Council - Wednesday 28 January 2026, 7:00pm - Folkestone & Hythe webcasting

Council
Wednesday, 28th January 2026 at 7:00pm

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Microphone Forty
Cllr Anita Jones
Dr Susan Priest
Cllr Anita Jones

1 Apologies for Absence

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2 Declarations of Interest

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Declarations of Interest

3 Minutes

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Cllr Anita Jones

4 Chair's Communications

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5 Petitions

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6 Questions from the Public

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7 Questions from Councillors

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Cllr Questions

Councillor Tony Hills
Cllr Jim Martin
Cllr Anita Jones
Councillor Tony Hills
Cllr Jim Martin
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Belinda Walker
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Polly Blakemore
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Belinda Walker
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Polly Blakemore
Cllr Anita Jones
Councillor Tony Hills
Cllr Jim Martin
Cllr Anita Jones
Councillor Tony Hills
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Tony Cooper
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Mike Blakemore
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Tony Cooper
Cllr Mike Blakemore
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Liz McShane
Cllr Mike Blakemore
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Liz McShane
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Jackie Meade
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Jeremy Speakman
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Jackie Meade
Cllr Jeremy Speakman
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Nicola Keen
Cllr Jim Martin
Cllr Nicola Keen
Cllr Jim Martin
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Nicola Keen
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Nicola Keen
Cllr Anita Jones

8 Announcements of the Leader of the Council

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Cllr Jim Martin
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Adrian Lockwood
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee
Cllr Jim Martin
Cllr Anita Jones

9 Portfolio Holder reports to Council

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Cllr Alan Martin
Cllr Anita Jones

10 Opposition Business

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11 Motions on Notice

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12 Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2026/27

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Cllr Tim Prater
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr David Godfrey
Cllr Bridget Chapman
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Connor McConville
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Adrian Lockwood
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Tony Cooper
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Gary Fuller
Cllr James Butcher
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee
Cllr Jackie Meade
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Mike Blakemore
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr David Wimble
Cllr Anita Jones
Councillor Tony Hills
Cllr Stephen Scoffham
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Nicola Keen
Cllr Paul Thomas
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Laura Davison
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Belinda Walker
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Adrian Lockwood
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Tim Prater
Cllr Anita Jones
Ms Jemma West
Cllr Anita Jones

13 Refresh of the Council's Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults Safeguarding Policy 2025-2030

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Cllr Mike Blakemore
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr John Wing
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee
Cllr Jackie Meade
Cllr Stephen Scoffham
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee
Councillor Tony Hills
Cllr Paul Thomas
Cllr Laura Davison
Cllr Gary Fuller
Cllr Jeremy Speakman
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Mike Blakemore
Cllr Anita Jones

14 Report to Council on a decision made in accordance with the constitution's call-in and urgency rule

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Call-in report

Cllr Connor McConville
Cllr Anita Jones
Cllr Tim Prater
Cllr Anita Jones
Councillor Tony Hills
Cllr Anita Jones
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Microphone Forty - 0:00:00

District. We ask that you would bless the discussions here, that they would be guided

by your spirit of cooperation and the needs of the whole District and its people. Amen.

Among those people, we hold before you those soldiers and their support personnel based

at the Shorncliffe Barracks. Keep them safe in their duties as they uphold the values

of our nation and safeguard our freedoms. Keep them well in body, mind and spirit and

protect them from all evil and adversity. Amen.

We pray to you for those who have called the Napier Barracks their home these past years,

and all who have worked to care for them and work with them. May they who have passed through

Napier find caring communities that they can serve and support as they are supported. Amen.

And in these cold winter nights, and during days of rain and frost, we hold before you

all who call the streets of our district home.

May they find shelter, long -term accommodation, respite from the challenges they face and

employment.

Bless to those individuals, initiatives and institutions who support them, and may no

one feel the cold of this night in our district.

Amen.

Thank you.

Thank you. Please take a seat.

Good evening and welcome to the meeting of the full Council.

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:01:36

This meeting will be webcast live to the internet.

For those who do not wish to be recorded or filmed, you will need to leave the chamber.

For members, officers and others speaking at the meeting, it is important that the microphones are used

so viewers on the webcast and others in the room may hear you.

Could anyone with a mobile phone please switch it to silent mode as they can be distracting.

I would like to remind members that although we all have strong opinions on matters under

consideration it is important to treat members, officers and public speakers with respect.

Please feel free to sit or stand when speaking.

Thank you.

So item 1, apologies for absence.

Dr Susan Priest - 0:02:13

Thank you, Chair and good evening.

Good evening councillors, colleagues and members of the public.

We have received four apologies for absence this evening from Councillors Acuffa -Kelly,

Goddard, Holgate and Hsu. Thank you.

1 Apologies for Absence

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:02:29

Thank you. Item 2, declarations of interest. Does anybody have a declaration of interest?

2 Declarations of Interest

No? Okay, that's good. And then moving on to Item 3, to sign the minutes of the meetings

held on the 19th and the 29th of November. Are we all agreed with these minutes? Thank

you.

3 Minutes

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:03:35

So, moving on to item 4, Chairs Communications.

4 Chair's Communications

So, firstly, Happy New Year to everyone.

I hope that you've all had a good start to 2026.

Thank you for anyone who has donated

to the Rainbow Centre Food Bank this evening.

As always, it's very much appreciated.

So before Christmas, I attended a number

of festive events across the district.

The Folkestone Symphony Orchestra gave a wonderful

family concert at Holy Trinity Church to a full audience.

New Romney celebrated with fantastic Lantin Parade

down the high street organised by Light Up New Romney.

The mayor also held a brass band concert in the parish church.

LID hosted the brigade of Gerpers for their Christmas concert and it was lovely to see

that this was supported by a number of councillors.

Hive had a vibrant late night shopping event sadly cut short by some very heavy rainfall.

And also the folks in Nepalese community hosted a really lovely Christmas meal for us at their community centre.

I was pleased to be invited to Sunflower House to see the wonderful work that the Action

on Homelessness charity do in Folkestone.

They feed around 70 people twice a week in Folkestone, and the lady who invited me is

one of the amazing volunteers who, despite being in her early 80s, she finds it very

rewarding cooking for people who are struggling to feed themselves and their families, and

she really enjoys chatting with them.

So if you are able to support this charity with either money, food, or by volunteering,

they will be very grateful for your help.

The new cohort of our district youth forum met in December.

Young people not only asked us great questions,

but they also spent time discussing their priorities

for the district, solar, the coastal park play area,

and the role of social media with local government.

I've shared the priority list with all councillors

so that it can help shape their work in the district council.

And the forum will be meeting again in March.

The new year began with a trip to Margate

for the Blessings of the Seas. This is an event by the Greek Orthodox Church to Mark

Miffeny. This includes a service on the beach where doves are released and a young boy retrieves

a cross from the sea. The event also is a very good chance for Kent mayors and chairs

to network and to continue to build friendships.

Yesterday, I attended the Holocaust Memorial Day event in Folkestone involving students

from local secondary schools. This is always a poignant service and a useful time to reflect

on the importance of peace, inclusion and equality.

In our troubled world, we need to learn from the past

and ensure we protect and celebrate all humanity.

Thank you.

So, item five on our agenda this evening,

5 Petitions

we have no petitions, so we'll move on.

6 Questions from the Public

Item six, again, we don't have any public questions.

7 Questions from Councillors

So, moving on to item seven, Councillor questions.

We have 10 questions,

although Councillor Cooper -Kelly is unfortunately unwell,

so she has asked for written responses to her questions.

So we'll be leaving those ones out this evening.

So question one is from Councillor Hills

to Councillor Jim Martin.

Thank you, Chair.

Councillor Tony Hills - 0:06:48

Since the disappointing decision by the Environment Agency

to classify Dim Church, Bailing Bridge as poor

for the 2026 season with a damaging recommendation not to bathe.

This is having a serious effect on the local community and business and can't be allowed to continue.

What does the council intend to do in bringing about change?

Councillor Martin.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you for your question, Councillor Hills.

For the benefit of other members, I will give some background to the bathing water classification

at Dimchurch this year.

The Environment Agency tests at the six designated bathing waters in the district throughout

the summer season.

Currently, two of the bathing waters are designated as poor, Littlestone and Dimchurch.

This year, the Dim Church results were markedly improved on the previous year.

The Environment Agency, with our backing, undertook a step change appraisal to reassess

the rating.

Unfortunately, after the reassessment by the Environment Agency, the rating did not change.

This is a decision we profoundly disagree with and we believe that they have failed to justify.

We continue to push the Environment Agency to explain their decision and if, in their opinion, more needs to be done to explain what that is and crucially take some action to ensure that the responsible parties take the necessary action to put this right.

Other actions for 2026 will in the main be a continuation of the work already underway.

This will include continuing pressure on the Environment Agency and Southern Water to extend

their out of season testing programme to identify problems in advance of the bathing season.

Just to put this into context, in Dimchurch in 2025, we had five alerts for sewage discharge.

Already in January this year we've had five alerts for discharge at Dimchurch, but we've

also had five alerts for sewage discharge at St Mary's Bay and we've had five alerts

for sewage discharge at Littlestone.

Cllr Jim Martin - 0:09:48

We've had 27 alerts of discharges at Sunny Sands and we have had, believe it or not,

200 notifications of discharges on the Hive long pipe.

Southern Water have more or less, in 2026, been pouring untreated sewage into our seas

continuously since the beginning of the year.

Investigation of the summer spike

that impacted the test results along the coast,

particularly at Littlestone.

This must include the Environment Agency

and Southern Water reviewing their tidal modelling

for overflow discharges from the high range road long pipe.

Continued support from council offices

to the Southern Waters programme of resolving

missed connexions and leaking cesspits.

Continuation of the technical group meetings

between the environment agency Southern Water

and our environmental protection team.

Continuation of the programme of public meetings

with the environment agency and Southern Water.

and at a strategic level, continuing lobbying

by this council for greater investment by Southern Water

into our local water infrastructure.

I hope this goes in part to answer your question,

Councillor Hills, thank you.

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:11:20

Thank you, and do you have a related supplementary question?

I do, Chair.

Councillor Tony Hills - 0:11:23

I thank the leader for that response,

that detailed response, which I thought was excellent,

by the way, but my supplemental question would be,

Would the leader agree that all sewage going to sea

should be UV treated, ultraviolet treated before release?

Chair, I am not a marine engineer or a sewage expert,

Cllr Jim Martin - 0:11:50

but it seems to me to be a very, admittedly expensive,

but a very simple step that could reduce

the problem significantly.

Thank you.

Thank you. So question two from Councillor Walker to Councillor Polly Blakemore.

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:12:05

Cllr Belinda Walker - 0:12:08

Thank you, Chair. And on to the serious subject of parking, didn't I be saying that about

parking? Anyway, parking has long been a problem in Folkestone and recently resident -led requests

for controlled parking zones or CPZs have increased as many find themselves unable to

park near their homes. However, this has led to an adverse effect on nearby streets outside

the CPZ you see an increase in parking and for those working in or visiting

nearby businesses or working in residents homes. A more holistic rather

than piecemeal approach would be most welcome as currently the problems are

being moved around rather than solved. What will the council's planned review

do to balance the needs of residents needing convenient parking and visitors

and workers wishing to go about their daily lives? Thank you.

Councillor Polly Blakemore.

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:12:54

Cllr Polly Blakemore - 0:12:58

The revised framework recommends that we no longer progress control parking zone applications

for individual roads, so instead propose to ensure we encompass clearly defined blocks

of streets or clusters of roads. We believe this approach will more effectively address

displacement issues and help balance the competing demand for parking space across the district.

The key to the review also is the proposal to make a limited number of business permits

available for staff working in health and social care,

education and the American conservative.

There are also other more minor changes to the policy

which I'm going to consider in the next 10 years.

And do you have a related supplementary question?

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:14:06

Yes, just one briefly.

Cllr Belinda Walker - 0:14:10

First, I want to express my admiration for Fred

and the enforcement team who do a very hard job.

But there aren't enough of them.

There's a lot of selfish parking around the area

which makes things difficult for everybody else.

And Fred and his team can't keep up.

Will the review look at expanding the enforcement team?

Will the hours available to them?

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:14:32

Cllr Polly Blakemore - 0:14:34

Yeah, this is something that came up also last night

over the interview,

something that Fred is looking at,

particularly over the summer months

to have more anti -virus enforcement as well.

But I'll mention it, it's come up again

Thank you.

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:14:53

Question three from Councillor Hills to Councillor Martin.

Thank you, Chair.

Councillor Tony Hills - 0:15:00

Following storm Doretti and severe damage caused by our sea defence infrastructure,

particularly at big ranges, with the worst flooding in 50 years, would it not be wise

to set up a cross -party working group to work through our concerns with the environment

agency and we brought findings back to this council.

Councillor Martin.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councillor Hills, for your question.

Cllr Jim Martin - 0:15:27

Storm Goretti did indeed cause significant damage to our coastline to which we received

no prior warning.

I am delighted by the response of our officers who mobilised quickly to survey the damage

and put clear plans in place to clear shingle from roads

and promenades and organise repairs

to other coastal defence structures.

I agree with all of your concerns

regarding flood protection on the marsh

and I am aware that the Environment Agency officers

are surveying the beaches to ascertain

what replenishment works are required.

to repair the defences.

My view is that we should allow the Environment Agency Officers to carry out this work and

inform us what plans they are going to put in place to mitigate future risk prior to

establishing if there is a need for a working group.

Now I will just say here that the photographs and the survey that you have done, Councillor

Hills have been well received by the Environment Agency and your information and data has been

used. So we are very much in that feedback loop. I will ensure that our officers keep

in close contact with the Environment Agency and that mitigation plans are realised and

related to you when they are available.

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:17:05

Do you have a related supplementary question?

Councillor Tony Hills - 0:17:08

At the same time, I won't, but I look forward to the results of the inquiry.

Thank you.

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:17:17

As I said at the start, we won't be having question 4 or question 5, so we are going

to move on to question 6 from Councillor Tony Cooper to Councillor Mike Blakemore.

Thank you, Chair.

Cllr Tony Cooper - 0:17:31

My question is this, when can the residents of Romney Marsh expect to have a swimming

pool built in a marsh for them?

Thank you.

Councillor Mike Rickmore.

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:17:39

Thank you for your question, Councillor Cooper.

Cllr Mike Blakemore - 0:17:42

As you will be aware, officers presented the high level leisure investment strategy to

overview and scrutiny committee last night.

This sets out Council's approach to the shortage of swimming pool vision within the District,

following the consultancy work, looking at current capacity and reflecting changes to

planned developments in the district,

specifically revised timelines for Otterpool Park,

along with there being new owners of Folkestone Sports Centre.

The first stage of work was also commissioned

to assist in making a decision

regarding the land at Martello Lakes.

The external advice recommends that the Council provides

financial support to the Sports Trust

to reopen Folkestone Sports Centre

and provides capital funding for extensive improvement works

to extend the life of Hythpool.

Further to this, the early strategy work suggests that when deciding on any leisure centre development

investment in the near future between Otterpool and Hive, the focus should be at Otterpool

Park as in due course it will have the biggest catchment area and this is a requirement of

the Planning Commission.

The Council has limited funds available and these need to be targeted where they will

benefit the greatest number of residents.

Do you have a related supplementary question?

Thank you.

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:18:53

Thank you, Mr Dallin, to the Council of Lakemore.

Cllr Tony Cooper - 0:18:55

It's disappointing.

And can we have a review in due course, please?

Cllr Mike Blakemore - 0:19:04

I know that our residents on the marsh will be disappointed

and their views were represented, articulated very well by members

over you and scrutiny last night.

But I think the reality is the money we're spending at the moment

is on renovating two poles rather than building a new pole.

That's the situation and those are the resources we have.

Also, to open a new pool, that pool would need to be viable.

It's notable in the Sports Trust report that they quote Swing England as saying 500 pools

have closed since 2010, 42 % of them since 2020, so there would be a concern in building

a new pool with whether that pool would be viable in the long term.

Thank you.

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:19:43

So moving on to question 7 from Councillor Liz McShane to Councillor Mike Blakemore.

Thank you.

Cllr Liz McShane - 0:19:53

In light of Folkestone Town Council's unanimous vote to pursue the purchase of Gray's Hill

Library a week ago today, in fact, does this council agree that the building's retention

and public use is of significant importance to folk's and heritage and community life,

and will it support efforts to secure a positive long -term outcome following Kent County Council's

decision to sell Gray's Hill?

Councillor Blaise.

Cllr Mike Blakemore - 0:20:15

Thank you for your question, Councillor McShane.

I'm personally delighted that folks in town council have voted unanimously to pursue the

purchase of Grace Hill Library from KCC.

This council does indeed agree that the building's retention and public use is of significant

importance to folks in heritage and community life, and we will of course support the efforts

of the town council to secure a positive long -term outcome for the library where it is able to

do so within existing budget constraints.

Do you have a related supplementary question?

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:20:43

Cllr Liz McShane - 0:20:44

I do, and thank you for that answer.

Do you agree that Greyser Library was gifted to the people of Folkestone and so KCC should

gift it back to us through Folkestone Foreign Council and that it does not have the right

to sell it off?

Yes.

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:21:03

Wonderful. Okay. Moving on to question eight from Councillor Mead to Councillor Spiekman.

Thank you, Chair.

Cllr Jackie Meade - 0:21:11

Residents in my ward have recently received letters addressed from FHDC regarding rubbish

bins being stored on the pavements outside of various properties, stating if they do

not move them onto their property's boundary, they will be removed by Veolia, and that will

mean that that particular property will be deemed as not needing rubbish removal going

forward.

Many houses in my ward are terraced with little or no front garden or access to the back of the property to store their bins.

Residents are unable to store their large green Veolia bins on pathways to the houses as they would block access to their property.

Can you please advise what residents are supposed to do to comply and not have their service withdrawn even though they pay for this service,

as bringing bins into a house is impossible for some physically by many residents,

and since the bin collectors have been elongated from one to two weeks,

this would pose a health hazard for the residents.

Thank you.

Councillor Speightman.

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:22:16

Cllr Jeremy Speakman - 0:22:18

Good evening, Councillor Needham. Thank you for your question.

I was a little puzzled by this because certainly I might say the waste team do write to properties

where bins are left out after collection day,

but they do attempt to consider if the household has storage space

or if this is completely unavoidable, often for the reasons that you stated.

I think it would be helpful perhaps as a way forward

if you just email me the addresses of the properties that are concerned

and we will get in touch and see what's apparently going awry.

But we would never knowingly refuse to offer anybody a service.

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:23:01

Could I ask the member of the public to put his phone away now, please? Thank you. That's

not appropriate, sorry. Thank you.

Councillor Mead, have you got a supplementary related question?

Cllr Jackie Meade - 0:23:14

Yes, thank you. Well, I can assure you that they are threatening to withdraw the service

because this is the second time I myself have actually received one of these letters, so

I'd be very happy to actually send you a copy of the letter

and I'll actually send you a photo of my front door

where you can see quite clearly

I have nowhere to store a Veolia bin.

So I will look forward to your reply when you see it.

Thank you.

Cllr Jeremy Speakman - 0:23:42

I mean, if I can just add to that,

I mean, we are very aware obviously

there are lots of properties

where it is just impossible for residents.

I'm fully aware of that.

You know, it's very obvious,

particularly on terraced properties,

there is nowhere to store the bins.

The only occasions that we are aware where we have approached residents

is where we feel there is space

and the resident is persistently leaving the bins outside

and we've had complaints to that effect.

Obviously, this needs to be investigated further.

We certainly, in what we think are fairly rare instances,

We would not leave the resident without any bin collection facility.

If the bin isn't able to be put there, then we would provide a purple bag.

I take your point, we need to look into that.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:24:38

Moving on to question 9 from Councillor Keane to Councillor Martin.

Thank you.

Councillor Martin.

Cllr Nicola Keen - 0:24:45

I was interested to see that we're going to spend £6 million on the refurbishment of

the Hyatt Swimming Pool, a pool that has cost the district copious amounts of money over

the years for repairs. However, when the Folkestone Pool went into administration and was subsequently

sold to Folkestone Sports Trust, we as a council stated that we could not afford to purchase

the pool and refused to bail the facility out. Can we please have an explanation as

to where six million pounds was found

for the upgrade to Heithpool,

and why we could not find one million, 484 pounds

to purchase our much loved and needed

Folkston Sports Centre in May 2025.

Especially now we are being asked for a 2 .4 million grant

from Folkston Sports Trust to carry out work

needed to reopen the facility,

which at the time of closure was not needed

because dedicated staff kept the pool and building serviced and the pool maintained.

Councillor Martin. Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Councillor

Keane. This question in a lot of people's minds. Can I just put a little note in as

you know at the start here. In the folks in our district council didn't put the folks

and Sports Trust into administration.

It was the two banks that they had borrowed

all the money from that put them into administration,

but into administration they went.

Cllr Jim Martin - 0:26:24

So I would, I'll just unpack some of the stuff

in your question first.

I would start with the general point

that Hythpool is owned and operated by this council.

The Folkestone Sports Centre was owned and operated

by an external charitable trust.

So we own Hydepool, we've never owned

the Folkestone Sports Centre.

The approach taken by the council to each facility

would always be very different because of this ownership.

It was never a choice between repairing Hydepool

or purchasing Fochston Sports Centre.

The district needs both facilities to satisfy demand

and if the council had not spent,

open inverted commas, copious,

close inverted commas, to use your words,

amounts of money on maintaining Hyde Pool,

the district would currently have no public swimming baths.

I would also remind members that at the time

of the former trust going into administration,

the council was supporting Folkestone Sports Centre

through an annual grant of 150 ,000 pounds per annum,

as well as other individual grants.

This was a longstanding arrangement

that had extended over many years,

possibly even several decades.

The Council supported the former trust until the end,

and as it entered administration,

but there was always limits on what the Council

could fund both financially and legally,

bracket, under the subsidy control regulations,

close bracket, to an external operator.

At the end, any additional funding provided by the Council

would have not gone into the operation of the facility,

but it would have been prioritised to paying the banks

and the other debtors of the former trust.

After the trust went into administration,

there was no real option for the council purchasing

and operating the Leisure Centre itself.

The purchase price was always in addition

to the substantial investment needed into the facility,

which is currently estimated at £4 .5 million.

That's for the pool.

The rest of it is a separate thing.

I agree that the staff were dedicated,

but it is just not the case that these works

were not needed at the time of the closure.

We had regular meetings with the former trust,

at which they advised of their concerns

about the building and the plant.

We had helped them with an external funding bid

to Sports England.

Undoubtedly, the closure of the building

will have contributed, but there was a pre -existing need

for significant investment into the facility.

Finally, the funding of the proposed 2 .5 million

for the grant to reopen the Fochtland Sports Centre

will be a combination of Section 106 funding

and capital funding provided by the Council.

This will be set out in the capital programme

that will be presented to full Council

as a part of the annual budget review next month.

The funding proposal is for a capital grant

in place of an ongoing revenue grant.

I hope that goes some other way to explain the situation.

Do you have a related supplementary question?

Yes, I do.

Cllr Nicola Keen - 0:30:19

Have we got any...

Do we know that once that reopens as a sports centre,

it's going to be a sports centre and not a health club?

Because I think what concerns me is the cost of a health club

next to a sports centre,

schools aren't going to be able to afford to use it

and the general public aren't going to because prices will be high.

So will this still be within the price range

of most of the residents of Folkestone,

or is it going to be out of reach?

Thank you very much for that supplementary question.

Cllr Jim Martin - 0:30:53

The intention of the operators who currently run Three Hills is to run community sports

facilities and operate them as such.

So that's as far as we can go.

There will be certain provisions that we can tie into,

but remember that the former trust promised us the earth,

but they still went into liquidation

and we were left with nothing.

Offering guarantees is something

that you have to take on advice.

Thank you.

And question 10 from Councillor Keene

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:31:40

to Councillor Mike Blakemore.

Cllr Nicola Keen - 0:31:48

I'm sure we are all aware by now

that there has been a 6 % cut from the Age UK budget by KCC,

which besides redundancies of staff

will likely lead to a reduction in services.

As a district council, I'm concerned,

as a district councillor,

I am concerned that reforms decision to cut this money

from this much needed service will leave

our vulnerable elderly residents,

especially those needing dementia care, at risk.

As a district council, are we able to help the service

with funding for resources?

Councillor Bleakmore.

Thank you for the question, Councillor King.

The cuts by KCC are very disappointing

and will no doubt put these vital community services

under further pressure.

However, I have discussed the situation with the two Age UK branches within our district

and I know they're working to minimise the impact upon their clients, especially the

most vulnerable.

In terms of the funding Age UK receives from this council, I'm pleased to confirm that

we will continue to support the Age UK operations in our district via the community hub initiatives

they run.

This amounts to £5 ,000 per centre.

In addition, funding has also been provided by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which is

ending later this year.

To mitigate the impact of this loss in funding, it's proposed in the draught 26 -27 budget to

increase the grant funding for each Age UK centre by a further £8 ,000.

This will make a combined total funding of £26 ,000.

Furthermore, the Romney Marsh Community Hub operates similar services across the Marsh,

and they have also had some of their well -being funding cut by KCC.

They also receive £5 ,000 and will also lose their UKSPF allocation.

The draught budget also increases their allocation by £8 ,000,

making a total combination of £39 ,000 to support these services.

When the details of the new Crisis Resilience Fund are announced by the government,

we'll also consider if further funding is available.

We hope this helps HUK and the Romney Marsh Community Hub

to provide vital services to the people who need it most in our community.

Do you have a supplementary question?

No, I don't.

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:34:04

Cllr Nicola Keen - 0:34:04

Thank you.

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:34:06

We are going to move on to item 8 of our agenda, announcements of the leader of the Council.

Councillor Martin will have 10 minutes.

8 Announcements of the Leader of the Council

Each opposition will get five minutes after that.

Councillor Martin.

Cllr Jim Martin - 0:34:29

Thank you very much, Chair. I've made a slight adjustment because I didn't get an opportunity

to answer Councillor O 'Connor Kelly's question, which was about storm garroty. So I'll do

a little bit on that if you don't mind. So with regard to the storm, I was delighted

that our officers mobilised so quickly

to survey the damage and put plans in place

to clear the shingle from the roads and promenades

and organise repairs to other coastal defence structures.

I'm pleased to say that the sea defences did their job.

While considerable damage was caused,

there was no flooding to any homes

and none about residents or visitors

were harmed or injured.

The sea defences are, in general,

are in very good condition.

The most significant damage was caused

to the concrete breakwater at Mermaid Beach in Folkestone.

It should be noted though,

that the concrete breakwater itself

sits on a large rock revetment,

which is in the main part the sea defence structure.

The rock revetment itself was not damaged

and still provides the protection that it was designed for.

The placed concrete sections themselves

are actually in quite good condition

and the officers are working with the Environment Agency

to see if they can be lifted back into position

and rejoin the rock revetment from Benin.

Other damage to seawalls included

the concrete coping stones which will be replaced

in due course and will not weaken the structure

or pose any harm.

The beaches have now been surveyed

to identify vulnerable areas

and the beach regrading of shingle

is taking place where necessary

to renew our storm protection standard.

The next major planned replenishment of the beach

will commence on the 9th of March.

So for the two leaders, I've just added that bit.

But this is okay.

Thank you very much, Chair.

So a quick word about local government reorganisation.

I know you're all dying to know more.

So just to confirm that this council voted

to support option 3A, which groups us in a unitary

with our neighbours, Ashford, Canterbury and Dover,

together with Fannet.

I can confirm that the business case documents supporting option 3A was completed, submitted

and accepted by the Minister.

So thanks again to everyone who helped.

Otterpool Park is at a critical stage.

The meetings, discussions and communications with Homes England are intense and much is

being discussed.

I'm sure the Council will understand when I say there are a number of those discussions

that Homes England do not want me to repeat in public.

I can confirm that Homes England are resourcing

the project intensely at a very high level.

I realise members will be frustrated by my guarded comments

and I fully understand.

I will shortly hold an Otterpool update

when I will be able to explain more to members

without being tied by confidentiality.

I can't give you a date yet, but I will.

The Road of Remembrance.

I was delighted to hear that KCC intend to finally

commence the repair works to the Road of Remembrance

and the cliff above it.

The road has been closed for two years

and out of frustration on behalf of this council,

I offered to make a financial contribution

to the works. I waited some time for even an acknowledgement of my offer but then something

suddenly happened. KCC sprung into life and were very suddenly interested to discuss our

contribution. Just to make it clear, we have no responsibility or obligation with regard

to the works. We are simply trying to get KCC to do this work and to reopen this key

road in our highways network.

Southern Walter, my discussions with Southern Walter

continue, we have taken over the chair

of the stakeholders group from Southern Walter.

We have had reason to write yet again

regarding the overwhelming amount of untreated sewage

Southern Walter had discharged into our seas

so far this winter.

Ours and many other complaints about sewage in the sea have been rather overshadowed recently

by the collective failure of the local water companies to keep the water supply flowing

to people's taps.

We have not been badly affected by the water outages, as they're called, but many other

councils in Kent were badly affected.

At the last leaders meeting, an invitation to explain themselves was given to all of

the water companies and they all sent junior managers to face the wrath of the council

leaders rather than managing directors or chief executive officers.

Moving on to FOLKA, I'm delighted to say I can give an optimistic report on FOLKA.

Officers have been working hard behind the scenes and I can now confirm that the NHS

integrated care building Kent have confirmed their support to have a

Medical Centre in FOLKA 2. This will replace the existing outdated Manor Road

and Guildhall surgeries. The detailed business case still needs to be

submitted for formal NHS approval but this is a fantastic step forward. Works

to the exterior of the building and the separation from FOLKA 1 will commence

in February. With regard to FOLK 1, officers have secured a buyer who intends

to restore the building to its former glory. I'm sure you will also agree that

this is fantastic news. Officers have commenced the legal work for the sale

and there will be further announcements in due course. The more detailed business

case for FOLK 2 was considered an overview and scrutiny committee last

and will be considered by cabinet next month.

In my role as Armed Forces Champion,

I attended the Armed Forces County Forum,

which is held annually in Ashford.

I also attended the annual Armed Forces Awareness Forum,

which is held annually in Maightstone.

I've been helping the Nepalese Centre

renegotiate their rent increase from KCC

to ensure continued support for our armed forces veterans

in our community.

We are hosting our own armed forces event,

which is called Supporting Our Armed Forces Community,

and celebrating the Nepalese Community Centre in Folkestone,

which is on the 5th of March, and from 10 .30 to 2 .00.

The purpose is to bring together all of the armed forces groups, veteran groups and charities

to highlight what we are doing in supporting our armed forces and veteran communities in

Fokston.

All good stuff, I'm sure you will agree, me doing my job as the armed forces champion.

But while I was writing up my notes, the President of the United States made his insulting and

frankly appalling comments about British forces and their role in the Afghanistan war.

I would say to Donald Trump and his British syncopaths that we are still supporting our

service people who suffered life -changing injuries in Afghanistan every single day in

the Nepalese Centre in Chariton. I have been invited to an armed forces event by our neighbours

in Dover at which the legendary Gurkha Kalkul, Hari Buhar Magar MBE, is the key speaker.

I have been fortunate enough to meet Hari on a couple of occasions. He joined the British

Army aged 19 and knows folks and them very well. He is a frequent visitor to the Nepalese

centre. Hari lost both of his legs in a roadside bomb incident while on patrol in Helmand province,

Afghanistan. He then became the first above -the -knee double amputee to climb Mount Everest. A veteran

with a remarkable determination and dedication of service. Contrast this with Donald Trump's

five draught deployments in response to the American Army's draught for service in the Vietnam

War because he was busy studying and suffering from bone spurs.

Members will, I hope, forgive my anger. As many of you know, my son is a serving officer

in His Majesty's Navy and I personally know some of his friends who served with honour

in Afghanistan.

Any attack on them is an attack on me.

In other matters, I've attended Kent leadership meetings,

East Kent leadership meetings.

I've attended meetings with developers

and business leaders across the district.

This council is a friend of good business.

I met with KCC on a variety of matters,

and I've met on several occasions with both of our MPs.

I also attended the 30th anniversary of the opening of Ashford International Station.

Thank you very much, Chair.

Thank you.

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:45:14

Thank you very much.

So we're going to have Councillor Lockwood first for your position response.

Cllr Adrian Lockwood - 0:45:24

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Councillor Martin, for all those updates and all the

you've done in combination with portfolio holders and officers and so on.

Road of Remembrance, Folkstone Sports Centre, Grace Hill Library and Debenhams.

The people of Folkstone have got very used to things closing so it's good to

here light at the end of the tunnel

for all of these buildings in Folkestone,

and let's hope that we can start

enjoying things opening again,

starting with the sports centre hopefully in the summer.

I would like to echo your sentiment

on the words from the American president.

and I think that was disgraceful.

We need our armed forces, particularly at the moment.

We don't know what for yet,

but they're doing a job as we speak,

keeping us safe from various dangers that we face.

And we have armed forces here in Folkestone,

and we're very proud of our local forces

and thank you for working with them as we all do.

I'd like to also take this opportunity to thank

the teams here that cleared up after the storm of Goretti.

Any sign of Beach Hut 113?

Or, you turned up in Sangat on the beach maybe,

I don't know.

And I believe credit should also go to people like our beach management contractors and

other local contractors who stepped in and the county council who helped with highways.

And I don't know if that was a glimpse of districts and county providing a joint service,

a glimpse of what might be coming in the future.

Thank you for confirming that we voted for model 3A,

for LGA, but I would just remind members

that other models are available.

Can I just say how appalled I am

at the statistics you've given about discharges

from sewage pipes.

I think we should try and maximise our opportunity as chair of that group to exert any influence

we have.

I know it's very limited, but anything our group can do to support you with our MP, and

I know there are other councillors in the room with strong voices like Councillor Chapman.

and all our voices need to be combined

to try and at least make people aware

that that's happening as a starter,

and then to see if we can do something about it,

because that is shocking.

And anything we can do with respect to swimming facilities

in Romany Marsh would be good,

because as Councillor Hill's pointed out last night,

overview in Street, neither people of Marsh

can't even swim in the sea. So we've got to give them some options to think about.

But thank you.

Thank you and then Councillor Mrs Jenny Hollingsby.

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:49:10

Thank you, Chair. I don't know whether it's left me a lot to say actually, but on the

Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee - 0:49:17

storm, well done again to the officers and all the contractors and everybody who actually

took part because it was cleared so quickly and so really well done.

I was pleased to see Councillor Prita on the television last night saying all benches would

be replaced. I'm looking forward to all that. Local government reorganisation,

We all know what we voted for.

The 3A did turn out to be the option that we chose.

I was very pleased and my group were very pleased about that.

I would just like to say that the briefing that the chief executive here organised for us

from the chief executive of Ocumbria, or ex -chief executive, was absolutely excellent.

and it certainly took us through the process.

I think at the end of the presentation, he talked about opportunities.

I left with that thought that there are lots of opportunities,

particularly for our staff in this new structure.

Otterfield Park, I don't really know what to say about Otterfield Park.

What I would say, though, is I'd be really pleased when that briefing takes place

so that I know exactly what's happening.

Because time is going by, I can see it's still going by without anything really happening.

And it would be really good, and I understand the confidentiality,

but it would really be good to know what's happening.

The road of remembrance, I was actually going to put in a question about the road of remembrance,

and then I saw that KCC were going to start doing some work.

So I thought it was probably not appropriate.

It is great that they are going to do some work and I would like to see them start.

There are so many people who say, with all the other road works going on in the district,

the road of remembrance would have been great to have that open because it is the only alternative

to go to the harbour.

I think you said we were going to make a contribution or offered a contribution.

I would be interested to know what that contribution was.

I don't think I really need to say any more about Southern Water.

I think Councillor Tony Hills is probably a bit more of an expert on this.

He certainly asks questions every council meeting on what's happening.

Thank you very much for your report and updates.

Folker, I'm really pleased to read this.

I am a little bit nervous about the NHS because we have actually been through this procedure before.

So I am a little bit nervous about it.

I'd be interested to know whether we've got an actual anything in writing,

because that would be really good.

But if that's the case, and I really, really hope it is, that's excellent news for Thoxton.

I am an armed forces champion.

You took over from me.

I am probably doing a better job than I did,

but I think you are attending more meetings and events,

but I don't think there were quite so many going on at that time.

I totally agree with Councillor Lockwood and yourself in terms of Trump.

They were awful.

I think we all felt absolutely disgusted.

Certainly, we need to support our armed forces.

We do need our armed forces, we need more armed forces.

I was very disappointed to see that.

I'm really glad the Nepalese Centre, during my time we set up the Nepalese, we supported the Nepalese Centre and provided some funding and actually wrote the bid to Kent County Council for the Nepalese Centre.

So I'm glad it's flourishing and I hope it continues to flourish.

I think I have probably covered everything that you mentioned.

Thank you for attending all the meetings that you do attend.

I would suggest that you go home and have a little drop of brandy tonight.

I think you need to have a rest. Well done and thank you.

Thank you, and you've got the right to reply now.

Thank you both.

Thank you, everyone.

Cllr Jim Martin - 0:54:14

Just to come back with Councillor Hill's and Councillor Thomas, Councillor Cooper, we have

been to umpteen meetings with Southern Water, and we have talked for, it seems like, years

about leaking cesspits, misconnections, avian poo, dog poo,

just about flipping everything.

And yet we've got thousands and thousands of hours

of untreated sewage going into the sea.

And I can predict it now.

When we get them back in the room,

they'll say, oh, no, that's got nothing to do with it.

No, you know, our tidal flow pattern shows that all goes,

And I genuinely do not know what to do.

It's like I'm talking a different language to these people.

But anyway, we will continue to fight

with whatever weapons we have on that.

But thank you both for your comments.

Thank you.

So we need a proposer and a seconder.

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:55:21

Thank you, sir.

Councillor Martin proposed, Councillor Pritchett said second.

We all agreed?

Thank you.

So, we will move on to portfolio holder reports.

9 Portfolio Holder reports to Council

So, they are all included in the pack for noting.

And obviously, thank you, Councillor McConville,

for providing yours a little bit later than everybody else,

but still excellent update.

All of you, fantastic work,

really impressed how much work you do.

So, thank you again for everything.

There was one small amendment,

Councillor Shube asked me to advise,

that there should, it should be 1 ,250 households who are on the waiting list, not 1 ,450.

There was just a small error there.

So, if you could just make a note of that.

Thank you.

10 Opposition Business

Cllr Alan Martin - 0:56:07

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:56:07

So, item 10, there's no opposition business.

And item 11, there's no motions on notice.

11 Motions on Notice

12 Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2026/27

So, we're moving on to item 12, the Council Tax Reduction Scheme 26 -27.

And I believe Councillor Craitor is going to propose this.

Cllr Tim Prater - 0:56:26

Thank you, Chair, and thank you for the opportunity to do this. I've waited six years to move

this motion, and I'm delighted to be able to do so. I became Cabinet member for revenues

and benefits six years ago to the month now, and pretty much in the first portfolio holders

meeting I had with Andrew Hatcher at the time, we outlined that this is where we wanted to

go. This is a stone that has been pushed up a hill for a very long time, and I'm delighted

to arrive with that stone to put in front of you this evening. Please support this stone.

To keep it straightforward, I'm delighted – if you'll note to see from your agenda

pack, there is an easy read summary of this policy in the pack. Thank you to Gary and

for the team that know me, Easy Read summaries are happening with so many of these things.

And I think it's helpful because Council tax reduction scheme sounds very dry, but actually

there's a significant point of principle around this. The significant point of principle is

that this Council wants to give more help to the people who need it most in our district.

Because there was a funding change from Kent County Council and funding was withdrawn last

So we need to make some changes anyway.

And we know that many households struggle to pay council tax, and the collection

rates for the lower -income household are much lower than average for council tax across

the piece.

So what we're seeking to do is to add more support for working -age households.

At the moment, the current maximum level is 75 percent, and we're seeking to move

that to 100 percent.

So the people who have least afford counsel tax in this area will not pay it. Before

anyone picks up on working age and why are we discriminating against those who are

older than working age, the answer is because they already have 100 percent that

they have the ability for one -hundred percent disbursal. That is a government

policy, and therefore we are bringing working -age, working -age cancelled tax reduction

into line with those who are above working age.

You will see that there are also a, so it amends those bans.

So the most generous ban previously was a 75 percent reduction.

It meant that went up to 100 percent reduction, and then three bans at 75 percent,

50 and 25 beneath that.

We also mean that some benefits, including disability -related benefits and some special payments, like for Grenfell Tower,

I don't know if anyone in this district has had that compensation, but if they have, that will be discounted.

The same applies to people who have had infected blood payments or post office compensation payments.

They would be excluded in terms of their income.

And the intention will mean that, A, it will cost us some money.

It's cost this counsel about 280 ,000 pounds a year in gross income.

However, we will be making fewer hardship payments to those households that we've

taken 25 percent of the counsel tax off, and then we put them through a scheme

whereby, again, we then assess them as to whether they need some more support

to pay that remaining 25%, and we go through,

officers and they go through the application process

and we give them some more money for that.

So we can balance the principle

that we shouldn't be charging people that money

with the practicality that actually

we can no longer support the administration to do that.

It's crazy to demand money off someone

and then say if you fill in this form

and you spend a long time doing it,

then we might fund most of it or some of it.

We should just say we're not going to charge them that money.

So that's what we're seeking to do.

We're seeking to be more generous to the people in our district who can least afford

council tax.

And that's what I'm asking you to support this evening in terms of the recommendations

which are in front of you.

And again, I'd like to thank Andrew Hatcher, who is the person who, without which,

we couldn't have put this in front of you this evening.

So I move the recommendations which are in front of you.

Thank you. Have we got somebody to second that?

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:00:37

Councillor Martin, would you like to speak on that?

No. It is now open for debate.

Councillor David Godfrey.

Thank you.

Cllr David Godfrey - 1:00:55

Thank you.

And thank you for your introduction, Councillor Pater.

What it doesn't say, and I'm opposed to this by the way, is that in doing this,

increasing, well it's a relatively generous scheme anyway, despite all the

obfuscation about not having to collect this, not having to collect that, we are asking the

residents of this district to actually fund this for them.

Many of them are hard -working families who cannot actually claim any discounts

but are pushing hard, very hard to actually keep above the bread line.

And we're asking them to fund this and it doesn't make that clear.

Now, it is disappointing that the funding was lost from KCC,

but I would like to point out that of the 108 responses from a sample of 5 ,500,

a sample of 5 ,500, I don't know how many it was,

it says there was an overall response to the fable.

I'm not convinced by that. It's not a majority, it's overall.

And clearly, the Cape Fire and Rescue Services

and the Police and Crime Commissioner are very opposed to this

because they point out what I've said,

is that by doing this, you're asking many hard -working council taxpayers

in paying their council tax to support a further increase

in those who are getting this support.

And I think this support is fairly generous already.

So I'm afraid I cannot agree to support this.

I think we should be focusing our attention

on trying to get some way to get our business rates down.

It is connected because that would create more employment,

which I'm afraid this government is visibly destroying

and enable people to get better salaries

and be able to pay these taxes.

We can't keep asking our taxpayers for more money.

Thank you.

Councillor Bridget Chapman.

Cllr Bridget Chapman - 1:03:00

The award I represent is one of the most deprived in Kent.

I think it is the third or the fourth most deprived in Kent and it is in the top 10 %

most deprived in the country.

There are families there that will benefit from this that are currently having to choose

between eating and eating.

I wholeheartedly support this and I urge everybody to vote for it.

Thank you.

Is there anybody else who would like to...

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:03:28

Councillor McConville.

Cllr Connor McConville - 1:03:33

Just quickly, supportive of this,

and it is worth noting that we are not alone in Kent

in looking at changes to these schemes.

consultations are going out from Ashford

and Thanet and Dover, and while not all of them

might be going for 100%, most of them are looking

to increase their reduction scheme at least up to 90%.

So in terms, if we get 3A, I think we will be

a good leader in terms of how we work towards

a harmonised reduction scheme moving forward.

So, I think where we were previously,

we would have been way out of kilter

with the rest of East Kent with regards to these schemes.

So, you could have a debate on the amount,

but we definitely need to increase the amount,

whether that's 90 or 100%,

but I'm looking at the figures.

I'm in favour of going to 100%.

We will have an opportunity over the next couple of years

to look at that, look at the impacts of that,

and make really good assessments

for the new unitary or the shadow,

they'll be able to make those decisions

on the data that they'll have

from all the different councils

who have got slightly different schemes.

So I think it's a really good move, thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Lockwood.

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:04:57

Thank you, Chair.

Cllr Adrian Lockwood - 1:05:00

I would just like, if I may,

to extend Councillor Godfrey's point

about it's better to reduce council tax overall.

If you follow that through,

I understand there's always a group of people

that are right on the line,

but if you just, for example, took the decision

to not raise your council tax by 1%,

1%, i .e. not increase it by that 1%.

In other words, making a saving across the board.

That saving is also made by your local millionaires

and billionaires who are not paying that 1 %

on their mansions.

And that 1 % is also lost for every future year.

You don't get that 1 % back next year.

So that doesn't make any sense to me.

If you've got some money where you, you know,

that you can afford from your increase,

then this is a much better scheme.

You're distributing that money

to the people that need it most.

So I'm completely in favour of this.

Thank you.

Councillor Cooper.

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:06:25

Thank you, Chair.

Cllr Tony Cooper - 1:06:29

Basically, this scheme in place now is called Section 11 of the Definance Act 1992.

And all this is basically the scheme is extending that.

Now, if you're on a low income and you're expected to pay 25 % out of your, for example, universal credit,

you'll end up following the rears, the council's going to be following its processes,

you'll have bailouts on the door and a debt can astronomically escalate.

I am in favour of this because basically it is helping those people who would not otherwise

be assisted.

And therefore I am going to vote for it in favour of it.

Thank you.

Councillor Fuller.

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:07:08

Thank you, Chair.

Cllr Gary Fuller - 1:07:12

Just a developing point in terms of being disingenuous.

The police and crime commissioner and indeed Kent Fire and Rescue seem to have

admitted to mention that they got a bit of a bumper payday in the previous year as a result of

councils being able to charge double for second homes. So the people that are funding this

are actually people that have more homes than they need, not the hard -working people that have

at best one home, and the authorities like Kemp Fire and Rescue and the Police and Crime

Commissioner are not suffering a loss of income. They've received a bonus and now things are

going back to normal effectively. So not only are we able to do something nice, but we've

actually already got the funding for it as a result of national changes of policy. So

I absolutely wholeheartedly support this and I urge everyone to vote for it.

Thank you.

Councillor Butcher.

Cllr James Butcher - 1:08:27

I was going to say exactly what Gary just said.

Just to reiterate that.

I mean, it's set out in paragraph 6 .12.

We have the income from the second -hand premium and I can't think of a better use for it to

really support those on the lowest income and I really appreciate the work that Councillor

has put in over the years to bring about that.

Really welcome bit of social justice.

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:08:49

Councillor, this is Jenny Hollingsby.

Thank you.

Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee - 1:08:56

Second Homes money was introduced

in order to increase our funding,

increase another avenue of funding

for the District Council,

not to actually subsidise this particular scheme.

It was a very small sample in terms of the consultation.

145 or something I think I read.

There were a number of comments, if I can find them,

selected comments,

from people who were against this or didn't agree,

to give larger discounts will discourage working -age residents

from seeking work as it will effectively increase the benefit they receive.

I think it would be better to reward low -income working residents

with reduced council tax to encourage working.

And then no -one should get 100 % paid for them by the rest of us.

And I just wonder whether any of those comments are taken into consideration.

Some suggest that only those genuinely unable to work

should receive maximum support.

I think it is obviously extremely difficult to, and I know that we have a deprived area

and we are deprived particularly on the East End of Folkestone, and I have always been

keen to do whatever we can, but I do think to, well, take money away really from the

police and from the fire. I mean, I know more about the police force, the police budget,

than I do about any other of the budgets,

because I was on the police and crime panel,

like Councillor Mike Lakemore is now.

And we're constantly talking about,

well, not constantly talking about,

but at budget time, talking about the increase,

what increase are we going to have for council tax,

just to retain our services?

So, I think there are two sides to this storey,

and it is a difficult decision,

but I do think 100 % relief does seem extremely generous.

Thank you.

Councillor Jackie Meade.

Thank you, Chair.

Cllr Jackie Meade - 1:11:18

I represent East Folkestone,

which is probably the next most deprived ward after Harbour.

I can't believe that we're actually saying

that people who are in desperate need of help,

and they are, you try living on universal credit

and paying all the bills.

The council tax bill, even in my household,

is actually my third highest bill per month.

But I'll tell you, if it meant I had to pay

an extra one pound a month to actually help a family

who are really struggling because they cannot put food

on the table for their children,

they cannot turn the heating on

because they cannot afford the bills

from the benefits they get.

And remember, these people may not be long -term unemployed.

They may be down on their luck

and actively looking for work.

And we seem to be judging that they're not.

And it's just not true.

But tell me where the jobs are in East Folkestone.

There are so few jobs for people.

It makes it really difficult.

So I, for one, there used to be an old saying,

and I'm probably going to say it completely wrong,

it was by a Greek philosopher.

Sorry, yeah, I'm going there this evening.

And it basically said that you can judge a civilization

by how you treat its vulnerable, its elderly, and its youth.

And people who cannot afford to put new shoes

on their children's feet or food on the table

are classed as vulnerable.

and I'd rather be in a civilisation that can stand tall than not be.

Thank you.

Thank you. Councillor Mike Blakemore.

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:13:07

Cllr Mike Blakemore - 1:13:11

As Councillor Hollingsby said, I do sit on the Police and Crime Plan,

and we're at the moment looking at the budget for the next year,

and about... People may not, it's in my portfolio report,

but now about half of the budget of the police comes from the precept,

from local taxation rather than from the government.

And the police service is underfunded,

as so many other public services are underfunded.

And we've talked often here about cuts from county council

and the impact, as we were talking about earlier,

on the most vulnerable people.

However, as Councillor Fuller said and Councillor Butcher said,

we are using the money from a second home,

council tax, to do this.

And I too can't think of a better way to spend that money.

A certain person talks a lot about a wealth tax at the moment,

and isn't it nice in our small way to be able to redistribute

a bit of that wealth from second homes to the people who need it most in our district?

I'd be very proud to support it.

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:14:09

Thank you. Councillor Wimbledon.

Thank you, Chair. Well, we all know that everybody wants something.

Cllr David Wimble - 1:14:16

Kent Fire and Rescue want another 5 % capital spend.

Kent Police want more things.

We want swimming pools. We want lots of things.

If Mr Prater says we can afford it, then we can afford it.

So it's at what cost?

That's the only thing that worries me.

I've always thought, as Councillor Mead has just said,

when people are down on their luck and they really have not got a lot of money,

If you can afford to help them, you should afford to help them.

So I will actually go with this.

It might upset some of my friends over here.

But, you know, he knows more about the figures than I do from the precept.

I know quite a lot now about county figures,

cos we're doing our budget at the moment.

And, you know, 52 million pound overspend on adult social services

hasn't helped us.

We've had to find money.

So, yeah, I will actually back this,

because we should help those who are in need.

So, yeah, happy to go along with it.

Thank you.

Councillor Hills.

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:15:20

Thank you, Chair.

Councillor Tony Hills - 1:15:25

I mean, it's interesting, the comments made by various people.

We all want to help those who can't help themselves

in the short term or long term who come from deprived areas.

But when you've got places like Romley Marsh,

which might not come up on your radar so deprived but got villages out there

they've got elderly people who are trapped they might own their house but

they haven't got any money coming in except their pension and not much one

plan say is it's about getting the balance right you want to help people

really to help themselves be helped but at the same time you must be mindful

that this district isn't just one or two urban areas you've got areas out there

in the March which also need help and places like the community hub in New

Robbie do a great job because transportation they're trapped, isolated,

lonely people. They also need help so I can't support this but I do actually

support the concept behind it. I won't support this and I think we've got to

find a better way of doing things because I don't think this helps

Thank you.

Councillor Scoffin.

Cllr Stephen Scoffham - 1:16:44

Yeah, I'm surprised to find myself speaking on this item because it seemed to me such

a good scheme that I wasn't expecting a long debate on it.

But it's always healthy to have one, so I welcome this.

And I've been listening, wearing my sort of environmental hat, and I'm very much aware

that social justice and environmental justice go together.

You could argue about the tactics, but the general principle of greater equality when we live in a very unequal society seems to me a very sound one.

And this scheme seems to me very well thought out, so I'm very pleased with that.

Councillor Meade, thank you for taking me back to the Greeks.

I'm not going to go back that far. I'm going to go to Pope Francis, who enjoins us to listen to the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth.

And that's my contribution.

Thank you.

Councillor Keane.

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:17:34

Cllr Nicola Keen - 1:17:37

Yeah, I'm a little bit confused because I can't remember Councillor Prater saying people

who live in rural areas who own their houses are going to be excluded from this.

I think it's a marvellous idea and I'm sure they'll benefit from it as well.

So those people living in their own houses out in Lydon, the Marsh, I'm pretty sure they'll

get the money.

This isn't just for folks and it's for everywhere.

And Tony, I'm really amazed that you think

that they will be excluded.

If you listen to what Tim said, it was quite,

no, it was, I think this is marvellous,

and I think we ought to thank this gentleman at the back

for getting figures together for us.

Councillor Thomas.

Yeah, thank you, Chair.

I think for anyone who's had a look at the work

Cllr Paul Thomas - 1:18:24

of Andrew Hatch's team and the assessments that they do,

And when you see what people, including people in Euromne,

when you see what they have to live on,

week in, week out, anything we can do to support them,

this is not about living for a lot of these people.

It's not about luxury, it is about surviving.

And I think for me, anything we can do

to help people survive,

because it isn't living for a lot of these people,

I fully support it, so I'm supporting this.

Thank you.

Councillor Laura Davidson.

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:19:02

Yeah, in the spirit of everybody in the chamber contributing on this particular item,

Cllr Laura Davison - 1:19:06

which perhaps nobody expected because it does seem so sensible,

you know, I would absolutely fully support this.

I think actually in the round, it's quite a modest proposal, isn't it, for a change.

But it is about choices that we make in terms of the money that we have.

and it seems to me that targeting it in the way that's proposed is absolutely the right

thing to do and it's what we should be doing.

And I think we should be united on that and we shouldn't be divisive in the way that we're

talking about it.

And I think it talks about it being a sensible decision from the point of view of our own

internal resourcing as well.

And it talks about cutting down on things like reducing reminders being sent to low -income

households that can't afford the charge.

Well, it's horrible if you're getting letters like that through the post.

it is scary and I think anything we can do to offset that, to stop that happening in

a sensible way, I totally support.

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:20:04

Thank you. Councillor Walker.

Cllr Belinda Walker - 1:20:09

Just to add my voice to this, I can't claim that a broadbeat ward is a deprived ward in

the way that Harbour and East are, but there certainly are some people there who are struggling

quite badly in some of the casework I've done.

There are UJOs of deprivation and pockets of

deprivation within big water too.

I know that two people I spoke to recently

would be extremely pleased to hear this news.

So I will be supporting.

And we are all sitting down.

I'm going to say that I agree with Councillor Wimble

that Councillor Prater knows his stuff on this

and I think we should go for it.

Thank you.

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:20:45

So if there's no, oh.

We have Councillor Ock was already spoken.

Point of order.

Okay, point of order.

Can we record this vote, please?

Cllr Adrian Lockwood - 1:20:55

Okay, so thank you.

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:21:02

Thank you for a good debate.

Like a lot of us thought there wasn't going to be a debate on this,

So I'm going to now just pass to Councillor Prater

for his round up and then we'll have a vote,

a recorded vote, thank you.

Cllr Tim Prater - 1:21:25

Thank you, I share everyone's amazement

of where this last half an hour has gone,

but thank everybody for their contributions.

It has meant that we've lost the prize

that I was hoping that we'd get to,

because depending where Dover was on their agenda tonight,

we'd have been the first council in Kent

to have made this move, but they started at 6, we started at 7, and we've taken a while,

so I think they might have just beaten us.

And that's also making the point that not only are we, not only is it the right thing

to do, and we would be in the vanguard of authorities to do this in Kent, but by the

— but also the majority of councils in Kent who are doing this.

It's being done by almost all of the districts that would form East Kent on almost

any configuration you could come up with, and as I said, the majority of the districts

and boroughs across the county.

And a lot of the reason for change, the practical reasons for change, is because

the change is forced by the withdrawal of funding to support collection, and that

withdrawal of funding was made by the last Conservative administration in Kent.

suck it up. The net cost after hardship payments is more than balanced by the income from second

homes premium. And I'm sorry, Councillor Hollingsby, you didn't read that paper when it came out

last year and when we passed it, because it specifically said that we would look at using

that additional income in order to support the poorest households in our area. We're

written in the paper last year, sorry you missed it.

So I'm delighted that we can continue to do this.

I'm delighted, I've been asked to make the point,

and I should make the point,

that many of the people who are on benefits in our area

are working.

This is not the unworking, this is not the unworking,

this is people who just need help in order to survive

and that's what we're doing.

And for Councillor Hill's person in the marsh, over 60 on their pension, please

bear in mind, as I said, this is working age changes that we're referring to here

and does not refer to those pension because they already get 100 percent.

As mandated by government, we are merely, this counsel is bringing ourselves

into line for working age people with the support that those above that age already

get.

I move.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:24:04

So, obviously, the recommendation was to receive and note this report and to resolve to adopt it.

So we're going to have a recorded vote.

So you can have decided if you're for, against or if you're abstaining.

Thank you.

Ms Jemma West - 1:24:17

Councillor Mike Blatemore.

For.

Councillor Polly Blatemore.

For.

Councillor Butcher.

For.

Councillor Chapman.

For.

Councillor Cooper.

For.

Councillor Davidson.

For.

Councillor Fuller.

For.

Councillor Godfrey.

Against.

Councillor Mrs Hollingsby.

Against.

Councillor Hills.

Against.

Councillor Jones.

For.

Councillor Keane.

For.

Councillor Lockwood.

For.

Councillor Alan Martin.

Against.

Councillor Elaine Martin.

For.

Councillor Jim Martin.

For.

Councillor McConville.

Councillor McShane?

Councillor Meade?

Councillor Prater?

Councillor Scoffin?

Councillor Speedman?

Councillor Thomas?

Councillor Walker?

Councillor Wimble?

And Councillor Wing?

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:25:35

So, we have 22 who voted for, for against and no abstaining. So it's passed, sorry.

Yes, it was passed.

I think we all guessed that.

OK, wonderful. Thank you.

Let's move on to item 13,

13 Refresh of the Council's Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults Safeguarding Policy 2025-2030

the refresh of the Council's children, young people

and vulnerable adults safeguarding policy 2025 to 2030.

So, Councillor Mike Blakemore is going to propose this.

Thank you, Chair.

Cllr Mike Blakemore - 1:26:04

Probably uncontroversial, but who knows?

That's amazing.

Members will know that this council needs to regularly update its safeguarding policy.

This time the new policy will run for five years rather than two to provide some stability

as local government reorganisation takes place.

There will be annual reviews and updates to keep members up to date.

So what's changed this time?

We've revised sections on training, allegations against staff and other areas including how

to ensure safeguarding for people with increased

vulnerabilities, including those with neurodiversity.

The Kent and Medway Safeguarding Adults Board

carries out an audit every other year,

and the audit for 2025 was reviewed in November.

The council was compliant in all but a few areas

where work is already underway,

and was praised to the board even wanting

some activity to be showcased

in future Kent -wide safeguarding training.

The report in front of you provides the breakdown

of the number and type of safeguarding referrals,

which provides a useful insight into this vital area of work.

When we talked about this at Cabinet last week,

it was felt that it wasn't the requirements

for training as regards members.

The policy clearly applies to members

as well as to members of staff.

The requirements for training weren't clear enough,

so we have amended Section 6 .1 of the policy

to clarify member training elements.

All staff and members are required to take safeguarding e -learning modules every two

years.

Face -to -face safeguarding and prevent sessions are provided for members.

Once full council or if full council agree to endorse and adopt the policy, then we'll

replace the 2023 version currently on the staff and member intranet with this updated

version.

And then we'll also depersonalise the attached policy and it will be published on the public

FHTC website.

So I'd like to move the recommendations to receive and note the report and to agree and adopt the updated safeguarding policy.

Thank you, and who is your seconder?

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:28:10

Councillor Jim Martin.

This is open for debate.

Councillor John Wing.

Cllr John Wing - 1:28:19

Thank you very much, Chair. Although I obviously do support this, I'd like to focus on 4 .13, which is about modern slavery.

I noted that last week, I think it was last week,

the police and immigration officers

did an unplanned cheque -in, hide -in focusing,

and they found two people living in a place,

the other one was in folks in North Hive,

actually being forced to stay there.

So it is in our community.

And I just feel that it's a little bit woolly.

I didn't know that tomorrow night's all getting governance,

As the internal audiences have said, the council needs to establish if it needs to have a statement

on modern day slavery.

I noticed in 2024, there's a 13 % increase in modern day slavery in this country.

It is a big problem.

And also, I'd like to point out at the bottom of 4 .3, it says that staff training, relative

training, see Appendix 2.

Appendix 2 is just a list of agencies to go to.

I was a bit confused by that to tell you the truth.

That's on page 161, appendix 2.

I was just a bit confused.

But I do accept this, but I just wanted to highlight that.

OK, thank you.

Councillor Meade.

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:29:34

Thank you very much.

Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee - 1:29:39

I support this and well done on the audit.

Cllr Jackie Meade - 1:29:41

We can always do better, which is what I think the audit

highlighted and is allowing us to move forward on that.

I absolutely support this to be a five -year policy, because with the LGR coming in, there's

going to be enough areas of confusion and trying to match certain services together.

So where we can, especially when we're looking after children, vulnerable adults, et cetera,

we should ensure that we have a policy that is 100 per cent secure until such time as

the new authority is able to then take it forward.

So thank you for everyone who put this together.

Thank you.

Councillor Scotland.

I welcome this policy.

Cllr Stephen Scoffham - 1:30:31

Safeguarding policies are tricky, aren't they?

They're as long as a piece of string, really.

And there's an awful lot that can go in them and you can't think of all eventualities.

I appreciate that.

I'm just looking at particularly the conclusion and I hope I haven't sort of missed something

here.

but one of the things we normally see in reports

is the climate change implications.

And I didn't do a word search on it,

but I didn't see climate change in here.

Now, if you're in a school, now there

is a guidance from central government

that every school shall appoint, has a duty

to appoint a climate change officer, as it were,

within the school.

And that climate change officer considers

a whole range of things.

One of them is climate change anxiety.

The anxiety that young people are experiencing around climate change

is increasingly recognised

and is a serious issue of mental health and wellbeing.

There are quite a lot of government reports coming out about that at the moment.

I was just struck by the idea that we are trying to promote

a culture of continuous improvement,

enabling the wellbeing of children, young people,

and vulnerable adults to be safeguarded.

Climate change is a safeguarding issue,

and I wonder whether this could be considered

in the policy at some appropriate point.

Thank you.

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:31:57

Councillor Hollingsby, did you have your hand up?

So I think you did.

Yes, thank you.

I just say I welcome this policy.

Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee - 1:32:06

is a policy that we have and we have to have.

I think it's fairly, well, very comprehensive actually.

And I welcome the update that Councillor Blakemore gave us

in terms of adding to the policy.

I mean, it's just about training.

I mean, we are asked to do safeguarding training,

but I'm not sure that everybody does do it.

And I think it is really important.

I mean, if you're like me and you belong to other organisations,

you've already done it half a dozen times.

I mean, through the church, through the governors at a primary school,

through other organisations, you are expected to do safeguarding training.

So, you know, I think it's probably important that we do ask members

to undertake safeguarding training.

and that is recorded on a, you know,

maybe a two -yearly basis or something like that.

But I welcome it.

Thank you.

Councillor Hills.

Thank you, Chair.

I'd like to support what Councillor Scoffin said.

Councillor Tony Hills - 1:33:16

It is vital.

In the work I've done with the Met Office,

we're looking at severe flooding by 2040

and a potential loss of territory by 2080.

Now, people keep telling me, well, it won't worry you, will it?

No, it won't.

But it will warn my grandchildren.

And I think we've got to young people should be educated to have a more positive view.

Because mental health, it's so corrosive, there's no future.

Well, there is.

It's always been as a news and survives.

And we've got to be positive to find ways forward.

And I totally agree that climate change, we've got to fight it.

but in a right way and show their ways forward for youngsters with mental health problems.

When I was a school governor, I've been one three times now, over the years,

30 years ago, we didn't have these problems.

Social media was not the problem then and perhaps it is now.

So just I think that can be reinforced.

So Stephen, well done.

Councillor Thomas.

Thank you, Chair.

I support the updating of this policy as well.

Cllr Paul Thomas - 1:34:23

And I'd also like to recognise the work of Joyce and her team

and the excellent support that they provide

our existing residents at the moment,

particularly when you have a look at the concerns

and look at the major issues they're dealing with

around mental health crisis and suicide threats.

So, anything that we can do that helps to support

what they can do to help our residents to get through some of these issues

has to be applauded, so thank you very much for that.

Councillor Davidson.

Cllr Laura Davison - 1:34:56

Yeah, thanks for bringing the policy and obviously support it.

I wanted to say on the previous item that the Easy Read version was really welcome and

I wondered whether there's a place for an Easy Read kind of version of this.

I appreciate it's time and work that has to go into those things, but it might be valuable.

It's quite lengthy and complex, isn't it?

And it could be useful.

and maybe it could be kind of also practical in terms of actually how you would apply it

in practise. Thanks.

Thank you.

Councillor Fuller.

Just to come back on what Councillor Davison mentioned, actually, slightly off point, but

Cllr Gary Fuller - 1:35:30

they – a list of policies that can have easy read versions produced is currently being

built, as it were, and obviously will be – they will have those versions produced. So I'm

I'm sure this policy will get on that list.

Mr Speakerman.

Yes, just wanted to reiterate,

I think the point we already made,

Cllr Jeremy Speakman - 1:35:52

the incredible amount of work that went into this actually,

I think sometimes we realise,

but we actually saw the draught and the changes in the cabinet

and it was incredible with all the new regulatory changes.

So I think congratulations to the staff.

I think it's great.

I think as a governor of a school, Tony,

anything that came up repeatedly is the difficulties in getting the state response, if you like,

from social services who are incredibly hard pressed and under -resourced. So it's great

to have the policy. It's not a shame sometimes it can't be backed up with better and more

better resourced services from the state. That's all I want to say. Thank you.

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:36:39

Thank you. And if that's everybody who wanted to speak, perhaps Councillor Baitmore will

just sum up for us.

Cllr Mike Blakemore - 1:36:47

Yeah, I just want to thank members for their support for the policy. I echo Councillor

Thomas' praise for Joyce and her, but also Daisy as the safeguarding officer as well

for the incredible amount of work that she does. Comments are very valuable that people

have made here and we'll feed those back to the team so that they can be incorporated

as a pro -pro in the future.

But I hope you'll support the policy.

I think it's a very valuable piece of work.

Thank you.

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:37:12

Thank you. So we'll move to a vote.

Those in favour of adopting this?

I think that's unanimous. Thank you.

14 Report to Council on a decision made in accordance with the constitution's call-in and urgency rule

So moving on to the last item on our agenda,

item 14, the report to Council on a decision

made in accordance with the Constitution's

call -in and urgency rule.

This is to be proposed by Councillor McOlder.

Cllr Connor McConville - 1:37:36

Just happy to move the report.

Obviously we were all here in November when we made the decision at short notice.

So hopefully members will appreciate that it was a matter of urgency.

I would just like to make a small amendment to be accepted.

Under 1 .3, recommendation 3, where it says identify preferred option,

it should then say 3A to be supported,

which was what was actually agreed in the cabinet meeting

that it's referring to.

So if we can just put that little bit in there,

just to make sure it all links up,

then happy to move.

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:38:15

And do you have a seconder?

Councillor Martin.

Sorry.

Cllr Tim Prater - 1:38:19

Councillor Martin has gotten quick, I'm afraid.

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:38:22

But would anybody like to speak on this?

It's open for debate.

Councillor Hills.

Just a quickie.

I'm so proud of this Council going ahead with 3A, the concept.

Councillor Tony Hills - 1:38:35

I'm really looking forward to this new era of East Kent.

I'm just hoping that government doesn't it up and not by choosing something else, particularly on one whole.

But it's so important to actually get off on the right foot and I see it as a very positive way forward.

and I'm really excited by this, and I wish other people were too,

because this will get better, better services for our residents with more resources.

And I think we can have just a bit more positive out there.

Thank you. Anybody else like to speak?

Cllr Anita Jones - 1:39:12

So, if we are in favour, please could you raise your hands?

That's unanimous. Thank you. I hope you'll enjoy the rest of your evening.

Thank you.

We welcome your comments

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Council - Wednesday 28 January 2026, 7:00pm - Folkestone & Hythe webcasting

CouncilWednesday, 28th January 2026 at 7:00pm

Agenda

Slides

Transcript

Map

Resources

Twitter

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Speakers

Feedback

Votes

Microphone Forty - 0:00:00

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:01:36

Dr Susan Priest - 0:02:13

1 Apologies for Absence

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:02:29

2 Declarations of Interest

3 Minutes

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:03:35

4 Chair's Communications

5 Petitions

6 Questions from the Public

7 Questions from Councillors

Councillor Tony Hills - 0:06:48

Cllr Jim Martin - 0:09:48

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:11:20

Councillor Tony Hills - 0:11:23

Cllr Jim Martin - 0:11:50

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:12:05

Cllr Belinda Walker - 0:12:08

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:12:54

Cllr Polly Blakemore - 0:12:58

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:14:06

Cllr Belinda Walker - 0:14:10

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:14:32

Cllr Polly Blakemore - 0:14:34

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:14:53

Councillor Tony Hills - 0:15:00

Cllr Jim Martin - 0:15:27

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:17:05

Councillor Tony Hills - 0:17:08

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:17:17

Cllr Tony Cooper - 0:17:31

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:17:39

Cllr Mike Blakemore - 0:17:42

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:18:53

Cllr Tony Cooper - 0:18:55

Cllr Mike Blakemore - 0:19:04

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:19:43

Cllr Liz McShane - 0:19:53

Cllr Mike Blakemore - 0:20:15

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:20:43

Cllr Liz McShane - 0:20:44

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:21:03

Cllr Jackie Meade - 0:21:11

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:22:16

Cllr Jeremy Speakman - 0:22:18

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:23:01

Cllr Jackie Meade - 0:23:14

Cllr Jeremy Speakman - 0:23:42

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:24:38

Cllr Nicola Keen - 0:24:45

Cllr Jim Martin - 0:26:24

Cllr Nicola Keen - 0:30:19

Cllr Jim Martin - 0:30:53

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:31:40

Cllr Nicola Keen - 0:31:48

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:34:04

Cllr Nicola Keen - 0:34:04

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:34:06

8 Announcements of the Leader of the Council

Cllr Jim Martin - 0:34:29

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:45:14

Cllr Adrian Lockwood - 0:45:24

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:49:10

Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee - 0:49:17

Cllr Jim Martin - 0:54:14

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:55:21

9 Portfolio Holder reports to Council

Council
Wednesday, 28th January 2026 at 7:00pm