Wood Street works start today

Wood Street, Swanley Village, is clsoed today and tomorrow for mircoasphalting works being carried out by Kent Highways. The two-day closure is from 7am until 7pm each day, with diversions via Button Street and Ship Lane. The condition of the road has long been a concern, and I took this up with Kent Highways officers when we did joint tours of my Division to assess road problems. These surface dressing works (the next step down from a full resurfacing) were programmed in for this financial year some time ago. Hopefully it will make a welcome difference to this part of the village.

A trip to the tip

Today (and last weekend, when I made my booking) I had the chance to be a mystery shopper of the Council's system for visiting Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) - in my case, my local HWRC in Swanley. All round, a very good experience; the recently introduced new booking system was quick and easy to use, and I booked in my session for today. I received several email reminders between then and now.

Today I visited and it was all very smooth; I went straight in, social distancing was easily observed and staff were (as always) friendly and helpful.

As Leader, I have been deeply involved with and have backed our approach of a managed reopening, using the booking system and gradually making its operation more flexible. The evidence I have seen, and in particular feedback from residents, has in general been very positive, But there's nothing like experiencing it yourself.    

Kent Test delay to October confirmed

Kent County Council's Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, Richard Long, has today confirmed the proposal put forward by KCC officers some weeks ago to delay the sitting of the Kent Test until Thursday 15 October (Saturday 17 October for Out of County applicants). This delay of about a month will give students the chance to acclimatise back to school after the Covid crisis closure of schools to most students (for most children starting Year 6 in September, this will come after almost six months out of school).

The County Council has sought to give parents as much information as possible about the proposed direction of policy by highlighting the earlier stages of the decision-making process. Now Richard Long's decision - made after careful consideration of the representations by schools, parents and others - gives much greater certainty. The County Council has always emphasised that there can never be complete certainty, given the possible impacts of a return of the pandemic in the autumn, but this sets as clear a course as possible in these most uncertain times.

You can find the KCC media release here.

A strategy for net zero

In May last year, the administration at Kent County Council committed to bring forward a strategy with a timeline for achieving net zero carbon emissions from our estate and operations. When I became Leader of the Council last autumn, I appointed a dedicated (in both senses of the term) Cabinet Member for Environment, Susan Carey, with a mandate to address this and other key environmental issues.

The plan was originally intended to be brought to our County Council meeting in the spring. Covid-19 brought a delay to that as to much else. Nonetheless, on Thursday County Council did receive and approve the plan to achieve net zero by 2030.

What is most striking about the plan is its detail and realism. KCC used detailed scenario planning developed by Laser Energy (an energy trading company, and hence source of considerable expertise, within Commercial Services Kent Ltd, which is in turn owned by KCC). This set out a variety of approaches - using investment in renewable energy, a shift to electric vehicles and reduction in emissions from the KCC estate - to achieving net zero, and projected a way forward that combined these different strands. The plan also sets out the sources for funding the £27 million in required investment to deliver net zero by 2030, albeit yielding returns of £96 million by 2050.

This is just one part of the County Council's approach to energy and climate change issues. On the day after the County Council meeting, the final draft of the Kent and Medway Energy and Low Emissions Strategy (ELES), which among other things sets out a path to net zero by 2050 for the county as a whole, was presented to a meeting of the Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee and hopefully should soon be adopted by KCC. Later in the year, we will also be bringing forward more proposals in the area of adaptation and resilience.

You can find the net zero paper for County Council here and the ELES papers to Cabinet Committee under item 9 in this agenda.

Household Waste Recycling Centres: an improved system

The booking system that KCC introduced at our Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) when we reopened them in mid-May appears to have worked well in general. There was a poor start on the first day of operation for the system, but this was resolved quickly and the new system has certainly avoided the queues seen in a number of authorities who did not introduce booking when they reopened.

A new system comes into effect tomorrow that should offer further improvements. It will now be possible for each household to book two slots per month rather than the current one. Sites will be open seven days a week with longer hours, and in total 32,020 slots will be offered each month, rather than the current 22,960. The system should also offer greater flexibility; users will now choose their recycling centre first, then an available slot and only at the final stage have to enter vehicle and contact details. It will also be easier to cancel and amend bookings.

All told, this will hopefully offer a further improvement to residents while continuing to maintain social distancing and avoid traffic queues.

School transport: the autumn planning challenge

There are many questions – above all from parents – about transport to school in the light of the recent government announcement about return in September. For KCC there is still a lot of uncertainty because the announcement came only in the course of last week,  followed by a letter from Transport Minister Baroness Vere to local authorities on Friday and there is quite a bit more government guidance but hasn't come out yet. KCC officers are working on the issue flat out but there are quite a few uncertainties and challenges. Here are a few:

- 'Entitled scholars' -  the children who get free transport because they are attending their 'nearest appropriate school' – are expected to travel in their 'bubbles' (year groups for secondary schools)

-  It appears that some of the social distancing requirements on buses are likely to be relaxed, but they will still only operate at 50 - 60% (at best) of capacity. Together these are likely to increase the need for buses

-  Government is discouraging other students from taking the bus, but it's not prohibited and for many of course driving children in isn't an option (quite apart from other bad effects). The 'window' for applications for the bus pass (Kent Travel Saver) opens on 13 July, and the level of take-up of that will clearly influence what capacity is needed

- There is an expectation from government that local authorities will fund extra bus capacity where needed -  how this is to be financed and the (physical) number of buses available is less clear

 So a lot of detailed work is needed and is being undertaken. We are likely to plan on the basis of major towns and the journeys in to them. KCC will get communications out as soon as possible and recognises the huge importance of this for parents.

Funding announcement - but uncertainty continues

On Thursday the Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary, Robert Jenrick, announced a further support package to help councils respond to Covid-19.

Councils in England will receive a further £500 million to respond to spending pressures they are facing.  The government has recognised that councils are best placed to decide how to meet pressures in their local area, and therefore the funding has not been ringfenced. Individual allocations have yet to be confirmed, but a subsequent letter from the Minister of State, Simon Clarke, made clear that this would focus on spending needs alone, rather than income losses, as was the case in the last disbursement announced by government.

Income losses will be dealt with by a separate mechanism. Where losses are more than 5% of a council's planned income from sales,fees and charges (SFC), the government will cover them for 75p in every pound lost.

Thirdly, the government is also bringing in changes so that councils can spread their tax deficit over three years rather than the usual one year.

Any additional funding and measures to relieve immediate pressure are, of course, welcome. Nonetheless, the concern remains that this still leaves councils, including KCC exposed to significant financial risk.

In terms of support for the financial pressures faced by councils, the first two tranches of government funding totalled £3.2bn, compared with the current £500m tranche.  KCC's share of the first two tranches was £67m, compared with our forecast additional spending of £96.6m and loss of income of £21m for this financial year. On the basis of the allocation of the first two tranches, KCC might expect its share of the new allocation to be in the £8 -12m range, still leaving a big shortfall.

It is not yet clear how the compensation of 75p in the £ on losses of income on SFC above 5% of total planned income will operate. It does suggest that KCC would have to absorb this  before receiving any compensation for losses. This may not be as material for County Councils as it would be for Districts and Unitaries, however the amounts for KCC are significant – as a total as an indication, our total SFC in the 2018-19 outturn was £156.6 million. We will  need to look at the full year effect before being certain as to whether the 5% trigger will be reached.

At this stage there is no funding attached to the provision to deal with council tax and business rate collection losses over three years. In the short run, the pressure would be deferred, and a deficit recorded in the collection fund which could be carried over into years two and three. The announcement says that funding will be considered "in the next Spending Review."  The government appears to be deferring a decision on this and relying on a strong economic recovery which will see council tax receipts increasing. If losses from council tax and business rates are not cash backed, there could be a viability issue for councils with inadequate reserves to cover short term pressures.

While this does represent some additional support for the sector, it is highly doubtful whether this can meet the pressures incurred in year, and many key decisions are deferred until the spending round and greater clarity over the speed of economic recovery.  Local government still does not have certainty in relation to its financial position as we emerge from the immediate impact of Covid-19. The County Council will be considering a revised 2020-21 budget at our meeting on 10 September.

 Interest in this issue has remained strong, and you can find an article in the Huffington Post, which includes an interview that I gave, here.