Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Hinder.

There were no Substitute Members present.

There were no urgent items.

There were no Visitng Members.

There were no disclosures by Members or Officers.

There were no disclosures of lobbying.

RESOLVED: That all items be taken in public, unless any Member of the Committee wished to discuss Item 13 – Exempt Appendix to Item 12 – Shared Revenues and Benefits Service, in which case the Committee would enter into closed session due to the possible disclosure of exempt information, for the reason/s specified having applied the public interest test.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 17 January 2024 be approved as a correct record and signed.

RESOLVED: That the Forward Plan relating to the Committee’s Terms of Reference be noted.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Services introduced the item and stated that progress had been made on the Council’s carbon footprint and that it was implementing its action plan better than other Local Authorities in the country. It was emphasised that more work was needed on decarbonising the Council’s footprint, which included decarbonising Maidstone House. The Biodiversity and Climate Change Manager further stated the report included updates on net zero housing, net zero transport, solar panel projects, tree planting and the Rural England Prosperity Fund.

The Committee welcomed the report and the updated Biodiversity and Climate Change action plan. Concerns were expressed by the Committee that some of the targets in the Action Plan would not be met by 2030 and that national change was required to make a wider impact to biodiversity and climate change. During the discussion, the importance of the priorities in point 2.4 of the report was emphasised, with a request made that to the Cabinet that a further action plan on the items be presented to the Committee by September 2024.

During the discussion reference was made to the following:

·  The increase in road traffic and the slow progress of the Transportation Net Zero Commitment and Electric Vehicle (EV) Strategy;

·  A proposed Energy Officer role would be a beneficial addition to the Biodiversity and Climate Change team, and clarified that the role had been budgeted for;

·  Bid submissions for the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, including to retrofit Maidstone House; and

In response to questions The Head of Insight, Communities and Governance stated that:

·  The Council had not received any timescale for responses to bids for the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme;

·  There were schemes in the Biodiversity and Climate Change Action Plan that would likely not be completed by 2030, but that the Council was prioritising those that could be achieved by that deadline. It was stressed that Government targets for some actions were to be completed by 2050; and

·  There was a typographical mistake regarding Action 7.2 on the Biodiversity and Climate Change Action Plan and that the Council’s Carbon Footprint Dashboard had been set up and was online.

In response to further questions, The Biodiversity and Climate Change Manager stated that:

·  The proposed Energy Officer role would collaborate with other councils on renewable energy projects, apply for funding grants and lead energy awareness campaigns; and

·  The Council was working in collaboration with housing associations on installing insulation to improve their energy efficiency, and had recently acquired a new software which located hotspots in properties and identified insultation upgrades.

RESOLVED to RECOMMEND to CABINET: That

1.  The strategic considerations for tackling net zero borough wide and action plan updates shown at Appendix 1 of the report, be noted; and

2.  An action plan for the items listed in paragraph 2.4 of the report be submitted to the relevant policy advisory committees by September 2024.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Services introduced the report and stated that the budget proposals for 2024/25 presented a balanced budget with a surplus of £92,000. The report recommendations were outlined, including an increase in council tax of 3%. There was also a 3% increase in core spending power in the Local Government Finance Settlement.

Two additional recommendations were outlined by the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, to extend the repayment date for the loan to Kent Savers from 2027 to 2032 and to utilise the £92,000 budget surplus for financial inclusion. This included £59,000 to employ a welfare officer and a dashboard for tracking low income families, and £33,000 to fund at least an additional issue of the Council magazine, Borough Insight, per annum.

The Committee welcomed the financial security of the proposed budget but stressed that there would be challenges in setting a balanced budget in subsequent years. In considering the additional proposal to fund a further issue of the Borough Insight Magazine, some Members felt that the funding could be used for other purposes. Overall, it was agreed that the magazine was an effective way of communicating with residents and should be funded where possible. 

In response to questions the Director of Finance, Resources and Business Improvement stated that:

·  The £59,000 funding allocated to financial inclusion in the additional recommendation included a digital tracker which allowed the Council to identify families at risk of financial vulnerability;

·  It was proposed that monies would be transferred from the £27 million net revenue expenditure to the Housing Investment Fund and financial inclusion;

·  The Council had saved more than anticipated, giving a budget surplus of £92,000, which was able to be spent in 2024/25, but there would be a budget gap in 2025/26; and

·  The expected income for bereavement services was predicted to decrease from £984,000 to £941,000 unlike other services which were increasing.

In response to further questions the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services stated that the £198,000 of unringfenced government grant was proposed to fund financial inclusion which included services such as community food larders.

RESOLVED to RECOMMEND to CABINET: That

1.  The outcomes of consideration of budget proposals by the Policy Advisory Committees be noted;

2.  The Budget Growth and Savings Proposals set out in Appendix A of the report, be agreed;

3.  £198,000 of the unringfenced government grant described in paragraphs 2.5 and 2.6 of the report be used for one-off support to financial inclusion and food larder services, be agreed, and that the call on on-off funding for financial inclusion by £59,000 is reduced in recommendation 15, be noted;

4.  The maximum use is of made of other residual one-off funding from other relevant council budgets to further sustain financial inclusion and food larder services, be agreed, and the position to be kept under review so that the Council can respond to changes in circumstances and future funding opportunities;

5.  The balance of the unringfenced government grant described in paragraphs 2.5 and 2.6 of the report  ...  view the full minutes text for item 91.

The Cabinet Member introduced the report and stated that the report proposed to recommend Swale Borough Council (SBC) to join the Mid Kent Revenues and Benefits partnership, which included Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC). It was emphasised that there were significant financial benefits to the proposal and that Swale Borough Council had already agreed to the expansion.

In response to a question the Revenues and Benefits Manager confirmed that Sevenoaks District Council (SDC) and Dartford Borough Council (DBC) used the same computer software as the partnership, and that the authorities could potentially join the Service in the future.

RESOLVED to RECOMMEND to CABINET:

1.  To agree to expand the Mid Kent Revenues and Benefits partnership to include Swale Borough Council; and

2.  That delegation be awarded to the Director of Finance, Resources and Business Improvement to make the appropriate arrangements in line with the business case and sign the shared service collaboration agreement.

RESOLVED: That the item be considered alongside Item 12 – Shared Revenues and Benefits Service – Consideration of expansion.

6.30 p.m. to 8:08 p.m.