Council - Wednesday 2 April 2025, 7:00pm - Folkestone & Hythe webcasting

Council
Wednesday, 2nd April 2025 at 7:00pm 

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  1. Cllr Anita Jones
  2. Microphone Forty
  3. Cllr Anita Jones
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  1. Dr Susan Priest
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  1. Cllr Anita Jones
  2. Councillor Tony Hills
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  1. Cllr Adrian Lockwood
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  1. Microphone Forty
  2. Cllr Polly Blakemore
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  5. Cllr Anita Jones
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  1. Cllr Bridget Chapman
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  9. Cllr Jim Martin
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  12. Cllr Jim Martin
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  14. Cllr Nicola Keen
  15. Cllr Anita Jones
  16. Cllr Rich Holgate
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  18. Cllr Nicola Keen
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  1. Cllr Gary Fuller
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  7. Cllr Paul Thomas
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  6. Cllr Liz McShane
  7. Cllr James Butcher
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  1. Cllr Liz McShane
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  1. Cllr Connor McConville
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  8. Webcast Finished

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:00:02
Please remain standing for our opening prayers.
Microphone Forty - 0:00:10
Thank you. If you would like to join me in prayer, I would invite you to join in as we say Amen.
For Christians, the season of Lent has traditionally been seen as a time of preparation
and joyful expectation to celebrate the Passion and Resurrection for Christians of Jesus of
The Easter story is ultimately one of triumph, but one that is not without challenge, pain and despair along the way.
As we, as a council, a district and a nation walk a challenging road, I invite you to pray for those who face hardship, but are hopeful for a brighter future.
As the Rainbow Centre celebrates 40 years of its work, we remember all those who depend on its services.
liberate those imprisoned by homelessness, those constrained by financial insecurity,
and those who reliant on food banks and community pantries.
Bless the work of the centre's volunteers and staff,
and give hope and positive change to its service users. Amen.
We hold before God those afraid and anxious about the cost of living,
the impact of tariffs and those uncertain how to afford the higher costs of essential services.
Bring stability, prosperity and generosity to all people in this district. Amen.
As the Napier Barracks has provided a shelter to so many people, we give you thanks, Lord,
for those who have worked to build community there.
Give peace to have called that place a home and help those moving on from it to find a
brighter future for themselves and for the community they will settle in.
Amen.
And we ask you this night to bless all those running or taking part in elections at this
time.
May those who stand be inspired by selflessness and a desire to serve all those they represent.
Give them and those who vote for them a longing to work with those they agree with and those
they don't, all to see a brighter future for everyone in this place. Amen. Thank you.
Thank you. Let's take a seat.
So good evening and welcome to the meeting of four councils.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:02:45
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 to silent mode as they can be distracting.
Please feel free to sit or stand when speaking.
This meeting will not be web class live this evening.
Due to the KCC elections, this meeting will be recorded and made publicly available afterwards.
political statements, references to candidates or the election this evening so that the recording
can be made available at the earliest opportunity. Thank you. Before we start the meeting I would
like to just have a moment of silence for a former Councillor, Councillor Shirley Mayle
who was a Councillor a number of years ago in the Romley Marsh.
Thank you.

1 Apologies for Absence

So item one on our agenda is apologies for absence.
Dr Susan Priest - 0:04:03
Thank you chair and good evening.
Good evening councillors, colleagues and members of the public.
We have no apologies for absence this evening.
Thank you.

2 Declarations of Interest

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:04:13
Thank you and do we have any declarations of interest?
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:04:22
Councillor Tony Hills.
Councillor Tony Hills - 0:04:25
KCC for ending councilor.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:04:27
and Councillor Jackie Meade, KCC again, thank you.

3 Minutes

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:04:33
Item number three is that I should sign the minutes
of the meetings held on the 19th and 25th of February
and the 20th of March as a correct record.
Do we have any comments or amendments
we would like to make?
Councillor Lockwood.
Thank you, Chair.
Cllr Adrian Lockwood - 0:04:52
There was something I spotted on page nine
with respect to the record of what I said at that meeting.
The original wording says it added that it did not sit right with him that the Greens and Conservative members
had handed control of the Council's arrangements to a very busy Government Minister.
If possible could we change that to he added that it did not sit right with him.
I'm pretty relaxed with pronouns but it isn't one of my favourites.
That Green Conservative and Reform UK members handed control to the Government Minister
and then a little bit of pedantry. I think council should have an apostrophe.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:05:48
Thank you. I think we're all open to human errors, so thank you for pointing those out and we'll get those amended.
Are there any other amendments that we'd like to add? So I'll sign all of those now.
Do we need to agree?
Yeah, I agree.
Sorry.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:07:02
Thank you.

4 Chair's Communications

So thank you first of all to those of you who bought food
donation to the Rainbow Center this evening.
It looked like there were a few exciting things out there.
So always appreciated.
As we know, they are currently celebrating their 40th year,
and I'm grateful for all their work supporting our
residents over this time.
Since my last communications, I have attended a number of
events both in and out of our district.
At the end of February, we celebrated 20 years of the
folks in Nepalese community, and we have been able to
At an event at the Burstein, Nepalese community have added so much to our community and I'm
thankful for everything they have done.
I was so proud to attend the Twin Fair in Calais at the start of March on behalf of
the district.
We met the Mayor of Calais and discussed how we can improve links between our countries
and communities.
Celebrated International Women's Day during March.
I attended a lovely event in New Romney with an inspiring speaker, Susie Warren -Smith,
CBEDL who spoke about how we need to accelerate our journey towards equality in the workplace
to ensure that it doesn't take another 130 years to put us on an equal footing.
I would personally like to say thank you to all our fantastic female councillors and female
council officers as you are amazing role models for our younger generation.
I attended two music events, a concert by our fabulous Folkstone Symphony Orchestra
and Kent Young Musicians event in Medway.
In Folkestone I attended a fascinating play
by the Folkestone Performing Arts Company
called The Leech of Folkestone.
This is set in the Romney Marsh
and has folklore, comedy, and supernatural themes.
They are planning to take it on tour later this year,
so please support them if you can.
I was delighted to host our first District Youth Forum.
This was a fantastic event which brought together
nearly 50 young people from all over our district
to question councillors, discuss the environment and green grants, highlight safety issues
in the district and raise other issues which are important to them.
I'm looking forward to them returning later this year.
Thank you to the officers who helped organise and support this, particularly Jo Gage and
the councillors who helped shape the event, Councillor Mike Blakemore and Councillor Stephen
Scoffam.
I was pleased to follow this up in my town council role with a youth forum for the primary
school children in HIVE, based on the same themes we discussed with the senior school
children.
And I was delighted that the young people from Brock Hill helped chair and facilitate
the meeting.
To celebrate the start of spring, I attended a multi -faith event in Maidstone, which celebrated
the many different faiths that make up our communities.
It's so important to understand and respect each other in our beliefs.
And finally, I was delighted to attend the triennial launch on Monday evening.
They announced their theme, How Lies the Land and the artists that will be transforming parts of Folkestone in the summer.
This is always an amazing event and brings a huge amount of tourism to Folkestone, so please make every effort to support it.

5 Petitions

So we'll move on to

6 Questions from the Public

item five, petitions, and we have no petitions so straight on to public questions.
And we have two members of the public who have got questions for us this evening.
So our first question is from Mr P. Orton to Councillor Polly Blakemore.
Would you like to come up?
Yes please.
Microphone Forty - 0:10:32
Thank you.
Good evening.
My question is why are there no signs in Metropolitan Road West that prohibit overnight parking
of campervans?
There are many signs in adjacent roads.
These vans currently park on the lees during the day
and then move to Metricol Road West overnight.
We've experienced rubbish and human waste being deposited into our garden
following campervans staying overnight.
Councillor Blakeman.
Thank you for your question, Mr Orton.
Cllr Polly Blakemore - 0:11:00
I recognise that we do have an issue of parked motor homes in Metricol Road West
and it's a long -standing one.
The issues you have highlighted have as much to do with environmental crime
as they do with parking.
Following previous complaints, the Environmental Crime Team have been monitoring this area
and residents have been asked to log any issues via the Council's website.
So far we have not found evidence of human waste, rubbish deposited on private land and
associated problems but we do continue to control the area.
Permit parking restrictions have indeed recently been introduced in some nearby roads and it
was decided to include an overnight motor caravan ban after receiving several representations
from residents about visitors of motor homes
occupying the limited parking spaces
for several weeks or even months at a time.
If we receive specific reports from the environmental team
that they are unable to address issues
such as long -term parking of motor homes
in Metpol Road West, we will be able to consider
the introduction of new restrictions
as we have done in the roads you mentioned in your question.
To help in this process, I'd be grateful
if you could report any incidents of antisocial behaviour immediately by the Council's online
report it to us as this enables us both to take timely action and to build a picture
of the extent of the problem which could also help support the case for motor home ban.
Thank you and do you have a supplementary relevant question?
Have the Council realised that following the recent changes to parking
Microphone Forty - 0:12:35
restrictions in
Grimston Avenue and Bovee Road West,
which implemented permit parking
and no camper vans overnight.
That many people who use those roads to park
are now using Metropole Road West and East,
making it at times a single track road
with very limited places to pass,
particularly worse on sunny days
when the Lees is very busy.
Cllr Polly Blakemore - 0:12:59
Councilor Greenwell.
That's actually something, it is always an issue
when a new control parking restrictions
that we have a problem of displacement parking.
And we're always out there looking for
what exactly is going on.
And guess you're right, there have been some issues
in that area which we are looking at.
And I think that's a project at the moment
to look at how we can relieve those issues.
So yes, this is, I think, not in the consideration.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:13:25
Thank you.
Microphone Forty - 0:13:26
No, no, no, sorry, that's as far as we can go.
I just wanted to thank.
Oh, okay, thank you.
Can I thank Councillor Gary Fuller,
who since last June has been raising this issue.
Sorry, we're going to have to...
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:13:40
Sorry, we can't ask other questions if we haven't submitted them in advance,
but thank you very much for your time.
I know, I know, I know, but thank you.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:13:57
Okay, so moving on to question two.
We have a question from Mr. R. Button to Councillor Mike Blaipmore.
I don't think he's here this evening, but I'm going to read out the question
so that we can hear the answer because I think it was a useful question to have in our council this evening.
So, do you believe we should be in schools more engaging with students
and encouraging them to speak up more, especially those in primary?
Cllr Mike Blakemore - 0:14:29
Thank you, Chair. It's a long answer, I'm afraid, but as you say, it's an important
subject which you've touched on in your introduction this evening as well. So yes, I believe it's
vital to try and engage young people in local democracy and the issues that affect them
and their communities. If young people have a better idea of how decisions are made on
their behalf, they'll be more likely to speak up and to try and affect change. Democracy
is one of the British values and Ofsted assess schools on the extent to which they are including
British values in their curriculum. Many schools run mock elections and talk about the concept
of democracy so that young people are better informed, but we also have a part to play
as councillors and as a council. That's why soon after I was elected in 2023, I went along
to Brockhill and the Turner School with other councillors to give a presentation explaining
how local government works and how to get involved. This was a cross -party initiative
which we offered to all secondary schools in the district. Several councillors as well
staff have taken part in Turner Talks events, chatting with small groups of students at
the Academy's secondary and primary schools.
As you know, this Council recently held its first Youth Forum meeting with almost 50 young
people aged 13 plus involved in that, having done some good work last year engaging young
people in consultation around the Council's new corporate plan and the regeneration of
Folkestone Town Centre.
We also invited students from Brockhill to design a logo for the District Food Network,
which the council hosts. We also engage with young people through the Year 9 hashtag IUOK
roadshow that covers topics such as safety, online bullying and healthy lifestyles. We
do talks in schools about careers and encouraging young people to register to vote. You specifically
mentioned primary school children and we do engage with them in a targeted way on specific
issues. For example, as part of the consultation for the regeneration of Folkestone Town Centre
in November 2023, we had over 100 school children,
mostly primary aged, attend our event at the courthouse
where they could view plans for the town center
in virtual reality and feedback on designs.
We've involved primary school children in the design
of a play area in Boveri Place,
particularly those children with access needs.
A year ago, Councillor Scoffram, the cabinet member
for Climate, Environmental, and Biodiversity,
welcomed 23 young people aged between seven and 10
to the council chamber to pilot a school sustainability project, where the then chair of the council
gave an insight into what full council meetings are like.
Last year we also ran a focus group for children aged 7 to 11 in order to gather their ideas
for the future of the district that fed into our corporate plan.
Councillor Scoffram and I are currently involved in a primary school competition with the Community
Rail Partnership aimed at getting drivers to switch off their engines while waiting
at train stations.
It's an important issue, but we were asked to be mindful of the children's climate anxiety,
a reminder that we must be guided by teaching staff as to what is age appropriate as well
as what can be accommodated in school schedules.
We also support Year 6 students via our Safety in Action Roadshow.
That's mostly about telling them about how to stay safe, but we do hear from them about
their safety concerns.
Some town councils are also doing great engagement work with primary school -aged children.
For example, Hythtown Council ran an event involving multiple Hyth primary schools to
hear the views of young people, and that's expected to happen again.
I think our focus will naturally be with older students, including by the youth forum, but
you're right to highlight the importance of engaging those at primary school too.
We'd love to do more, but as with all of our work, we're limited by the budget and the
resource we have available.
So at a district council level, our engagement with primary school aged children is targeted
to specific issues, whilst with teenagers it tends to be broader.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:18:15
Thank you for that answer.
So we'll make sure that Mr. Button gets his response via email.
Just so that you know, he was KCC youth councillor and he had also attended our youth forum.
So really nice that he's trying to engage with our council.
Really pleased with that.

7 Questions from Councillors

Okay, so we'll move on to councillor questions.
We only have four questions this evening.
So I think we'll make it within our 45 minute time limit.
So the first question this evening, just find it,
is from Councillor Chapman to Councillor Mike Blatemore.
Thank you.
Cllr Bridget Chapman - 0:19:00
We recently learned that Napier Barracks in Shorncliffe
is going to be closed in September this year.
Before it opened as asylum accommodation centre, it had lain derelict for many years as it
was no longer fit for purpose as army barracks.
Do you agree that this military site was never a suitable place to accommodate vulnerable
and often severely traumatised people and that the closure is therefore good news?
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:19:23
Councillor Mike Laitmore.
Cllr Mike Blakemore - 0:19:28
Thank you for your question, Councillor Chapman.
You're right, it was very far from ideal to begin with when the barracks first opened.
It was the first of its kind anywhere in the UK and it did take new partnerships to be
developed and working practices to be established on site to enable residents to be fully supported.
The excellent partnership working with statutory partners, voluntary sector organisations with
the managing organisation Clear Springs to develop the site over time with all of the
excellent facilities now available, a bespoke gym, wellbeing rooms, education classes, garden
projects, picnic benches and volunteering opportunities which have been taken up with
enthusiasm and are something all in the community value. These and the other indoor and outdoor
facilities have enabled the site to become what it is today. The close working relationships
and listening to service users enabled an agreement to be reached where no service user
stayed there for more than 90 days. This was one of the biggest concerns of service users
when they first arrived. None of this could happen overnight and it took time for these
services to be established, so much so that the partnership working is considered some
of the best of its kind nationally, with other sites visiting and learning from the work
carried out at the barracks to support its service users.
Community engagement activity and reassurance work also helped alleviate tensions over time.
Listing and working with service users has been critical.
Catering issues were resolved and the site rarely sees problems now.
The addition of a prescribing nurse and regular visits by dent aid on site also ensures the
service users is prioritized.
The closure of Napier Barracks has
always been part of the plan to hand
over the site back to the MAD and
release it to Taylor Wimpey who will
develop the site for much needed homes.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:21:09
Do you have a related
supplementary question?
I I do. I believe that public money
Cllr Bridget Chapman - 0:21:16
should do public goods so it's immoral
to spend money traumatizing vulnerable
people on the military site when money
should be provided providing for their needs.
In that vein, I was very pleased to see that this council has acquired 26 homes at Sutherland
Park in Hives.
Now that Land at Napier Barracks is finally to be developed for housing, can we look at
possibly working with your colleagues responsible for housing to look at acquiring some of the
so that public money can finally do some public good on that site.
Councillor Dayton.
Cllr Mike Blakemore - 0:22:00
Yes, as you know, we are already providing some affordable homes as part of the Shaulcliffe
development and our aim is to provide them, as you mentioned, in Hyde and across the district,
but I can certainly take that back and see whether it's possible to look at that.
Thank you.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:22:11
Thank you.
So we'll move on to question two from Mrs Jenny Hollingsby to Councillor Jim Martin.
Thank you, Chair.
The Limington Community Hub proposed community interest company has submitted a draft proposal
to cabinet members and ward councillors for the retention of Everest Court as a community
facility.
They have asked for a meeting with the leader to consider this proposal.
Will the leader be meeting representatives of the group in order to explore more fully
this proposal?
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:22:45
Thank you.
Councillor Jim Massim.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:22:48
Thank you, Chair, and do excuse my back, Councillor Hollingsby.
I'll do the best I can.
So thank you for your question, Councillor Hollingsby.
I know as the ward councillor this is a matter that you have taken a very real interest in.
I am happy to confirm that I have received the draft proposals to which you refer that
seeks to use Everest Corp as a community facility.
I've also met with the portfolio holder for housing
and homelessness and senior members of the housing team
to discuss the draft proposals and the team's plan
for the building.
So I now am also well aware of all of the issues.
With regard to meeting the representatives of the group,
I have arranged to meet the group with our local MP,
Sojean Joseph, who is also taking a very real interest
in the building's future.
We have agreed to meet the group on the 9th of May in Liming after initial surveys of
the building have been carried out.
I have had my regular meeting with Sojian and we have discussed the building, but we
will attend the meeting with an open mind.
And we both encourage individuals and groups within our community to engage with us to
help us develop and provide community facilities.
As no doubt everyone will be aware,
Age UK surrendered their lease as of the 31st of March
this year due to their Limage facility
being financially unviable.
Everest Corp is owned by the Housing Revenue Account,
therefore it is a housing asset.
It is not owned by the council's general fund.
Officers took a report to the corporate leadership team to seek authority to agree to the early
lease surrender on the basis that the building could be turned back into much needed affordable
homes designated for older people in our district.
As a housing asset, the portfolio holder for housing and homelessness and senior members
of the housing team must consider what is in the best interests of the HRA when decisions
are made regarding the future of its assets.
In this instance, we believe that turning the building back into affordable flats for
older people is in the best interest of the HRA and I am supportive of this course of
action.
Officers will be surveying the building and bringing forward plans in due course, which
is likely to lead to a planning application later this year.
As with all planning applications, consultation will be carried out.
If for any reason the building cannot be reconverted back into suitable affordable accommodation,
then of course officers will consider alternative uses for the building.
As I know you are aware, as the ward councillor,
there are several community buildings in village
that would be well suited to the types of use proposed by the group.
The Tain Centre, the Methodist Church, the Scout Hut and the Village Hall
all have potential with varying degrees of capacity
and other facilities such as parking,
Whereas the parking at Everest Court is very limited.
Can I just quickly mention the work of Sojourn Joseph as I go.
The work he's done on Everest Court in Limage is just one of the projects that he is actively involved with.
I always find his interest, common sense and humanity extremely helpful in resolving sometimes complex issues.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:26:51
Thank you, and do you have a related question?
Yes, please.
So, can I assume that in fact a decision has already made on the building
and that it will be converted back to housing,
and can that be relayed sooner rather than later to the community group, please?
Councillor Martin?
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:27:13
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:27:15
The decision with regard to the HRA is, shall we say,
a very strong recommendation to me.
But I will be going to that meeting with the group
with an open mind.
However, I have to say that we are in the middle
of an extreme housing crisis.
We desperately need affordable housing.
and in particular these flats are designated
for older people and there is a real crisis
that rarely gets reported of older people
in housing crisis.
So to be honest I will need a very, very convincing argument
that there is a better use for that building,
particularly when there are alternative spaces
available within Limage.
But I do go with an open mind.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:28:09
Thank you. Our third question this evening is from Councillor Keene to Councillor Holgate.
Cllr Nicola Keen - 0:28:18
Thank you, Chair. In the Cabinet Member's Update Report published on the 25th of March
2025, Councillor Rich Holgate's update on the focus on brighter future states, Jackson
Civil Engineering has been awarded the contract to deliver the transformation scheme which
which work begins on Monday 7th April and due to be completed in summer 2026.
However, I have checked the contracts register on 26th March 2025 and I was unable to find
an entry in either tabs for Jackson Civil Engineering.
Given that Jackson Civil Engineering is scheduled to begin work on the contract focusing on
the brighter future on 7th April, how is it possible that on 25th March the date the cabinet
member report was published and following a review of the contracts register on 26 March
the company does not appear on the register and no details have been made publicly available
regarding the contract's scope or value. Can the cabinet member explain how such a
substantial contract appears to have bypassed the standard principles of transparency and
accountability once again raising serious concerns about the Council's internal controls
in the oversight of procurement processes.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:29:35
Councilor Holgate.
Good evening.
Thank you, Councilor King, for your question.
Cllr Rich Holgate - 0:29:40
KCC is our delivery partner and highway authority,
oversaw the extensive procurement exercise
and awarded the contract, as you mentioned,
to Jackson Civil Engineering, formally,
on the 10th of January, 2025.
Following the contract award,
the contractor then reviews and signs the contract.
This process is now taking place
and due for stealing on Wednesday, the 2nd of April.
and it is at that point it goes to the contract register.
So I think what we're looking at is a contract being awarded
and only when the contract's signed
will it then go onto the register,
which is where perhaps the timeline looks confusing.
But the whole process has followed
correct contract procedures,
and we now look forward to that contract
starting on site on September 8th.
Thank you, do you have a related question?
No, no I don't.
Cllr Nicola Keen - 0:30:24
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:30:24
Okay, so we'll move on to question four from Councillor Keane
Cllr Nicola Keen - 0:30:27
and this time to Councillor Tim Prater.
Since the Greens took control of the council in May 2023, the councillors borrowed £28
million from the Public Works Loan Board.
Would the leader explain in detail what the borrowing has been used for, how much has
been spent and the total interest in pounds we will pay on each of these loans?
Councillor Tim Pater.
Cllr Tim Prater - 0:30:56
I'll have to decline the offer for the promotion. So I'm afraid the Deputy Leader will take
this. Broadly, there's a missing line to your reading of the borrowing reports. Yes, £28
million worth of new PWLB borrowing has been taken, which replaced £23 million worth of
existing PWLB borrowing plus 2 .5 million of other lenders borrowing plus 2 .5 million of
new borrowing. I will now give you that response in much more detail.
The Treasury Management Strategy is approved each year by Council alongside the revenue
and capital budgets. That was most recently at our last meeting on 26 February where it
was the Treasury Management Strategy which was at Appendix 7 of the Budget which we discussed
and detailed our borrowings at that moment in full.
The Council use Arling Close as our Treasury Management Advisors
and they support our financing strategy as part of the capital programme
and Treasury Management Strategy.
Based on their advice, our portfolio is a mixture of short and long -term debt
and it's split between PWLB borrowing, local authority borrowing
and internal borrowing.
This financing strategy has been in place for some time
and as loans mature, it's quite normal for these loans to be renewed,
referred to as refinancing.
So on the 31st of March 2023, just before the last elections of this council, the council
had a total debt of £106 .7 million, of which £15 .5 million has been refinanced for the
housing revenue account and £10 million for the general fund account.
That totals £25 .5 million.
An additional £2 .5 million of borrowing has been taken to finance new HRA capital expenditure
which will be paid towards agreed new council housing purchases as they come forward.
So that gives a total of £28 million borrowing from the PWLB.
So as of 28 February 2025, the council's total debt is £109 .2 million,
which is £2 .5 million higher than two years ago,
due to that additional borrowing for the HRA.
The new PWLB borrowing is almost entirely, therefore,
replacing existing maturing debts from both the PWLB and other lenders on
expiry of the existing loans. PWLB debt is higher than it was, our debt to other
lenders is lower than it was. So these loans were taken out over various
maturity dates ranging from one year to 13 years in line with Island Close's advice.
The total interest across all of those loans is expected to be paid is 5 .4
over the duration of these loans,
but we were of course paying interest
on the loans previous to refinancing
those loans will be today.
Hope that helps.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:33:42
Do you have a related question?
Cllr Nicola Keen - 0:33:47
Thank you, that's very detailed answer.

8 Announcements of the Leader of the Council

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:33:48
OK, so we're going to move on to item
eight of our agenda and that's the
announcements of the leader of the Council.
So we'll have 10 minutes allowed for our
leader and then five minutes allowed
for each opposition response. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Chair.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:34:05
Good evening, Councillors.
The recent good weather has given me the inclination to change the format of my leaders' announcements
this month.
Rather than set out what I have been doing, I thought it might be interesting to see what
we together as a Council have achieved in recent months.
I hope it goes without saying that as usual I will be attending meetings with parish councils,
other organisations, developers, consultants, individuals and business in our wonderful
district and I'll continue to do that regardless.
So firstly I want to thank every councillor for participating so willingly in discussions
surrounding local government reorganisation.
Very few councils held public meetings, council meetings and cabinet meetings to discuss but
we did.
I was struck during those meetings of the prevailing intention of members to find the
best solution for the people they represent.
This reflects the cooperation and consensus I have witnessed since becoming leader.
I thank everyone in this chamber for their open -minded approach, time and commitment.
The submission is now with the government and I attended a webinar with Jim McMahon,
the minister responsible, he thanked me personally, along with the other 137 people on the call,
and he asked me to pass on his thanks to you as individuals.
We will receive some feedback shortly, then along with our Kent colleagues, we will begin
the process of submitting our final proposal in November.
I am absolutely delighted to confirm the collaboration agreement with Homes England has been signed
by ourselves and Homes England.
The agreement runs from the 1st February 2025 for six months with the possibility of a three
month extension if the parties agree.
The agreement means that Homes England will pay us £1 .56 million as a contribution to
our historic planning costs and a 50 % share of the relevant
Otipool costs in 25 -26 incurred through the collaboration
agreement period.
Councillors will of course recall that the chief executive
and I were instructed by the council to seek a strategic
partner for Otipool to work alongside us.
The purpose of the collaboration agreement is to become strategic partners with Homes
England in preparing a public sector funding case and work together in delivering a landscape
led garden town.
As we conclude our financial year, I just want to highlight our great achievement in
agreeing a balanced budget together with settled accounts
from previous years.
There has been an enormous amount of work
which has taken place to get the council into this position.
Councillors will know that many districts
and borough councils across the country are struggling.
And I think our enviable position is a great testament
to the quality of our council team, its leadership,
but also the cooperation and consensus in this chamber.
I would like to thank the members of both
overview and scrutiny and audit and governance
for their hard work and oversight
in what has been a significant improvement in our position.
It gives me great pleasure to announce
that our officers recently made two very successful bids.
for which we have received £327 ,146 from the Shared Prosperity Fund
and £171 ,402 from the Rural Prosperity Fund for projects in the district.
Well done again to our fantastic team.
As councillors know, I was delighted to attend the youth forum in this chamber.
This initiative was proposed and supported by many councillors, organised by our chair,
Councillor Jones, delivered by our hard working team.
I was even more delighted to have our youth forum meeting reported in the Local Government
Association magazine where we were congratulated for involving young people in the democratic
process.
I know our chair has already made plans to build on her achievements in bringing young
people into the process of government and she has my unequivocal support in that aim.
I cannot speak highly enough of our new corporate plan.
Again, I congratulate both the members who gave their time, experience and expertise
in the corporate plan working group and the officers who worked so hard to make sense
of our collective ideas.
I am certain that our corporate plan will be adopted as a template for the future of
corporate plans as we move into a new unitary.
I am also very pleased to announce that the work on Folkestone, a brighter future, is
set to commence.
I am confident that the works, having gone through extensive consultation, will lead
to the regeneration of the town centre in Folkestone and again I am grateful for the
work of many members in this chamber for delivering that.
While I am on the regeneration of the centre of Folkestone theme, I am happy to announce
that our brilliant team have secured funding for a heat pump heating system in Foulker
2 in the sum of £1 .44 million.
This is great news for the project overall but it will also greatly help in the council's
long -held ambition to become net zero.
I have further good news for Folkestone.
I was told yesterday evening that the administrator has confirmed receipt of the deposit paid
by the sports trust for the sale of Folkestone Sports Centre.
The sale should be completed in the next few days.
This is very good news for everyone who has worked so hard into keeping the swimming pool
open.
Our Green Community Grants Programme has opened and incidentally I understand there have been
50 expressions of interest already.
All community groups, town and parish councils will be encouraged to apply for grants to,
for example, improve the performance of their buildings,
saving energy, carbon and money.
The grants will also help local businesses,
charities, community groups, parish and town councils
to increase their climate resilience,
enhance green spaces and support local wildlife.
I am grateful to all members and staff
for making this happen.
While I am listing achievements,
I cannot miss our fantastic council house program.
When we first met in May 2023,
we agreed a build target of 80 council homes,
20 to be constructed per year.
I am overjoyed to report our current pipeline
will deliver 99 affordable council homes
over the next 24 months,
with another 77 affordable homes being delivered
by Orbit Housing Association on our site
at Bigginswood in the same period.
And on a personal note, this includes 27 council homes
in Hyde, that's been many, many years
since that number of council homes were built in Hyde.
There are too many factors to list
that has led to this growth,
but ultimately it is due to our portfolio holder
and team who make themselves available to developers
and are open and engaged in solving problems
in housing delivery.
Again, well done team.
Finally, just a word of thanks and reflection.
We have agreed a two year pay agreement
with staff and their unions.
I mention this because I am sure councillors
will be aware of other councils elsewhere who are unable to agree similar arrangements
and are being torn apart in the consequential conflict that inevitably follows.
My thanks naturally go to our personnel committee who led the negotiations, but mainly my thanks
and the thanks of all of the residents of Poulton and Hyde District must go to our fabulous
staff.
This is not an easy time for people making their careers in local government.
With central government austerity seemingly set to continue and coupled with the uncertainty
of local government reorganisation, our staff have, as they always do, acted professionally
and put the council first.
I hope members have realised this list of achievements is not aligned with any specific
member or political party. Indeed, I have come to believe that politically our finely
balanced chamber has promoted cooperation through the simple consensus of doing the
best for the communities we represent. This is the consensus that binds us together and
allows us to achieve great things together. Thank you so much.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:44:29
Thank you Councillor Martin. So we've got our first opposition response from Councillor
Lockwood.
Cllr Adrian Lockwood - 0:44:40
Thank you Chair and thank you Jim for that update, comprehensive and I think we can all
probably a lot has been done in two years and if I just echo some positive words about
surgeon Joseph the Ashford MP who said earlier, I totally agree with that and if a decision
is made to turn Everest Corp into social housing we would support that as well if that decision
is taken.
I appreciate the way we have been able to work together with things like the corporate plan
and it's been nice that issues that we and other parties have brought to the table have been taken on board
and have largely been accepted and included and that helps us to keep things like opposition business down
because they are sort of baked into the plan and I'd like to thank my colleague,
Councillor Davidson for her work on that as well.
Good news for Ossipool Park, that sounds like we can play a part in the national push
to build many many new homes across the country we can play a role in that hopefully without
wanting to sound too political.
But that's very good news.
I think as well with respect to local government reorganisation it is healthy that we've met
as a full council and there weren't very many other councils that had full council meetings
I think it was mostly cabinet meetings that took place
and I struggled to find any other council that held a public meeting
so I've been an outlier on that as far as I know
and that's welcome to see as well
Good to see lots of different types of funding coming in, prosperity funding, green funding, funding for FOLKA, it would be nice to see that project.
Spades in the ground on that at some point would be good.
I was only able to be at the start of the Young People's session that we had here and it was amazing to see so many young people in this chamber.
I'm sorry I couldn't stay because it may have been common sense prevailed for that morning in the chamber.
And I just came actually from Turners Got Talent this afternoon, the prize they give
there for their students performing. And you know, there's a lot of talent in our young
people here and we should continue to support them, whether it's with politics or just generally
in life, we should do that.
Excellent news on the Sports Centre. I'd like to thank all the people involved in the group that set up Save folks in the Sports Centre.
I think they played a role in that. And this Council has had a role in that.
And hopefully we'll get us people back soon. That will be good for my blood pressure if nothing else.
I would just take issue with a point that was made about government austerity.
I'm not aware that there is any government austerity at the moment officially, so I would query that.
And just generally on working together as a council I think it's really important.
and I'd like to thank Jim for making that point at the end.
It is a finely balanced chamber,
we do disagree on things,
but just that list of achievements there
shows what working together can do.
Thank you.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:49:07
Thank you, and our second opposition response
is from Mrs. Hollingsby.
Councillor, Mrs. Hollingsby, sorry.
Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Leader,
for a very comprehensive report.
I'd just like to go through a few things.
I think working together, that's been great.
There have been times when perhaps we disagreed,
and I'd perhaps go to the corporate plan.
Not that I've disagreed on anything,
but I still cannot get nuclear at Dungeness actually included
in the corporate plan.
And I still think that's important.
And as I've said in this chamber on numerous occasions,
In fact, the Labour government support it,
so I'm just wondering why we can't get it included.
The local government and the organisation,
I think the meetings that we've had have been great
and it's really good that we've been part of this submission
to government and we await the feedback.
On the Otterfall Park collaboration agreement,
I'm absolutely delighted.
Of course I would say that.
As the only political group, if I may say,
who voted for Labour, who voted for Otterfield.
What?
Who voted for Otterfield.
The Labour group and the Green group.
In fact, the Conservative group were the only group
who voted for Otterfield.
And it's great to come every time
and hear how everybody is so supportive of articles.
And I can say that I really welcome that.
It will be good to know the end of six months, what's actually,
I mean, presumably we're going to have reports
as things move on.
And it'd be interesting to see who we actually sort of tie up
with, if you like, as a main developer,
or perhaps even another strategic partner.
Because I think from what I understand and what I read,
the door is open.
I welcome the contribution, which is something
that my administration wanted for,
and they have been having conversations with Homes
England for a long time.
For their contribution, as 10 % of their land
belongs to Homes England, they should make that contribution.
And I welcome that.
And thank you very much.
The balance budget or the sign -up of all the budgets is great.
There were a number of issues that had to be dealt with,
a number of questions raised by the general public
that took a long time to answer.
I know the auditors were very short -staffed.
So I welcome that.
On young people, of course, I'm very keen on young people.
I mean, when I was the permanent member of Communities,
I introduced an award for, community award
for all the secondary schools in the area,
and I hope that's being kept up.
I'm not sure about that, but I'd be interested
in talking or making sure that that is being maintained.
And in the early days of Otterpool, of course,
we went into schools to talk about Otterpool,
to get their views, but because of the constant delays,
we weren't able to keep up that momentum.
So, and I'm really pleased obviously that that is continuing.
I mentioned the corporate plan,
folks in the brighter future of course.
Again, great to see some of our plans
from the previous administration coming forward and being enacted.
Great and I wish it well
and I hope it progresses as we want it to.
Decarbonisation, that's great to have that kind of money coming forward.
Something again that we certainly welcome.
I need to turn over the page.
Prosperity fund and rural prosperity fund, great news, well done to officers.
Really pleased about that because it really does help organisations within the district.
and to hear that 50 organizations already have made an application,
I just wonder how many might be unsuccessful.
What have I missed out?
Oh, that was a green.
Fosun Sports Centre, of course.
Very good news.
Really hoping to see an announcement shortly.
and I'm sure people in the district will be very,
very pleased that that's happening.
Council House program again,
part of the planning system involves 15 %
of affordable housing at least on all developments
over 15 units I think,
and so great to see those coming forward now,
and I look forward to seeing the Biggenswood ones
as well when they come forward.
Yes, on the two year agreement, very good.
I'm really hoping that it will last,
but in this austerity that we are seeing.
Can we just finish please,
because we're out of time, sorry.
We're running out of time, oh dear,
I'm always doing that.
Thank you very much, thank you.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:54:43
Thank you, and Councillor Jim Martin,
you have the right of reply.
You have five minutes.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:54:49
Thank you very much.
Everything that I reported on is a snapshot.
We're constantly working on these.
I'm happy to update as we go,
but I'm delighted with the warm responses I've had
from both Adrian and Jenny.
and I genuinely think that we always achieve more
if we work together. Thank you.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:55:22
Thank you. So we need a proposer and a seconder.
So Councillor Proach to propose and Councillor Martin to second.
Are we all agreed?
Very agreed.
Thank you.

9 Portfolio Holder reports to Council

So item nine in our agenda is the Portfolio Holder Reports.
Again, really thorough and thank you to all of our portfolio holders
for all your hard work.
It's amazing to see how much you're getting out into the community and getting lots of
useful things done.
So thank you again.
I hope everybody's had time to read those.
And item 10, we have no opposition business.

10 Opposition Business

11 Motions on Notice

Item 11, we have no motions on notice.

12 Customer Feedback And Corporate Complaints Policy Review

So we'll move on to item 12, which is the customer feedback and corporate complaints
policy review.
So do we have a proposer?
Cllr Gary Fuller - 0:56:08
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:56:09
Cllr Gary Fuller - 0:56:10
Councillor Fuller, would you like to speak on this?
Yeah, just briefly.
Hi, so this has come about as a result of various changes over time.
So the policy itself was last updated in May 2021.
Since then, the housing ombudsman and the local government and social care ombudsman,
which are the two ombudsman that effectively we are responsible to on this,
launched the joint code for consultation in 2023.
Since then, the Housing Ombudsman has released a statutory code that we have to follow,
so a complaint handling code, and that was in April 2024.
The local government and social care Ombudsman have also released a code
that basically aligns with the Housing Ombudsman's code,
which they're going to be monitoring from April 2026.
The long and short of it is that what that means is that our current policy,
which at stage 1 if you are making a housing complaint, you get a written response within 10 working days,
but if it was a complaint that wasn't a housing complaint it would be 20 working days,
effectively the change to this policy will make it 10 working days across the board.
As well as that there are a few other changes and tweaks that are being made
as a result of our first submission to the Housing Ombudsman, he says,
that basically bring us completely in line with that particular code.
And you'll see in the appendices there's various examples of the letters we would send
and how the complex process works, basically.
The reason we are doing this now, rather than when it's required in April 2026,
is in order to allow it to bed in, basically,
to learn any lessons we need to learn
and make sure it's fit for purpose by then.
I'll take any questions.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:58:19
Thank you. Do you have a seconder?
Councillor Tim Proater.
and we are now open for debate.
Do we have anybody who would like to speak on this?
Councillor Rebecca Shub.
Cllr Rebecca Shoob - 0:58:31
Thank you.
Just wanted to extend my thanks and acknowledge the input of the Strategic Tenants Advisory
Panel that was made through their scrutiny panel.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:58:44
Thank you.
Councillor Thomas.
Cllr Paul Thomas - 0:58:47
Thank you, Chair.
Just under section 12, performance reporting,
if you look at the flow chart,
it says for both stage one and stage two
that the complaints will be responded to
within the timescales that Councilor Fuller's identified.
But it also adds, in both of them it says,
without good reason, and the reason
should be clearly explained to the residents.
I just wonder, are the reasons for those extensions going to be included in the performance reporting,
which is identified in 12 .1a of the policy?
It says an annual self -assessment.
So I just wonder, are we going to be saying why we're not answering responses within that
timeframe?
That's all, thank you.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:59:40
Do you have an answer?
Cllr Gary Fuller - 0:59:43
Only to say I think that sounds eminently reasonable
and I have two officers nodding frenetically at me
to suggest that they'd already thought of it and they're going to do it.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:59:53
Thank you. Councillor, Mrs Hollingsby.
Just as I was about to speak, my screen went blank.
My internet disappeared for a moment, so I haven't got it up yet.
I was just going to say I welcome this report
and I welcome the two new risks, or the main risks are actually added.
We want the risk management report next.
Oh, sorry, am I jumping the gun?
Oh, I do apologise.
That's because of the internet going down.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:00:25
Okay, so we're still on item 12,
which is the customer feedback and corporate complaints policy.
Councillor Jackie Meade.
Cllr Jackie Meade - 1:00:37
Thank you, Chair. I'd just like to say I totally support this.
any shortening of the amount of time to actually come back
because quite often a resident won't make a complaint
unless it's really got to a point where, you know,
they're banging their head against a wall.
So the shorter time, absolutely,
and I look forward to the day that we can make it
five working days, e .g. one week.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:01:03
And if nobody else wants to speak on this,
are we all agreed?

13 Risk Management Policy and Strategy

So we'll move on to item 13, the risk management policy and strategy. Do we have a proposer?
Councillor Tim Proter.
Cllr Tim Prater - 1:01:19
Thank you. Now the item that you can't wait for, or certainly Councillor Hollingsby couldn't
wait for. The risk management policy and strategy is regularly reviewed and I'd like to thank
Jonathan and the team for their excellent work on this review and the extensive process
that we've been through on this.
Those people in this chamber who've got a significant feeling of deja vu on having seen
this before, that's probably because you have.
So audit and screw it out, audit and governance have seen it twice in two formats and cabinet
saw it last week and each have offered feedback and that's been, audit and governance have
taken that feedback and has helped shape the review of the policy and strategy.
the document list under 2 .2 and 2 .3,
what those revisions are.
I don't think that there's anything in there you'd call revolution.
I think it's an evolution of the strategy and the policy which is there.
And also the risk register is included here as well.
The reason it's important council sees this on a regular basis is that we should all be
aware of that.
and sometimes councillors miss papers which go to cabinet or indeed audit and governance
and we couldn't take that risk.
So we wanted to make sure it was on this agenda so it was in front of all councillors so that
they could see those items.
I don't think there is anything of huge surprise in the risk register which is there.
Cyber threat is our key issue.
It's the key issue of many organisations across the country,
discussing is both very likely to cause disruption to what we do
and that disruption could be really bad depending on the item of risk.
But we have as many mitigations in place as we can,
or as we can afford, I suppose, like any organisation,
to mitigate that risk as much as possible.
I'll come back at the end if there are any questions.
I hope somebody will second the report
and I'll ask you to support it.
Thank you.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:03:30
Cllr Gary Fuller - 1:03:31
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:03:33
So, Councillor Fuller is happy to second.
And it's now open for debate.
Councillor, Mrs Jenny Hollingsby.
Thank you.
I was reading ahead of myself, obviously,
and I just wanted to prove that I have been reading it,
I think it's really good that it's come in front of the cabinet for council.
As I was saying, I do welcome the two new risks
and I think they're obviously very important ones.
I was also just going to say that on a very minor scale, I suppose,
I think I was one of the people that was tested at one point
with an email coming through saying...
I didn't look at it and it just goes to show you,
I didn't look at it.
I thought, just confirming your contact details,
seeing that it was from the council, I just clicked on,
and then obviously got a message saying,
you know, this is not right.
So that taught me a lesson, and I'm really hoping
that it teaches other people a lesson,
but it just shows, you know, having been a councillor
for so long, that I didn't even look to see
that it was actually from Fergs and Dunhive.
So I think that would just be a warning.
Well done to officers for preparing this report.
I just finished off my sentence before.
Thank you to the officers who have done all the reports and for the pay award really as
well.
Thank you very much indeed.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:05:07
Councillor Liz McShane.
Cllr Liz McShane - 1:05:14
It's really just a comment on the formatting and the presentation of the risk register.
Just as the Audits and Governors Committee,
we really love the dashboard presentation for a lot of information.
It's very dense to get through and make light and make sense of
in a very quick way.
It's really helped a massive amount
and it's really just to say thanks again in this forum
to Jonathan and his team.
Councillor Butcher.
Cllr James Butcher - 1:05:41
Yes, I really echo what Councillor McShane says there
And it's really good to see such a comprehensive approach to risk.
And it's really just a small point about section 12, where it's got the operational risk register.
The other ones like partnership and project risk register show an escalation where necessary
to the corporate risk register.
The operational risk register there doesn't, but I think there's some reference in 10 .3
where there's an escalation.
I just wonder if there's a bit of clarifying to do there
about operational risk and when they need escalating.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:06:19
Thank you, and Councillor Scothen.
Cllr Stephen Scoffham - 1:06:25
Just to say, I don't actually welcome
the inclusion of climate change in risk register
in the sense that climate change is not to be welcomed,
but seeing it there is really important.
I think, Councillor Martin,
you were mentioning the wonderful weather.
I've never known so much sunshine.
I heard this morning that it was the sunniest march
since records began 110 years ago, something like that.
This is unusual.
We are witnessing a lot of people talking about climate breakdown
rather than climate change.
So seeing it in the register, really important,
a really tricky one to quantify
and it spreads over all sorts of different areas.
I was involved in a correspondence earlier today talking about potholes.
as perhaps many of us have been on the doorsteps,
were potholes and climate change.
Actually, there's a link.
There's a link between potholes and climate change
and trees which blow over in the wind.
We've lost a lot of trees recently.
That's climate change.
There's the immigration, the refugees coming across the Channel.
So they are partly climate change refugees.
There's a whole range of links.
Gresham trees falling over and potholes.
If that was a quiz question and I said to you what links them together,
I don't have to regret it.
But that's what this register's got to cope with.
It's a really difficult one
and I really welcome the addition of climate change in the register.
I just comment on the carbon neutral target 20 %
Golly, that's a hard one. We're not getting there.
But then nobody else can either.
It's great that it's there.
We're working at it in lots of different ways.
I could elaborate on that if we wanted to, but let's just note that we're doing an awful
lot as if you reflect on all the things which we've been talking about just now from insulation
of houses to the green grants.
These are all different approaches to that very, very difficult target.
So I think I'll leave that there.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:08:34
Did anybody else want to speak?
Are we all happy?
Oh, Councillor Proter.
Cllr Tim Prater - 1:08:40
Just going to quickly come back and thank
Councilor Butcher for his point.
Again, there was nodding behind you
from Jonathan, so I think I'll have
to take it offline if that's OK and
discuss how those operational risks
are dealt with by CGB and how they
are escalated, but I'm sure that
Jonathan will be pretty happy with that.
Thank other people for their comments.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:09:03
Thank you and are we all happy to agree this?

14 Extension of the Term of office of Independent Member of the Audit and Governance Committee

Thank you and we'll move on to item 14,
the extension of the term of office of independent member of the audit and
government committee. So do we have a proposal? Councillor McShane, would you like to
Cllr Liz McShane - 1:09:24
speak on this? Yeah just a few words. I think it's, I can happily say on behalf
of the NG Committee that we're delighted that Andy Van Buren has agreed to extend
in this term, you know, there's expertise,
knowledge and advice is invaluable.
And it helps guide and inform the questions
we ask in the committee.
And I think it maximises our impact,
so it's really great news.
Thank you, and do we have a seconder?
Councillor Butcher.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:09:46
And this is now open for debate.
Councillor Lockwood.
Thank you, Chair.
Cllr Adrian Lockwood - 1:09:53
I'd just like to echo what Councillor McShane said,
but also about the dashboard on the risk register,
because that's pretty idiot proof.
So that's really good for me.
But yeah, the contribution we get
from our independent advisor on that committee
is invaluable.
I find it really helpful.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Would anybody else like to speak?
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:10:15
Are we all happy to agree this?
Thank you.

15 Appointment of Chief Finance Officer (S151 officer)

So we'll move on to item 15,
the appointment of Chief Finance Officer, S151 Officer.
Do we have a proposal?
Councillor McConville, would you like to speak on this?
Cllr Connor McConville - 1:10:32
Not really to speak, but just to formally welcome Alan to the senior leadership team.
I spoke briefly about Alan when we met to discuss a pay package, but obviously couldn't
release any details.
But just to say that Alan came across very well during the interview, and it was great
to hear that he really has quite a lot of enthusiasm for our local area, which was a
big sort of part of our decision to bring him to this council.
And I'm sure he'll be a valuable asset.
So welcome, Alan.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:11:09
And who would like to second that?
Councillor Holgate.
And it's now open for debate.
If there's a Councillor Prater.
Cllr Tim Prater - 1:11:20
I just want to endorse this and tell you, Anna, that I'm right behind you.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:11:25
Councillor Hollingsby.
Yes, I too would like to welcome Alan as the Chief Finance Officer.
I'm wishing every success in his career here.
He has a lot to offer and I'm sure we will make use of his expertise.
Thank you.
Councillor Keene.
Cllr Nicola Keen - 1:11:45
I think he was the best choice, definitely.
I'm really pleased you're here, Alan.
I was pleased when I saw you the first time,
because I thought you were here already.
So that made my day so welcome
and I hope you enjoy your time with folks.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:12:00
Thank you, and are we all happy to agree this?
We agree.

16 Pay Policy Statement 2025/26

Good. So we'll move on to item 16, the Pay Policy Statement 2025 -26.
Cllr Connor McConville - 1:12:10
And do we have a proposer? Councillor McConville.
Thank you very much.
The Pay Policy Statements are largely the same as ones we've endorsed in the past.
There is a small change.
So you might remember, we just mentioned it, we had a brief meeting to agree the pay package
for the new director because the old statement said that any package over 100 ,000 needed
to be agreed by Council.
When that policy was in place, the starting salary for a director was in the 90 ,000,
so we could take on a director at the lowest pay scale without having to meet as a council.
So all we're changing in the current statement is rather than put a monetary amount in, we're
saying that if we hire a director, any pay point higher than the starting pay point,
we would need as a council to agree that pay package.
But if they start on the lowest pay point,
then we would just receive,
there would be a report to note at a further meeting,
we wouldn't need to call an emergency meeting
to get everyone in for one 10 -minute item of business.
And that's the major change.
But the track changes for the whole policy
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:13:34
are obviously attached in the papers.
Thank you. And do we have a seconder?
Councillor Holgate.
And would anybody like to speak on this?
So are we all agreed?
Agreed.
Agreed.

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

Okay, so we'll move on to item 17.
Report to Council on a decision made in accordance
with the Constitution's call -in and urgency rule.
And who would like to propose this?
Councillor Jim Martin.
Cllr Jim Martin - 1:13:59
Thank you, Chair.
Happy to propose, if I may.
I just want to draw members' attention
to the list of recommendations there.
Now, you know, the consensus among the Kent leaders
was that we were stronger together,
that if we made a submission on local government reorganisation
which affected all of us,
it made more sense that we would agree it.
And we held pretty close to that.
There were factions, groups, side letters,
but essentially we made our submission,
the submission that you saw,
that we would go for three or four
in terms of the unitaries.
What this list allows us to do as we go forward now
now is to be able to take those decisions similarly
with authority delegated to myself and the leader.
However, when you read these recommendations,
you'll see it includes the establishment of a working group
in order between now and November
so that members can actively participate in those.
proposals and you will see that there is,
in the spirit of transparency, full report,
but I absolutely guarantee that I will talk you to death
about these proposals.
But we need this in order to manage
the inevitable last minute brinkmanship,
which will happen amongst a group of diverse councils, partners, etc.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:16:08
So I'm happy to move that report.
Thank you.
Cllr Tim Prater - 1:16:10
And Councillor Pritchett, a second?
I'm happy to second and just add the clarity.
Obviously the recommendations of the meeting that we had previously were set out there.
All we're doing is acknowledging with this report that we did this by a different process.
we brought it to Council, we brought it to have that discussion public, so we're just
noting because that's more procedure than we would normally have done, it's just noting
that we did that, we had that discussion at Council, but there will be those ongoing discussions
obviously, but we're just noting that we did it that way round, because under urgency we
should make sure that the Council is clear what we did. So happy to second, because I
think as has been said by others, we made our process much more transparent and involved
more people than many other councils have managed to do.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:16:52
Thank you and this is now open for debate.
Would anybody like to speak on this?
Councillor Lockwood.
Thank you.
Cllr Adrian Lockwood - 1:17:02
Yeah, we welcome the idea of having a working group cross party so that we can look at what's
coming forward from higher up and and I'm are we absolutely sure that there's
going to be bringing in shift between different councils I thought I thought
this process would be very smooth
anyway no I welcome the fact that we have a working group being proposed
Thank you.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:17:41
Anybody else like to speak?
Councillor, Mrs Hollingsby.
Yes, thank you, Chair.
I also welcome the working group and I also welcome the fact that you will constantly
keep the full council up to date with what is going on.
It would be great if all leaders in Kent could actually agree, but at the moment it doesn't
see was over quite in that frame of mind, but maybe by 28th of November they will be
clearer on what they can, and also with the feedback due very shortly, that should actually
help I would imagine.
So yes, of course, we welcome a working group and the updates to the Council.
Thank you.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:18:26
Thank you.
So if there's nobody else to speak, are we all agreed?
Thank you.
So it's been lovely to see everybody here tonight.
So I hope you all have a lovely Easter
Webcast Finished - 1:18:41
and catch up with you soon.