Issue - meetings

This report sets out activities and progress on work areas within the Portfolio of the Leader of the Council, which all fall within the remit of this Committee. This information is provided in relation to the Leader of the Council being held to account.

Discussion:

Members received an overview of progress on the areas within the terms of

Reference of this Committee covered by Councillor Alan Jarrett, Leader of the

Council, i.e.

·         Strategic leadership of the Council

·         Communications and marketing

·         Finance

Before Members considered the report, a Member remarked that this would be Councillor Royle’s last meeting of the Committee as he was standing down at the elections. Councillor Royle had served as Chairman of the Children and Young People Overview & Scrutiny Committee for many years and was well-respected across the Council and would be missed. Councillor Jarrett concurred with the comments, noting that Councillor Royle had successfully navigated the Committee through many difficult issues.

Councillor Jarrett responded to Members’ questions and comments as follows:

·         Pentagon Centre – in response to whether two further independent market valuations should have been obtained regarding the purchase of the Pentagon Centre, the Leader stated the advice received was from a nationally recognised firm at a cost of £50,000. For a major strategic project such as this obtaining more quotes would have been expensive, delayed the decision to purchase and not affected the eventual outcome. The Council also hoped to purchase Mountbatten House which would greatly enhance the opportunities to regenerate Chatham.

·         Tourism – a Member asked what more could be done to promote Medway. The Leader commented that Medway was already extensively promoted and he hoped local residents would promote the heritage and history that Medway offered.

·         Medway’s economy – noting the growth in the local economy, a Member asked what plans were in place to increase the pace of growth. The Leader replied that the economy had increased from £3.5b to £5.2b in eight years. Innovation Park Medway was expected to create 1,400 high skilled jobs and the large number of SME businesses in Medway, which the Council supported, added to the economy’s resilience.

·         Alcohol Awareness and Domestic Abuse campaign – a Member congratulated the Communications Team on this very effective campaign.

·         Marriage Brochure – in response to a question, the Leader made a commitment that the next version of this brochure would also include civil partnerships.

·         Luton Road – a Member referred to a meeting with residents where the Council had promised follow up action which had not materialised. The Leader undertook to ensure this action was taken.

·         City of Culture – the Leader concurred with comments from a Member that the Council should bid to become City of Culture 2025. Learning from previous unsuccessful bids for City status, he had concluded that Medway needed a coherent city centre. The Council would seek to achieve this in Chatham.   

·         Regeneration activity across Medway – the Leader agreed with a comment that there had been an imbalance in terms of regeneration activity across Medway. The focus had been on the west of the borough and more needed to be done in the east. He was looking to correct this imbalance.

·         Review of Local Government Finance – the Leader agreed with a comment that the possible removal of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 967