IFS: who is getting the funding?

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has published a useful analysis of the £1.6bn that the government has made available to councils to help respond to the Covid-19 crisis.

The IFS points out that the basis for allocation of the funding - driven by 2013-14 needs assessments, in particular for social care - is open to question (and many of the critiques of this allocation approach were reflected in the pre-crisis Fair Funding Review). County Councils had been deeply critical of this funding methodology.

The funding formulas are over-general and out of date, including with respect to differences in population growth. The formula also makes very little available to District Councils, who are deeply exposed to risk on council tax collection (although how this risk is crystallised in two-tier areas is unclear) and massive losses in parking income.

The paper argues that it might make more sense for the government to relax rules on councils' ability to borrow to meet day to day spending, with government looking (subject to suitable record-keeping and safeguards) to reimburse councils for crisis spending. Councils have argued for this, and ministers have insisted (including at meetings and on calls in which I have taken part) that they will back councils in spending what is needed.

What is also clear - though not so much a focus of this report - is that, with severe spending pressures in areas such as social care and support to vulnerable people in the community, and with revenues at significant risk or already falling, the £1.6bn support to councils is unlikely to be the end of the story. KCC's share of that grant is £39 million, and it is not hard to see how that can be quickly committed and spent.

You can find the IFS statement on the release of the report here, with a link to the report itself.

Refunds on Kent Travel Saver

Kent County Council has had enquiries from a number of parents about possible refunds for their payments to the Travel Saver (formerly known as the Freedom Pass or the Young Person's travel Pass) once it became clear that schools would close for some considerable time. We've been approached in relation to both the Travel Saver and the 16+ Travel Saver. I have been approached on this by constituents and other parents and we sought to come to a quick decision.

Although application fees have now been surpassed by the cost of the scheme to the Council and KCC's normal policy has always been not to provide refunds, it is clear that these are not normal circumstances. Many families are feeling financial pressures during the current lockdown, and for the present they have no reason to use the service. And while the Travel Saver is heavily subsidised by the County Council (to the tune of almost two-thirds of the cost of the bus journeys that it entitles young people to), that effect is spread over the entire school year. KCC is therefore currently reviewing the level of any refund that can be provided and how it can be delivered.  Once this is determined, it will be communicated to parents.  For anyone paying by instalments, KCC arranged for the cancellation of the final payment, which was due on 28 March.  

KCC will be in touch with parents about the arrangements for any refund due once it has been possible to establish how this will work.

This is the right thing to do, and it's essential that KCC supports parents at this time. At the same time, it is a relatively small example of the much greater financial pressures that face local government during this crisis, with income being foregone (as in this case) and expenditure in areas such as social care under upward pressure - something that I, and my counterparts elsewhere in the sector, continue to emphasise to ministers. 

On-demand bus services for Sevenoaks

Bus operator Go Coach, working with Kent County Council, will be replacing many of its services in and around Sevenoaks (including the villages of Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley) with an on-demand service. The services involved will be the 1,2,3,4,5,6 and 8. The new service, branded as go2, will operate on a three month trial.

Go had already worked on some schemes for 'demand responsive' bus services with KCC, including plans to address the replacement for the 421 in the heart of Shoreham village. The collapse in demand for bus journeys as a result of the Covid-19 crisis has accelerated the search for new approaches and new solutions. KCC worked with Go Coach and its delivery partner ViaVan to develop the scheme and has given it some start up financial support.

go2 will cover the whole of Sevenoaks District, as well as journeys to NHS centres such as Pembury hospital. Booking will be via an app, which will also enable users to track the bus's movements to assess arrival times. The service will be available from 6am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and starts on 14 April. You can find a KCC media statement about the initiative here.

Go Coach are to be congratulated on an innovative and imaginative response to current circumstances, which can offer real benefits to Sevenoaks residents.

Road improvements in Kemsing

Next week, Kent Highways should be carrying out works in St. Edith's Road, Kemsing. They have marked up three large areas: full width in the stretch from High Street to Chart View, and then two smaller areas from Chart View to Old Barn Close. These works are part of the pothole blitz, although this will be in the form of larger-scale patching.

The works are planned for two nights, starting next Monday, 23 March.

Yellow lines for Tylers Green Road

Residents of Tylers Green Road have long raised with me concerns over dangerous parking, especially at one of the main bends in the road, and asked for yellow lines to be installed. Kent Highways and Sevenoaks District Council took some persuading, but after a site visit to Crockenhill last year (addressing a range of Highways issues), they concluded that the yellow lines were needed.

After consultation (which met with no objections) Kent Highways undertook to deliver the lining and I am pleased to say that this week the lines were painted. It has taken some time, but this must bear good development for residents of Tylers Greeen Road.

Swanley Village, the M25 and much else

In the search to address the problem of flooding in Button Street, attention has been focused increasingly on the M25 bridge and runoff from it.

I took this up with Kent Highways officers, who have subsequently been in discussions with Connect Plus (who operate this part of the M25 on behalf of Highways England). There was a recognition from Connect Plus that many of the HE drainage ditches have not been maintained and are blocked or overflowing. They undertook to clear them, and extensive works on this took place a couple of weeks ago. The pictures here show some of these works and the debris that has been cleared out.

There will now be monitoring of runoff from the bridge to see the effects of this welcome work by Connect Plus. If it does not prove effective in stopping the runoff, then the drainage teams from Connect Plus and Kent Highways will meet to examine the detailed drainage structures in the area to see what more radical works need to be undertaken.

These seem to be positive developments, and came at a time when I met representatives from the Residents Association with a Kent Highways officer to review other key road and traffic issues in the village, including speeds in the centre of the village, HGVs, signage and other concerns. More to report on that soon.

A small step regarding the 421

The Go Coach 421 service to Sevenoaks was withdrawn from coming in to Shoreham late last year, following difficulties in access for buses and concerns on the part of the company about limited use of the service from the village. The nearest bus pickup was now on the A225, a cause of difficulty and concern to older village residents in particular.

Various attempts have been made to resolve the problem, and this week Go introduced a once a week shopping service, leaving the village just after 10am and returning shortly after 1230. Kent Highways officers have also sought to make residents aware of the Kent Karrier service, which can provide a cost effective alternative. In the longer term, the aim is to develop an on demand service, rather on the model of some of the Big Conversation options. These were explored as an alternative at the time of the service withdrawal, but it was not feasible at that point. The work for a longer term solution, hopefully to be in place by the early summer, continues.