Agenda item

To receive an oral report at the meeting from the Leader (and Cabinet) on the business of the Executive or on any topic or subject that it is felt should be brought to the attention of the Council.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10 (Leader’s Time):

(a)  The Leader (and Cabinet) shall have up to 15 minutes to make within this report any statements that they wish on any topic or subject that they feel should be drawn to the attention of the Council.

(b)  The Leader (or their nominee) of the Major Opposition Group (Labour Group) shall be allowed up to 10 minutes to respond.

(c)  The Leader (or their nominee) of the Other Opposition Group (Progressive Group) shall be allowed up to 5 minutes to respond. 

(d)  The Leader of the Council shall be allowed up to 5 minutes to exercise a right of reply (or 25% of the time given to the Opposition Group Leaders, whichever is the greatest).

The Leader of the Council, Councillor K E Morris, included the following matters in his report:

(a)  To remark that every political group on the Council and all the group leaders had changed since 2015.

(b)  That the Council was continuing to plan for No Deal in the absence of a BREXIT agreement. As part of this the BREXIT Task Force was sending letters to the Department of Transport in respect of the proposals to use Manston Airport for lorry routing; Operation Brock; and the Port of Dover and the Secretary of State for the Environment in respect of Port Health matters. The Task Force wanted a clear plan for non-freight traffic and objected to proposals to route it through Dover.

(c)  The Council and the Local Government Association would be hosting a round table on 15 March 2019 to help inform local businesses over BREXIT. A concession had been agreed to ensure that local businesses would get a special pass allowing them direct access to the Port.

(d)  The Local Plan Housing Review was expected to be completed by June and the Local Plan would be going to Cabinet in October 2019 and Council in January 2020 prior to undergoing consultation.

(e)  To advise that 3 grants under the Council’s High Street Grant Scheme had been approved with another 8 under consideration.

(f)   That he would keep Members informed over the situation in respect of M&S in Deal and he thanked those Members who had shown their support for keeping M&S in Deal.

(g)  That the Council had granted £7,000 to the Astor Theatre after Deal Town Council pulled out. This would enable the Astor to go ahead with its plans to show classic movies.

(h)  The first draw for the new district lotto had taken place the previous week.

(i)    The first phase of works in respect of Deal Pier had completed and Cabinet had approved £600,000 for the second phase of works.

(j)    That the new District Leisure Centre was a great amenity and had lots of new sign-ups since it opened.

(k)  That the new Lidl store and the ‘Lock-in’ store had opened.

(l)    That the Council had been nominated for 2 awards for its apprenticeship programme. The Council currently had 12 apprentices.

(m) To offer his thanks to those Conservative Members who were retiring at the next election for their service to the Council and to thank the Chairman and Vice-Chairman for their service to the Council over the last four years.

The Leader of the Opposition Labour Group, Councillor K Mills, included the following matters in his report:

(a)  To offer his thanks to Labour Members who were retiring at the next election for their service to the Council.

(b)  To thank the Director of Governance for his service to the Council.

(c)  To state that in his view the BREXIT Task Force should be cross-party.

(d)  To express concerns that the proposals to route non-freight traffic through Dover would be a disaster for the town.

(e)  To ask what criteria was being applied to define a ‘local business’ in respect of the special pass for direct access to the Port of Dover.

(f)   To express concerns that the poor transport links to the leisure centre from rural villages in the district and concerns over the future of discounts for school children and OAP’s.

(g)  That question how much of the Kent Police precept would be used for the Dover District given that residents were now paying more for Kent Police than they did for Dover District Council.

(h)  To express concerns over the state of the NHS estate and the urgent repair works needed for hospitals in East Kent. Any new hospitals should be replacements for existing ones.

(i)    The need for affordable housing at the Connaught development.

(j)    To enquire what the plans were for the site of the old leisure centre.

(k)  That the details of the last meeting of the BREXIT Task Force were not on the website.

(l)    To express disappointment and concern that a new local academy would not attend scrutiny.

(m) To welcome the good news concerning a cinema at the Astor Theatre and to ask what the current progress was for the Regent Cinema.

(n)  That there were reports that Southern Housing required prospective tenants to have at least £16,000 in earnings to get on the housing list.

The Leader of the Opposition Progressive Group, Councillor M R Eddy, included the following matters in his report:

(a)  To pay his thanks to the Director of Governance and also wish farewell to the Chairman and Vice-Chairman in their current roles.

(b)  To welcome the letters being written to the government and express concern over potential major transport and port health problems if BREXIT went ahead.

(c)  To welcome the news over the progress of the Local Plan but express concern that the timing of the district council election could lead to a loss of continuity.

(d)  To welcome the news in respect of the High Street Grant Scheme and praise Councillor P Walker for proposing it.

(e)  To welcome the news concerning the Dickens Corner refurbishment.

(f)   That the departure of M&S would be a great loss for Deal.

(g)  To express support for the Council’s apprenticeships scheme and welcome the news that the Council had been nominated for two awards.

(h)  That the new leisure centre was a superb facility but the issues with public transport access to it were not new.

In response the Leader of the Council advised:

(a)  That there were no details yet of the special pass scheme for local businesses, but once details were known they would be put on the Council’s website.

(b)  That transport access to the leisure centre would be reviewed in the future.

(c)  That there had been no discussions on changing the concessions at the leisure centre.

(d)  That Councillor M J Holloway was in regular discussion with Kent Police.

(e)  That the Council was working on the disposal of the old leisure centre site.

(f)   To advise that the Council would look to see what it could do to change Southern Housings position on minimum earnings to get on their housing waiting list.