Agenda and minutes

To approve the record of the meeting held on 21 August 2025.

The record of the meeting held on 21 August 2025 was agreed and signed by the Chairperson as correct.

The Chairperson will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report.

The Chairperson, the Leader of the Council and Chief Executive passed on their condolences for the victims and their families of the attack that had taken place earlier in the day at a synagogue in Manchester.

The Leader added that the Council was working closely with Kent Police and Chatham Synagogue to ensure that it received additional protection required.

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 4.

Disclosable pecuniary interests (DPI)

There were none.

Other significant Interests (OSI)

There were none.

Other Interests

There were none.

This report advises the Committee of a notice of call-in received from six Members of the Council regarding the Cabinet decisions made on 23 September 2025 relating to Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).

Discussion:

The Assistant Director, Legal and Governance introduced the report, he explained that the meeting had been arranged following the call in of Cabinet decisions 133/2025 and 134/2025 which agreed to progress the full business case for the Medway option (known as 4d) for Local Government Reorganisation. Proposals must be submitted to government by 28 November.

He added that it was the opinion of the S151 Officer and himself as Monitoring Officer that both decisions were within the Budget and Policy framework.

Reasons for Call-in – the lead Member for the call-in set out there were three principal concerns which led to the decision reasons of the call in. They were as follows:

Financial prudence - the cost of developing the business case for government could not be afforded in the current financial circumstances. The Member stated that the Council was currently reliant on Exception Financial Support (EFS) from government and Round One Revenue Budget monitoring showed a projected overspend of £10.9m which was in excess of the Council’s general reserves. The allocated monies for the business case would in the view of the Member be better used to reduce the overspend.

Change in strategic direction – the administration had announced its own preferred map (known as 4d), without consultation with other authorities, external partners and without consideration by the Member working group. The plan had subsequently received significant criticism from other authorities in Kent and had not been chosen as one of the two preferred plans to progress, so there was no support for the Medway option.

Scope of the Business Case - the third concern of the group was that the business plan lacked clarity and without support from other authorities would not be satisfactory. The Member added that he felt this had harmed the Council’s reputation in the region.

Response from the Leader of the Council - the Leader attended the meeting to respond on behalf of the decision made at Cabinet; he stated that Local Government Reorganisation represented a once in a lifetime opportunity to review local government to set the right boundaries for the future for residents. He referenced each concern as follows:

Financial situation – the Leader acknowledged the Council’s difficult financial circumstances; however, he stated that the Council was making progress, and the ambition of the Administration was to balance the budget without recourse to Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) in 2026/27. The monies spent on building the business case came from the budget for LGR which was agreed at budget Council. It was not therefore additional costs or overspend.

With regard to the Council’s strategic direction in response to local government reform, the Leader stated that the administration had always held a clear preference for four councils in the Kent region but not for a single detailed plan for a four authority option. The Leader added that he had always been clear that Medway may propose their own version of a four council region and many authorities across the country and in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 331.