A number of questions were asked regarding the proposed cuts to the Citizen’s Advice service, and they focused on whether the Citizen’s Advice had been consulted with, before the cuts were agreed, and what the changes were to the agreements. The Portfolio Holder for People & Places advised that Officers were in dialogue with the Citizen’s Advice back in October when the Service Level agreement (SLA) was being signed and there was a clause that included that subject to a period of Notice the grant funding could be altered. Conversations had taken place with the Citizens Advice branches and they were made aware in October, of the budget pressure the Council would continue to face and it was made clear that further changes made be needed to be made in the future.  The SLA with the Citizen’s Advice was being reviewed for a further three years from April 2024 to March 2027, and that funding was being reduced, not withdrawn. The current agreement outlined the Council’s funding arrangements to Citizens Advice to provide general and housing advice service. The grant represented around 5% of their overall annual income received. The SLA allows the Council to adjust the funding by giving a 3 months’ notice in writing and this was provided in January 2024. Officers had met with both branches to discuss the reduction in funding and productive conversations in regards to their wider grant revenue, service priorities and the potential for joint funding bids had taken place. She further advised that although the general support grant would be reduced, the housing grant remained unchanged. Working with officers, the Citizen’s Advice were looking at other funding opportunities and they were committed to not only working with the Council but other partners and local councils. The Chairman, in response to a comment made regarding members not having had the opportunity to comment on the proposed reduction to the Citizens Advice funding, reminded the meeting that the report had been on the agenda of the previous Cabinet meeting. No non-Cabinet member had raised a question about it then, despite there being spare minutes of question time to the Cabinet available in which to do so.

In response to a question regarding the Community Mobilisation programme, the Portfolio Holder for People and Places advised that over the past 15 months work had been undertaken with some of the Care for Our Community Volunteers, Voluntary Sector Forum, LGA and the Council and launched Better Together. This provided practical support, skills development, networking and capacity building to individuals and new and existing community groups to enable new initiatives and groups. The Community Mobilisation grants were launched and have helped to encourage more volunteers to develop and deliver projects that were important to them and their communities. Projects included gardening and food growing projects, community cooking and food sharing events, training courses for mums and setting up their businesses, and peer support. The Better Together Hub provided a directory of information for groups and support networks which can be accessed across the district. The Portfolio Holder was pleased to announce that the Better Together had been selected as a finalist in the ‘Working Together’ category of the iESE public sector transformation awards.

In response to a question regarding the National Planning Policy Framework, and information being circulated to Councillors and the MP, the Portfolio Holder confirmed an email with the information requested would be shared.

In response to a question regarding agenda item 6 and 7 on the agenda, Members were advised by the Strategic Head – Commercial and Property that ward Members were usually informed prior to the documents being published.  He would look into the details regarding the notification to ward Councillors for the Otford Road Development.