Agenda item

Background:

The report detailed key achievements and provided an overview of the progress made in quarter 3 of 2025/26 against the approved Kyndi Business Plan.

Key issues discussed included the following:

Real Time Bus Information – The installation of real time traffic information screens at the Bus Station in Chatham and other locations in Medway had been approved at Cabinet and work was progressing. There had been some positive feedback in relation to this initiative. Screens would eventually be rolled out across Medway. They were seen as being a contributor towards encouraging increased bus use locally.

Community Daycare – There were concerns about service provision in view of news received from an incumbent provider. A meeting was due to take place with this provider to discuss the situation and the future provision of daycare. It was suggested that there could be a role for Kyndi and that consideration needed to be given to this possibility.

Deep cleaning for care visits – Partial funding had been secured for a staff member to start on 7 April. Attempts were also made during visits to identify whether any family could assist, but where cleaning was required as part of reablement this could be put in place. Where service users cleaned for themselves this could be monitored as part of care visits. Protocols relating to hoarding had been amended as previously anyone demonstrating signs of hoarding behaviour had been considered a safeguarding concern, resulting in significant referrals.

Financial Management Support – Following the retirement of the Kyndi Chief Financial Officer, Kreston Reeves had been engaged to provide some interim support. This provision had been excellent and Kyndi would continue to use the firm for the next nine months.

Company finances – Turnover for the end of the financial year was forecast to be slightly less than budget with profit also slightly less than budget. Taking into account exceptional costs incurred during the year this was considered to be a positive result.

Leadership Programme – The Mid Kent College hosted Programme was progressing well and there had been positive networking activity.

Workforce development – A People Strategy had been produced to underpin the Strategic Plan. This included clear development plans for every person within the organisation who sought it and the provision of a training budget to cover this.

A member of staff would be joining following completion of their T levels at Canterbury College. It was considered important to highlight this success and to raise the profile of employment in the care sector with younger people. It was suggested that this success could be highlighted as part of the NEETS (Not in Employment, Education or Training) Conference due to take place on 30 April and it was suggested that a video could be produced to show at the Conference.

CCTV provision – Upgrades to CCTV cameras and the provision of additional cameras had been completed. This included cameras that could ‘talk’ and move every 20 seconds, which were making a significant impact. It was requested that CCTV be put on the agenda for the Medway Town Centres Board and that the Kyndi  Head of Operations be invited to attend.

Telecare system – The system that had been upgraded in June 2026 had embedded very well and the support function provided where there were any issues had been excellent. The data that could be run on a monthly basis was increasing and work was being undertaken to enable automation and quicker answering of calls.

Health and Safety – There had been a couple of incidents during the quarter which included a road traffic accident and a near miss in the control room. Compared to the previous 12 months, incidents had decreased by three. Overall, Kyndi was considered to be a safe place to work.

Case Study – With reference to the case study included in the agenda pack, it was commented that the work highlighted was excellent, including the positive impact on the child and their parents and that it was pleasing to have a case study about a young person.

Performance Dashboard – This was newly created and would be used across the business. It would be presented to Kyndi management and Board meetings and to the Sub Committee. The Dashboard would immediately highlight concerns and what was going well and clearly show performance against targets. The live dashboard would be presented to future meetings of the Sub Committee.

Appointment of auditors – Kyndi was looking to appoint a new auditor, which was a shareholder responsibility. It was noted that the previous auditor’s work had been fully remote whereas the proposed replacement would be able to provide the additional reassurance of on site work. It was anticipated that the appointment would be approved under delegated authority and would need to be reported to the next meeting of the Sub Committee.