Agenda and minutes

The Democratic Services Manager reported apologies from Mr Beaney, Mr Campkin, Miss Carey, Mr Collor, Mr Cooper, Ms Dawkins, Mrs Game, Mr Kennedy, Mr Meade, Mrs Prendergast, Mr Ridgers, Mr Sweetland and Mr Wright.

Ms Grehan had given her formal apologies but was attending the meeting virtually.

Members who were district or borough councillors declared an interest.

1)        The Leader introduced the item which he said was the most momentous decision for the Council in many years. He acknowledged the importance of it being considered at Full Council and referred to a strong partnership with Medway Council and an inclusive approach to working with district and borough councils across Kent.

2)        Mr Gough said he believed that the Council, along with Medway Council, should apply to join the Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) and create a Mayoral Combined Authority. He stressed the importance of seizing the opportunities that devolution would bring to the county and Kent residents. He referred to the Local Government Association Conference where Mr Jim McMahon MP made it clear that this was a structured policy for England as a whole; as a result the remaining two-tier areas were expected to submit initial unitary proposals by March 2025. He said change was coming and the sooner the Council engaged with it, the sooner it could shape it and provide clarity to residents, staff and organisations. Mr Gough explained that over the last decade mayoral authorities had become part of the national landscape, particularly in the north, with local authorities across the south now applying to join the DPP.

3)        The Leader noted the potential implications of being accepted on the programme for the Council elections due in May 2025. He explained that the decision to postpone the elections would be made by central government following a request from councils. He recognised and shared the unease felt by Members but said there were many precedents for postponed elections during profound structural change and commented that it was hard to see how a government-led consultation so close to the pre-election period could be carried out successfully. Mr Gough stated his intention, if the Council applied to join the DPP, to submit a request to government to postpone the elections.

4)        Mr Gough stressed the importance of establishing the right relationship between a strong mayor and strong unitary authorities and noted the risks and challenges in relation to reorganisation. He said the present situation of the Council was financially unsustainable due to national policy decisions and the Council did not have the funding or the capacity to be the strategic authority that Kent needed. The Leader said that a mayoral strategic authority, on the building blocks of an elected mayor and strong unitary authorities, could deliver a strategic role in transport, planning, economic development and public service reform. He said Kent and Medway were perfectly placed to maximise the benefits of public service reform by joining up services and building a partnership involving greater democratic input with the NHS. He said devolution would bring dedicated investment funds and a decisive move away from competitive funding pots. Central government and mayoral authorities would shape the future development of devolution and the Leader expressed his wish that Kent, through a mayoral strategic authority, be part of that debate through membership of the Mayoral Council and the Council of the Nations  ...  view the full minutes text for item 285.