KCC recently opened a consultation on charging for specific items - such as soil, rubble, hardcore and plasterboard ('non-household waste') - at its Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs - the rubbish dump to most of us).
The County Council is rightly proud of its comprehensive network of 18 HWRCs and a strong recycling record. Many councils are closing Centres, and many nearby authorities are charging already for the sort of items that KCC is now consulting on. This has the result that people from outside the County come to our sites to dispose of this sort of waste for free, in particular to those sites close to the border. Thus, to take the two HWRCs that my consituents are most likely to use, 17% of visitors to Dunbrik and 10% of those to Swanley do not live in Kent.
There is no statutory obligation on KCC to take non-household waste at its HWRCs, and the aim of the initiative is to continue to provide a service for a modest charge that can help sustain the HWRC network at a time of funding pressure.
The proposal certainly has its critics, and there is an often-expressed fear that this will increase the fly-tipping that is such a bane in areas such as Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley. However, experience has suggested that a lot of fly-tipping is the result of well-organised criminal operations, often dumping waste from London.
The consultation runs until 1 November.
Friday, 21 September 2018
Thursday, 20 September 2018
More Village Art for Eynsford
I have supported the first project for Eynsford Village Society's Village Public Art Trail, and was glad to be able to support a further project with a grant of £1,000 from my Combined Member Fund.
Installation number five, Woodland Life (pictured) is a natural sculpture of a tree trunk with an owl on one top branch, a woodpecker on the other, squirrels running down the trunk and a mole at the bottom. It now stands in Nine Hole Wood off Sparepenny Lane, and is an excellent addition to a series that includes artwork in the station and 'Stand and Stare' in the blocked up window of Rafferty's.
Installation number five, Woodland Life (pictured) is a natural sculpture of a tree trunk with an owl on one top branch, a woodpecker on the other, squirrels running down the trunk and a mole at the bottom. It now stands in Nine Hole Wood off Sparepenny Lane, and is an excellent addition to a series that includes artwork in the station and 'Stand and Stare' in the blocked up window of Rafferty's.
Thursday, 6 September 2018
Reduced speed limits in Farningham and Horton Kirby
I have written before about the troubling crash history on the A20 as it passes through the edges of Farningham. A particularly horrific accident some eighteen months ago, resulting in the deaths of two young men, has since been demonstrated in the courts to be the result of driver behaviour (not that of the two young victims). However, as a continuous fast stretch of road, this section of the A20 is clearly susceptible to more serious crashes, resulting in deaths and serious injuries.
I have worked on this issue with Kent Highways officers and Farningham Parish Council, which has rightly been concerned. Kent Highways brought forward in August draft Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) to address the issue. The philosophy has been to focus speed reductions in the area in which drivers are clearly approaching parts of the village, coming from the open road into a more residential area. Thus the speed limit will be reduced from 60mph to 40mph along the A20 Main Road/ Gorse Hill from the junction with London Road up to some 290 metres south-east of the junction with Eglantine Lane.
Similar reductions will apply on the A225 Dartford Road, which covers some of the northerly parts of Franingham (up to Calfstock Lane) and then becomes part of Horton Kirby. Speed along this road has also long been a concern to residents, and I have in the past worked with Kent Highways and local residents on signage improvements and the like. This, however, should be a more substantive measure. The new limit will apply the length of the road from the A20 roundabout to the border where Horton Kirby meets Sutton at Hone (which is the start of a 30mph zone).
Both sets of speed limits will be reinforced with a series of back to back repeater signs. There have been no objections to the draft TROs and so all is set to move ahead. The provisional date for implementation is 15 October, with a reserve date of a week later. This should be very welcome news.
I have worked on this issue with Kent Highways officers and Farningham Parish Council, which has rightly been concerned. Kent Highways brought forward in August draft Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) to address the issue. The philosophy has been to focus speed reductions in the area in which drivers are clearly approaching parts of the village, coming from the open road into a more residential area. Thus the speed limit will be reduced from 60mph to 40mph along the A20 Main Road/ Gorse Hill from the junction with London Road up to some 290 metres south-east of the junction with Eglantine Lane.
Similar reductions will apply on the A225 Dartford Road, which covers some of the northerly parts of Franingham (up to Calfstock Lane) and then becomes part of Horton Kirby. Speed along this road has also long been a concern to residents, and I have in the past worked with Kent Highways and local residents on signage improvements and the like. This, however, should be a more substantive measure. The new limit will apply the length of the road from the A20 roundabout to the border where Horton Kirby meets Sutton at Hone (which is the start of a 30mph zone).
Both sets of speed limits will be reinforced with a series of back to back repeater signs. There have been no objections to the draft TROs and so all is set to move ahead. The provisional date for implementation is 15 October, with a reserve date of a week later. This should be very welcome news.
Monday, 27 August 2018
Northamptonshire, the canary in the mine
Every so often, I try to address an issue on this blog that goes wider than the specific concerns of the Division that I represent. The implications of the crisis at Northamptonshire County Council are such an issue.
Northamptonshire has fallen into deep financial crisis. It has twice had to issue what is called a Section 114 notice, stopping all but essential spending to meet its stautory obligations. Following the Caller Report into the financial problems at the authority, local government in the County is to be restructured, with both the existing County and seven District and Borough Councils being replaced by two unitary authorities. The Councils have agreed to this, effectively voting to end their own existence. The leadership, both officer and Councillor, at the County Council, has been removed. I know the new Leader, Matthew Golby, with whom I sit on the Local Government Association's (LGA) Children's and Young People's Board; he is an able man with an excruciatingly difficult job. Government inspectors have been sent in to oversee the Council's activities.
What has happened? The Caller Report identified many errors made by the Council's previous leadership, reflected in over-optimistic budgeting and excessive faith in ill-defined 'transformation' projects. The Council seems also to have clung too long to holding down Council Tax. But all this was an inadequate response to a set of pressures that are affecting all of local government, and County Councils in particular. As Professor Tony Travers, perhaps the country's foremost local government expert, put it: "the burden of lowering the deficit has fallen on unloved sectors and services, notably provision within the oversight of the Home Office and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Grants to councils in England fell by almost 50% between 2010-11 and 2017-18, and spending in real terms has tumbled by almost 30% on average."
This reduction came at a time when spending pressures were increasing. In the early years of austerity, a lot of attention was paid to what was known as the 'Barnet Graph of Doom' - a set of projections by that London Borough to show how rising demands in social care and waste disposal, coupled with grant reductions, would inexorably squeeze out other spending.
This is exactly what has happened, as commentators such as Tony Travers and Simon Jenkins have recorded. Adult social care needs continue to rise, even if in Kent we have partially mitigated this by delivering savings from an overhaul of services. Government has, to a degree, recognised this through allowing dedicated increases in Council Tax and support through the Better Care Fund, but this is only a partial response. Children's social care - part of my Cabinet responsibilities - continues to see upward pressure; the LGA estimates that there will be a £2 billion spending gap in this area by 2020. And so other services - the visible, universal services that most directly connect Councils to their communities - such as Highways and amenity services, as well as the preventative services such as youth work have taken the strain. Ever wondered about the state of roadside verges? This is why.
This affects all of local government, but as the County Councils Network has pointed out, counties are particularly vulnerable, because they have huge exposure to demand-driven services such as social care, yet benefit less from revenue from new homes than District or Unitary authorities. It is little wonder that other councils, some Counties notable among them, have been identified as being at risk.
In Kent, under the skilled stewardship of the late John Simmonds and of Andy Wood, we have delivered over £600 million in cumulative savings since the start of the grant reductions. While our reserves are not as high as those of some authorities, we have maintained a stable financial position. We have done this while defending services as much as possible; for example, our youth service is much reduced from its levels of a decade ago, but remains more substantial than that of many councils.
However, the next few years will remain very testing, not least because central government is approaching the end of its current spending cycle and will undertake a fresh Comprehensive Spending Review to cover the years from 2020 onwards. Additional commitments have been made to the NHS; by contrast, it is unclear whether local government will again be expected to be in the front line of reductions. With reducing government grant, a narrow financial base of its own and strong demand-led pressures, local government is in a position where, without significant change, something has to give. Whatever its past errors, Northamptonshire is telling us something.
Northamptonshire has fallen into deep financial crisis. It has twice had to issue what is called a Section 114 notice, stopping all but essential spending to meet its stautory obligations. Following the Caller Report into the financial problems at the authority, local government in the County is to be restructured, with both the existing County and seven District and Borough Councils being replaced by two unitary authorities. The Councils have agreed to this, effectively voting to end their own existence. The leadership, both officer and Councillor, at the County Council, has been removed. I know the new Leader, Matthew Golby, with whom I sit on the Local Government Association's (LGA) Children's and Young People's Board; he is an able man with an excruciatingly difficult job. Government inspectors have been sent in to oversee the Council's activities.
What has happened? The Caller Report identified many errors made by the Council's previous leadership, reflected in over-optimistic budgeting and excessive faith in ill-defined 'transformation' projects. The Council seems also to have clung too long to holding down Council Tax. But all this was an inadequate response to a set of pressures that are affecting all of local government, and County Councils in particular. As Professor Tony Travers, perhaps the country's foremost local government expert, put it: "the burden of lowering the deficit has fallen on unloved sectors and services, notably provision within the oversight of the Home Office and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Grants to councils in England fell by almost 50% between 2010-11 and 2017-18, and spending in real terms has tumbled by almost 30% on average."
This reduction came at a time when spending pressures were increasing. In the early years of austerity, a lot of attention was paid to what was known as the 'Barnet Graph of Doom' - a set of projections by that London Borough to show how rising demands in social care and waste disposal, coupled with grant reductions, would inexorably squeeze out other spending.
This is exactly what has happened, as commentators such as Tony Travers and Simon Jenkins have recorded. Adult social care needs continue to rise, even if in Kent we have partially mitigated this by delivering savings from an overhaul of services. Government has, to a degree, recognised this through allowing dedicated increases in Council Tax and support through the Better Care Fund, but this is only a partial response. Children's social care - part of my Cabinet responsibilities - continues to see upward pressure; the LGA estimates that there will be a £2 billion spending gap in this area by 2020. And so other services - the visible, universal services that most directly connect Councils to their communities - such as Highways and amenity services, as well as the preventative services such as youth work have taken the strain. Ever wondered about the state of roadside verges? This is why.
This affects all of local government, but as the County Councils Network has pointed out, counties are particularly vulnerable, because they have huge exposure to demand-driven services such as social care, yet benefit less from revenue from new homes than District or Unitary authorities. It is little wonder that other councils, some Counties notable among them, have been identified as being at risk.
In Kent, under the skilled stewardship of the late John Simmonds and of Andy Wood, we have delivered over £600 million in cumulative savings since the start of the grant reductions. While our reserves are not as high as those of some authorities, we have maintained a stable financial position. We have done this while defending services as much as possible; for example, our youth service is much reduced from its levels of a decade ago, but remains more substantial than that of many councils.
However, the next few years will remain very testing, not least because central government is approaching the end of its current spending cycle and will undertake a fresh Comprehensive Spending Review to cover the years from 2020 onwards. Additional commitments have been made to the NHS; by contrast, it is unclear whether local government will again be expected to be in the front line of reductions. With reducing government grant, a narrow financial base of its own and strong demand-led pressures, local government is in a position where, without significant change, something has to give. Whatever its past errors, Northamptonshire is telling us something.
Wednesday, 22 August 2018
John Simmonds, public servant
It was quite a long life - though 82 is not exceptional these days - and a very good one, and in that sense we cannot mourn too much. But the sense of loss is still very big.
John was elected to KCC in 2001 after a successful banking career. He was community-minded and a public servant before he was a Councillor, deeply involved in the life of Whitstable (in which he had lived since 1964), chairing the Whitstable Castle Trust and serving on the council of the University of Kent.
In his long tenure of the Finance portfolio, he had to oversee huge savings, amounting to over £600 million, as local government was put in the front line of central government's austerity drive. He cared passionately about the services that the Council commissions and provides - he served two years in the post that I have held subsequently, of Cabinet Member for Education, and brought huge commitment to it - but he also knew that the books had to balance. In these toughest of times, he delivered nine consecutive balanced budgets.
In this, the Council benefited from his financial acumen, as it did when, working with some exceptionally able officers, he oversaw the full recovery of KCC's balances with Icelandic banks. But what also marked him out was the sensitivity with which he oversaw this difficult process, and slowly and steadily built consensus behind the savings. He was never a Treasury hatchet man. In this, he formed a great partnership with Andy Wood, who left as KCC's Director of Finance a couple of months ago. One of Andy's great sadnesses at his farewell to the Council was that John was by then too ill to attend.
John and I sat next to each other in Monday morning Cabinet meetings for many years. He was delightful company, thoughtful and well-informed, and with a lively and sometimes risqué sense of humour. He was, until his final illness, inspirationally vigorous in his late seventies and into his eighties. He was a family man and a public servant, a moderate and internationalist Conservative - as his Conservative Association chairman put it, "he was one of the good guys." This is farewell to a colleague and a friend.
Wednesday, 18 July 2018
Rights of Way Improvement Plan
KCC is responsible for the management and maintenance of some 6,900km of Public Rights of Way across the County, with its huge potential for enjoyment of the countryside, support for healthy living and journeys by walking or (in many cases) cycling.
The Council is required by law to produce a Rights of Way Improvement Plan every ten years; the last such plan, for 2007-17, delivered significant improvements to the network.
Now the Council is consulting on its 2018-28 plan, focusing on a range of issues including the shape of the network, maintenance and improvements and means of ensuring high public awareness. The consultation began on 20 June and runs until 12 September. You can find it, along with a range of related materials, here and can complete an online questionnaire.
If you wish to request hard copies or alternative formats of any consultation materials, you can email alternativeformats@kent.gov.uk or call 03000 421553 (text relay service number 18001 03000 421553).
The Council is required by law to produce a Rights of Way Improvement Plan every ten years; the last such plan, for 2007-17, delivered significant improvements to the network.
Now the Council is consulting on its 2018-28 plan, focusing on a range of issues including the shape of the network, maintenance and improvements and means of ensuring high public awareness. The consultation began on 20 June and runs until 12 September. You can find it, along with a range of related materials, here and can complete an online questionnaire.
If you wish to request hard copies or alternative formats of any consultation materials, you can email alternativeformats@kent.gov.uk or call 03000 421553 (text relay service number 18001 03000 421553).
Tuesday, 17 July 2018
Buses for Wilmington schools
In the last fortnight or so, constituents have been raising concerns with me over the prospects for children travelling to school in Wilmington (to the Boys' and Girls' Grammar Schools, and to the Academy) from September.
The immediate cause for concern has been the cessation of the Number 2 bus service run by West Kent buses. This is not related to any decision by KCC regarding subsidy; the 2 was always a purely commercial service.
I understand that there are a very small number of children in Otford who are affected, and for whom a rail and bus journey will regrettably be needed. For children travelling in from Eysnford and Farningham, Go Coach has rerouted its 429 service, which should provide cover. There are some quite significant changes in timing from the 2 service, and some specific concerns about those at the end of the school day. I am investigating whether any changes are possible.
There is a bigger problem for children travelling in from Horton Kirby and South Darenth (as well as Sutton at Hone, just outside my Division). Here the alternative option is the Arriva 414 bus, which has been a cause of significant concern and complaint because of lateness, sme lack of driver knowledge and overcrowding. The school journey from north of Farningham to Wilmington will add another twenty or so children to the service.
I have also taken this matter up with Kent Highways officers (and had discussed the 414 with Arriva previously). Arriva have been making some efforts to invest in the route, but the outlook for September remains uncertain. We will be watching very closely and will seek to respond to concerns if and when they arise.
The immediate cause for concern has been the cessation of the Number 2 bus service run by West Kent buses. This is not related to any decision by KCC regarding subsidy; the 2 was always a purely commercial service.
I understand that there are a very small number of children in Otford who are affected, and for whom a rail and bus journey will regrettably be needed. For children travelling in from Eysnford and Farningham, Go Coach has rerouted its 429 service, which should provide cover. There are some quite significant changes in timing from the 2 service, and some specific concerns about those at the end of the school day. I am investigating whether any changes are possible.
There is a bigger problem for children travelling in from Horton Kirby and South Darenth (as well as Sutton at Hone, just outside my Division). Here the alternative option is the Arriva 414 bus, which has been a cause of significant concern and complaint because of lateness, sme lack of driver knowledge and overcrowding. The school journey from north of Farningham to Wilmington will add another twenty or so children to the service.
I have also taken this matter up with Kent Highways officers (and had discussed the 414 with Arriva previously). Arriva have been making some efforts to invest in the route, but the outlook for September remains uncertain. We will be watching very closely and will seek to respond to concerns if and when they arise.
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