Agenda item

This report presented an overview of the progress made against the approved Kyndi Business Plan in quarter 1 2025/26.

Exempt Appendices to the report set out the Chief Executive Officer Report, Chief Finance Officer Report, the Sales and Business Development Report and the Head of Operations Report. Public appendices to the report included the Quarter 1 Health and Safety Report and a Smartbulb Case Study.

The report set out key achievements during Quarter 1, some of which included there being no reported Health and Safety incidents; completion of a migration from analogue to digital systems which would ensure better interoperability and interface with other systems; agreement of a Better Care Fund funding submission for a total of £600k and; funding forCircadacare Smart Lightbulbs was now in place.

Other achievements included total financial savings being made of £485,176, exceeding the Quarter 1 savings target by £35k; statutory compliance remained up to date across GDPR, Safeguarding and Health and Safety; the Kyndi customer retention rate had increased from 82% to 84% - more than double of market average of 40% and; a number of Public Relations activities had taken place.

Members received an update regarding the progress of the Kyndi Strategic Plan. This was being further developed following an away day held in June, which had been successful and resulted in a piece of work on company culture being undertaken.

It was anticipated that the Plan would be approved in October and would be presented to the next meeting of the Sub Committee in November. It was agreed that this meeting of the Sub Committee would focus exclusively on the Strategic Plan. The Non-Executive Directors of Kyndi would be invited to attend this meeting.

Sub Committee Members were pleased that the finances of Kyndi were looking positive and that the loan was reducing more quickly than expected.

Kyndi’s move to Gun Wharf was expected to take place in January 2026. There were some challenges in relation to finalising the lease and it was requested that an update be requested from relevant officers outside the meeting to confirm details of the lease signing and expected timescales.

The Sub Committee raised concerns about CCTV in Rochester, following a recent arson attack in the High Street. These concerns included coverage and effectiveness of cameras. The Sub Committee was informed that a review of cameras in Gillingham was due to be undertaken in the following week and that a review would take place in Rochester in the next two to four weeks.

It was agreed that representatives of Kyndi would be invited to attend the next meeting of the Rochester City Centre Forum to discuss the CCTV issues with the Police and other partners.

A report from Kent Police that had been presented to Medway’s Health and Wellbeing Board would be shared with Kyndi. This had set out that the area between McDonalds and Primark in Chatham had been a focus for violent crime incidents.

It was noted that JTL Training, who had recently bought the former Brook Police Station site, had expressed concerns about safety at the site. They would be put in touch with Kyndi to facilitate further discussion.

A Member said that data relating to incidents captured by CCTV and how this had assisted with arrests would be useful to inform the redevelopment of the centre of Chatham and building design in the area.

Kyndi was progressing a project to update Real Time Information at Chatham Bus Station. It was understood that this might need to be approved by Medway Council’s Cabinet. It was agreed that relevant Council officers would be contacted outside the meeting to obtain an update on this.

It was agreed that Kyndi would attend the Council’s Adult Social Care away day on 2 October and that this could include them having a stall and a 15 minute slot for presentation of a short film and case study. It was suggested that topics that could be covered included transition from children’s to adult services, assistive technology and the promotion of independence for young people who were neurodiverse. A request was made for an online offering to be developed to raise awareness of Kyndi’s services amongst Adult Social Care staff.

Kyndi would be holding a marketing event at Mid Kent College sometime in the week commencing 10 November. Use would be made of the technology room at the College to showcase Kyndi’s work. This event would be promoted once the date was confirmed.

Reasons:

In order for the company to fulfil its purpose, the Shareholder should monitor progress of its objectives against the Business Plan.