Minutes:
1. Mrs Bell, Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services, provided an update on the following:
(a) Regarding registration services there was an increased demand for death registration appointments and appointment availability was being kept under review.
(b) Mrs Bell had undertaken visits to libraries including the Digital Heritage and Access Centre in Folkestone, Quarry Wood where the behind the scenes work that supported the library service took place, and the Kent History and Library Centre in Maidstone. Whilst temporary provision was in place for Folkestone Library, focus remained on looking at options for the long term and engagement with stakeholders including Folkestone & Hythe District Council. Options would be looked at carefully from a financial and property perspective.
(c) The temporary library in the Dover Gateway was now open whilst major works took place at the Dover Discovery Centre.
(d) The winter mini reading challenge ran until 19 February 2024. Libraries were promoting the challenge and encouraging children to read over the winter break.
(e) The coroners’ courts had moved from Sessions House to Oakwood House in December 2023 and the new facilities had been well received.
(f) Mrs Bell attended the Yasmin Vardimon Dance Company’s 25th anniversary gala in December at their premises in Ashford. This was a project which KCC had given significant support.
(g) In December, the Council hosted the John Downtown awards for young artists from local schools and Mrs Bell said the quality of work entered was outstanding.
(h) The Kent Film Office was established some years ago as an economic development initiative by the Council. Production companies could apply for filming permits and receive help sourcing and managing filming locations. The filming activity generated on average more than £5million direct spend into the Kent and Medway economy every year.
2. Mr Murphy, Cabinet Member for Economic Development, provided an update on the following:
(a) Manston Business Park, and East Kent Opportunities Scheme, was now entering its final year and a new development would be announced shortly on remaining sites and would be accompanied by a large tree planting programme. The Manston Business Park provided the Council and Thanet District Council approximately £300,000 income per annum.
(b) The Council was working with a developer in Thanet regarding a waste hydrogen site in the Thanet area.
(c) Mr Thomas, Deputy Cabinet Member for Economic Development, was the Chair of a regular meeting with Folkestone & Hythe District Council concerning the future of Dungeness Power Station. It was hoped this would be a possible site for future nuclear production of small to medium reactors and assurance had been received from government that all existing sites would be utilised.
(d) On 11 March 2024 there was a district visit to Maidstone Borough Council and Mr Murphy hoped these visits would continue.
3. Mr Jones, Corporate Director Growth, Environment and Transport, had provided a written update on operational matters to Members prior to the meeting which included the following:
(a) The Kent and Medway Business fund had relaunched in November 2023 and over 100 applications had been received.
(b) Work on a transition plan following the closure of the Southeast Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) was taking place to ensure that the voice of business continued to influence the strategic economic growth agenda. The Kent & Medway Economic Partnership would oversee the implementation of the new Kent & Medway Economic Framework.
(c) The SELEP Accountability board last week approved two new Kent projects which would receive a share of a final tranche of Getting Building Fund.
(d) Pfizer announced in November that it would be making up to 500 redundancies at its Sandwich site as part of a review of its global operations and KCC had been working closely with a number of local partners and government departments to consider actions that would reduce the impact for the local workforce and the Discovery Park site.
(e) Kent Scientific Services saw a record-breaking number of samples being tested in the last three months of 2023. Cigarettes are required, when not being actively smoked, to go out and the KSS team had developed a new test to help enforcement authorities to establish whether cigarettes met this requirement.
(f) Trading Standards and Kent Scientific Services continued to carry out work in relation to illegal vapes and Trading Standards had secured a grant from National Trading Standards to support this work over the next 15 months. In December, Trading Standards, along with brand representatives and Kent
Police, seized a substantial quantity of counterfeit products and tobacco from retailers in North Kent.
(g) Active Kent and Medway was running “Jump into January” challenge, to encourage the tracking and logging of activity throughout the month by those that engaged with Everyday Active and beyond. The Council’s Active Kent and Medway grants programme – which provided up to £1000 of support to organisations and clubs delivering sport and physical activity to encourage more people, more active, more often, would also run this year. Information on the criteria and application process can be found on the Active Kent and Medway website. www.activekent.org.
4. A Member asked whether progress was being made regarding Broadband in hard-to-reach areas. Mr Murphy said BDUK were in the process of finalising contracts with providers and further information would become available in due course.
5. A Member asked about the increase in registration appointments over the winter period in relation to resource and Mr Pearson confirmed that appointments had been maximised under existing staffing and costing arrangements. Birth and death registrations were prioritised, and this was kept under review on a weekly basis so that areas with the most demand were targeted.
6. Asked about the re-opening of the Grace Hill library in Folkestone, Mrs Bell said the cost of work needed to re-open Grace Hill Library was currently beyond the Council’s financial capability. Mrs Bell said the temporary facilities would remain open for as long as was required and until a long-term solution was in place, and the Council was working hard with partners to explore potential opportunities.
RESOLVED to note the verbal updates.