Agenda and minutes

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Items
No. Item

11.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 42 KB

To agree the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 18 June 2013, as a correct record.

 

Minutes:

Resolved:  That the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 18 June 2013, be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

 

12.

Declarations of Interest

Any interests not already registered

Minutes:

No additional declarations of interest were made.

 

13.

Parking Charges for 2014/15 and Christmas Parking 2013 pdf icon PDF 64 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chief Officer, Environmental & Operational Services presented the annual review of parking charges which proposed options for increases in respect to car park and on-street parking charges to meet the income budget targets for 2013/15 and included consideration of free Christmas parking. 

 

The Chairman invited Cllr. Maskell to address the Committee on behalf of Westerham Town Partnership (WTP).  He reported that the WTP had identified parking charges were not taking into account the development of the town, so they were proposing charges to support the development of town and business.  They had identified that charges could be used to draw people to certain areas for long term and that parking charges should not be looked at from a purely revenue point of view but as a support tool for the development of the town. 

 

The Chief Officer, Environmental & Operational Services advised that the report would be considered by Cabinet on 7 November 2013 and if agreed would go out to a three week consultation period which was when the public could submit comments which would then be reported back to Cabinet on 6 February 2013.  He would ensure that Westerham Town Partnership were consulted and welcomed their input.  However the information had still yet to be shared with Officers and was not received in time to include in the report.

 

In response Cllr Maskell commented that in relation to the process where officers had used data and information from the last three years this was a traditional approach, but things had moved on and the focus of the Council had changed and therefore there needed to be new processes for pre-empting and looking at opportunities.

 

Members generally felt that the information had been received too late and at this point would be more suitably considered as part of the consultation process.  In response to questions, Cllr. Maskell advised that he had only been given sight of part of the WTP proposals within the last day.  He had been told that known parking patterns had been taken into account and that they disputed the Council’s figures and that there were fundamental issues that needed to be taken into account.  It was suggested that out of town parking fees be reduced to encourage movement from the town centre but that it agreed with rises in central parts.  The consultation procedure and system needed to be looked at, and the proposal put forward from WTP needed to be looked at seriously.

 

A Member suggested that the situation may have highlighted a need to look into procedures and consultations prior to the report stage.  The Vice Chairman sympathised with the situation, he had seen the WTP proposals and whilst there were some slight differences there was nothing immediately controversial, this Committee was not making the final decision, Cabinet had yet to consider the report and then there would be the consultation process. 

 

The Chairman stated that input was welcomed from all informed sources and lessons had been learned.  With regards to the schedule of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

14.

'Visit Kent' pdf icon PDF 2 MB

Presentation on services provided, by Jill Dain and Ruth Wood of ‘Visit Kent’.

Minutes:

Jill Dain, Head of Business Liaison and Ruth Wood Head of Research and Strategy of Visit Kent gave a presentation to the Committee on the work of Visit Kent and how it marketed the district as a tourist attraction. 

 

In response to a question about the most significant challenges experienced by tourism businesses, it was acknowledged that there was a lack of hotels in the south of the district.  Accommodation space was a challenge but there was no need to look for a large chain; budget or niche boutique type hotels were in high demand.  Another type of accommodation growing in demand was more informal outdoor accommodation, for example yurts.  The Chairman commented that he believed there was a Yurt at Sevenoaks Wildfowl Reserve.

 

In response to questions concerning how the impact of Visit Kent’s marketing was measured and what markets were targeted, the Committee was informed that target markets were 60% domestic and 40% overseas.  Looking at what people looked at on the website, this would be followed up with whether people did come and stay what they did, they would also check whether people received the campaign.  Trends were good, the domestic market had done well.  The best tool for measuring the benefit of journalist’s articles was the ABE advertising banding equivalent.  This  showed that the district received £60,000 worth of Public Relations coverage.  The cost to the Council for the Service Level Agreement with Visit Kent for the current year was £9,000.

 

A Member commented that a lot of pubs were being lost and asked how much work was carried out with breweries and pub managers especially as there was also the possibility of B&B accommodation and how the local economy was promoted.  In response it was explained that they worked closely with the Health & Communities Manager, carried out one to one sessions and a series of events with local businesses on how to diversify to increase income. 

 

The Kent Film Office was responsible for film setting but once a site had been used there was lots of potential to advertise the area.  The Health & Communities Manager added that she received weekly emails from the film office looking for particular types of location which were filtered out to local attractions.

 

15.

Sevenoaks District Health Inequalities Action Plan pdf icon PDF 40 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Health & Communities Manager gave a presentation introducing the report before the Committee.  The Health & Social Care Act 2012 set up a new Public Health Service called Public Health England. At the local level in Kent, responsibility for the public health function had been given to Kent County Council. District Councils in Kent were asked to lead on the production of an action plan which could demonstrate how the County-wide objectives could be delivered locally. The Sevenoaks District Health Inequalities Action Plan set out objectives and actions that would help to reduce health inequalities across the District.

The Chairman of the Health Liaison Board, also a member of the Committee, reported that the Board needed to carry out a lot of work but so much was unknown for the moment.  There were a significant number of problems within the District and there was the need to talk about care and security for older people: the lack of suitable buildings for them to move into; and issues such as only receiving 15 minutes of carer time as in the news recently.  Whilst at the same time no funding yet overwhelming demand on voluntary organisations.

 

The Health & Communities Manager stated that there was a lot of on-going work on integrated commissioning, bringing together social care and health to provide more linked and streamlined services, not fragmented as before.  Members briefly touched on issues such as dementia and the work being done on ‘dementia friendly communities’ and the strong activity from the voluntary sector. 

 

In response to a question as to how the impact of such a strategy benefitted the district, the Health & Communities Manager advised that it identified where and what type of health improvement was most needed in the district.    It was also asked what the strategy was to engage with the private sector to facilitate the action plan.  In response the Chief Officer, Communities and Business, explained that health services were commissioned through the clinical commissioning groups and the County Council using a standard bidding process open to the public, voluntary or private sector with the best applicant winning the contract to deliver. 

 

Resolved:  That it be recommended to Cabinet that the Sevenoaks District Health Inequalities Action Plan be agreed and adopted.

 

 

 

At 8.55 p.m. the Chairman adjourned the Committee for the convenience of Members and Officers. The meeting resumed at 9.02 p.m.

 

16.

To note minutes of the Health Liaison Board

To note the Minutes of the meeting held on 11 September 2013.

Minutes:

That the minutes of the Health Liaison Board held on 11 September 2013, be noted, subject to the report ‘NHS – A call to action’ being placed on the work plan.

 

17.

2014/15 Budget and Review of Service Plans pdf icon PDF 56 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chief Finance Officer advised that the purpose of the report was for the Committee to advise Cabinet on growth and savings ideas for the services within its terms of reference.  Appendix C to the report contained a list of growth and savings ideas proposed by the Portfolio Holder and these together with any additional suggestions made by the Committee would be considered by Cabinet on 5 December 2013.

 

Some Members expressed grave concern over the loss of a Civil Enforcement Officer; it was mooted that the saving could be found within the Rural Broadband budget.  It was agreed that the Chief Officer Environmental & Operational Services should be asked to re-examine this proposal and justify the ability to lose an officer without an impact on service.  In response to a question concerning the sum to be set aside for the Rural Broadband fund,  the Chief Officer, Communities & Business said that this was a ‘best guess’ of the cost of buying in rural broadband expertise.  This was based on an equivalent to the annual salary of a technically qualified person.

 

Resolved:  That the the views on the growth and savings proposals identified by the Portfolio Holder, attached as Appendix C to the report, be agreed, subject to further investigations and justification over losing a Civil Enforcement Officer.

 

18.

Actions from Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 14 KB

Minutes:

The actions from the previous meeting were noted, subject to noting that the Chief Planning Officer would be attending February 2014, not 2013.

 

19.

Update from Portfolio Holder

Minutes:

The Portfolio Holder advised the Committee of a visit from Mark Dance, Portfolio Holder for Economic Development, and Barbara Cooper, Director of Economic Development at Kent County Council (KCC).  They had visited Fort Halstead, Lullingstone and Swanley Town Centre and talked through the opportunities at New Ash Green.  It was a good opportunity to raise awareness with KCC, so far the developments had fallen below their radar. 

 

20.

Referrals from Cabinet or the Audit Committee (if any)

Minutes:

There were none.

21.

Unlocking Kent's Potential pdf icon PDF 30 KB

To follow.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chief Officer, Communities & Business, presented a report that sought Members’ comments on the draft West Kent input to Unlocking Kent’s Potential in advance of wider consultation with Members.  A final draft would be brought to Cabinet after consultation.  Members were asked to forward any comments.

 

Action 1:  The Chief Officer, Communities & Business to check why Westerham had not been identified as a high area of deprivation unlike the data suggested.

 

Resolved:  That the report be noted.

 

22.

Economic Development Strategy - Members' Input pdf icon PDF 37 KB

Minutes:

The Chief Officer, Communities & Business presented a report that summarised Members’ input to the Economic Development Strategy workshop held for Economic & Community Development Advisory Committee Members on 15 August 2013 where they had considered the economic needs of the District under the five key actions of the Community Plan’s Dynamic Economy theme. 

 

Resolved:  That it be noted that Members views would be taken into account in the drafting of the Economic Development Strategy. 

 

23.

Work Plan

Minutes:

The Committee considered its work plan for the year and agreed that the following be added:

 

·            Rural Broadband – External Witnesses –- BT

·            Rural Economy Briefing

·            NHS Call to Action

 

 

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