Minutes:
1) The Leader referred to Government’s decision not to include Kent and Medway in the Devolution Priority Programme and commented generally on the position and how this linked to the Council's finances. The level of overspend for the Council would reduce for this financial year, but would still be in the range of around £20million. Some areas which saw huge pressures a year or two ago such as SEND Transport and Children's Services, were now seeing significant progress, however there was a significant overspend in adult social care due to the challenges in delivering the savings programme. He commented that financial pressures over the coming years should govern the Council’s approach to local government reorganisation and it’s responsibility in setting up financially sustainable councils. He stressed the importance of not losing sight of devolution, and said that without this the Council would find it harder to do what it wanted for example in relation to economic development and transport.
2) Mr Gough was pleased to confirm that one of the Council’s officers would be giving evidence to the Transport Select Committee on the impact of street works following on from a strong submission the Council made to the Committee's inquiry in January. He said it was important to remember that, like other local authorities, the Council did not have the power to prevent utility companies from carrying out planned or emergency works and the Council’s limited powers included minimising disruption where possible.
3) The Leader recalled the funding that was allocated to the pothole blitz in 2024 which had now been increased by almost 70% but was only a small portion of what was spent on maintaining roads, pavements, streetlights, drains and other highways assets. The total overall maintenance spend for 2025-26 would be in excess of £80million and the Council continued to press Government for funding and its better allocation.
4) Regarding secondary school offers, more than 96% of children were recently offered their preferred schools and over 80% got their first preference. Both of those figures were up on the previous year and Mr Gough recognised that many Members would be supporting residents locally where there was the need for an appeal. Referring to the Isle of Sheppey, Mr Gough commended officers and the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills for the work they had undertaken in relation to extra secondary school places.
5) Mr Gough spoke about the Household Support Fund and the Just Missing Out Scheme and said wider work continued, for example the Council’s Money Advice Hubs which supported people to access independent financial advice through the Citizens Advice Bureau. Work was also underway to ensure the most effective deployment of the coming year's allocation of the Household Support Fund.
6) The Making Space for Nature consultation had received a strong level of responses and the final strategy would be published in the summer.
7) Finally, the Leader paid tribute to all the Members that would be standing down ahead of the Council elections on 1 May.
8) The Leader of the Labour Group, Mr Brady, thanked officers for their hard work in difficult circumstances over the last four years. He commented on the Administration’s four year term which he said had seen a declining road network and a decline in KCC assets. He commented on the reduction of community wardens, cuts to mental health services, children's and youth centre closures, and the removal of the youth service, and said cuts had been made in isolation without alternative provision. He commented that contracts which had been awarded to private sector companies could have been awarded to local businesses to benefit communities and invest in Kent. Mr Brady questioned what invest to save programs had been implemented in the last four years and what had been implemented from Framing Kent's Future. He said for the last 14 years the Conservative Government's austerity policies had impacted the Council negatively and had resulted in the Council’s current financial position.
9) Referring to devolution Mr Brady stressed the importance of positively embracing the new situation and looking for opportunities to learn from neighbouring councils to get local government reorganisation right.
10) Turning to highways, Mr Brady welcomed the work to tackle the issues caused by utility road closures. He also welcomed the pothole blitz but questioned when it would happen.
11) Finally, Mr Brady thanked the Members of the Labour Group for their hard work over the last four years and commented on the upcoming election.
12) Mr Lehmann, Leader of the Green and Independents Group, spoke about Government's evolving plans around devolution and local government reorganisation. He commented on the past four years and said progress locally, nationally and internationally had been made in some areas but not all.
13) Mr Lehmann referred to average global temperature and atmospheric carbon levels and explained that both 2023 and 2024 far exceeded 2016 as the hottest on record and the average temperatures for 2024 were around 1.6 degrees above pre-industrial levels. Global atmospheric carbon levels had continued to increase which was likely to continue unless the emergency was treated with the level of urgency it deserved.
14) Mr Lehmann commented that attempts to combat climate change internationally could be affected by events in the United States and referred to the Nolan principles of honesty, openness and transparency. He said he would like to see a move towards a more collegiate council where all Members worked together for the good of its residents to ensure that decisions were as robust as they could be. Mr Lehmann felt on the whole that Members had worked well together over the past four years and he thanked Mr Gough for his style of leadership.
15) Mr Lehmann shared Mr Gough’s concerns regarding the current financial position of the Council, however, he disagreed with the optimism that devolution in local government reorganisation was the answer. He expressed disappointment that instead of addressing the crisis of local government funding, the Council was looking to undertake disruptive and time-consuming reorganisation. He said a wealth tax on those with assets greater than £10million could help to plug funding gaps.
16) Finally, Mr Lehmann expressed his good wishes to Members standing in the elections and echoed Mr Brady's gratitude to the Council’s hard-working officers. He thanked all the Members standing down for their service.
17) The Leader of the Liberal Democrats Group, Mr Hook, recognised the Council’s ongoing support for Ukraine and wished all Members of the Council well ahead of the upcoming election.
18) Mr Hook commented that street works caused a lot of disruption and frustration for Kent residents and said a review was needed, especially for a county like Kent that didn’t have the same powers as some other local authorities.
19) Mr Hook suggested that it might be timely for a review of the Kent Test system following a number of complaints he had received. Regarding secondary school places, he referred to the issues on the Isle of Sheppey where some children had been given a place at a school 30 miles away from their home and said it was irrational that people living on an island should have to travel so far into the mainland for school.
20) Regarding the Household Support Fund, Mr Hook referred to the recent Scrutiny Committee where he questioned why people were treated differently according to age but not according to housing costs.
21) Mr Hook welcomed the Nature Recovery Plan and stressed the importance of biodiversity for general health and well-being. He commented that: peat lands in Kent should be restored; more trees should be planted to capture carbon; urban green spaces should be built up; coastal habitats like the salt marshes should be defended; and trees around agricultural areas should be planted to improve crop yields and biodiversity.
22) Mr Gough responded to some of the points made by the Group Leaders. He agreed with Mr Hook that a worthwhile conversation about the Household Support Fund had taken place at Scrutiny Committee. He felt all the Group Leaders recognised the limits on the Council’s current powers and the need for change in certain areas, and acknowledged the agreement of Members on a number of points including support for Ukraine.
23) In response to Mr Brady’s points the Leader emphasised that that Council had managed to stay afloat unlike many other councils across the country. He said the Council had been confronting a set of systemic pressures that were affecting the whole of the local government sector and failure to recognise that or build plans to address it would mean that the Council would not survive. Regarding Framing Kent's Future Mr Gough spoke about new models of care and support that had been rolled out across areas of biggest spending pressure including children's services. Regarding asylum, the Leader pointed out that the Council had managed an extraordinary crisis which included the willingness to take the Government to the High Court to minimise the pressure on Kent's services.
24) Mr Gough commented that significant steps had been made to reduce carbon emissions from the Council’s estate and referred to innovative programs such as Plan Bee, Plan Tree, and Making Space for Nature.
25) He said the Council was working carefully on local government reorganisation and referred to the close working relationships between the 14 local authorities within Kent. The Council continued to ask the Minister for a clear timetable for devolution to go alongside local government reorganisation.
26) Finally, the Leader wished those standing in the elections good luck, and reiterated his thanks to Members, across all parties, for their service.
27) RESOLVED that the Leader’s report be noted.