Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 25 January 2012 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

– report by the Cabinet Member for Finance and Business Support and the Corporate Director of Finance and Procurement)

(1)       The Revenue and Capital budgets. All management action had now been delivered and that was reflected within the forecasts.  Mr Simmonds also gave an update on Iceland and said he was now confident the Council would receive back nearly 100% of its investments.  Mrs Whittle referred to page 80 of the report and spoke about the additional pressure on services for looked after children that had been brought about by an increase in the number coming into Kent.

(2)       Mr Wood said delivering an under spend against the back drop of required savings of £95m was a significant achievement for the whole organisation.  The under spend would be needed to support further savings that would be required in 2012/13 and for the two years beyond that.  Mr Carter said the Council had managed to achieve an under spend despite having to find £98m in savings and he placed on record his thanks to Directorate staff for this achievement.

(3)       Cabinet resolved to:

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

(b)       agree the changes to the capital programme, as detailed in section 4.1. of the Cabinet report   

(c)        agree that £17.039m of re-phasing on the capital programme is moved from 2011-12 capital cash limits to future years. Further details were included in section 4.10 of the Cabinet report.

(d)       note the latest Financial Health Indicators and Prudential Indicators as reported in appendix 2 and appendix 3 respectively of the Cabinet report; and,

(e)       note the directorate staffing levels as at the end of December 2011 as provided in section 8 of the Cabinet report.

– report by the Cabinet Member Business Strategy, Performance & Health Reform and theCorporate Director Business Strategy and Support)

(Mr R Fitzgerald, Performance Manager was present for this item)

(1)       The KCC Quarterly Performance Report for Quarter 3, 2011/12 contained 30 Key Performance Indicators together with a range of other key management information including complaints, consultations, a financial summary and staffing data.  The process contributes to the management of the overall performance of the authority and the reports are published on the external web site as part of KCC’s transparency agenda.

(2)       Mrs Whittle spoke of the continued good progress in reducing the number of children required protection plans.  Looking forward she said one area of focus would be to improve adoption rates.  Mr Sweetland spoke of the number of apprentices which had been taken on since the Council had changed its highways contract.  He also said the number of highway related complaints has reduced over the past 12 months by 57%.  Mr Gough spoke about the importance of the information being used to show not only improvements in meeting targets but also quality of outcomes.  This was echoed by other members who also spoke of the improved layout of the report and also the presentation of the information it contained.

(3)       Following further discussion Cabinet Resolved that the report be noted.

– report by the Cabinet Member for Adults Social Care and Public Health and the Kent Director of Public Health)

(Ms D Smith, Policy Manager, Kent Public Health Department was present for this item)

(1)       Mr Gibbens said the successful implementation of the Health Inequalities Action Plan was something for which all Directorates had a responsibility.  The Action Plan would be the subject of a report to Locality Boards and Commissioning Bodies and would also be reported to the full Council at its meeting on 29 March 2012.  Deborah Smith said the Kent District and Borough Council’s were keen to use the Action Plan as a basis for developing their own objectives which met their local needs.  Mr Carter said the distribution of public health money was not equitable and needed looking at and redressing. 

(2)       Cabinet Resolved to note and support the report and Action Plan which would now also be reported to the meeting of the County Council on 29 March 2012.

 – report by the Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Waste and the Corporate Director, Enterprise and Environment

(Caroline Arnold, Head of Waste Management was present for this item)

(1)       This report set out the findings of the Review of the Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) in Kent and recommended changes to the way the sites are to be operated and provided.  A full Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) had been conducted prior to the development and delivery of the public consultation, to shape the engagement mechanisms and ensure that particular attention was paid to engagement with minority groups in Kent. The EIA was further reviewed following the consultation to enable KCC to respond to any new issues that arose and to ensure no groups were disadvantaged.

(2)       Mr Sweetland outlined the report and highlighted the main points arising from the public consultation.  He said the purpose of the review was to look at provision and service delivery and to provide better and more efficient services on a Kent wide basis.  This would mean two facilities at Richborough and Hawkinge being recommended for closure in Autumn 2013.  With regard to the Richborough site, a petition had been received against closure with sufficient signatures to prompt a debate at the Council meeting on 29 March 2012.  Other facilities, including the one at Ashford, would be upgraded and capital funding has been allocated fora new facility in Tonbridge and Malling. Overall the net result would be an improved service across the County with the majority of residents being no more than 20 minutes away from a Household Waste Recycling Centre.  

(3)       Mr Sweetland also said that the Council had responded to views expressed during the consultation resulting in a slight relaxation of the rules relating to the use of trailers by householders.  Also a feasibility study will be undertaken on the opportunities at KCC waste sites to promote cost effective waste disposal capacity for businesses.  Coupled to this the County Council would continue its robust approach to prosecuting cases of fly tipping.  Mr Cubitt spoke of the detailed work undertaken by the Informal Members Group. It was necessary for the Council to improve facilities across the County on a cost effective basis in order to bring sites up to standard by 2017.  Even with the proposed closure of Richborough and Hawkinge residents from those areas would still be within a 20 minute drive of an alternative.  He also said he had seen no evidence to support that these proposals would see an increase in fly-tipping.

(4)       At the conclusion of the discussion Mr Sweetland said that in view of the fact that the petition in respect of the proposed closure of Richborough would be debated at the March Council meeting and decision on that site should be deferred till after that meeting. 

(5)       He therefore proposed and it was agreed that Cabinet should resolve as follows:

(i)         That all the recommendations set out on pages 329 to 331 of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

– report by the Cabinet Member for Education Learning and Skills and the Corporate Director, Education Learning and Skills)

See Record of Decision on page 1 of the Minute pack.

– report by the Cabinet Member for Education Learning and Skills and the Corporate Director, Education Learning and Skills)

See Record of Decision on page 3 of the Minute pack.

(1)       Mrs Whittle said she believed these meetings where providing the right forum within which to hold these important discussions. 

(2)       Resolved that the Minutes of the meeting of the Children’s Services Improvement Panel held on 7 December 2011 be noted.

 – report by the Deputy Leader and the Head of Democratic Services)

Resolved that the comments and actions detailed in the report be noted.