather than my mileage.
(e) A submission had been made to the Transport Select Committee regarding their street work inquiry. KCC’s evidence had been accepted, and would be published on the committee's website. KCC had also been invited to provide oral evidence on the 19th of March, to make the case that all highways authorities required greater control than currently permitted over the coordination of street works.
(f) High levels of demand remained around street works. Water companies were entering their new asset management plan period, following additional funding released. South East Water had already advised KCC of extensive main laying schemes over the next five years within Kent. Coupled with the Government's direction on house building, it was not anticipate that demand for road space would lessen.
(g) A company called OneSpatial had recently secured Lane Rental funds to trial their OneStreetWorks application in Kent. The cloud-based collaborative platform automatically produced compliant traffic management plans in under two minutes. Previous trials with UK Power Networks showed that using OneStreetWorks could reduce road closures by up to 40%. Further funds had been awarded to roll it out on a greater scale across all works promoters within Kent. If successful, the benefits to Kent, its residents and the organisations that operate within Kent could be truly significant with a predicted positive public economic impact of more than £25 million per year.
5. Mr R Thomas, Cabinet Member for Environment, provided an update on the following:
(a) KCC had received the Energy Efficiency Awards. This recognition celebrated KCC’s commitment to promoting energy efficiency across the county such as the council’s innovative solar power projects, including the 11.9 acre solar farm at Kings Hill. The judges commended KCC’s ambition to achieve net zero by 2030 and commitment to reduce resilience on fossil fuels through solar installations at schools, communities, hubs and council offices. Additionally, KCC continued to support the local community with various energy efficiency initiatives including financial assistance, educational programs and collaborative projects to help promote sustainable energies within the community.
(b) KCC has successfully re-certified its ISO 14001 environmental management accreditation with zero non-compliance issues following a four -day audit. This achievement reflected KCC’s dedication to environmental excellence. Mr Thomas extended his gratitude to all staff involved.
(c) KCC had partnered with Pilgrims Hospice to recycle Christmas trees. The longstanding partnership enabled residents to recycle their Christmas trees while supporting a meaningful cause. Thanks to the efforts of numerous volunteers, the charity collected over 4,200 Christmas trees at the end of 2025, raising circa £80,000 in donations. The Christmas trees were taken to KCC's waste transfer station at Ashford and then transported to a composting facility
(d) The Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC) customer satisfaction survey results were positive and achieved a 96% satisfaction rate. Customer feedback had led to the development of a customer account facility. Registered customers could save up to three addresses and vehicles on their account enabling them to book their visits even quicker. Customers could also log into their accounts to easily manage their bookings. The new feature was due to launch in the coming weeks
(e) Mr Thomas announced that Deborah Kapai had started work as the strategic lead for the Kent Resource partnership. A number of meetings had been facilitated with partners to establish priorities and work streams, including food waste, reduction of contamination and recycling, as well as reviewing and updating the Kent Municipal Waste Strategy.
(f) Mr Thomas took the opportunity as it was his last Cabinet meeting to express his gratitude to the team for the ongoing work related to the Making Space for Nature Strategy, the consultation of which would close on 12th March. It remained incredibly important to reverse the decline of nature. Furthermore a green finance strategy would also continue to be developed with anticipated approval later in the year. Work would also continue around the Net Zero strategy
(g) In regard to windmill divestment, Mr Thomas was due to attend the Kent Mill Manager meeting later in the month where work would continue with partners to find a satisfactory long-term solution for the management of windmills. Mr Thomas noted that KCC's resources continued to diminish in this area, however, it was hoped that the matter would be brought to conclusion later in the year.
(h) With regard to waste and recycling, Mr Thomas noted that in the coming weeks KCC would be receiving its extended producer responsibility payment to help reduce the costs and carbon emissions produced from Kents waste processing. Work was also underway to improve recycling.
6. Mr Murphy, Cabinet Member for Growth and Economic Development, provided an update on the following:
(a) Significant progress continued to be made since the relaunch of the Kent Medway Business Fund scheme. The Investment Advisory Board and its subgroup had recommended the approval of 41 loans totalling £4.7 million in the last year. These loans included support for two life sciences businesses created in Discovery Park following the partial withdrawal of Pfizer from the site, three businesses operating the food and drink sector, including an ice cream business and a high -end bakery, three recruitment and training businesses, a company operating in the environmental sector, three businesses in the hospitality sector, and three companies in the wellbeing and care sectors. And in addition, a range of others, including gardening solutions, clothing, education, virtual driver training, a climbing centre, and electoral contracting.
(b) Visit Kent continued to deliver a range of commission services to support, promote, and represent the county's vibrant visitor economy. A recent report confirmed that visitor numbers and spend were back to pre -pandemic levels, with the sector providing over 77,000 local jobs. The 2025 Big Weekend was due to be held in April, funded by KCC to enable residents to enter a ballot, to receive free passes to local attractions, to raise awareness of the local visitor offer, and encourage return visits with friends and relatives
(c) The Department of Education confirmed at the end of February that the Kent and Medway Bid for Local Skills Boot Camp program had been approved. Work was underway to enable 50 courses for over 500 learners to be delivered locally to help people into work and to enhance career opportunities for existing employees.
(d) Mr Murphy was due to attend a meeting of the Straits Committee with representatives from Belgium, Holland and France due to meet Kent Ambassadors to understand the latest priorities for cross-border working.
(e) On the No Use Empty scheme, Mr Murphy had recently visited one of the most problematical properties in Folkestone, 45 Augusta Gardens. The property had received financial support from the NUE was now in active use as five apartments after remaining empty and dilapidated for over 25 years. KCC's Comms team had secured local press coverage as well as an article on the BBC South East website. National Empty Homes Week started on 3rd March 2025. Adam Cliff from the Empty Homes Network was scheduled to meet with Steve Grimshaw, the leader of the NUE project, and the NUE team to visit various sites around the county. NUE was also due to present to the Local Government Association on the 27th of March. Since its inception, more than 500 individual loans had been processed under the Empty Property initiative, and all funds for 2024 -25 had been allocated. There was a healthy pipeline of projects for the new year, both empty properties and new builds. In 2024 -25, no use empty generated a return on investment of 4% for KCC Treasury of £650,000 (after paying admin costs and the original loan back). To date, the no use empty scheme had contributed to £1.5million to Treasury.
(f) The Kent and Medway Business Fund Investment Advisory Board had recently agreed to support an allocation of an additional £6 million to the no -use empties scheme to deliver more commercial business units for the county. The Kent and Medway Business Growth Hub service, together with representatives from the Kent and Medway Business Fund, had continued with a series of business roadshows across the county, which offered one-to-one navigational and supporting services to local and national businesses. The Growth Hub had launched a series of 11 accelerated workshops, which were free for local businesses to access, covering topics such as sales, marketing, and finance. The first workshop was scheduled to take place on 15th of January. All workshops could be assessed both virtually and face -to -face in four locations to support networking opportunities. Recordings of the workshops would be uploaded to the Kent and Midway Business Growth Hub YouTube channel for businesses to access on their own time.
(g) Mr Murphy paid tribute to the team for their ongoing hard work.
7. Mrs Bell, Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services provided an update on the following:
(a) On libraries, registration and archives, visits to Kent libraries had increased by 4% compared to last year, with e-book and audio book usage up 12%. Public PC and Wi -Fi usage had also risen, reinforcing the vital role of libraries in digital access and community well -being. Over 170,000 people had attended library events over the course of year, a 6% increase. The archive service remained a key resource for Kent history, with in -person visits up 4%. The registration service continued to meet demand with ceremonies increasing by 4%, including a 22% rise in citizenship ceremonies
(b) Broadstairs Library had been shortlisted for the Library of the Year Award as part of the British Book Awards 2025.
(c) The Know Your Neighbourhood Project in Thanet ad also had a significant impact, helping vulnerable residents access library services and community support.
(d) In Folkestone, work was underway to deliver a long -term solution for the Town Centre Library. Mrs Bell met with Creative Folkestone on their concept for the Grace Hill building. Proposals from other community organisations were also due to be accepted through the asset of community value process.
(e) The Dover Discovery Centre’s refurbishment was on track for completion in summer 2025. The modernisation of multiple library spaces using developer contributions were also underway. Newington and Sturry had expanded the children's libraries with Westmalling and Hythe House in North Fleet next in line. Smaller improvements were also expected to progress at Minster in Sheppey, Paddock Wood, at Allington and Sandgate Libraries.
(f) KCC had hosted a visit from Her Majesty the Queen in Canterbury when she unveiled a statue of Aphra Behn, one of the first English women to earn her living as a professional writer. Mrs Bell had the pleasure, alongside the Leader, Mr Gough, Chairman of KCC, Mr Sweetland, Mrs Beer, Chief Executive and other senior officers, to represent KCC on the day. The Queen was taken on a guided tour of the Beeney Library by, Mr Pearson, Head of Libraries, Registration & Archives and by all accounts she showed great interest in all that the library had to offer. The library was home to over 50,000 books, including works by Aphra Behn and precious local studies collection. She toured the museum, which was run by Canterbury City Council, met children from Wickhambreaux Primary School, was introduced to the Wise Words for Wellbeing Creative Reading and Writing Group, and the collection of Ukrainian books. The visit received extensive media coverage and was a special day for Canterbury and for Kent as a whole.
8. Peter Oakford, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Corporate and Traded Service, provided an update on the following:
(a) Mr Oakford placed on record his thanks to the teams and staff whose work often went unrecognised and highlighted examples of exemplary work
· Finance:
· Management of cash flow
· Management of wages
· Members' allowances
· Debt management – reduced to £800m
· budget process,
· Homes for Ukraine scheme,
· Safety Valve program - secured £140m of funding to protect the most vulnerable children and young people with special educational needs whilst also providing the taxpayer.
· Introduction of a 10 -year capital program.
· Infrastructure:
· Delivery of reception centres.
· Cost recovery in areas such as utilities, business rate appeals, that saw £1 7m in returns to KCC in the last financial year.
· Delivery of the communities programme, decommissioning of 46 buildings, 37 of these are no longer operational and the sales are progressing.
· Recovery of £1.1m of disputed rent arrears and the continued management of £5m worth of rental income
· Disposals - selling nearly £25m pounds worth of assets,
· Reinforced, Autoclaved, Aerated concrete (RAAC) - proactive commitment in ensuring all Kent schools were safe.
· Dover Discovery Centre
- Human Resources:
· Oracle programme – more resilient
· Implementation of the new pay strategy
- Information Technology:
· Replaced over 5,000 laptops through the last 12 -18 months
· Completed over 200 accessibility requests.
· excellent cyber security - the government auditors stated they had rarely seen devices as secure as the new WP laptops within KCC
· Co -pilot
Further thanks and recognition was paid to the Corporate Directors, Cabinet Members and staff for all their achievements and continued success.
9. Mr Gough, Leader of the Council, provided an update on the following:
(a) Thanks was paid to Mr Oakford, Mr Thomas and Mr Murphy for their service as this would cease in May following the elections.
(b) On the Government’s Devolution Priority Programme, the Leader advised that Kent and Medway had not been successful in its application to be taken forward as part of the programme. The Leader expressed his discontent at the Governments incomprehensible decision and one based off incoherent reasoning. The decision from Government would have a detrimental impact on Kent residents and the Council continued in its efforts to pursue the rationale as to the decision that had been taken, and also sought to engage with ministers on ways forward as part of its proposed reorganisation.
The Leader thanked the Cabinet Members for their updates