Minutes:
1. Death of former Member
The Chairman notified the County Council of the passing away of a former Member, Mrs Betty Walter.
Mrs Walter was a Conservative County Councillor for the Chatham No.2 Electoral Division from April 1967 to 1981; she passed away on Saturday 10 October, just a few days short of her 99th birthday. Mrs Walter served on the Education, Health and Social Services Committees and was Vice Chairman of the Education (Case) Sub Committee and the Social Services (Adoption Agency) Sub Committee.
The Chairman added that there would be a Service of Thanksgiving at Compton Parish Church, near Guildford, Surrey, on Friday 30th October at 11.30am. Further details would be provided to Members as soon as they were known.
The Council stood in silence as a mark of respect and passed the following resolution:
That this Council desires to record the sense of loss it feels on the death of Mrs Betty Walter and extends to her family and friends its deepest sympathy on their sad bereavement.
2. New Members
The Chairman stated that he was delighted that so many new Members made their maiden speeches at the June meeting and hoped others did so today
3. Length of Speeches
Due to the amount of business on today’s agenda and the importance of giving all Members every opportunity to speak, the Chairman proposed and the Vice Chairman seconded that the following limitations on the length of speeches would apply for this meeting:
· The proposers of all Motions: 5 minutes (as usual)
· All other speakers: 3 minutes instead of 5 minutes
· On the Leader’s Oral Report: Leader 8 minutes instead of 10; Other 2 Group Leaders: 5 minutes instead of 7; Leader’s response: 2 minutes (as usual)
Carried without a vote
4. Petition – Parking restrictions in Minster, Thanet
The Chairman stated that had received a petition on Friday 2 October signed by 328 residents of Minster in Thanet, objecting to the introduction of yellow lines by the Highways Service and requesting a delaypending further research.
The Chairman formally handed the petition to Mr Nick Chard, Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Waste, for an investigation and response direct to Minster Parish Council, as the organisers of the petition.
5. Kent Invicta Award
The Chairman referred to the letter to all Members that had been tabled in relation to the Kent Invicta Award for 2010, which invited Members to consider nominating appropriate individuals to receive the Award. All nominations should be submitted to Mrs Mary Cooper.
6. Belarus and Ukrainian Olympic Judo team
The Chairman announced that the Belarus Judo Federation and the Ukraine Judo Federation, both with good Olympic medal prospects, had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Kent County Council in conjunction with Tonbridge Judo Club and Tonbridge School on 21 September 2009 to train in Tonbridge, Kent in the lead up to, and during the 2012 Olympic Games and this December, they would be joined by Sweden, Germany, Kazakhstan and Holland.
KCC Sport, Leisure and Olympics secured this deal, which is by far the biggest `Pre-Games Training Camp` agreement in the South East region to date and only the second multi-nation agreement signed in the UK for the London 2012 Games and they are currently negotiating with a number of other nations to train in Kent in 2012.
The Chairman also stated that the Kent School Games was launched successfully last week with the support of Dame Kelly Holmes, who had said nationally that the Kent School Games should become a national model.
7. Delegation of Albanian Mayors
On 28th and 29th September, a delegation of 26 Mayors from the Albanian Association of Communes visited Kent to learn about how KCC organised and delivered services for our residents. The Mayors were particularly interested in the structure and democratic processes of the council, transport and infrastructure planning, tourism and the protection of historical sites, social care, education and supporting independence.
The Chairman stated that he had hosted a small reception for the delegation, where the Leader of the group thanked KCC for a useful and informative visit. The Mayors stated that they would use what they had learnt in Kent to help improve services in their regions and to develop a successful local government structure in Albania.
8. Demonstrations for Members
The Chairman stated that the new KCC website, which was due to be launched in December, was being demonstrated by staff from the Communications and Media Centre at the top of the stone steps between the Council Chamber and the Darent Room
The Chairman added that there was also a demonstration of a new online expenses system by staff from the Personnel Service, which Members would be strongly encouraged to use in order to make the process for checking and authorising expenses claims more efficient.