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 of the Main Opposition Group (or their nominee) shall be allowed up to 10 minutes to respond.

(c)  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 Leader(s), whichever is the greatest).

The Leader of the Council, Councillor T J Bartlett, included the following matters in his report:

(a)     To thank council staff for their warm welcomes on the visits he had conducted to the various council departments since becoming Leader of the Council and state the respect he had for the staff.

(b)     That the Council had been nominated for Public Sector Business of the Year at the East Kent Apprenticeship Awards to be held on 5 February 2020. The Council had 15 apprentices across a range of services with 2 on higher level apprenticeships in accountancy and law. The Council had seen two former apprentices go on to find permanent employment with the Council and East Kent Services.

(c)      That Councillor D G Beaney had won the Young Councillor of the Year award at the 10th annual Councillor Achievement Awards.

(d)     To congratulate Councillor M Bates on his election at the Guston, Kingsdown and St Margaret’s-at-Cliffe Ward by-election and welcome him to his first meeting.

(e)     To welcome the appointment of Rose Hudson-Wilkin at the Bishop of Dover.

(f)       To congratulate Natalie Elphicke on her election as the new Member of Parliament for Dover.

(g)     To advise that Dover District Council and Folkestone and Hythe District Council had received additional funding from a government initiative to help those rough sleeping out of homelessness.

(h)     That he had met with three local Members of Parliament to discuss support for the dualling of the A2 and the need for a lorry park. He would also be meeting with the Leader of Kent County Council to discuss Thanet Parkway and parking at Dover Priory station. He had met with Highways England to discuss the Lower Thames Crossing. 

(i)       He supported the need for strategic infrastructure and had met with the Port of Dover.

(j)       That the preparations for The Open Golf were proceeding well and the issues of legacy and climate change impact had been considered.

(k)      That the launch of the Council’s tourism strategy would be held on 2 April 2020.

(l)       That meetings with ward councillors and town and parish council’s would be held to discuss Local Plan proposals.

(m)    That the Cabinet would be receiving the report on the options for East Kent Housing in February 2020.

(n)     The proposals for Maison Dieu and the importance of securing external funding to undertake needed works.

(o)     That the Climate Change Working Group had held its first meeting.

(p)     That he had visited the Dover Repair Café and had been impressed by the fantastic work undertaken by the group. He advised that a ‘Big Fix’ would be held on 15 February 2020.

(q)     That he had been interviewed by the BBC South East programme ‘Inside Out’ about the success of the co-innovation hub, which now had every unit filled, and how it was getting new businesses into the High Street in Dover.

(r)      The new Green Energy Grant that paid 50% of costs (up to £10,000) to assist small businesses that wanted to improve their energy efficiency.

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

(a)     To welcome the Leader of the Council’s comments concerning staff and the benefits of the council operating a proper apprenticeship scheme.

(b)     To agree with the need for more parking at Dover Priory station.

(c)      To ask if the Leader of the Council had raised the issue of redundancies on efficiency grounds that had been announced by Port of Dover.

(d)     To ask if the Leader of the Council could provide an update in respect of the charges at Kent County Council tip sites.

(e)     To welcome the news of a special needs school for Walmer.

(f)       To ask that the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Regulatory Services, Councillor N S Kenton, circulate the climate action letter and response as promised at the previous meeting of the full Council.

(g)     To call for a meeting of the BREXIT Task Force.

(h)     To refer to scrutiny looking at the call-in of car parking proposals for Deal and highlight that the proposed free parking at Albany Place was not located in a good position for tourists to utilise. He acknowledged that rural area had different parking needs and suggested that parish council’s could run rural car parks if the Council did not want to impose changes.

(i)       To ask the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Health to provide an update to the Council on the serious maternity issues arising at East Kent Hospitals.

(j)       To state that while tenants were badly served by East Kent Housing he was concerned that the council had not heard from the Board that had been dismissed. He asked for updates to members as the matter progressed and emphasised the need for tenants to be involved in decisions going forward.

(k)      That concerns over the impact of fireworks on vulnerable people and animals needed to be addressed.

In response the Leader of the Council advised:

(a)     That he had met with the Port of Dover the day before the redundancies had been announced.

(b)     That he supported the services that the new school in Walmer brought to the district.

(c)      That he would ask the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Regulatory Services to circulate the climate action letter and response to Members.

(d)     That the consultation on car parking would look at options as part of the consultation.

(e)     That he would look to have an updated provided on maternity services as soon as he could.

(f)       To agree with the importance of tenants being involved in the future options for East Kent Housing. 

(g)     That he would raise the issue of fireworks with the local Members of Parliament.