Agenda item

Background:

The report detailed key achievements and provided an overview of the progress made in quarter 4 of 2025/26 against the approved Kyndi Business Plan.

Key issues discussed included the following:

Cyber Security Review – Work was underway to review security penetration risks. This would help to provide assurance to service users.

Two-Tier Workforce Code – This work was in progress. It involved reviewing employment rights for employees delivering services that could have been outsourced. Employment terms needed to mirror terms that would be in place if the individual was employed by the Council but did not need to be identical. The impact was being considered, in particular risks around pensions.

Salary benchmarking – Salaries were benchmarked against the private sector and were higher than if individuals were employed directly by the Council but might be lower than elsewhere in the private sector.

Staff turnover – Three staff had left after failing vetting checks. This had been particularly challenging as the failed vetting checks had taken several months to complete. The time for vetting to be completed had reduced to eight to ten weeks but was now increasing again. The Chairperson said she would write to Kent Police to highlight the importance of Kyndi’s vetting checks being completed more promptly.

CCTV provision– The move of the CCTV control centre to Gun Wharf was complete. It was questioned whether more staff were needed to monitor it. The Sub Committee was advised that staff numbers were considered to be adequate overall but that there would need to be adjustments to shifts. Heat maps were being analysed to better identify the issues. With reference to the number of CCTV assisted arrests having increased, it was considered that this was due to an increased number of better quality cameras.

Crime locations– It was asked whether the presence of more visible cameras had moved crime from one area to another. Kyndi representatives said that they needed to build partnership working with the Police to better understand patterns and to be able to more proactively assist with Police operations.

Kyndi partners– It was suggested that it would be useful to hear from partner organisations, either at a future meeting of the Sub Committee or at an Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting. The Sub Committee was informed that Kyndi had undertaken a partnership stakeholder survey which had seen Kyndi receive an average score of 8.7 out of 10 from stakeholders. Detailed results would be reported to the next meeting of the Sub Committee.

Staff structure – It had been decided to not directly replace the Chief Finance Officer role. The new role to be appointed would be the Head of Finance who would also be responsible for audit, governance and risk and a management accountant would report to them. HR and Payroll had been separated but would still come under the Head of Finance. A new staff member, who had completed a qualification at Canterbury College would be responsible for credit control and bookkeeping. The Sub Committee offered congratulations to the young person appointed. A Company Secretary was being recruited who would also report to the Head of Finance.

Governance arrangements – The Council’s Chief Operating Officer said he was comfortable with the governance arrangements that Kyndi had put in place. Internal Audit had asked the company to do a self assessment of its arrangements. A report would be presented to the next meeting of the Sub Committee. It was noted that Kyndi would be creating a new Audit and Risk Committee.