Minutes:
A) Councillor Osborne asked the Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services, Councillor O’Brien, the following:
“Can the Portfolio Holder define the local authority 'strong local governor presence' at Hempstead Junior School and what advice he can give to parents on support & actions from Medway Council since the resignation of a large number of the governing body?”
The Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services, Councillor O’Brien responded by confirming that the governing body of Hempstead Junior School was full and had no vacancies at present. It was chaired by a Local Authority Governor who had considerable experience of governorship and successful experience as a chair of a governing body outside Medway since 2010. Individuals with governance and professional leadership experience had been co-opted onto the Governing Body to augment those governors who chose to continue their governorship at the school. One of these new governors also serves as a governor of a school judged by OFSTED to be outstanding.
Consequently, he believed the local authority has secured strong governing body arrangements at Hempstead Junior School
Supplementary Question:
“Councillor O’Brien will be aware that this has raised a number of parental concerns. Simply from an audit perspective given the fact that a significant number of Governors had resigned, is the Council reviewing and ensuring that appropriate financial scrutiny has occurred at the period when the Governing body was at a significant reduction to due the resignations?”
The Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services, Councillor O’Brien, stated that he had answered most of what Councillor Osborne had asked. He added that Governors retire from and join Governing bodies all the time. He suggested that Councillor Osborne and also other Members seriously consider themselves becoming Governors of schools and to encourage local people, parents in particular to do the same.
B) Councillor Osborne asked the Portfolio Holder for Inward Investment, Strategic Regeneration and Partnerships, Councillor Rodney Chambers OBE, the following question:
“With the Pentagon Centre empty, Tesco leaving and shop owners raising concerns about business tax levels on Chatham High Street does the Council feel that its endeavours to attract business to our high street has been a success given the millions of pounds of public money invested into the Bus Station and road network?
The Portfolio Holder for Inward Investment, Strategic Regeneration and Partnerships, Councillor Rodney Chambers OBE, stated that this had been moderately successful.
Supplementary Question:
“I do not think that is an appropriate answer, given the scale of the issues that are seen in Chatham High Street, we see the Tesco closure, we see empty premises in the Pentagon Centre and the Pentagon Centre itself is a question mark itself. Can he give confidence to the people of Medway that the strategic ambition for Chatham Town Centre as it is, and will be part of the Centre City bid for next year?”
In response, the Portfolio Holder for Inward Investment, Strategic Regeneration and Partnerships Councillor Rodney Chambers OBE reported that the Pentagon Centre is currently experiencing very stable footfall figures, which was contrary to the national trend. 4 new businesses opened in the Pentagon in the last six months. In addition, 2 businesses were fitting out Pentagon retail units and expected to open this month. There were also positive ongoing negotiations with potential retailers on a further 2 units, including the former W.H. Smith shop. Coffee Republic had been so successful, that they were considering expanding their operation to other parts of Medway. This was clearly a very positive picture in a difficult national climate for shopping centres, high streets and retail in general.
He added that Tesco had confirmed that the sub-let of their unit was under offer and they were relatively positive that this will complete. Officers will continue to monitor progress, stay in touch with Tesco and keep Members updated on developments.
Overall the Council’s significant investment in the town centre and continued commitment was attracting business to the high street as exemplified with the Pentagon. Existing and proposed development in and around the town centre including the Theatre Quarter, Empire Reach, Admiral’s Place and the proposed Chatham Waterfront was raising the quality of housing in the town centre and adding to the vibrancy and economic viability of the area.
C) Councillor Fearn asked the Portfolio Holder for Children's Services, Councillor O'Brien, the following:
“Plans to proceed with the expansion and merger of Cuxton Infant and Junior Schools were approved by the Cabinet on 14 April 2015. The likelihood is that there will be a significant increase in traffic movements in Bush Road and pressure on parking availability during school drop off and collection times.
What consideration was given to these potential problems and what assistance can be given to the residents of Bush Road and the parents taking their children to school?”
The Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services, Councillor O’Brien advised that the increase in the pupils at the Academy will be comparatively small (10 per year) and gradual over a 7-year period, therefore, so will any increase in traffic. The proposed works would not make any changes to the front of the Academy on the road as it currently stands with their gates behind the library for the Infants, and behind the Parish Council playground and playing field for the juniors.
He stated that he would encourage the Academy, within their Travel Management Plan, to include initiatives highlighting the benefits of parents walking their children to school, walking buses and, if cars are necessary, car share. He expected the Academy to be firm with parents in the course of implementing their travel plan, as indeed other schools in Medway do.
D) Councillor Khan asked the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Economic Growth and Regulation, Councillor Chitty, the following:
“Given recent development schemes across Gillingham and Medway does the Council have any plans for improvement of Gillingham High Street, which is in desperate need of regeneration?
The Portfolio Holder for Planning, Economic Growth and Regulation, Councillor Chitty stated that she had responded to this on 23 April and therefore did not wish to repeat herself. Therefore, she said that she had on this occasion looked for different terms of indications.
She stated that the first thing to look at was the vacancy rate in Gillingham which at 7.7% was below the national average of 10%.
She advised that there has been quite considerable investment over the period and she outlined a few of these. She referred in particular to Gillingham Railway Station which she considered very important as it gave a much more positive entrance to and exit from Gillingham and this really did make a difference. She also referred to Barclay Homes, Victory Pier and Peel Holdings. Over the past year, the Strand Leisure Park had undergone extensive renovations and this was indeed relevant because what surrounds a town was vibrancy and what brought people into a town was the vibrancy that surrounded it. This has been increasing around Gillingham for a number of years and that had had a knock on effect.
She stated that the Council was supportive of the Market within Gillingham and obviously new shops were welcomed. She referred to Stanny's Smokehouse which had recently opened.
She advised that a Section 106 Agreement had been agreed to connect the accessibility into Gillingham from the Chatham Waters development. Gillingham Pier was a very important investment and Medway Park, a place of absolute excellence. These were all facilities which encouraged people to come into Gillingham High Street and to spend money and enjoy their experience. She also referred to the Universities and advised that the number of students has increased considerably over the period of time so there was a lot which was happening in Gillingham.
One of the important aspects obviously, was the more people who go to Gillingham, the more businesses will invest in their offer.
Supplementary Question:
“I think from Councillor Chitty’s response I am not sure that she has actually been to Gillingham High Street, given £135,000 was recently spent on the creation of a Japanese garden on Will Adams roundabout. £30,376 of this was earmarked initially for town centre improvements, I just wondered if the Portfolio Holder could let me know if she thinks that this is the best use of the money when the High Street in Gillingham is in desperate need of regeneration?”
In response the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Economic Growth and Regulation, Councillor Chitty confirmed that she went into Gillingham very frequently. She added that she also talked to the people in Gillingham and got a fair measure of how they actually see the differences that have occurred over the years. She referred to a Section 106 Agreement which included the allocation of £94,000 to improve walking and cycling and stated that every town centre depended completely on the people that visit around it. She referred to an article in today’s paper which mentioned how popular Medway Park was, because a young man and his family were using the facilities there and broke a world record, and he came from Chislehurst. She added that people were coming into Medway, into Gillingham, and other town centres and the Council would continue to work on improvements.
E) Councillor Maple asked the Leader of the Council, Councillor Jarrett, the following:
“Could the Leader update Council on what interventions Members of the Cabinet have made as regards Operation Stack and its impact on Medway residents?”
The Leader
of the Council, Councillor Jarrett advised that the Council had
been represented in discussions with the Department of Communities
and Local Government at an officer level and initially, concerns
were low for Medway's road network as Operation Stack was
concentrated to the East of Kent with little likelihood of
expanding up towards the Northern strategic road network. However,
given the recent increase in severity from the M20 closures, some
added congestion had been noted on Medway’s road network as
vehicles tried to bypass the usual routes down to the East. As a
result, the Council had put in place constraints on the works to
the network that were allowed, to ensure there were no unnecessary
blockages to traffic flow that was already under pressure.
Following the Government’s COBRA meeting, changes were mooted
to the management of freight heading for Dover. The options discussed were to put in place
temporary lorry parks, one of which was potentially at Ebbsfleet International Station. This posed a significant risk to Medway’s
road network, and this was made clear at various meetings as being
unacceptable. As a result, this option was currently off the table
whilst the option of Manston was being
progressed.
With respect to the central portion of the question which is what intervention Members of the Cabinet had had, he stated that in company with Councillor Tolhurst MP and Councillor Chishti MP this matter had been discussed at a meeting of Kent MP’s in the House of Commons along with the Leader of Kent County Council, Paul Carter where a number of options were discussed and Medway was in a position to have its say. Subsequent to that, he had attended a meeting of Kent Leaders where again Medway had an input and expressed its views on Operation Stack and subsequent to that there was a further meeting of Kent Leaders where the Deputy Leader, Councillor Doe was able to represent the Council. He too took part in a similar discussion about Operation Stack.
It is a very complex problem, exacerbated by what has been going on at the entrance to the Tunnel in France and the Leader of the Council stated that there was not an easy answer to it. As an Administration and, he hoped cross party, Medway would continue to watch what was happening and express concerns as and when they arise.
Supplementary Question:
“I am grateful for that detailed answer which is helpful particularly around the issue of Ebbsfleet which would have an absolute and direct impact on Medway residents. This needs to be recognised and if that is brought back to the table then all interventions will be helpful. Concerns have been specifically raised by the Federation of Small Businesses around the impact of small and medium businesses both here across Kent and elsewhere in the country. Has there been any support offered to Medway Small Businesses and if so what has the support been?”
The Leader of the Council, Councillor Jarrett responded by stating that he was not aware of any small businesses being impacted and he added that one of the success stories in Medway of this administration was that there were over 13,000 Small Businesses in Medway. He stated that Small Businesses were the bedrock of the economy and added that he was not aware of any that had come directly to the Council and said that they were suffering hardship as a result of Operation Stack. He advised that he was aware from the news and newspapers that many small and medium sized enterprises have expressed great concern about the suggestion to close the tunnel overnight, and some of those concerns are obviously well founded particularly when dealing with perishable goods but we would have to see whether or not that happens. He stated that if any Small Business approached the Council with particular tales of hardship, the Council would see what it could do to help, not in terms of simply a bail out but taking on board their concerns and seeing what this Authority could do to help.
He added that the other thing the Council needed to be very aware of, and he knew that Councillor Tolhurst had already mentioned this in other places, and that was any impact that the third crossing, the Lower Thames Crossing may have on Medway’s road network and businesses. The Leader concluded by saying there is a lot going on, there is a lot to be concerned about and this Council will do its best to protect Medway’s interests.
F) Councillor Maple asked the Portfolio Holder for Inward Investment, Strategic Regeneration and Partnerships, Councillor Rodney Chambers OBE, the following:
“The Government are clear that devolution, particularly but not exclusively to combined authorities, will be a key priority for the next five years.
Could the Portfolio Holder state what he believes the potential benefits of devolution to local government are for the residents of Medway?”
The Portfolio Holder for Inward Investment, Strategic Regeneration and Partnerships, Councillor Rodney Chambers OBE responded by advising that the Governments stated intentions regarding devolution were to provide localities with the means to bring budgets and powers of decision making away from the centre and closer to the point of use. This had the potential to improve outcomes by giving local people greater influence over how services are delivered and enabling locally designed systems to work more efficiently and effectively.
The current devolution proposals agreed by the Government to date included a range of powers over regional economic development, housing, learning skills, planning, transport, and regeneration. In specific localities such as Manchester this has been extended to include policing and healthcare.
The granting of these additional powers was however conditional on areas following the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Model of adopting an Elected Mayor. The Chancellor has emphasised that the Elected Mayor Model will not be imposed, but if authorities do not wish to pursue this Model, they will not benefit from the scale of freedoms and powers that have been agreed with Greater Manchester. It does not say what powers will not come if we do not have an Elected Mayor. Given that the process of devolving such powers are in the very early stages of implementation, it is not yet possible to assess the tangible benefits of such an approach for Medway.
Although we are prepared to work in partnership with others, this would be on the following conditions as laid out by the Leader in his report this evening: first, that the identity and sovereignty of Medway shall not suffer and shall be preserved; and second, that we shall not implement an Elected Mayor.
The Portfolio Holder stated that to date we have been heavily involved in the South East Local Economic Partnership (SELEP), whose strategic themes already encompass some of those set out in the devolution proposals. Medway has had considerable success in attracting approximately £30million in two rounds of Growth Deal funding to date from the SELEP and would continue to engage in such partnership activity for the benefit of local residents and businesses. He concluded by saying he believed the way forward was for Medway to continue in partnerships and not as a combined authority.
Supplementary Question
“The Council works best, as seen with the threat of the estuary airport where there was combined cross party working. Reference was made to the combined cross party working in relation to with the creation of the Council. Would Councillor Chambers give strong consideration to the creation of a devolution Cabinet Advisory Group?”
In response, the Portfolio Holder for Inward Investment, Strategic Regeneration and Partnerships, Councillor Rodney Chambers OBE, stated that the creation of Advisory Groups would be a matter for the Leader of the Council. He added that the partnerships that the Council had been involved with had been cross party but that partnerships would not now be across the political spectrum because after the May elections, all the local authorities in Kent were under Conservative control with the exception of Maidstone. Therefore, the North Kent Partnership is now made up of all Conservative Councillors and this is where the future lies. The Kent and Medway Economic Partnership was slightly different because it is made up of Senior Members and Leaders of some local authorities in Kent. Medway is there because it is regarded as a first tier authority and attends on equal terms with Kent. In addition, there is the SELEP Partnership. Therefore, Councillor Chambers stated that he wasn’t sure a Cabinet Advisory Group was needed because it was not solely devolution in Medway.
Note: At the expiry of 20 minutes, the Mayor announced that the remaining questions (questions G – H) as set out on the Council agenda would receive a written response.