Minutes:
Paul Webb (Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services), Paul King (Cabinet Member for Environment, Coastal Regeneration and Special Projects), David Wimble (Cabinet Member for Economic Developments and Special Projects), Peter Osborne (Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport) Provided an update on the Following:
1.Mr Osborne, delivered his verbal update, recent events encompassed:
a) Updated on the continued salt gritting of Kents roads, in addition to the road’s drainage teams clearing of 65,000 gullies since April 2025. In addition, 35,000 pot holes had been filled.
b) A provisional grant of £48 million capital and £42 million revenue from the DfT (Department for Transport) had been received and would aid in the continued improvements of Kents bus networks, additionally a multiyear funding settlement for walking and cycling of £1.6 million revenue, and £ 5.2 million capital for 2026-27 was also discussed.
c) The Highways long term maintenance contract with partners Ringway would commence in May. The contract was valued at £50 million per year, and repairs would be expected to be completed at a faster rate then previously recorded. £30 million had been invested in the road resurfacing programme, and a capital highway’s maintenance grant of £56 million was being received this year (2026-27). In addition, a further £274 million pounds was to be invested into the network over the next four years.
d) Additional investments to pre-school road safety training would look to reach over 4,000 children and older drivers throughout Kent. The discussion was summarised with the announcement that Kent Highways had been nominated for a national award for most improved performance.
2. Mr King, Cabinet Member for Environment, Coastal Regeneration and Special projects gave his first update of the new collated portfolio:
a) Thanked KCC officers for the swift response observed during the recent water outages that had impacted Tunbridge Wells and surrounding areas. Mr King further outlined how the new revised portfolio would aim to drive economic revitalization, stimulate investment and job creation within Kent’s coastal areas. The Cabinet Member looked forward to future collaborative work that will benefit the people of Kent.
b) Highlighted KCC’s £93 million annual spend on waste disposal that had seen around 660,000 tonnes of material pass through household waste recycling centres and transfer stations.
c) The Cabinet Member highlighted the opportunities being explored to improve enhanced recycling outcomes in the discussed areas by improving better economical benefits through resource efficiency and costs savings.
3. Mr Webb, Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services updated Members on his respective portfolio:
a) The Committee acknowledged an update on the high level of activity experienced by the Trading Standards team over the festive period. It was reported that a new TikTok channel had been launched, aimed at informing the public of the significant hazards associated with counterfeit goods and provided guidance on the key indicators to consider when purchasing items to ensure that they were genuine and safe.
b) The same team were also heavily involved with the BBC’s Scam Safe week initiatives and had attended a road show at Ditton community Centre, offering further advice and information to the general public.
c) Trading Standards prosecutions had seen three fraudsters convicted for crimes related to solar energy sales.
d) Dartford Borough Council Environmental Health team had been working in partnership with colleagues from KCC’s Trading Standards team to offer formal advice to business under the statutory and primary authority scheme.
e) The Committee was advised that the Trading Standards team had achieved significant success in intercepting and seizing illegal vapes that had entered via Kent’s ports.
f) Two Trading Standards apprenticeship positions had been secured through government funding to support the continuation of the team’s robust enforcement activity.
g) Kent Scientific services continued to provide food and feed testing and would be currently supporting the National Food Crime Unit.
h) Library and registration services had also observed a busy festive period.
i) Community Wardens had continued to support the community, notably those impacted by the local water outages seen in the across the County.
j) The sale of Polhill gypsy and Romany traveller site was set to conclude by the end of January and would bring in a small capital receipt. The John Downton Awards celebrated their 25th and final year with 453 entries across 36 schools having been submitted. This included six SEN schools. The panel was to be chaired by Carrie Wallace. All submitted artworks would be showcased online with the awards ceremony occurring at County Hall in mid-February.
k) The Cabinet Member shared the positive news of the recent opening of Dover’s Discovery Centre, which includes Library, Adult Education, Family Services, Good Day Programme and Dover District Museum. Kent libraries and Education would be joining forces to promote reading for all ages, as part of the National Year of reading 2026. This is a national approach due to national data that shows a countrywide decrease in literacy rates and people reading. Library co-location projects in January will see the completion of works and re-opening of Temple Hill and Cranbrook Libraries which will see co-location with Family Hubs. Further works in Sittingbourne are in progress and, Queensborough and Cliftonville libraries will see works start soon with target completion during the first quarter of 2026.
l) The Senior Coroner welcomed the High Sheriff of Kent to Oakwood House in Maidstone to observe the facilities dedicated to the coronial judicial functions in Kent and Medway.
4. Mr Wimble, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Special Projects provided an update on the following:
a) Mr Wimble discussed aspects of his new role as Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Special Projects. Mr Wimble thanked officers for their support in his previous Cabinet role.
b) Following the successful event that KCC organised in September last year, last week the Cabinet Member had attended an event marking the 30th anniversary of international rail services starting in Ashford. Ashford Borough Council organised the event which had again brought together local authorities, partners and stakeholders along with local businesses and potential train operators to keep up the momentum about the urgent need to see international rail services return to Kent.. The inaugural meeting of the Kent stations working group took place in December and would continue to make the business case and public interest case for the reinstatement of stopping services in Ashford and Ebbsfleet.
c) The Cabinet Member discussed Brand Kent’s desire to create a joint vision for investment and tourism to market Kent as a place to live, work and visit. Following the liquidation of Visit Kent and Locate in Kent in September last year, a small in-house team had been recruited to KCC to drive forward the county's visitor economy and attract inward investment. While the team has only been in place for a few weeks, they have hit the ground running and are currently working with local industry partners to ensure the service meets the needs of local visitor economy businesses and continues to promote opportunities for the private sector to invest in the county.
d) An update on skills boot camps was provided which discussed the 220 learners that had now commenced and had been in attendance of the bootcamp course since the launch in July.62 people had now fully completed a course. 24 attendees had already secured a job as a direct result of a guaranteed job interview at the end of their course. Courses cover construction, social care and creative industries including 2 courses run with the Lower Thames crossing at the new skills hub in Gravesend. The Department for Education (DfE) had also shown support, and it was anticipated that a funding allocation of £1.5m for the programme to continue in 2026-27 would be received.
e) Strategic health work had continued with the implementation of the Get Kent & Medway Working plan, which was among the first of 5 plans published of the 41 nationally. KCC, Medway Council, the NHS and Job centre plus had been turning this plan and the 'Kent & Medway Work & Health strategy' into activities and current work would focus on the provision of clear online resources to support local employers and businesses, provide toolkits for stakeholders to summarise the health, work and skills landscape and working to co-locate employment support in health settings.
f) Over 500 people had now signed up to receive support from the Connect to Work programme which helped disadvantaged people into work through a supported employment model that provided up to 12 months support. 55 people had commenced work and reported first earnings. It was expected that the overall figure would rise significantly in the coming months.
g) The Committee received an update on the Special Projects portfolio, with particular reference to three priority initiatives. The Cabinet Members discussed ongoing energy-related projects, including exploration of a new nuclear option for Dungeness power station, as well as the development of a clear strategic vision for solar energy in Kent, that would encompass both rooftop solar installations and the utilisation of suitable brownfield sites.
h) The final special projects item discussed would be the introduction of an environmental tax on lorries entering the UK. The scheme would be similar to the Swiss environment model and look to target lorries entering Kent via the port of Dover. How the tax was collected and invested were to be discussed further once the model had been fully explored.
5. In response to comments and questions from Members, the discussion covered the following:
a) Members asked for reassurances on the provision of the latest and most popular published works for the community and raised if a reduction in the budget for buying books was to occur. Members further queried on the matter of the installation of solar panels on buildings and what mechanisms would be in place to ensure that this occurred. Finally, Members asked on how the environmental tax could be implemented, how the tax would benefit the Council and if central government, who governed the national highways would implement this with an internal border and aid in the mitigation of large delays on the roads.
b) Mr Wimble responded to the concerns raised by Members on how his updated special projects could be delivered. Mr Wimble would be looking to update at the upcoming Cabinet Committee and expand further on all future projects’ trajectories.
c) Members asked for clarification on the funding that had been received from central government, Mr Osborne responded that £48 million capital had been secured for bus support, with £42 million revenues on buses. Highways were £30 million in 2025. Current year had seen an award of £56 million and over the next four years an investment of £274 million would be targeted.
d) Concerns were raised on the role and previous cuts to Community Wardens. The respective Cabinet Member responded that the previous administration had reduced wardens in half (from 70 to 35). Recent Parish Council funding had allowed for the recruitment of two new wardens with the current administration looking to expand further.
e) Clarification on how the percentage of population in an area impacted on the availability of Community Wardens were discussed. Mr Webb acknowledged there was likely a need to review the proportion of population to warden’s ratio. Mrs Holt-Castle referenced the geographical allocation policy agreed by a previous committee and suggested this could be encompassed as part of a paper on Wardens’ activity within each borough already on forward plan of the Cabinet Committee.
f) A Member discussed the ongoing issues impacting flooding in the Albert Reed Gardens in Maidstone., whilst the Member thanked the Cabinet Member for their response to flooding there was a desire to have a further discussion on the obstructed sight lines that had been reported to KCC previously and where current responsibilities lay. Mr Osborne acknowledged the issue and was happy to meet with the Member to discuss further.
g) It was queried if the family hub would be available immediately at the Temple Hill library after it reopens on the 28th of January. Mr Webb acknowledged the request and would seek to update the Member once more details on the family hub reopening were known. Members asked if the locations discussed in Kent would be limited to just Libraries/family hubs. Mr Webb discussed that locations would be reviewed to determine what additional activities could take place, additional locations in KCC portfolios would also be reviewed to see how delivery for activities could be coordinated.
h) Members praised Mr Osborne’s response to the storm events that had impacted in early January the Folkestone and surrounding coastal communities. Whilst some clean?up operations were still ongoing, Members noted that the overall response from KCC and its partners had been excellent.
i) It was requested that recirculated papers would include a clear summary of the Community Wardens key activities, roles, responsibilities, and demonstrable outcomes be provided to Members. Capturing current work would support both the case for maintaining current staffing levels and any future proposals to increase them. Documentation would provide useful evidence for similar initiatives when preparing business cases or funding justifications in the future.