To receive a report from the Leader of the Council on the business of the cabinet and on matters that the leader considers should be drawn to the council’s attention. The leader shall have 10 minutes to make his announcements.
The opposition group will have an opportunity to reply to the leader’s remarks. The opposition group leader shall have 5 minutes to respond after which the Leader of the Council will have a right of reply. Any right of reply will be for a maximum duration of 5 minutes.
Minutes:
The Leader made the following announcements:
“Good evening to you all.
I will start by saying that Cllr Peter Gane has brought to my attention a miscommunication from the Dartford Gravesham and Swanley clinical commissioning group. They have sent a letter to our residents who use the White House Surgery in Folkestone regarding the merger of the Forge Surgery Gateway Medical Practice and the Whitehorse Surgery into one GP practice called Springhead Health in Northfleet. You can see how the error came to be made as the White Horse is synonymous with Folkestone. So if you are approached by anybody worried that they might have to go to Northfleet to see a doctor, you will be able to reassure them that it is not the case. Peter has been in touch with the Whitehorse Surgery and they have said that they will send out an apology.
Talking to members of our group about Overview and Scrutiny, it became obvious that members felt that they did not have enough information on, what I shall call, legacy projects, that is, projects that were started before this administrative year. So I have asked officers that when a legacy project is brought before the committee, any relevant previous reports or decisions are also tabled so that the context of the current report is more easily understood.
Last Friday it was my great pleasure to attend the opening of the wheelchair swing facility in Radnor Park. It was wonderful to see the enjoyment of the two young ladies who tried it out. The swing is available for use by any wheelchair user that has a Radar key, and they and their chair together weighs less than 250kgs, that is 39 stone in old money, the chairs do need to be anchored down and the straps to do this are kept in the Radnor Park Tea Room. The funding for this swing mainly came from Councillors Dick Pascoe and Ann Berry. Tomorrow will see the start of the Outdoor Gym installation that will feature both Callisthenic and Cardio Stimulation equipment and additional funding was allocated by Councillors Rory Love and Carol Sacre. Once the gym is installed it will make Radnor Park one of the best equipped leisure areas in Kent and I for one will be using it”.
The Leader of the Green Group responded and stated that it was exciting news to hear about the wheelchair swings in Radnor Park. She added that she was grateful for the Leaders request for previous reports to be tabled with regard to legacy projects.
The Leader of the Labour group responded and stated that he also welcomed the wheelchair swings, and it was great to see ward grants being used in this way. He raised concerns that other children in our district were not so lucky, and some playgrounds were in a state of disrepair.
Councillor Prater, the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group responded and thanked the Leader for improving the context of reports for Overview and Scrutiny Committee and added that this would also be helpful for the public. He stated that he was delighted about the new swings in Radnor Park, and hoped that the council would look to roll this out to other parks in the district.
The Leader in response stated that he understood the point about other parks, but it was important that this did not take away from the Radnor Park project. He added that the Play Strategy would be coming forward to Committees in the autumn, and would address some of these issues.
Proposed by Councillor Monk,
Seconded by Councillor Mrs Hollingsbee; and
RESOLVED:
That the announcements of the Leader be noted.