Cabinet Member decisions

Background –

The Kent Commissioning Plan for Education 2019 -2023 identifies a need for additional places in the Marshside Primary Planning Area from 2020. This is due to pressure from new housing in Sturry and Hersden which has already commenced build-out. This proposal to expand Water Meadows Primary school by 0.5FE will provide the additional places needed to accommodate pupils from the new housing developments coming forward in the planning area. An additional 800 houses (currently submitted for planning) will be built adjacent to Water Meadows Primary School (Persimmon development) and land will be provided by the developer to expand the school by a further form of entry to become a 2FE primary school in the future as the need arises. Canterbury Local Plan proposes a total of 2055 new homes for the Marshside primary planning area for the period 2018 to 2031. Water Meadows Primary school is part of Stour Academy Trust and is a 0.5FE school with a current capacity of 120 with 82 on roll, 37.1% of whom are eligible for free school meals. (May 2018 School census) Water Meadows obtained an Ofsted judgement of good in March 2019 with outstanding in Leadership and Early Years. The popularity of the school is growing year on year and for September 2019 there were 15 pupils on roll in reception.

Decision –

To agree to fund the permanent expansion of Water Meadows (Hersden Village) Primary School by 0.5FE to a 1FE Primary School from KCC Capital Budget.

Background –

The Commissioning Plan for Education Provision in Kent (KCP) is a five-year rolling plan which is updated annually. It sets out how Kent discharges its statutory responsibility, as the Strategic Commissioner of Education Provision, to provide sufficient Early Years, SEND, Primary and Secondary places and to ensure that there are appropriate learning pathways for pupils at Post 16.  It is also our responsibility to ensure that we have enough places in the right locations, to meet the demands of increased pupil numbers and parental preferences.  It reflects the fact that the Local Authority’s role has changed to being the commissioner, as well as continuing to be a provider, of education provision.

Proposed decision –

To agree the Commissioning Plan for Education Provision 2020-24.

At its meeting on 27 January 2020 the Cabinet approved the Commissioning Plan for Education Provision in Kent 2020-24.

Proposed decision:

The Cabinet to agree to the progression and delivery of the Thanet Parkway Railway Station project, which will entail, among other processes, the following key activities;

a)         undertaking detailed design; and subject to planning approval;

b)         completing acquisition of the land; and

c)         entering into contracts as necessary for construction.

And;

agree to delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Growth, Environment & Transport, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transportation, to take appropriate actions necessary to implement this decision, including but not limited to, deciding the preferred procurement route and entering in relevant contracts or other legal agreements.

Background

A previous Key Decision was taken by the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport on 1 August 2014 (14/00056) which approved the delivery of Thanet Parkway Station in the location to the west of Cliffsend, involving:

a)    Commencing land acquisition work;

b)    Undertaking public consultations to support the project development process; and

c)    Undertaking project development work to enable the submission of a planning application and design work for the scheme.

The feasibility design for the scheme received Approval in Principle (equivalent to Network Rail’s ‘Governance in Railway Investment Projects Stage 3’ [GRIP 3] status) in August 2017. Following that milestone, the scheme was progressed through outline design (GRIP 4) and planning application was submitted in May 2018.

Comments received during the planning process regarding the visual impact of the scheme led to changes in the scheme design. As a result, the design work and planning application documents have been amended and are being readied for a resubmission of the planning application in November 2019.

Negotiations for land acquisition have been ongoing with the intention to enter into a contract following this decision approval.

A decision is required to proceed with the delivery of the scheme in order to meet the project delivery programme.

Options - it is a legal requirement (2012 Executive Arrangements regulations) to outline other options considered

A full options analysis has been carried out as part of the scheme business case (Appendix 1). Below is a summary of the options considered as alternatives to delivering Thanet Parkway.

How the proposed decision meets the objectives of ‘Increasing Opportunities, Improving Outcomes: Kent County Council’s Strategic Statement (2015-2020)’

Since 2010, Thanet Parkway has been a key strategic transport priority for Kent County Council, with the ambition to deliver the station first mentioned in Growth without Gridlock (December 2010), the third Local Transport Plan (2011-2016), the Rail Action Plan for Kent (April 2011) and most recently in Local Transport Plan 4: Delivering Growth without Gridlock (2016 – 2031) (LTP4). The delivery of the station continues to be of significant importance to the County Council and is a strategic priority in LTP4 because of its ability to improve rail connectivity between East Kent, other Kent towns and London; to improve the attractiveness of the area to employers and thereby address the historic economic disadvantage of East Kent.

The delivery of the station will help meet the overarching objective of LTP4:

To deliver safe and effective transport, ensuring that all Kent’s communities and businesses benefit, the environment is enhanced, and economic growth is supported.

At its meeting on 27 January 2020, the Cabinet agreed to the progression and delivery of the Thanet Parkway Railway Station project (up to a total KCC contribution of £17.81m), subject to necessary increases to the capital budget allocation in the 2020/21 County Council budget), which will include the following key activities;

a)    undertaking detailed design; and subject to planning approval;

b)    completing acquisition of the land; and

c)    entering into contracts as necessary for construction.

And;

Agreed to delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Growth, Environment & Transport, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, to take appropriate actions necessary to implement this decision, including but not limited to, deciding the preferred procurement route and entering into relevant contracts (of which KCC’s contribution is to the maximum value of £17.81m) or other legal agreements.

Background:

The Emergency Bed Scheme is a valuable resource provided by the Kent Fostering Service.  It provides children and young people with a time limited home during a period of crisis which can include; a child/young person being placed on remand, family breakdown or a placement break down.  The scheme has been in place for several years without any recent revision.  The Policy aims to provide a clear and up to date framework on the roles and responsibilities within the service to ensure that the needs of a child/young person are responded to in a timely manner to achieve identification of the most appropriate home for their needs.  There is a current fostering recruitment strategy which includes increasing the number of Emergency Bed carers; the revised policy and proposed payment structure will enhance our ability to attract more carers to the scheme. 

The scheme has been reviewed, with a recommendation to update the current policy and implement the following changes:

·         Increase the current 7-day placement limit to 10 working days

·         Clarify the roles within the Integrated Children Services teams to ensure accountability and ensure appropriate support for children, young people and foster carers

·         Clarify processes, timescales and authorisations for specific actions

·         Introduce the ability to pay an enhanced payment to emergency bed carers for our most complex children. 

·         Provide an updated agreement/contract to emergency bed foster carers.

·         Support and enhance recruitment of foster carers to the scheme

To agree that Kent County Council will introduce an enhanced payment structure for emergency bed placements with in-house foster carers. This is to strengthen the placement provision for children and young people at times of crisis and avoid young people going into residential placements.

Background

The Children and Social Work Act (2017) implemented on 1^st April 2018, places corporate parenting responsibilities on district councils for the first time, requiring them to have regard to children in care and care leavers when carrying out their functions. Councils have the power to introduce exemptions for council tax for certain groups under section 13A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

Corporate Parenting is a statutory function of the Council with the underlying principle that every local authority will seek the same outcomes for children and young people in care that every good parent would want for their own children; for example, successful transition to young adulthood and financial independence.

The children’s social care inspectorate, Ofsted, has the ‘Experience of Looked After Children and Care Leavers’ as a key judgement area in its evaluation of local performance, and expects Councils and children’s services to provide clear evidence that it supports its young people leaving care up to the age of 25, in a way that optimises their outcomes.

The Government’s care leavers’ strategy, Keep on Caring, published in July 2016, encouraged councils to consider the role of a corporate parent, ‘through the lens of what any reasonable parent does to give their child the best start in life’.  As a further development of this local authorities were encouraged to consider exempting care leavers from council tax using the powers already at their disposal, to be aspirational for care leavers in achieving financial independence.

How we got to the decision:

Kent has 1,718 young people who they have corporate parenting responsibility for as Care Leavers aged 18 -25 years. The vast majority are living in Kent, with 155 in Medway and 408 placed outside of the county. The original proposal was to work with the 12 Local District Borough Councils to request an exemption for council tax for all Kent Care Leavers living within the county. After extensive work on the logistics involved in this, the request is to implement a simplified proposal, in which Kent County Council in their role as a Corporate Parent would fund council tax payments where young people who are care leavers are eligible to pay. This would be for young people who are Kent Care Leavers aged 18-21 years, wherever they are living. The reasons for this are:

• Young people are not equally accommodated across the district, meaning some boroughs such as Canterbury and Gravesham would have significantly more young people compared to other boroughs such as Dartford and Tonbridge & Malling.
• The cost and coordination of administration across 12 districts was not a cost-effective model.
• Alongside district councils there would need to have been agreement from the police, fire services and parish councils in each of the 12 district boroughs.
• Kent young people living outside of Kent would have been at a significant disadvantage, as would not have been able to access the exemption.
• Personal Advisors can assist young people to claim all eligible benefits and discounts, as two thirds of our young people aged 18-21 years do not currently pay council tax due to their status as a student, being on a low income or residing in certain accommodation types. There are many different ways of reducing council tax liability. The young person can claim, amongst many others, discounts as a single person, if they are severely mentally impaired, as an apprentice and as a student. All these discounts can be applied for online.

The proposal meets the objectives of ‘Increasing Opportunities, Improving Outcomes: Kent County Council’s Strategic Statement (2015-2020)’ through:

·      The Strategic Statement underpins the proposal for the payment of council tax in our aim to improve the lives of children and young people by giving them the best start in life. It meets our responsibility of being the best Corporate Parent we can be and being aspirational for our Care Leavers as they transition into adult hood.

·      Agreement to the funding would improve the outcomes of Care Leavers by ensuring that they are financially supported and give them the best possible opportunities for their futures as adults.

·     For those young people currently paying council tax, it would open up the opportunity to use their own income for more social and leisure activities, promoting and improving their mental health and well-being. 

To agree that Kent County Council will fund the council tax payments for Kent young people who are Care Leavers from the age of 18 years, up to the age of 21 years. All young people will be expected to claim any council tax benefit/discount entitlement and no backdated payments will be made. For implementation from 1^st April 2020. This will be published as part of the Kent Care Leavers Local Offer.

Background:

Admission authorities are legally required to determine admissions arrangements for their schools by 28 February each year. It is intended that admissions arrangements for schools where KCC is the admissions authority are to remain broadly unchanged. It is proposed, however, that there are reductions to the Published Admissions Number for Four Elms Primary School, Herne Bay Infants School and West Kingsdown CE Primary Schools, which are detailed in the consultation documentation available through the link detailed below. The consultation is due to run until 16^th December 2019. Local Authorities are also required to consult with all schools within their geographical boundaries on an Admissions Scheme, which details how the co-ordinated and in year admissions processes will operate for the forthcoming year. Following the completion of both consultations, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills requested to approve the proposed admission arrangements and scheme.

To determine the primary and secondary school co-ordinated admissions schemes for 2021 and the admission arrangements for Kent community and voluntary controlled primary schools and the admission arrangements for Kent community and voluntary controlled secondary schools 2021.