The Chairman will advise the meeting of the evacuation procedures to follow in the event of an emergency. This is particularly important for visitors and members of the public who will be unfamiliar with the building and procedures.

The Chairman will inform the meeting whether there is a planned evacuation drill due to take place, what the alarm sounds like (i.e. ringing bells), where the closest emergency exit route is, and where the second closest emergency exit route is, in the event that the closest exit or route is blocked.

The Chairman will inform the meeting that:

(a) in the event of the alarm sounding, everybody must leave the building via the nearest safe available exit and gather at the Assembly points at the far side of the Car Park. Nobody must leave the assembly point until everybody can be accounted for and nobody must return to the building until the Chairman has informed them that it is safe to do so; and

(b) the lifts must not be used in the event of an evacuation.

Any officers present at the meeting will aid with the evacuation.

It is important that the Chairman is informed of any person attending who is disabled or unable to use the stairs, so that suitable arrangements may be made in the event of an emergency.

The Chairman outlined the emergency evacuation procedure.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 17 March 2021 (Minute Nos. 558 - 571) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 17 March 2021 (Minute Nos. 558 - 571) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves or their spouse, civil partner or person with whom they are living with as a spouse or civil partner.  They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

The Chairman will ask Members if they have any interests to declare in respect of items on this agenda, under the following headings:

(a)          Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI) under the Localism Act 2011.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DPI, the Member must leave the meeting and not take part in the discussion or vote.  This applies even if there is provision for public speaking.

(b)          Disclosable Non Pecuniary (DNPI) under the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council in May 2012.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DNPI interest, the Member may stay, speak and vote on the matter.

(c)          Where it is possible that a fair-minded and informed observer, having considered the facts would conclude that there was a real possibility that the Member might be predetermined or biased the Member should declare their predetermination or bias and then leave the meeting while that item is considered.

Advice to Members:  If any Councillor has any doubt about the existence or nature of any DPI or DNPI which he/she may have in any item on this agenda, he/she should seek advice from the Monitoring Officer, the Head of Legal or from other Solicitors in Legal Services as early as possible, and in advance of the Meeting.

Councillor Monique Bonney declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in respect of Item 7.

Councillor Ben J Martin and Monique Bonney declared an interest in respect of item 8 and left the meeting during consideration of this item.

The Cabinet Member for Environment introduced the report which aimed to set the direction of travel for the tendering of future waste and street cleansing services from October 2023 following a full review. The report provided the results of a consultation that went out to public and members on the waste collection and street cleansing services in the Borough. The Cabinet Member identified five key points in the report which included;

·      The survey shows that the current Mid-Kent Partnership waste collection service was meeting shared objectives and was working effectively;

·      the review approach had been based on the consultation from members and public and was supportive of the current contract approach;

·      it was recognised that there needed to be an improvement in street cleansing outcomes, as there was a particular problem in rural and residential areas and the new contract would look at shifting performance to improve in those areas;

·      intend on using a two-stage tendering service to test the market; and

·      being mindful of minimising future service costs whilst looking at new priorities.

A member pointed out that in the survey 40% of people had said that they did not have a food waste container supplied by Swale Borough Council (SBC) and asked the Cabinet Member for Environment what the plans were to make sure people had use of a food waste container. In response, the Cabinet Member for Environment explained that officers would be reviewing food waste bin uptake to find out what areas of the Borough were not using food waste containers or undertaking home composting. Officers pointed out to members that every household that was eligible for a food waste container has got one or been offered one, but work was ongoing to increase uptake by residents.

Members raised a concern about the amount of fly tipping in the Borough and wanted to know what officers were doing to help prevent fly tipping. In response, the Head of Commissioning, Environment and Leisure informed members that they would be working on the new contract to improve the amount of time it took to remove the fly tipping. Officers were taking a no tolerance approach to fly tipping and issuing fixed penalty notices to those responsible.

It was noted that the Government was currently undertaking a range of consultations on changes to the waste industry. Members and officers would need to be mindful of how these may impact on local delivery of service.

Other comments raised were:

·      Roads in the Borough were zoned and this determined cleanliness standards and response times for cleansing, the new contract would look at these zones and ways to improve cleaning;

·      needed to work with other authorities to get more electric vehicles (or other environmentally friendly vehicle options);

·      legislation required that by 2023 every household would had been offered food waste collection containers;

·      communications would be going out to residents on food waste collection services and encouraging people to use their food waste containers; and

·      officers are focusing on a sticker campaign to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

The leader introduced the report which outlined the Council’s COVID-19 Recovery Plan and referred to the plan that was previously agreed in July 2020 by Cabinet. He explained to members that the Council needed to react quickly to the second COVID-19 wave and had to change the approach agreed by Cabinet in July 2020. The leader reminded members that the recovery plan was based on the corporate plan and that effectiveness of the plan depended on the allocated funding given to the Council by the government, including any funding schemes available to the Council.

The leader drew attention to table 1 on  appendix I which showed a vast range of objectives including a focus on key areas such as; economic improvement affordable housing, communities and social inclusion and local democracy. The leader pointed out to members that the plan was a comprehensive guide and a virtue of the Council to know where we are going and what steps we are taking.

The Leader proposed the recommendation which was seconded by the Cabinet Member for Planning.

Resolved:

(1)   That the progress on the Recovery Plan (set out in appendix one) be noted.

The leader introduced the report which asked members to consider the list of outside bodies for the municipal year 2021/22. He also advised that the Kent Downs and Marshes was now called Kent Downs and Marshes Local Action Group and that members needed to nominate a Councillor to sit on this group. A member noted that a vote was needed for the Optivo Kent General Panel as there were two nominations for 221/22. The leader nominated Councillor Tim Valentine for the Kent Downs and Marshes Local Action Group and Councillor Ghlin Whelan for the Optivo Kent General Panel, these were seconded by the Cabinet Member for Economy and Property.

A member advised that The Children’s Centres District Advisory Board was now called Swale District Partnership Conservation.

Resolved:

(1)   That Cabinet makes nominations to the outside bodies as set-out listed in Appendix I for the 2021/22 municipal year.

(2)   That Councillor Tim Valentine be appointed to site on the Kent Downs and Marshes Local Action Group.

(3)   That Councillor Ghlin Whelan be appointed to site on the Optivo Kent General Panel.

The leader introduced the report which explained that the main focus of the new Rainbow Homes Ltd was to increase the supply of affordable housing in the borough and set out the proposed panel governance arrangements. He referred members to paragraph 3.1 of the report which outlined the proposed members of the Shareholder panel and paragraph 3.2 which set out the terms of reference of the Shareholder Panel.

The Leader proposed the recommendations which were seconded by the Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing.

Resolved:

(1)   That the proposed membership of the Shareholder Board and the proposed terms of reference and frequency of meetings be agreed.  

The Leader introduced the report which was to award the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement contract to Phoenix software.

The Leader proposed the recommendation and this was seconded by the Cabinet Member for Economy and Property.

Resolved:
(1) That the Microsoft Enterprise Renewal contract be awarded to Phoenix Software.

Recommendations to follow

Resolved:

(1)   That the recommendations in Minute No. 45 be agreed.