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)  That the 149^th Open Golf Championship had promoted the district internationally and seen interest in investing in the district increase. The Council was seeing record high planning applications.

(b)  The Dover Public Place Plan was being developed and would showcase shared priorities for the district.

(c)   That the 3^rd Strategic Director post had not been appointed following interviews and the recruitment consultants had been asked to see if any other suitable candidates were available. The Council had appointed a new Head of Investment, Growth and Tourism.

(d)  To thank the grants panels for their work and to advise that he had attended a number of events following the summer round of bids.

(e)  That he had attended the successful Community Safety All Out Day, led by the Dover District Community Safety Partnership, and thanked everyone who attended. He had asked officers to look at improving the street scene in the district and encourage local people to take pride in the district.

(f)    To advised that he had asked for the presentation from WISE to be given to Members at this Council meeting.

(g)  That he had attended the Great British Beach Clean in September 2021 and helped collect litter from the beach area.

(h)  That he had joined the community team at the recent East Kent Ploughing Match. As part of this he had received a lot of questions over the waste service but was pleased to advise that the service had seen significant improvements and the green waste service had been restored.

(i)    To congratulate everyone involved in Kearsney and Russell Gardens being awarded a Green Flag. He had visited the gardens and was pleased with how that they looked. He welcomed that the new café was open.

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

(a)  To send his condolences to the family of Sir David Amess.

(b)  To emphasise the need for Members to take precautions when undertaking ward work to ensure their personal safety.

(c)   The need for the Dover Schematic to be shared with the wider public so that they can see what the Council was doing to generate future growth in the district. He accepted that there were some commercial sensitivities in the Schematic but pointed out that it had now been shown to a considerable number of investors and other parties.

(d)  To ask what the timescale was on the Dover Public Place Plan.

(e)  That as part of the interview panel for the 3^rd Strategic Director post he accepted that there had been issues with recruiting a suitable candidate and suggested that the Council should look at options for developing its own staff.

(f)    That the grants panel was a great example of cross-party working. However, the demand was greater than the funding available. He highlighted the need to support the voluntary sector partners with the challenges of covid over the winter period.

(g)  To welcome the Green Flag award.

(h)  To express disappointment at the approach taken by the Cabinet to the Food Poverty Action Plan. He advised that his group would be monitoring the outcomes of the East Kent Food Poverty Group and emphasised the need for it to deliver for the Dover District. He also questioned what the role of members , if any, would be in the group.

(i)    To ask for an update on the Levelling Up Fund.

(j)    To highlight concerns over Air BNB properties not being registered with the Council. There were over 1,000 available Air BNB’s in the district and only 12 were registered. He urged that action be taken to deal with these issues.

(k)   To highlight the giant puppet representing a nine-year-old Syrian girl that had made its first UK stop in Folkestone before heading on to Manchester.

In response the Leader of the Council advised:

(a)  To thank Councillor K Mills for his kind words about Sir David Amess and agree that Members needed to be mindful of their safety when undertaking ward work.

(b)  That the Dover Schematic was still a work in progress and wasn’t yet ready for sharing with the wider public.

(c)   That he would find out the timescale for the Dover Public Place Plan and advise Councillor K Mills accordingly.

(d)  To agree with Councillor K Mills’ comments in respect of unregistered Air BNB’s.

(e)  That there was a need to support voluntary sector partners in getting grants from a wide variety of providers.

(f)    That he did not have any further details to share on the Levelling Up Fund at this time.

(g)  That he would monitor the development of the East Kent Food Poverty Group and if needed Cabinet could review its decision.