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 am sure most of you are aware there have been problems with the running of East Kent Housing and it is likely that we will be bringing our part of it back in house.
Not only will we have to address the compliance issues and put in systems to ensure future compliance, we will also have to invest heavily in bringing the stock back up to a reasonable state of repair. If we do this, just using existing H.R.A revenues we will not be able to build the remaining 200 of our 300 target homes that are to be financed through the H.R.A business plan.
Without a doubt, 2 of the major priorities for the council are
1) To provide more social housing
2) Address the climate emergency
This administration will therefore be proposing to the council that instead of paying of the loan on the H.R.A on a reducing balance basis will just pay the interest, and further that we make available £10m from the General Fund for the H.R.A to draw on over the next 3 years. This would enable not only the refurbishment of our existing stock but the building of a further 1000 homes making a total of 1200 in the next 10 years.
The climate emergency initiative will also need funding as there is no budget for it at the moment, for instance one of the first proposals is that whenever possible when we replace vehicles that they should be electric however, electric vehicles are more expensive and we will have to provide charging points, we do not want to cut services to accommodate these additional costs so we are suggesting that £10m is ring-fenced to accommodate it. If the council agrees that, the funding will come firstly from £5m of reallocated reserves and then as necessary from prudential borrowing up to £15m, giving £20m across the two proposals, we would see the £15m being funded from future land sales of the Otterpool Park scheme thus giving a tangible benefit to the whole of the district.
On the social housing proposition we have run high level financial scenarios which we are happy to share with group leaders. Both of these initiatives are also the new government priorities so we may be able to either improve on targets or lever in more money.
This proposition, I believe, expands on our existing emphasis in these 2 areas as well as addressing the top priorities of all our councillors and would influence the direction of our corporate plan, and certainly make the council one of the most forward thinking in the land.
Before I close, I must congratulate both Charlotte Spendley and Andy Blaszkowicz on their being appointed as Corporate Directors effective from 2 January and I look forward to working with them both as we drive forward our exciting agenda.
I wish you all a Happy Christmas and productive New Year”.
The Leader of the Labour group responded and advised that this was welcome news for the many people on the housing waiting list, and he looked forward to looking through the details.
The Leader of the Green Group responded and passed her congratulations to Andy Blaszkowicz and Charlotte Spendley on their new positions. She stated that the group priorities were the climate emergency and social housing, and they welcomed these priorities. She added that the group would need to look at the finances and understand how this will work. She then wished everyone a Merry Christmas.
Councillor Prater, the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group responded and stated that he agreed the council should be more transformational in the number of council houses being built, and he welcomed this news. He looked forward to receiving the detail around the budget, and critical refurbishment work required in the New Year. He also welcomed the creation of a Climate Change budget, allowing the council to make a head start in being carbon neutral. He also congratulated Charlotte Spendley and Andy Blaszkowicz, and wished all staff and Councillors a Merry Christmas.
The Leader in reply thanked the Group Leaders for their comments.
Proposed by Councillor Monk,
Seconded by Councillor Mrs Hollingsbee; and
RESOLVED:
That the announcements of the Leader be noted.