The Portfolio Holder gave an update on the services within her portfolio. The Communities Team held the West Kent Domestic Abuse conference on 6 December. An action plan was brought forward from this event as part of the West Kent Domestic Forum. The Silver Bells Christmas Party had over 80 older people attend. The party marked the final Silver Sunday event of the year.

A “moving on” event was held in Swanley for the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Two further events were planned for March. The Youth Mentoring Plus scheme was launched, and was delivered in partnership with Millwall Community Trust and House in the Basement. The “Let’s Cook” cooking classes were completed in February. These classes were funded by the Household Support Fund and provided slow-cooking sessions for families that were most-in-need, as identified through benefits and social services. A funding bid had been made to deliver more classes in 2024.

The number of Kent County Council Community Wardens had been reduced, meaning the district would now have a shared service with Tunbridge Wells.

£40,000 in one-off external grant funding had been applied for and secured for Citizens’ Advice North & West Kent and Citizens Advice Edenbridge & Westerham. This had been awarded by KCC and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities. The Council would be jointly hosting the West Kent Expo on 14 March, as part of the Invest West Kent Business Support Programme. The Expo would hold a programme of workshops, mentoring, and networking opportunities. The Council were working to promote springtime tourism within the district through the visitsevenoaks.co.uk website.

The Growth Gurus project would begin in April 2024, and would help young adults (aged 18-24) in the Swanley area that were not in employment, education, or training. This was funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and would be delivered in partnership with The Education People. It would offer training, wellbeing and housing support, work experience, and life skills training through local businesses and the voluntary sector.

The Public Realm Commission was updated quarterly on the changes in Biodiversity Net Grain requirements. The changes to smaller sites would take effect on 2 April 2024.

Members were invited to a site visit of the council-owned leisure centres in the district on 26 March. White Oak Leisure Centre had held a 24hr “spinathon” to raise funds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association. Roughly £2,000 had been raised.

The Better Together Online Community Hub had been shortlisted for the iESE Public Sector Transformation Awards 2024, in the category of Working Together. The Portfolio Holder wished the team luck with the award.

In response to questions, the Portfolio Holder set out a timeline of the council’s work with Citizens Advice to secure funding. The additional, externalgrant funding was a one-off grant to help the organisation. Citizens Advice had applied to the Lottery Fund. The Health & Communities Manager updated the committee on the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Members requested a complete breakdown of the scheme.

Action: For the Health & Communities Manager to present a breakdown to the committee of the number of households being supported under the Homes for Ukraine scheme in the Sevenoaks District, including details of whether the household is residing with a guest, temporary accommodation, private rented sector or has returned to Ukraine.