Agenda and minutes

Before the commencement of business Mr Carter welcomed to the meeting Mr Andrew Ireland, the Council’s newly appointed Corporate Director for Families and Social Care.  Mr Carter also welcomed Mr Matt Burrows the Council’s newly appointed Director of Communications and Engagement

Resolved that the minutes of the meeting held on 17 October 2011 be agreed, and signed by the Chairman as a true record.

– Report by Mr J Simmonds, Cabinet Member for Finance & Business Support; Mr A Wood, Corporate Director of Finance & Procurement; and Corporate Directors)

(1)       Mr Simmonds outlined the key elements of this report and highlighted the main pressures. He said that the County Council had so far received back some £11.8m from Icelandic Banks and following the successful court case he was hopeful that most if not all of the Council’s money would now be recovered, possibly with some interest. Mr Simmonds also reported on adjustments made to the Capital Budget since the last meeting.  Mr Carter placed on record his thanks and that of the Cabinet for the part officers had played in delivering a balanced budget which may yet show a slight under spend.   

(2)       Following further discussion Cabinet Resolved to:

(a)    note the latest monitoring position on the revenue and capital budgets

(b) note that residual pressures which were currently forecast within the Specialist Children Services and Communities, Customer Services and Improvement portfolios and the management action which was forecast to be delivered within the Business Strategy, Performance and Health Reform  portfolio

(c)  note the final split of Early Years’ budgets between “standards and quality assurance in early years settings” (Education, Learning and Skills portfolio) and “provision of early years and childcare” (Specialist Children Services portfolio)

(d)       agree the £1.2m transfer of a one-off under spend on Early Years & Childcare Quality & Outcomes Team within the ELS portfolio to the earmarked reserve to support next year’s budget and that the use of this reserve would be built into the draft 2012-15 Medium Term Financial Plan.

(e)       agree that the £16.226m NHS Support for Social Care funding, details of which were included in item 9 of the 19 September 2011Cabinet agenda, be transferred to a new specific earmarked reserve and drawn down as expenditure incurred in line with detailed plans to be jointly agreed with health.

(f)         agree that £0.950m costs for the development of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project be met from a temporary drawdown from the IT Asset Maintenance reserve in the current year, with the repayment of this funding back to the IT Asset Maintenance Reserve in 2012-13, which would be drafted into the 2012-15 MTFP.

(g)       agree the transfer of £1.599m Minimum Revenue Provision saving, resulting from the re-phasing of the capital programme in 2010-11, to reserves to fund the potential future impact.

(h)        note and agree the changes to the capital programme.

(i)         agree that re-phasing on the capital programme be moved from 2011-12 capital cash limits to future years.

(j)         agree the £4.118m transfer of funding from Building Schools for the Future Unit Cost to cover the shortfall of grant against the Academy Projects.

(k)        agree the £1.4m prudential borrowing for the Enterprise Resource Programme.

(l)         note the latest financial health indicators and prudential indicators.

(m)      note the directorate staffing levels as at the end of September 2011.    

– Report by Mr P Carter, Leader of the Council; Mr J Simmonds, Cabinet Member for Finance & Business Support; Katherine Kerswell, Managing Director; and Mr A Wood, Corporate Director for Finance & Procurement) (Mr D Shipton was present for this item)

(1)       Mr Simmonds highlighted the critical issues the Council faced and said the impact of a predicted net loss in funding of £11m coupled with an estimated £93m of additional spending demands meant KCC would have to make savings in 2012/13 totalling some £104m in order to balance the budget. This represented a substantial challenge and a savings target of a similar magnitude to the £95m the County Council faced in 2011/12.  Mr Simmonds also said the Council would be setting itself an ambitious Capital Programme and as part of that it would be looking at ways to stimulate the Kent economy and employment.  

(2)       Cabinet resolved to note:

(a) The National Context:

(i)   Lower economic growth than previous forecasts and slower recovery from the recession

(ii)  Inflation higher than the government’s target

(iii)  Rising unemployment

(iv)  Public expenditure reductions

(v)   Eurozone debt crisis

(b) The National Resources Position:

(i)  the difference in resource allocation between London/Metropolitan and shire areas

(ii)   Potential changes to the funding for local authorities and schools

(iii)  Potential increases in employee’s pension contributions

(iv)  Funding from health authorities to support social care

(v)  Council Tax freeze and local referendum on excessive increases in future

(vi) the disparity in grant allocations to south east authorities since 2006/07 compared to the rest of England and impact on Council tax

(c) Kent – Local Resource Allocation

(i) Take-up of proposed freeze on Council Tax for a second successive year

(ii) Launch draft budget and medium term financial plan before Christmas

(iii) County Council to agree budget on 9 February

(iv)  Further enhancements to transparency of budget

(v) Financial outlook based on reduced resources and increased spending demands necessitating significant year on year savings

(vi) Proposed financial strategy and establishment of a Budget Programme Board

(vii) Financial risks

(viii) Levels of general reserves

– Report by Mr A King, Deputy Leader)( Mr G Brown was present for this item)

(1)       The Vision for Kent is Kent's Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) and it is a statutory requirement for local authorities to prepare and from time to time modify the Strategy their area.  The Vision for Kent also forms part of KCC's Policy Framework and details the steps that will be taken to promote and improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of Kent and contribute to the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom.

(2)       Mr King said the Vision for Kent 2012-2022 was written around the three countywide ambitions to grow the Kent economy, to tackledisadvantage and to put citizens in control, and if ever there was a time to focus on these three ambitions it was now.  The draft Vision for Kent document would now be submitted to the County Council at its meeting on 15 December and to the Kent Forum in the new year.  Mr Brown outlined the wide consultation which had been undertaken in the preparation of what he said was now a much more focused document than had previously been the case.  

(3)       Following discussion Cabinet resolved to:

(a)   endorse the draft Vision for Kent

(b)   recommend that the County Council approve the Vision for Kent at its meeting on 15 December 2011 as required in the Policy Framework; and

(c)   recommend that the Vision for Kent be endorsed by the Kent Forum at its meeting in February 2012.

– Report by Mr R Gough – Cabinet Member Business Strategy, Performance & Health Reform and Ms K Kerswell – Managing Director) (Mr R Fitzgerald was present for this item)

(2)       During the course of discussion Mr Sweetland highlighted the reduction of some 48% in the number of highway related complaints made over the past 12 months and Cabinet placed on record its thanks to staff in the Highways Unit on this service improvement.  Ms Honey said the level of calls to the Contact Centre had reached an unprecedented level and additional resources had been allocated to meet this rise in demand.  A review looking at the whole spectrum of improving customer experience was being undertaken as part of the Customer Services Strategy. Mrs Whittle also reported on the continuing improvement in the recruitment of social workers and the improvement in the balance between the number of experienced social workers to those newly qualified.  Mr Carter said he welcomed the report and the improvements which had been made in terms of both its content and presentation.  He did however ask for future reports to include more qualitative information and feedback on customer experience.

(3)       Cabinet resolved to note the report.

Report by Mrs J Whittle, Cabinet Member for Specialist Children’s Services; and Mr A Ireland, Corporate Director, Families and Social Care)(Ms L Totman, Head of Corporate Parenting, Mr P Brightwell, Performance and Qualilty Assurance Manager and Mr A Duncan were present for this item)

(1)  Kent County Council’s improvement notice includes a requirement to put in place a detailed Looked After Children Strategy that sets out how the authority and its partner agencies would  promote better outcomes for its looked after children and care leavers.

(2)       Mrs Whittle said the Council had and was continuing to work closely with partner agencies to develop better strategies and to improve the outcomes for Looked after Children. The aims of the strategy included reducing the number of children in care, developing better placement strategies, including trying to place children with Foster Parents in the same area as they live, and improving levels of education attainment.  

(3)       Ms Totman and Mr Brightwell said the strategy had been influenced by feedback and contributions from all key agencies and services - schools and further education colleges, health services, Connexions, Catch 22, Young Lives Foundation and had been endorsed by the Kent’s Corporate Parenting Group, Kent’s Safeguarding Children’s Board and The Corporate Parenting Panel. The strategy also included contributions by children and young people through Kent’s Children in Care Council.  These are outlined in the strategy.  Mr Carter said that he wished to see the report sent to all members of the County Council.

        (4)  Following further discussion Cabinet resolved to endorse the document ‘Kent’s  Multi-Agency Looked After Children Strategy. 

– Report by Mrs J Whittle, Cabinet Member for Specialist Children’s Services; and Mr A Ireland, Corporate Director, Families and Social Care)

(1)       Mrs Whittle said that the outcome from this inspection showed the Council was maintaining significant progress and had in place a robust assurance and performance management regime.  The report did highlight some areas where further development was needed and these issues would be rigorously addressed. Overall the Council was now providing a significantly better service than 12 months ago and Mrs Whittle placed on record her thanks to all members of staff for their hard work and commitment in achieving this improvement.  A further unannounced inspection was expected during the spring of 2012. He also spoke of the work that would be needed to implement a new IT system that would be introduced in the autumn of 2012. Having now had the opportunity to meet with KCC staff working in the field of children’s social care he also spoke of their commitment and focus.  Mr Ireland said the excellent progress being was part of a journey of continuous improvement and it was his view that the Council would be the subject of a full Inspection before the next unannounced inspection took place.

(2)       During the course of discussion Mr Carter spoke of the need to undertake bench marking and cross-auditing with other authorities in the south-east.  This was agreed.

(3)       Cabinet resolved to place on record it’s thanks to the staff working in this field and noted the findings of the Ofsted Inspection and the ongoing work and actions being taken by the Council. 

– Report by Mr G Gibbens, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health; and Mr A Ireland, Corporate Director, Families and Social Care)

See record of decision on page 9

The Chairman said because a number of restructurings were taking place across the council and following the usual consultation processes, a key decision on this matter would now be taken by the Cabinet Member for Specialist Children’s Services in the new year. Therefore this report would not now be discussed at this meeting. 

– Report by Mrs J Whittle, Cabinet Member for Specialist Children’s Services; and Mr A Ireland, Corporate Director, Families and Social Care)

(1)   In introducing this report Mrs Whittle said much work was being undertaken to reduce the number of child protection cases where that was safe to do so. This included working closely with other agencies such as the justice system and judiciary. The County Council continued to make significant progress in meeting the requirements of the Children’s services Plan as had been evidenced by the recent unannounced Ofsted Inspection as had been reported elsewhere on the Cabinet agenda for this meeting.

(2)    Cabinet resolved to note the very significant progress that had been made since the last quarterly report and noted the content of the letter from the Independent Chair of the of the Improvement Board. 

Mrs T Dean was present for this item as Chairman of the Select Committee together with Mr J Kirby and Mr L Christie)

(1)          Mrs Dean placed on record the thanks of the Select Committee to Mrs S

 Frampton for the assistance she had given to the Committee during the course of its work.  Mrs Dean highlighted a number of key areas to the report, including the need for early diagnosis, better training for staff from both the public and private sector who provide treatment and care for dementia patients.  There also needed to be improved access to professional help, including legal and financial      advice when seeking for example power of attorney.

There was a need for suffers and their carers to be more involved in the planning of their treatment and for there to be more awareness to the fact that increasingly dementia was being diagnosed more in younger people.  Mrs Dean also spoke of ‘memory cafes’ and the value that they can have in helping sufferers of dementia.

(2)    Mr Kirby also spoke of the need for there to be better and earlier diagnosis and about the important part memory cafes can play in the treatment and support given to dementia suffers. Mr Kirby said steps needed to be taken to address the stigma which can be attached to dementia and spoke of the importance of all agencies, including the police receiving adequate training. He also spoke of the importance of dementia being treated on a multi-agency basis and the importance therefore of those bodies developing strong links and joint strategies. Mr Christie echoed the views of Mrs Dean and Mr Kirby. He also spoke of the need for dementia patients to have continuity of treatment and the believed the role and importance of memory cafes was such there ought to be one in each district.

(3)       During the course of discussion Mr Gibbens said he thanked the Select Committee for its wide ranging and comprehensive report which would be debated more fully at the County Council meeting on 15 December. In the meantime he said he welcomed the proposal to establish a cross party group of members to work through the detail of the recommendations. He said it was important to move beyond dementia being seen only as solely a mental health issue and the care and treatment of sufferers needed to have the involvement of a range of partners in both the public and voluntary sectors.  Other views were that more work needed to be done with GPs in order to improve the chances of early diagnosis, the number of cases of dementia was rising and therefore there needed to be more thought and planning as to what future resources would be needed to meet that rise. The Gateways across the county could be used to provide better information for both patients and carers and could possibly be a location for a memory café.      

(4)       Following this discussion Cabinet placed on record its thanks to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 85.

– Report by Mrs J Whittle, Cabinet Member for Specialist Children’s Services; and Mr A Ireland, Corporate Director, Families and Social Care)

See record of decision on page 11

Report by Mr M Whiting, Cabinet Member for Education, Learning & Skills; Mr R Gough, Cabinet Member for Business Strategy, Performance & Health Reform; Mr P Leeson, Corporate Director, Education, Learning & Skills; and Mr D Cockburn, Corporate Director of Business, Strategy & Support)

See record of decision on page 13.