Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Barrett, Crozer, Doe, Lammas and Spalding.

Members are invited to disclose any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Significant Interests in accordance with the Member Code of Conduct. Guidance on this is set out in agenda item 2.

The Monitoring Officer had provided Members with detailed advice regarding the issue of Members’ interests and had agreed a number of dispensations to all Members of the Council to participate, debate and vote on the budget reports, where a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (DPI) or an Other Significant Interest (OSI) arose from the circumstances set out in paragraph 4 of his written advice.

The following Members declared interests in agenda item No.9 (Capital and Revenue Budget 2026/27) as they owned more than one property in Medway. These Members had been granted a dispensation by the Monitoring Officer: Councillors Gulvin, Hackwell, Hamandishe and Mrs Turpin.

The following Members declared interests in agenda item No.9 (Capital and Revenue Budget 2026/27) as governors / having positions of management control within schools / academy trusts in Medway. These Members had been granted a dispensation by the Monitoring Officer: Councillors Gurung, Hamandishe, Lawrence, Nestorov, Peake, Perfect and Tejan.

The following Members declared interests in agenda item No.9 (Capital and Revenue Budget 2026/27) due to their positions as trustees of charities in Medway. These Members had been granted a dispensation by the Monitoring Officer: Councillors Bowen, Brake, Curry, Gurung, Hackwell, Hamandishe, Howcroft-Scott, Mandaracas, Maple, Nestorov, Peake, Price, Stamp and Tejan.

Councillor Mandaracas declared an interest in relation to agenda item No.9 (Capital and Revenue Budget 2026/27) as she is a Council tenant. A dispensation had been granted by the Monitoring Officer.

Other interests

There were none.</AI2>

To approve the record of the meeting held on 22 January 2026.

The record of the Full Council meeting held on 22 January 2026 was approved and signed by Worshipful the Mayor as correct.

The Worshipful The Mayor of Medway wished Medway resident, Hilda Luck, a very happy 112th birthday. He said that he and co-Mayoress, Sylvia Griffin, had recently visited Hilda to wish her well on behalf of the Borough. He thanked Hilda and her family for welcoming them and said that a Mayor of Medway’s Facebook post about the visit had attracted 133,000 views.

The Mayor announced that the final Mayoral event taking place to help fundraise for his nominated charities, Caring Hands in the Community and Slide Away, would be a Celebration of Thanks evening at the Corn Exchange on Friday 1 May. Tickets were available from the Mayor’s office.

The Mayor proposed to suspend Council Rule 11.1.1 in respect of time limits on speeches in relation to agenda item 9 (Capital and Revenue Budget 2026/27) to allow one Member from each Group to speak for an unlimited time. The normal time limits would then apply. This was agreed.

The Leader also offered his congratulations to Medway resident Hilda Luck, who had recently celebrated her 112^th birthday.

The Leader thanked the team that had supported the Council in its recent retention of its Ministry of Defence (MOD) Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) Gold Award.

The community led bid to support Chatham to be recognised as a town of culture was welcome and the Leader was pleased to offer his support. He thanked Chatham Historic Dockyard for taking the lead in submission of the bid.

The Leader concluded his announcements by wishing the Chief Executive of the Council, Richard Hicks, a Happy Birthday.

To receive the response of the Labour and Co-operative Group to nominate candidates for Mayor and Deputy Mayor for the 2026/2027 municipal year in accordance with Council Rule 20.3.

It was noted that the Labour and Co-Operative Group had accepted the right to nominate a candidate for the Mayoralty in 2026/2027. Councillor Hamandishe was nominated as the candidate to be the Mayor for 2026/2027 and Councillor Jackson as the candidate to be the Deputy Mayor.

The Council is asked to consider the proposed changes to the Council Tax Reduction scheme and agree the Council Tax Reduction scheme for the 2026/27 financial year.

Background:

This report set out the proposed changes to the Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS), which reflected income bands being uprated for Consumer Price Inflation, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report. The Council was asked to approve the changes for the 2026/27 financial year.

The report was previously considered by the Cabinet on 10 February 2026, the decisions of which were set out at section 6 of the report.

Alongside the Council Tax Reduction scheme, Cabinet agreed to implement a permanent discretionary policy for care leavers which sat outside the Council Tax Reduction scheme. The policy formed a significant part of the Council’s Local Offer to care leavers and provided vital support.

A Diversity Impact Assessment (DIA) had been completed for the proposed Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2026/27 and was attached at Appendix 2 to the report.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Maple, supported by the Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services, Councillor Price, proposed the recommendations set out in the report.

Decisions:

a)    The Council noted the decisions of the Cabinet, as set out at section 6 of the report.

b)    The Council agreed that the Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2026/27 be adopted, reflecting income bands uprated for the Consumer Price Index, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

c)    The Council noted the revised Exceptional Hardship Payment policy, which was a prescribed requirement within the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, as set out at Appendix 2 to the report and noted the impact of the Care Leavers Discretionary Council Tax Policy agreed in February 2023.

This report presents the Council’s Treasury Management Strategy for the 2026/27 financial year. The Treasury Management Strategy incorporates within it the Treasury Management Policy Statement, Annual Investment Strategy and Minimum Revenue Provision Policy.

Background:

This report presented the Council’s Treasury Management Strategy for the 2026/27 financial year. The Treasury Management Strategy incorporated within it the Treasury Management Policy Statement, Annual Investment Strategy and Minimum Revenue Provision Policy.

The Strategy had been prepared in line with CIPFA’s Local Authority Treasury Management Code, and set out the Council’s borrowing requirement and strategy, its strategy in respect of investments, provided details of the Council’s current portfolio position and set out the prudential and treasury indicators that would be used to monitor and measure treasury performance.

The report had previously been considered by the Audit Committee on 27 January 2026, the comments of which were set out at section 5 of the report and by the Cabinet on 10 February 2026, the decisions of which were set out at section 6 of the report.

A Diversity Impact Assessment had been undertaken on the Treasury Management Strategy, as set out in Appendix B to the report.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Maple, supported by Councillor Browne, proposed the recommendations set out in the report.

Decisions:

a)    The Council noted the comments of the Audit Committee, as set out at section 5 of the report and the decisions of the Cabinet, as set out at section 6 of the report.

b)    The Council approved the Treasury Management Strategy 2026/27, as set out in Appendix A to the report.

This report sets out Cabinet’s proposals for the Capital and Revenue budget for 2026 / 2027. Council is required to approve the Capital and Revenue Budget, rent increases and the Council Tax for 2026/27.

Background:

The Mayor advised that Members of the Council who had two or more months of council tax arrears would not be permitted to vote on the Council budget.

This report set out the Cabinet’s proposals for the Capital and Revenue budget for 2026/27. In accordance with the Constitution, Council was required to approve the Capital and Revenue Budget, rent increases and the Council Tax for 2026/27.

The Cabinet had considered initial budget proposals on 18 November 2025. On 17 December 2025 the Government had published the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement. Details of the funding announcements and their impact on Medway Council’s budget had been set out in a report considered by the Cabinet on 13 January 2026.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, Overview and Scrutiny Committees were invited to comment on the Draft Budget proposals within the remit of each respective Committee. The comments from the Overview and Scrutiny Committees were considered by the Cabinet, alongside the budget proposals, at the Cabinet meeting on 10 February 2026.

An overarching Diversity Impact Assessment was attached as Appendix 11 to the report. This summarised the results of the Diversity Impact Assessments which had been completed for each of the services affected by the proposed budget changes.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Maple, supported by the Deputy Leader, Councillor Murray, proposed the recommendations set out in the report.

Councillor Hackwell, supported by Councillor Tejan, proposed the following amendment:

Amendment to recommendation 1.2

“Approve the general fund gross, income and net revenue estimates as summarised in Table 1 of this report in the sum of £523.752million.384million, thereby reducing the requirement for Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) from £9.856million to £9.488million.  This would be achieved by the changes set out in the table below resulting in a net saving of £368,000 (rounded up):

New recommendation 1.20

“Remove Care Home (Care for Medway) from the Capital Programme, saving £44million.”

Amended recommendation reads:

Amendment to recommendation 1.2

“Approve the general fund gross, income and net revenue estimates as summarised in Table 1 of this report in the sum of £523.384million, thereby reducing the requirement for Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) from £9.856million to £9.488million.  This would be achieved by the changes set out in the table below resulting in a net saving of £368,000 (rounded up):

This report presents the 2026/27 key performance indicator refresh for the One Medway Council Plan (OMCP) 2024-28.

Background:

The report provided the Cabinet with the 2026-27 key performance indicator refresh for the One Medway Council Plan (OMCP) 2024-28.

The OMCP had been agreed at Full Council on 15 May 2024. It set out the Council’s priorities over the next four years and included the indicators used to track performance. These indicators were refreshed annually.

A Diversity Impact Assessment had been undertaken and was attached at Appendix 2 to the report.

The report had previously been considered by the Business Support and Digital Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 29 January 2026 and by the Cabinet on 10 February 2026 and the comments of the Committee and decisions of the Cabinet were set out at sections 5 and 6 of the report respectively.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Maple, supported by the Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Murray, proposed the recommendations set out in the report.

Decisions:

a)    The Council noted the outcome and comments of the Business Support and Digital Overview and Scrutiny Committee, as set out in section 5 of the report and the decisions of the Cabinet, as set out in section 6 of the report.

b)    The Council agreed the proposed changes to the key performance indicators that would be used to track performance of the One Medway Council Plan in 2026/27, as set out in appendix 1 and section 3.7 of the report.

c)    The Council agreed to delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to agree new key performance indicators and interim targets where applicable, as set out in paragraph 3.8 of the report.

The Council is asked to agree the Pay Policy Statement for the financial year 2026/2027, in accordance with the Localism Act 2011.

Background:

This report provided details of the Pay Policy Statement (PPS) for the financial year 2026/27, in accordance with the Localism Act 2011. It was noted that the PPS must be approved by a resolution of Full Council before it came into force and had to be prepared and approved before 31 March 2026 for the following financial year.

The report had been considered by the Employment Matters Committee on 28 January 2026, details of which were set out in section 5 of the report.

The Chairperson of the Employment Matters Committee, Councillor Mark Prenter, supported by the Portfolio Holder for Business Management, Councillor Van Dyke, proposed the recommendations, as set out in the report.

Decisions:

a)    The Council noted the comments of the Employment Matters Committee, as set out at section 5 of the report.

b)    The Council agreed the updated Pay Policy Statement 2026/2027, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

This report advises the Council of the sale of the freehold of Rainham Shopping Centre. This sale follows inclusion of the property on a list of non-operational properties which were declared surplus by the Cabinet on 29 October 2024.

This report is submitted to Full Council for information in line with constitutional requirements, as set out in the report.

The Mayor, supported by the Deputy Mayor, will move the following report, which will be noted without debate in accordance with Rule 2 of the Council Rules.

This report advised the Council of the sale of the freehold of Rainham Shopping Centre. This sale followed inclusion of the property on a list of non-operational properties which were declared surplus by the Cabinet on 29 October 2024.

This report was submitted to Full Council for information in line with constitutional requirements, namely paragraph 5.1 of the Council’s financial limits, which stated that any disposals above £1,000,000 would be reported to full Council for information.

The Mayor advised that the report was included in the agenda for information only and not for debate. Therefore, the Council received the report.