Cabinet - Wednesday 24 June 2026, 5:00pm - Folkestone & Hythe webcasting

Cabinet
Wednesday, 24th June 2026 at 5:00pm 

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Cllr Jim Martin - 0:00:00
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:00:00
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:00:01
Good evening and welcome to the meeting of the Cabinet.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:00:06
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.
Would 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.

1 Apologies for Absence

So a warm welcome on a very warm evening.
and I am particularly pleased to extend a welcome
to our two work experience people.
From Brookhill and the Harvey, as I understand.
So very pleased to have you along
and you can witness at first hand
the operations of a local government.
So thanks very much everyone.
We'll go to the first item, which is apologies for absence.
Ms Jemma West - 0:01:28
We've received two apologies this evening from Councillors Mike and Polly Blakenore.

2 Declarations of Interest

Cllr Jim Martin - 0:01:32
Thank you very much, Gemma. Do we have any declarations of interest? Any members wishing

3 Minutes

to make a declaration? No? Okay, very good. If we can move on then to the minutes, pages
These are the minutes of the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the 25th of March.
Are there any concerns or amendments?
Happy to move, Chair.
Cllr Tim Prater - 0:02:02
Thanks very much.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:02:04
Councillor Praetor to propose and I am happy to second.
All those in favour, please indicate.
Thank you very much, everyone.
I can sign these.

4 Damp and Mould Policy 2026-2027

And we can then move on to the first substantive item, item for damp and mould policy 2026
to 27.
And I understand that Rebecca, sorry, Councillor Shrew will be leading us through this item.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Cllr Rebecca Shoob - 0:02:47
So this report is seeking approval of the new damp and mould policy.
This new policy covers the HRA properties and it's in line with the implementation of
A -Rab's law which came into effect from 27th of October last year.
The new regulations require landlords to investigate and remedy emergency hazards within 24 hours
of becoming aware of them, and significant damper mould
hazards within 10 working days.
The policy sets out in great detail how we will approach
reports of damp and mould, and in particular,
focus on working in partnership with tenants.
But I'd really like to stress that the main thing
is that we take all reports of damper mould
extremely seriously.
I'd also like to highlight the important role played
by all our staff and contractors who enter any tenants homes
and their role in reporting any damp and mould issues
that they come across during these visits.
Any visit that happens to take them into someone's home.
We've also, I'd also note that our repairs
as a maintenance contract that started last April,
was already operating well within the timeframe
specified by Awebs Law.
The strategic tenants advisory panel
has been consulted on this policy back in April.
And it's also note that the tenants scrutiny panel
has chosen to look at the council's approach
to tackling Dampen Mould as their next scrutiny project.
So I'd like to move the recommendations. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Councillor Shrew.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:04:40
Sadly, I do have to interject here.
Being a chance of building surveyor,
I can't let an item on Dampen Mould go past.
And if I could draw members attention to page 21,
where there is a very good definition of what damp is,
and it's more complicated than you would think.
I am very proud of the record that we have in our stock
of combating a damper mould.
But AHAB's law is there,
and I am sure that we will embrace it
and that we will use it
and we will improve the general quality of the stock,
not only in dealing with it, but also to prevent it.
So it's a lot more complicated than you would think.
We inevitably will have reports of a damper mould.
It is almost impossible to completely eradicate,
but I am confident that we have systems in place
that will respond very quickly and tackle damper mould wherever we find it.
Thank you very much, Councillor Shroob.
I'm very, very happy to second and open it for debate.
Members?
Yeah, Councillor Spillane.
Cllr Jeremy Speakman - 0:06:05
Sorry.
Cllr Jeremy Speakman - 0:06:07
I didn't expect to be working.
Cllr Bridget Chapman - 0:06:11
Sorry about that technical.
Talking about significant damper mould hazards being tackled within 10 working days, I just
wanted to know, do we know roughly how many properties or percentage of properties that
would have a currently being tackled with significant damper mould?
And fortunately, we do have some experts in the room this evening.
And Nick, would you be able to give us some guidance on that?
Cllr Jeremy Speakman - 0:06:44
Yeah, we currently have seven that we're working with the tenants on.
So that's a very, very small percentage, isn't it?
Yeah, yeah.
Thank you very much.
Short and sweet.
Absolutely.
Out of three and a half thousand, seven is, I won't say it's an acceptable percentage,
but it is a very, very tiny percentage.
Cllr Gary Fuller - 0:07:19
Oh, go ahead, Councillor P
getting cold, but even during the summer I notice your figures on sort of 40 to 60 % humidity.
I can tell you it's not possible to keep my place at that level at the moment and it's
not like we're drown washing in there. So I'm curious about how we how we're going to
make those sort of dealing with seasonal mould and also dealing with humidity at this time
of year achievable. I also had a bit of a question around the there was talk of the
of having a sensor and an app and so on and how that's going to be made
available to tenants, you know, who's going to make the decision, how many
tenants can have it, what's it going to be based on, are they going to be talking to
you through the app, that kind of thing. Because from my own experience and from sort of
anecdotes and speaking to other tenants and so on, there are, the biggest
issue tends to be that sort of seasonal mould but it can be very difficult to
keep the humidity levels down especially if you're in a small terraced house or
or indeed in a small place with a decent number of people because a lot of the
properties we've got as you'd expect in a sort of coastal area you've got you've
you had this sort of two levels you've got the big sort of property with the
massive ceilings and so on that haven't tended to fall into council ownership
and then you've got the more sort of I suppose 1960s or possibly earlier builds
that were quite small terrace that maybe weren't designed
for modern day living, shall we say.
And so, yeah, I'm curious about how we manage that.
Thank you very much, Councillor Fuller.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:09:10
Mick, would you be able to offer some advice?
Yeah, there's a number of questions there.
So, humidity, we haven't got any control
Folkestone & Hythe Officer - 0:09:22
over humidity in the property.
You know, whatever it is outside, it's normally higher inside, depending on the weather.
So humidity, I don't think there's anything that we can do, to be honest.
As far as the app's concerned, and the monitoring, we normally instal monitors where there's properties with issues that we're not able to get hold of straight away.
That is open to wherever we fit the monitors, it's open to any tenants that want to use it and access it.
How about the companion app, how is that dealt with? The members mentioned of a sort of companion app.
Cllr Gary Fuller - 0:10:04
The companion app, the actual app that goes with it, apparently tenants can access an app to use it.
Yeah, it's all online.
Are tenants trained in that, in how to use it, or is it just a, in that way, go find it?
It is pretty intuitive.
Yes, it is.
We also have to provide the tenant with the link to the app.
Folkestone & Hythe Officer - 0:10:24
That is set up against their email so they can download that to either their phone or to a tablet, whichever is their preference.
With that comes a guide as to how to use it and how to understand the alerts.
It will alert to extreme high or cold temperatures, extreme humidity.
Sometimes humidity can be dealt with.
If you are bathing, showering, cooking, open a window, allow the property to ventilate.
Unfortunately, in weather like this, when we already have the warnings that external humidity is a massive problem,
then that takes any control out of what we are able to manage, to be honest with you.
But the app is really good, so is the sensors.
It's worked with one of our tenants. Once she was using the app, we could see how she was managing the cold spots and everything else in her house.
Cllr Gary Fuller - 0:11:23
Just to come back to the seasonal aspect, obviously you're dealing with certain properties at the moment, which I'd expect it to be a bit lower in the summer anyway, apart from the fact that we know.
Are we keeping an eye out for that sort of seasonal issue?
Speaking as somebody that in the past has just got a bit of a, is it a messed up, other brands exist?
And just, you know, sprayed the walls when Blackwell was shown rather than actually going, oh, that's called the council.
Are we keeping an eye out for that kind of behaviour?
Do we have any way of being proactive and checking whether or not mould is occurring but not being reported?
Yes.
So we're working with MERS at the moment
Folkestone & Hythe Officer - 0:12:00
with all the works orders that we've raised
and all of the issues that MERS have identified
when they've been going into properties
and picking up on things that haven't been reported.
MERS are currently putting together a hotspot map
so that's from the 27th of October
when it came into being to 31st of March.
So our first predominant winter dealing with AOAB's law.
So once we've got that heat map,
obviously that will give us a better understanding
if it's, you know, if we've got certain streets that are being flagged all the time, or if it's
pepper potted and then from there we'll be able to look at doing some more proactive work with residents.
Currently, 50 % of the issues that come up have been identified by others, not the tenants.
So that shows how proactive we are, you know, and that's not just me, that's any other contractor
that goes into the property.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:12:59
If I can just remind members that one of our really good things with Meers is that, for
example, if a plumber goes to fix a leaking tap but he sees a socket outlet is broken,
that gets reported.
So part of our problem is getting that active reporting from the residents because often
people think, oh, well, I won't bother them or they just ignore it.
But we have got proactive contractors who will report and, yeah, thankfully, it's a
system that works.
Sorry, Councillor Foy.
Actually, I was actually going to firstly second that one.
Cllr Gary Fuller - 0:13:41
We actually had a contractor come around who reported that our door was too small.
Unfortunately, somebody then from the council came around and said, no, it's actually not
too small, tough.
But anyway.
But the wind still gets free.
But also the law seems to cover a wider range of issues.
So I'd be interested in, I mean obviously dampen mould is the big one,
but I'd be interested to know about the sort of the wider issues that it raises,
the wider sort of repairs that would be regarded as severe or emergency
and whether or not this is something we actively have to look into
or is it more just we have to focus on the Duncan Wall
because that's the main key thing?
If I can just come back to you there, Gary,
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:14:30
we may have to leave that because it's a much wider discussion
in terms of overall the focus here is really our compliance issue
and how we deliver it, et cetera, et cetera.
So, I think in terms of, you know,
I'm not saying that it's not relevant.
You know, it's very, very important
that we have that wider discussion.
But I think if we can get through this bit of business,
we will, you know, we can schedule that for some other time.
Councillor Prater.
I'll go for a really, really small point then.
Cllr Tim Prater - 0:15:08
4 .8 and it's the point that Nick's just addressed there.
It is currently, 4 .8 says it is a tenant's responsibility
to keep humidity between 40 and 60 % in the house.
As Mick just said, we've got no control of that.
And in a number of instances,
the tenant will have no control of that.
Today, they've got no control of that,
of keeping it between those.
But there's no caveat on this
in terms of tenants' responsibility.
They're told that they have to,
but they can't and we can't.
Can you start with 4 .8?
4 .8.
Heating rooms adequately, ideally between 18 and 20 degrees
and keep humidity between 40 and 60%.
Just before we get into it,
I think the sentence includes the word ideally.
So we would, you know, that's where we,
now just before we go off,
because condensation is a really complex set of issues.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:16:03
We have three variables here,
the people, the building, and the climatic conditions.
What this sentence is aimed at,
getting residents to understand
that if they are constantly drying nappies,
if they constantly have pots and pots of potatoes
or whatever boiling on the stove,
if they are fond of having a number of baths
during the day rather than showers,
then ventilation is very, very important.
Because that is, all of those activities
push the internal humidity level up.
So rather than get into a detailed discussion
about the various elements that lead towards
condensation, which we can have,
I'd suggest we get through this bit of business
and adopt this and we can work on from there.
We, oh, Councillor Schaffman.
I was just going to say that as I was looking through the papers,
Cllr Stephen Scoffham - 0:17:11
this is the first time I've seen an easy to read version,
which I really appreciated because that helped me
and I'm certain it helps lots of other people.
I just wondered where that came from.
Is that the background to that?
Is there any explanation?
I think Councillor Butcher has repeatedly,
and Councillor Fuller,
yeah, absolutely thought easy to read versions.
and shall we say it's permeating the organisation.
Well, I commend it.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:17:41
So, we have a proposer in Councillor Shrew.
I was very happy to second.
All those in favour, please indicate.
Thank you very much.

5 Private Sector Housing Civil Penalties Policy and CPN generator

Cllr Jim Martin - 0:17:54
Moving on to our next item,
which is private sector housing civil penalties policy
and CPN generator, pages 43 to 88.
And Councillor Shroob is going to lead us through it.
Thank you.
Cllr Rebecca Shoob - 0:18:15
So this report is seeking approval to adopt
the Association of Chief Environmental Health Officers
civil penalty enforcement policy,
as well as to enter into an agreement
with Justice for Tenants
to use their civil penalty notice generator.
Members will of course be aware
of the new Renters' Rights Act.
While some parts of that came into effect last year,
many more provisions relating to tenancy rights
came into effect from the first of May.
So this policy is being adopted
by all the other Kent local authorities
and by most local authorities across the country.
Its approach is in line with the Renters' Rights Act
on the new duties, new enforcement duties on councils.
As detailed in the report, this policy is the one
that was promoted by Jigsaw, which is the project
helping local authorities to introduce and enforce
the new act. There was a bit of a delay in this draught policy coming forward, hence a
bit of a delay in bringing it to cabinet for approval. Having an up -to -date policy will
provide consistency for landlords and thereby reduce scrutiny at appeal tribunals. The CPN
The CPM generator is being offered to us free of charge
and also there are some charged services on offer
from Justice for Tenants.
We're not proposing to use those at the moment.
The service should save a lot of time for officers
generating the CPMs through the software
which should take around 10 to 15 minutes
as opposed to around an hour which it is currently taking.
We have a tenancy enforcement officer now in post
who is starting to investigate anything
renters rights related.
He is also being trained to assess housing conditions
under the HHSRS so that he can assist with housing conditions
service requests as well.
There will be a general enforcement policy
which is currently being written
and that will come to cabinet in October,
having gone to overview and scrutiny in September.
And just finally, just want to note that
since the policy was published for tonight's meeting,
The government has now enacted the provision
around serving a civil penalty
when the category one hazards are found.
So the Chief Environmental Officers Association
has now just released an amended version
of the policy to reflect this.
And that just really goes to show why
we're seeking delegated authority
to make minor amendments.
because more and more provisions will come in with very short notice, so we need officers
to be able to respond to that quickly to keep this policy right up to date.
So I would like to propose the recommendations.
Thank you.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:22:03
Thank you very much, Councillor Shoup.
I am very happy to second.
and this is a much talked about piece of legislation
that is being feeding through.
We may all have particular views on it,
but essentially, I'm particularly taken
with the civil penalty notice generator.
That's gonna be a cracker.
But again, it's another tool in our toolbox,
So I'm very, very happy to second and open it up for debate.
Councillor Fuller.
No declaration of interest this time.
Cllr Gary Fuller - 0:22:46
But I am interested in the CPN generator, actually, that you mentioned.
I was interested more around the data protection side of things,
because obviously it's an external service.
So what I wanted to know was, do we know if it's storing data offsite,
and if so, have we done a data protection impact assessment
to make sure that everything is particularly built.
I mean, I don't think it's going to be stored
in the US, for example, so we're not going.
Yeah, but I would like to know if we've done that.
Hopefully, yeah.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:23:16
So fortunately, we do have an expert with us this evening.
Kerry, would that be something you could deal with?
Yep, the data protection side of things has been looked at.
Folkestone & Hythe Officer - 0:23:25
We've run it past our data protection officers in -house,
and we've also discussed it with Justice for Tenants.
The data is stored on the server where the calculator is stored.
And if at any time we decide not to go and renew the contract, that data would be destroyed.
So it's held securely for us.
Sorry, I quit that question. Is that UK based data centre or server?
I wouldn't be able to tell you that right now, but I can cheque.
Yeah, because if it's not, then we might need other agreements.
I'll let the data protection officer work on that one.
Okay, thank you.
Julie, good.
Okay.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:24:08
Any other queries or questions on this one?
Julie, good.
So we have a proposer in Councillor Shroob and a seconder in myself.
All those in favour, please indicate.
That's unanimous.
Thank you very much, everyone.

6 Corporate Plan Annual Report

and now we move on to the corporate plan annual report.
And this bit is me, I think.
Yeah, corporate plan annual report.
This report presents the first annual report
on our corporate plan 2025 to 2030,
our district, our world, and sets out the progress
we have made during the first year of delivery.
When the plan was agreed last year,
it set a clear direction for the council
and for the district, focused on strong leadership,
healthier and more connected communities,
better homes, a sustainable local economy,
and action to protect and enhance our environment.
The annual report shows how those commitments are now being put into practise.
It highlights the achievements delivered during 2025 -26, the progress made against the first year's action plan,
and the work taking place with residents, businesses, partners and communities across the district.
It also demonstrates the importance of having a clear and practical action plan in place
so that our priorities are translated into real activity and progress can be monitored
openly.
A cabinet is therefore being asked to receive and note the report, to note and approve the
corporate plan annual report at appendix one,
to note the 2025 to 26 corporate action plan
at appendix number two,
and to agree the proposed corporate action plan
for 2026 -27 at appendix three.
This will ensure that we recognise the progress made so far
and agree the next phase of the work needed
to continue delivering against the Council's priorities.
And I am very, very happy to propose this to Cabinet.
Thank you.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:26:47
Does anyone, after that tidal wave of an introduction,
does anyone, Councillor Scoplin, rescue me?
Cllr Stephen Scoffham - 0:26:55
I'm very happy to talk to this.
I was very excited to see this report,
and a huge amount of work's gone into that,
and congratulations for doing all the work.
I think it's not an easy thing to bring together.
It flags up the whole lot of things
which are sort of whirling around us.
Today's exceptionally hot.
And this is just a foretaste, a foreshock
of climate disruption and climate change,
which we know is coming down the road.
So the overall heading, our district, our world,
which frames the corporate plan
and is reflected very clearly in the way
that the sustainable development goals are foregrounded.
The icons are all there in the report.
I think that makes the point that we are part
of a bigger picture, and that is so manifest
and so obvious that we overlook it sometimes.
But in acting on behalf of our residents,
we also need to think in a much bigger frame
as to how we fit into a global picture,
and that is coming across strongly.
I'm not familiar with how all the actions are rounded up.
I'm particularly interested in the 26, 27 agenda
and the way that the actions are identified.
I find it quite difficult to make constructive comments
on the report because so much is probably buried
in different places, as it were,
and lies behind the words.
but I just wondered whether education might be,
it's there very clearly at the beginning of leadership
in the 2025, 26 report,
just wondered whether education might again be
foregrounded a little bit more clearly.
I can only speak for my own portfolio,
but I'm involved at the moment with lots of sort of,
I think of sort of emerging projects,
and there's no way that those emerging projects
could have been picked up,
but we're talking about a tree planting programme,
Sheppui trees across the district.
We're talking about a nail -borne restoration project
involving lots of different community groups.
It could come in all sorts of different places.
So those sort of things,
there must be a way of picking those sort of things up
and coming along over the horizon,
hopefully as UNESCO GEO Park status
and on the back of that, linked to that,
a huge amount of opportunities around sustainable tourism.
So I'm just aware that this is a moving goalposts
and it's a tricky one to navigate,
but I just thought I'd flag those up.
But thank you very much for a very, very good report
and one which I welcome.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:29:42
Jonathan, would you be able to come back on
a couple of those?
Mr Jonathan Hicks - 0:29:46
Yes, thank you, Chair.
And thanks for your comments, Councillor Scotham.
It might be helpful to perhaps take your mind back to how we shaped the plan originally
and the decisions we made to have a shorter planning horizon. So rather than having one
set of actions that we keep for five years that we would look at it a year at a time
and decide on what their priorities were.
We also set this up as a live action plan.
But caveat to that, that doesn't mean
it's constantly changing, I think.
Where we need some control is deciding
on a set of actions and set of priorities
that we'll focus on for that year.
Given that we report back here at a mid -year point,
there is the option to pick up anything
that we perhaps are doing that is decided by cabinet
or in year that we could add to the plan
that might support some of these activities.
The process for agreeing the actions for the coming year
starts with budgets.
So it's budget setting.
Teams know what budgets they have for the year.
And we ask all managers to complete their own service plans.
So this sets out the top priorities they have.
It's not everything that they're doing
with their top priorities.
And the work we've done with managers
is to have a look at how those priorities in this year
are meeting our commitments that we've set out in the plan.
So, rather than this plan being necessarily the driving force, it's more the document
that pulls all those threads together of all the different activity we do.
Some of it is statutory, and that's captured in here.
And the homelessness prevention work, for example, is ongoing.
It's not one thing, it's finish, start and finish.
So we'll have the projects that we focused on in the year.
the key deliverables of those, but all the ongoing activity is captured in here.
So this, the plan for 26, 27 is based on those top priorities identified from teams,
based on what we've budgeted for.
So I hope that helps.
Cllr Stephen Scoffham - 0:32:23
I think that's very helpful and I think there's a balancing act that we had here, isn't there,
between the huge number of statutory duties that we have to deliver,
our ambitions which are emanate from ourselves
and being responsible and flexible
in responding to community action
and community led projects.
And given, as I said,
inevitably looking at the lens of my own portfolio,
but given the fact that in dealing with the environment
and the things all around biodiversity and climate change,
it seems that we know that we can't do it ourselves.
We need to respond to and be responsive
of two community groups and community action.
And I think that is a difficult balancing action,
to be honest, and I think, as I say,
I think it's a very good report and thank you for it.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:33:09
Given your enthusiasm, Councillor Schaffrin,
would you care to second the?
If you got to do that, yes,
Cllr Stephen Scoffham - 0:33:15
I'd be very happy to second it.
Thank you very much.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:33:19
So we now have a proposer and we have a seconder.
So I'll come to Councillor Praetor first, then I'll.
Beaten by Stephen in the second again.
Cllr Tim Prater - 0:33:28
I was just going to say in terms of the action plan, what I find refreshing in this is that
there are quite a lot of action plans that have specific actions which aren't, and this
has specific actions which are. It is a very clear, easy to read list, which as in the
last year you can actually go through at that stage and say, yes, we have done that. No,
we have not done that. Yes, we've mainly done that, but there's a bit more to do. And that's
what the response, the report of the last year shows.
But I think it's very clear that that list
has been reworked for next year,
that things have been actively managed.
I think it's really good to see that.
It's very easy to end up doing the same report as last year,
having removed a couple of bits and put a few of those in,
but it's clearly being properly reworked.
One could have any number of arguments
over any amount of period of time
exactly what goes into that, but it gives us a good framework and a good scorecard for
us to deliver on, and of course for next year. I think if we could get as many achieveds
in next year as we got in this year, I think we would be very happy people. I would have
seconded this, Stephen, I haven't beaten me to it.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:34:44
I was in a panic, sorry. Sorry, Councillor Butcher.
Yeah, thank you, and likewise.
Cllr James Butcher - 0:34:51
Welcome, this is really, it's amazing seeing all of this activity set out and all the progress
that's being made.
And I guess my question is, and I'm sort of zooming in on the economy theme forks that's
in my portfolio, and where we say things like, well, we're promoting apprenticeships through
the Focused on Works website, so that's clearly an activity that we're doing.
How do we test out that that's actually having the desired effect?
Clearly I can raise that in my portfolio, but that's just an example of collectively
how do we know whether the activities that we've completed are doing what we want them
to do.
And not in a, you know, trying to kind of create trouble or something, but just from
a learning point of view about what kinds of things that we invest in are having the
desired effects and what don't seem to have the sort of effect that we want.
So I guess it's really how we test the outcome of the activity.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:35:46
Jonathan, are you able to add anything to that discussion?
Possibly not. I think that's a good point, though.
I think there's some.
Mr Jonathan Hicks - 0:35:51
Yeah, how we measure this is not just about whether or not
we've set the tools in place to promote these things, but
it could be that that is something when we look back over the course of the plan,
we can actually see what difference has that made in the year.
Yeah, and maybe that's something we need to consider.
Your point well made, yeah.
Council Member Comden.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:36:18
Thanks.
Sort of linking on to what you were saying, James.
Cllr Connor McConville - 0:36:23
I mean, excellent report, very, very clear.
And it follows on a lot from the end of year report from last year.
But we'd like to see a little bit more ownership
in these reports, like from Cabinet.
So, a column perhaps with the cabinet member,
you've got the owner there, the officer,
but if a resident's looking at this,
surely chasing something in there,
surely we'd want them contacting us
as opposed to trying to contact the officer
whose name's in there.
And just to have maybe a bit more sort of feedback
before it sort of comes in there
in terms of the blurb that's written,
or even like perhaps towards the end of the year,
so I mean the end of year report now,
Now just using your example, James,
folks at community work, so action complete,
apprenticeship opportunities are actively promoted,
et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
But, you know, James can feed in,
and then you could ask that question,
how, why, could we put any other metrics in there
to make it a better storey?
So, you know, working on something like that
when this year comes towards the end,
I think would be really valuable.
Yeah, I mean, I think it's a point well made,
It's easy to kind of create initiatives and have goodwill and want to do things.
The kind of the real measure, if you like, is how many do you achieve?
How many apprentices are employed as a result of what we're doing?
Or are we just adding to the general buzz out there?
So I think it's a point well made.
I also quite like Councillor McConville's idea
of individual portfolio holders getting closer to it
and having, everybody's working within it.
But I think that's, again, that could add something
to the report, I think, for next year.
Thank you.
Yes, I completely agree with that.
I think that's a very good idea.
Mr Jonathan Hicks - 0:38:23
And if ownership of that helps you with your officers
in terms of your portfolio meetings,
that would also help in terms of capturing updates
on the plan, you'll have it on your mind as well
to ask the questions if they're not raising it with you.
So yeah, I'll take that one back
and put that in the report.
Thank you very much.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:38:40
Any other questions or queries?
Just really just to thank you, Jonathan,
because I know this is a heck of a lot of work.
and to thank you on behalf of the Council
for all of the effort that you do
to produce such a fantastic report.
Jolly good.
So, we have a proposer, myself and Councillor Scoffin,
rescued me from no seconders,
so thank you very much for that.
All those in favour, please indicate.
Thank you very much.

7 Oportunitas Limited Business Plan 2026/27 to 2030/31 and Q3 Financial Update

Moving on to item seven,
and Oportunitas Limited Business Plan 2026 -27 to 30 -31 and Q3 Financial Update, that's
pages 145 to 178. So in Councillor Holgate's absence, I will introduce this. The report
The report considers the proposed business plan
for Oportunitas Limited, submitted by its board
for the five year period from 2026, 27 to 3031.
The report meets the requirements contained
within the shareholders agreement
between the company and the council.
So we are being asked to receive and note the report.
We're being asked to receive and note
the quarter three financial update for Oportunitas, which is Appendix 3, were then asked to agree
the proposed business plan for Oportunitas for the period through to the 31st of March
2031 and were asked to note and approve the implementation of a management charge payable
by opportunists limited to the council for management,
services rendered, subject to the agreement
to be signed by the leader of the council
and the chair of the board,
as set out in paragraph 3 .3 of this report.
So it's largely a financial report
which we will be guided through
by another of our in -house experts.
So I am very, very happy to propose it,
and I wonder if I could ask if someone's prepared to second.
Councillor Prater, thank you very much.
And I'll now open it out for debate and questions.
Cllr Tim Prater - 0:41:10
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:41:11
Councillor Prater.
I'm happy to second because my name's on the report
for reasons slightly beyond my understanding.
Cllr Tim Prater - 0:41:20
But the one part of it which certainly does fall
within my portfolio is the financial impact on the council.
And I think the key thing that is, we've looked at various different ways of making sure that
what Oportunitas is doing is being a contributor to this council as opposed to a drag -on -ed.
And that is what section five of this plan shows, is that after the reworking of the
model and the different options which have been taken in terms of making sure there is
a return to this council, then Oportunitas is making a financial return to this council
every year from this year and will continue to do so over the course of the next five years.
I think that's very worth noting.
I think that's a very good position to be in.
That is the point of such a vehicle at this stage.
It's not only to generate its capital value but actually to support our operations, et cetera.
So I'm delighted to see that.
So that is why I was happy to second,
is it is actually generating where we wanted to go
as a Council on C, Oportunatas,
supporting our activities.
Not in a huge way to begin with,
but it grows over a period of time,
and that's good to see.
So very happy to say.
Councillor, is there any...
Yeah, Councillor McConville.
Thank you.
Cllr Connor McConville - 0:42:50
Yeah, obviously I follow these reports quite closely.
Opportunity in the TAS is something I always want to see do well and it's looking like it's in a much better place than it has been in the past.
I just had a quick question, it's probably not an answer to it unfortunately, but I'd say just looking, when I was looking through the latest evaluation,
I noticed, I mean everything's reasonably stable except for the properties in Walter Toll Way,
So I don't know if there was any explanation as to why all those properties had quite a dip in their valuations.
Again, we are backed up by experts, so I will be asking Alan and Jonathan to let us know.
Yeah, sorry. Thank you, Chair.
Mr Alan Mitchell - 0:43:40
So we've already received valuations in more detail.
there was some questions that we asked around valuations and that's just part of the year -end
process. We've only received these recently so we're currently looking at them so we don't have
that level of detail at the moment but it's definitely something that we can or will explore
and come back. Yeah that'd be really, I didn't know if it was affected by like the new development
there on Shetway Close or any other reasons but yeah if we get anything back I'd be really
really keen to find out why and see what the trend is on those properties moving forward.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:44:15
I don't see anyone else indicating.
We have a proposer and we have a seconder.
All those in favour, please indicate.
Thank you very much everyone.

8 Analogue to Digital Implications for the Lifeline 365 Service

Moving on to item eight, which is the analogue to digital implications for the Lifeline 365
Service, pages 179 to 188 in your pack, and you have to suffer me again.
So the introduction, this report asks cabinet to support the planned transfer of the Lifeline
365 service from analogue to digital equipment ahead of the national analogue telephone switchover,
now expected to be completed by the 31st of January, 2027.
Lifeline 365 provides an important 24 -7 emergency
telecare service for residents across Kent,
many of whom are vulnerable and rely on the service
for reassurance, independence and safety.
There remains significant uncertainty
about whether analogue lifeline units
will continue to operate reliably
once telephone networks are fully digital.
The council cannot safely wait to see
whether existing analogue equipment
continues to work after the switchover
because any failure, delay, or interruption
in alarm calls could place vulnerable customers at risk.
The report therefore recommends a managed programme
to replace all remaining analogue units
with digital lifeline alarms that operate independently
through mobile SIM technology.
The proposal requires approval of the total project budget
of £337 ,479, funded initially by the Ministry of Education
initially from the financial resilience reserve.
The financial implications had been reviewed
with the income from the digital service
expected to support repayments of the reserve over time.
The report recognises the risk that some customers
may decide not to continue with the service.
I asked cabinet to support the report,
approve the proposed transfer from analogue
to digital lifeline devices,
and recommend to full council the associated capital
and revenue budget changes.
So I am very happy to propose the report,
and I wonder if I could ask Councillor Prater,
are you seconding?
I am second.
Councillor Prater to second,
Cllr Tim Prater - 0:47:23
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:47:23
and open it up for debate and questions.
Councillor Prater.
Cllr Tim Prater - 0:47:32
Secondly, because I absolutely back this, not least because if you don't do this, Lifeline
stops being Lifeline pretty soon. So, I mean, it's a service which means so much to so many
people and gives so much reassurance, we absolutely have to do it. The expenditure, the one thing
I think was a little opaque in terms of the cost to the financial resilience reserves,
so that it's paid back over time.
I understand that's been bottomed down
around five years -ish.
So in terms of the repayment process,
about a period of that size,
it does come back within a reasonable repayment period
for any capital investment of that stage.
So I think that's reasonable to note at this stage.
Otherwise, it looks like we're hiding a little bit.
It might be a bit more, a bit less than five years,
depending on the number of people using the service,
but it's that sort of range,
and that's why I think it's a very valid use of that reserve.
And the money will go back into that reserve
over the period of time and replenish it.
So I'm very happy to support the paper as a whole.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:48:38
Any other questions or queries?
So we have a proposer.
Myself, Councillor Prater, was good enough to second.
All those in favour, please indicate.
Thank you very much everyone and we can all go and call down somewhere now.
So, end of the business.
Thank you.