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(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) Thank you very much Vince and I want to echo colleagues sentiments. First of all, the way this plan is presented is easy to read and actually I like the fact that we have given an overview, a sort of a lift in a sensor lift guide of the key KPIs in Medway, some of the challenges that we've had in the past and also around some of the demographics we have in Medway in terms of going forward. I like that presentation and I like the overarching themes here as well, which I think the public can digest. And behind that is a very detailed measure of the KPIs we will look at from a logical framework, which is an appropriate way to look at things and we're not marking our own homework here either. So I think in previous situations has been color coding of internal data where some of the targets have not been really relevant or have been questioned about where they've come from. This is largely looked at from as a lot of external matrix and databases we're looking at here. So we can benchmark ourselves in a more fair manner and people can have confidence in that in terms of the looking at. Just lastly, I'm very keen on obviously the digital promotion in here, encouraging residents to access us differently and work with us differently as demographics change and also around community safety. And lastly, it's just worth mentioning the financial context of this as well. I think it's worth mentioning that we have had a 91% reduction in direct revenue grants in 2010. All local government has struggled and the context of delivering public services now is very different to what it was in 2010. I'm afraid people need to take responsibility for that and ultimately we are proud about our area. We're ambitious about the future, but we're also realistic around what we can deliver in terms of the financial cuts that we've suffered under the Conservatives. So I think this is a strong plan. I think it's robust and I think it's forward looking and it sets the tone for the next several years, not just the next 12 months. Thank you very much, Tricia. I can't see any other colleagues. So can I firstly thank cabinet colleagues for their contributions and I support everything that you have said, and I know you will all be champions, not only for the plan as a whole, but the individual areas that you have political responsibility for. The silo as much as possible is dead in Medway. We're a labour and cooperative group, collaboration, cooperation. That's at the heart of our political ethos, but also how we work. And I think something which I'm proud that this cabinet and again working with the chief executives corporate management team, a team of 25, a very different approach from those. And that's been shared in the public domain through local publishers as to how the previous administration worked. This is a different time. And this plan, I think, is a very clear example of that. So absolutely recognise it's an honest document. Medway Council is not perfect. I would be the first person to say that. Anybody trying to pretend that everything is perfect all the time with any administration is flawed, you know, and if people don't hear it from the 10 of us, then I think they will see through that pretty quickly. So we're, I think, and people can see the conversations we've been having recently around issues like the roads in Medway. You know, we're very clear on that, that we need that support from central government, that 50 million pound support, which hopefully the minister will respond to. So I'm in our latest letter. He hasn't yet. We're still waiting the doors very much open. So it's right to say, look, we'll take an honest snapshot of where we are. But we'll hold ourselves to account and importantly, the people have made way our partners and others will hold us to account as well. And finally, before we move to the recommendations and actually on to the next report, which deals with some of this, it is of course with that financial backdrop that we find ourselves in. Are there things that we as a cabinet probably would want to have in this report that isn't in this report because the finances of this council simply don't allow it? Absolutely. I'm sure if you went around all 10 of us, you would find something extra that we would easily put in there within a heartbeat. But we're honest, we're honest about where we are financially as Tristan rightfully said, this council has had a 91% cut in its revenue support grant since 2010. And therefore, we have to live within our means. And again, we'll talk about that more on the next agenda item, but actually it's absolutely relevant to this as well. And I know that the people of Medway, the feedback I've had, a strong majority of that recognizes what we inherited nearly 12 months ago from when the election was held. So thanks to colleagues for their support for this. Obviously, we will be not agreeing this tonight, but we'll be recommending it to full council along with the relevant delegations. Are those recommendations agreed? Thanks very much. Let's move on then to the second, effectively the second half of that strategic overview, the financial, the one Medway, financial improvement and transformation plan, which will be one of those local government acronyms. You'll hear us talk about the fit plan. Don't worry, we're not making you do couch to 5K or anything like that. It's an acronym. Can I, in moving this item, thank Phil and his team, but actually recognize that the outcomes of this sit with everybody, not just Phil and his team. And I want to be really, really clear, you know, we talked in the last item about the silos coming down to get to that financial sustainability, which I talked about a lot on February the 29th. We'll need the whole council to be playing their part. Of course, finance have that expertise, that knowledge, and actually part of the reason we've listened carefully to the recommendations from sit for around increasing that capacity to support the council is for that exact reason, but it actually sits with all of us. So, I think this is a strong plan. The detail is therefore to see and absolutely recognize that this will mean some additional challenging conversations as we go through in the next few years, there's no doubt of that. But even if government didn't need us to do this, and for the point of doubt, we were talking about this long before deluxe wrote back to us. And in fact, even before we wrote to deluxe frankly, this is part of our requirements and responsibilities in the exceptional financial support. And again, I would remind those watching the exceptional financial support doesn't mean additional money, it means additional flexibility. I think there's been some confusion by perhaps even ministers of government as to us getting an extra 14 million pounds. We haven't had an extra 14 million pounds, we haven't had an extra 50 million pounds either requested from perhaps that same individual. So, this plan is clear, it's clear on the progress we will make. Again, it's recognizing that it sits across the council and it sits aligned in the very first paragraph in there talks about what we've just agreed as a cabinet. So, happy to take any questions or comments from colleagues at that point, Theresa. Yeah, thank you, Vincent, and my thanks to everybody who helped put this together. But more than that, thank you to everybody for signing up to it because this doesn't increase the challenges that our officers face. And although there's some investment in here that will change things and make things better, it does add to people's workload in a different way. But one of the things that I think about this plan, having sit for him, having a good, honest external look at what was happening, turning over all of the stones has been really worth it. And I'm very grateful for the way that all of the officers in the council that we work with on the senior management team and those who work with them joined in with this. And we're prepared to fall under scrutiny of a whole lot of different people and still do their day job. So I think it's really, it's really important to recognize that and recognize the fact that this document signs us all up to not being business as usual. It's about doing things differently. It's about stepping up our game and even at a time when finances are constrained, showing that we're prepared to move the council into the future, bring in innovations, do things differently. For my part in social care, look, we've put the right sizing in, the recruitment of the new jobs, 80 new jobs, is happening. And already, officers are working on the Care for Medway plan, about building our own facilities and really becoming leaders in the market and in the public services. So I'm very grateful for everyone's enthusiasm and for their willingness to come with us on what has already been a bit of a journey in our first year. But one that I think will get kind of more exciting and the scenery will be better as we travel along the way. Thank you very much, Theresa, Simon. Yeah, thanks very much, Vincent. Thank you to all the teams, particularly Phil's team, who've managed to pull this together because, I mean, we all know the challenges that we were faced with when we took control a year ago, nearly a year ago now, as of the 4th of May. And I think that the way we've gone about this, I think, has been very difficult and very challenging, but also we've been constantly trying to work collaboratively, which we've used that word a lot already tonight, but also in terms of being smart and sensible. We've got very strict financial constraints. Tris already mentioned the 91% that we're living with as a consequence of this government. And we've got so many issues that we can't do with and references have been made to the roads as well. But what we are doing, wherever we can, we're delivering. And I just wanted to draw colleagues' attention to paragraph 10 in the report, which talks about climate change. And now we're using our sort of the way we're going about this smartly, if you like, to deliver a waste strategy, decarbonizing our waste fleet over the next few years, all that work that we're going to be doing in order to deliver on our climate agenda, even though we have such tight constraints, we can still do that if we're smart and sensible and go about it in a collaborative way, so I fully support this. Thank you. Thank you very much, Simon. Any other colleague, Zoe, please? Just pleased to see the reference to workforce development and the value that we give to our staff as an employer of choice. We are now recruiting to vacant posts, and it was great to see the 4% pay award, which is obviously keeping people with us. So I think we are going forward very positively in terms of the experience of our staff. Thank you, Zoe. 5% a rise. Absolutely, it will help with that recruitment and retention. And we know that speaking to some of our HR professionals, indeed. Looking at any other colleague, I don't think so. Can I thank colleagues for their comments? And again, I would agree that actually, as we said in the previous item, getting out of the silos, which is an easy sentence for us in this room to say, but making that a reality. And is it perfect yet? No. But we're certainly making strong progress on that as we move forward. So, again, huge thanks to everybody who's pulled this plan together. There'll be separate correspondence to deluck as well alongside. This won't be the only thing that goes to deluck, and we are still waiting for some clarity on some of the things that we've asked to them. So again, this will be an ongoing conversation, and we'll keep cabinet and, of course, the wider public informed and updated as and when. And we will be a green list tonight. I'd like the previous item, which will go to full council. This is formally for us and executive function to agree. So, our colleagues happy to agree the recommendations as laid out in paragraph one. Thank you all very much indeed. That's going to move on to the next item. Join Kent and Medway Economic Framework, Lauren, over to you. Thanks, Vince. So, this paper introduces a new Kent and Medway Economic Framework. We have been working very closely with Kent County Council and the districts across Kent to put this together, as well as the Kent and Medway Economic Partnership, which also includes representation from businesses across Kent and Medway. So, the framework is a high-level strategy, which is going to guide our activity to support the sustainable growth of Kent and Medway's economy through to the year 2030. It is going to put us in a really good position for any future central government funding that will come down the line. And it is a framework in which local government, business, education, the voluntary sector can all work together in support of very clear common objectives. So, it fully embraces the kind of co-creation, co-productive, collaborative partnership working approach that we want to have here in Medway, and is completely consistent with the values and aims of the council and the new administration. So, we're going to be asked to support the framework in this paper to help us implement the framework and to delegate some authority to myself, and also Adam Bryan as the Director of Place to make sure that we really support the implementation of the framework and work closely with those partners that I mentioned earlier. I think one of the key things to just bring out is that we are currently working on an agreement about how we work closely with Kent through the K-MEP, the Kent and Medway Economic Partnership, and that will have to come back to Cabinet for approval once it's finalized. I just wanted to mention that, but wholeheartedly support this economic framework, which has been developed with a lot of heads in the room and has really broad support, and I think is going to set us in a really good place for economic growth between now and 2030. Thank you very much indeed, Lauren. Any colleague? Theresa? Yeah, thank you, Lauren. And for my part of someone who had a career in further and higher education, I'm really pleased to see the high emphasis on skills in this plan and the fact that the collaboration with Kent means that people in Medway can take advantage of training and opportunities right across the county and vice versa with other people coming here, and there's some really great things going on, like the new Green Skills Center at Mid-Kent College over there in Maidstone and all of the things actually that the education and training providers are able to put on. And I like the fact that it's something that people from right across the economy can get involved in. So there's a very clear indication of the importance of social care as an economic driver, the importance of what happens in the voluntary sector, our skills and traditions in Medway of engineering particularly, and also of construction. And I think it places us in a really good position to respond once we've got the local plan in place, because we're developing the skills that we'll need to put all elements of the local plan in place and make that our kind of future proofing for Medway. Thank you very much, Theresa. If that's any other colleague, before I come back to you, Lauren, this is an excellent document. And again, my personal thanks to you for your leadership in this area. I think we just need to look at how incredible the business and skill showcase was a couple of weeks back to show, actually, you know, there were lots of colleagues from outside of Medway coming in to see what was going on. They were very welcome. If they want to do more business here, that would be welcome as well. So your personal leadership on this, along with those brilliant hard-working offices within the small but perfectly formed team, I think shows that Medway is punching well above its weight, and actually that partnership approach with Kent is very different. And actually, I've certainly had colleagues say to me, it's been different in the last year, which I take as a huge positive, so wholeheartedly support this, recognize there'll be some minor technicals, so very, very, very content with the delegation as well. So if there's no other colleagues, back to you, Lauren. Thank you for your supportive comments, both of you. Nothing else, really, to say, except, you know, I really welcome the report and thank you to everyone who's worked closely on this, including offices as well, who worked really hard to get this over the line and make sure that we are in a really good place to capture as much government funding as we can to implement this going forward. Thank you very much. Other recommendations agreed? Thank you. Thanks, everybody. Let's move on to agenda item 7, which is a referral from over your scrutiny. Nashar, we're over to you. Thank you, Vince. As you set out, this report is a referral from the Regeneration Culture and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee, following their analysis of the Corporate Building Survey Results Report, which was presented to them in February. The committee has taken the decision to bring this forward to Cabinet because I think rightly so there flag some concerns in terms of what this means for our property portfolio. As set out under paragraph 4.3, you can see that currently the cost of repairs is at approximately 24 million in terms of maintaining our building and property portfolio. In terms of health and safety, major repairs and sort of essential works, that figure sits at approximately 15.5 million. So some really significant figures there, given the state of the Council finances, as we have well documented and we've discussed numerous times in this committee as well as others. I think the key thing here really is to give some reassurance to the committee that this is something that following their referral and prior to this as a Cabinet we fully understand the challenges that we've got ahead of us when it comes to our property portfolio. We've talked for quite some time now reviewing and looking at that in terms of understanding what it is that as an authority we need, what works and what realistically we can maintain and manage over the next five years, certainly and beyond. And we are undertaking that piece of work, which is really important. And I think it's fair to say that this hasn't happened overnight. This follows years and years of under-investment into our property portfolio. And this is what happens when you don't maintain and ensure that those buildings that are under your control are treated properly, have the right finances and resources. Now I recognise that times are challenging in local government, but actually all we're doing, and what we can see here is that the problem has been pushed down the road and it's spiralled. Now to add to that, one of the challenges that we've had, obviously we recognise this as an administration when we first came into power in May last year. But we've had some challenges since then, which have to be also looked at. And for example, the finding of rack at gunworff and I will provide a very quick update on that shortly. But because I do think it is important in the context of what we're discussing under this report. So that has delayed that process slightly because obviously in terms of looking at what we as a council need, what we need as an authority, what we need for some of our services, having the challenges that we've got at gunworff has meant that we've had to sort of press pause on that. But I just want to provide the reassurance that this is a really important piece of work that we're taking very seriously and that we will be bringing forward in the coming months and that we will be bringing it back to this cabinet. But also we will be able to share that with our scrutiny colleagues to be able to say, look, this is, we've taken on board your comments and review. It is a very challenging circumstance and I think there is recognition that we can't really allow this to continue in the way that it has done for a number of years because unfortunately, as we can see from those figures, it becomes incredibly unaffordable and very difficult. And I don't think this is a position that a local authority should be in necessarily. Just to give a little bit of an update on gunworff, obviously, I recognise that, you know, we've discussed gunworff in some detail at previous meetings, but I think it is helpful for both the public and for colleagues to have a bit of an update in terms of how things are progressing. And so just to be clear that we recognise the really financially challenging situation that we are on as council but we have taken the decision forward on gunworff, took into account a lot of the wider context, a real analysis of what's on offer more widely, how realistic it would be not to use that building any longer. And that was the basis of taking that decision forward. However, we will do everything we can as a council to ensure and understand this as an administration to ensure that wherever possible we are doing the right thing for the public in Medway. So that is underpinning all of the decisions that we are taking. In terms of how that's progressing, so it's going to take for this financial year, largely this financial year is going to require us to do that more deeper dive survey work that is needed. As I'm sure people will understand, the issue with RAC is relatively new in the context of building maintenance and people are still playing catch up in terms of recognising the level of work that is required to ensure that buildings are safe and proper for use. So for this year, our work is really about establishing what is required. There are phases through each quarter that we will be looking at, including the procurement of consultants as well as detailed design completion and procurement of a contractor which will happen in this financial year. It will then take approximately, and obviously this very much depends on how things change and move, but it will take approximately 18 months to then complete those works after that stage. But I'm very happy to continue to update both Cabinet and wider colleagues, as well as the public, as things progress and we have further information, particularly once those more detailed surveys have been undertaken, and we've got a clearer picture of how we would like to proceed. Thank you. Thank you very much indeed, Nishava, both for moving to the report, but also that very helpful update to Gumwolf. I know there were a number of residents who were interested, obviously, Councillors, officers and that wider public, so thank you very much for that, and I know you'll keep both us and the wider Medway community updated on that. Any colleague, Theresa? Thank you, Nishava, and it's good to have an update because I think that is in the public interest to share the progress that we've been making around our property portfolio, and I'm grateful to scrutiny for drawing attention to the fact that our assets have not been managed properly, and that there was huge neglect and decay amongst many of our public buildings, and in particular, Gumwolf, which I've been banging on about for years before we discovered Rack in there. I'm not ashamed or, you know, I don't sort of shrink from the fact that people will see a contradiction in making an investment like this at a time when money is typed and we've got lots of things to do, but it's an investment in the future on keeping our staff safe and in decent working conditions and making sure all the public who use our buildings, particularly Gumwolf, others as well, also have a safe and enjoyable experience. For me, that's what public services are about. So it's important to explain to people honestly why we're doing what we're doing, the sort of situation that we inherited, and I'm really grateful to the staff for their forbearance because we've only got about a third of the people who can normally work at Gumwolf actually able to be in the building, everybody else having to work in different places, being displaced, doing hybrid working, being extremely generous and cooperative in and around the building with the space that they're working, including us, I'm pleased to say. So that isn't easily done, and it sends perhaps a mixed message to people who might want to come and work for us in the future, which is why it's so important to have the positive message from you about the long-term investment and our intentions of where we actually want to get to with the building. So there's been a lot of chatter about this from the wider public, which I do understand, but I've found when I go along to community groups, particularly, and people ask me, and I explain what has happened. Actually, people are understanding and supportive because they know who the workforce is. Most of our workforce are people who live in Medway, who work in Medway, and that means that they spend their money in Medway, so they deserve to have decent working conditions. And I think as long as we keep people informed along the way, we'll be in a good position in what's roughly sort of two years, 18 months, to move into a lovely refurbished, comfortable space and feel that everybody is safe. Thank you, Theresa. Simon. Yeah, thanks very much, Vincent. Thank you, Nisharben. To our whole team who put this piece of work together, a huge piece of work involved to try and gather together what we know about our assets and how we're going to take forward the management of them. And I think as lessons learned, really writ large in this, and not just in terms of this issue here, but when we've seen it in terms of our road network as well, where if you don't invest in your assets, you are going to have to pay the price in the future. And I think this is a clear example of it. But I think also within that lesson learned, there is also opportunities. And we're looking, particularly you mentioned quite a bit about government, the opportunities of how we can make it a better space, a more usable space, a more staff friendly place, and a more customer friendly place, a more public friendly place as well, and also looking at how we can decarbonise and get the energy costs on the refit down as well. So there are opportunities within this whole process as well, which we mustn't be shy of grasping as often as we can. Thank you. Thank you very much, Simon. I can't see any other colleagues. So before I come back to you, Nishava, a couple of points, I would agree that actually that future of gun war is critical, not for us as a cabinet, or even necessarily for officers, although I agree that, you know, people should be able to work in a safe working environment. Actually, opening gun war for more to the community is a great thing. It was quite clear that, in fact, the previous administration was very clear about it. It wasn't a public building. That was a political choice. We will be choosing something different. And so it is right and appropriate. But it's also right to recognise this is a really challenging set of circumstances. There are limited experts when it comes to rack. It's not the same as just getting a generic builder. They'll need to have some specific skills and expertise. So that doesn't mean perhaps a slightly longer time scale than a more general piece of capital work. I also want to, before I hand back to you, Nishava, just to say, I've said on a number of occasions since last May, I don't fear scrutiny. I welcome it. ONS is a really good thing for local government. So I was really pleased to see a report like this coming forward. So from my perspective, again, thank you to that particular scrutiny committee because it shows that they're doing their job as well. Their job is critical to make sure the council as a whole works. So I'm very, very pleased to see this report comes forward. And as others have said, and I know you've said elsewhere, you know, this is the state we find the buildings in is as a result of mismanagement by the previous cabinet. That's the truth of it. And that may well be because they were not honest about it wasn't 91% at that point, but it wasn't far away. The cuts from their own government. If they were more honest about that at the time, perhaps people would have seen the challenges that we certainly have now inherited and you are doing a leading role in being open transparent and bringing forward information to not just us as a council and the cabinet, but the wider public, which I know will be appreciated. Back to you. Thank you, Vincent. Thank you to colleagues for your comments. And as you say, Vincent, I think what we found as an administration is that sticking plaster politics hasn't really worked. Unfortunately, when it comes to our buildings, it definitely hasn't worked. So we're going to have to come up with a different way of doing things. And I think just to, you know, again, we've gone off a lot of work has gone into looking at the impact that would have happened. If we, for example, closed building down and, you know, there is, I think it's just to provide that reassurance that, for example, it's a list of building, delisting it would have been incredibly challenging. We also have contracts, for example, with the MOJ. So there's lots of things that have been factored into our decision making. But what I want to do is just provide reassurance that we will have a really critical eye across our portfolio, our property portfolio. We will make the decisions that, you know, work for the people of Medway. And some of that will be based financially around what works and what doesn't and what requires the work. But also looking at our sort of vision, our wider vision for what we want Medway's the place to be. But the biggest thing is about transparency and being really open and honest. And again, with a big project like firewall, I want to ensure that we have that transparency with the public and they can fully see why we've taken the decisions that we have. And again, that will be applied across the property portfolio. So hopefully we'll be able to bring that report back to the scrutiny committee as well in the not too distant future. Brilliant. Thank you very much. The recommendations agreed. Thank you. That moves us on to the next agenda item that sits with me. And that's on the issue of the Council's policy on advertising and sponsorship. Some, I think, positive changes to this policy. It's good to review these policies. Colleagues will recall that in a previous life, I was a bit unhappy about a football team and a council working together in a way which wasn't exactly clear. So that led to this policy and it's good to review at this point. There are three key elements to the review and the revised policy that we're looking at today. Two are around specific types of advertising and sponsorship and then one is around kind of geographical place. So I'll take all three quickly. Firstly, looking at advertising for high-end fat, sugar and salt foods. So just to be really explicitly clear, this is not about saying any one individual company are not welcome here. If a company that's known for selling hamburgers are wanting to advertise their salads, they would be very welcome to advertise their salads equally. If a company that's well known for selling health food products, then went down a different route and tried to sell something incredibly unhealthy from an HFS perspective, they wouldn't be welcome to advertise that. And I want to recognise that, you know, absolutely, this is not something which I would hope anybody would be opposing. We've seen it in many other places, not least down the road with Transport for London. I want to recognise the comedian Ed Gamble. He has got a comedy tour at the moment which involves him holding a hot dog in the poster for London tour dates. He produced one that held him holding a cucumber, you know, supporting the policy for Transport for London's advertising outlets. So look, Ed Gamble is very welcome to come to any of our theatres here in Medway as well if you wish to. The second one is not as well seen as perhaps high-fat, sugar and salt, and that's around the carbon and the climate agenda. It is, I think, the right decision for this council to take around, you know, on the one hand, how could it be appropriate for, you know, particularly, so I remember actually the whole council and the wider Medway community to be making positive progress on trying to reduce our carbon footprint to then advertise or have a sponsorship deal with someone who is doing the opposite of that. So again, pretty straightforward and certainly something which I hope colleagues will be supporting tonight. I draw colleagues' attention to 4.13. That is relatively new but important change as well. It's a minor change but important. There will be lots of places we know that all sorts of people want to come and film and photograph because Medway is a beautiful backdrop. Whether you love Brutus architecture of the 1960s and 70s with our headquarters, you love a river, you love a high street, whatever it might be. There are some people who perhaps we wouldn't want to be using that backdrop for their advertising and actually just to be explicitly clear and transparent. Part of the reason for this coming is because we've had an example of that recently which if they were to approach us after we, I hope, agree this policy. Tonight they would be kindly told that they couldn't be permitted to take forward their advertising campaign because we didn't have that in the policy. In my view, regrettably but correctly, we've had to say in this occasion they were able to record their advert. So three changes to the policy. I think it's a strong policy and you can see there obviously the comments from scrutiny and paragraph seven and therefore very happy to move that and open it up to any colleagues for comments. Tracy. Thank you for this. I think it really strengthens our policy and it goes back to one Medway Council plan where each area for business supports our priorities and our key aspirations for the people who are living in Medway. So I think it's a certainly good thing to bring forward and it will in a small way perhaps but will add to the message that we're given to the people of Medway that we are trying to look after the health through the environment through health heating. Thank you very much Tracy Theresa. I think one of the good things about the report and absolutely I support what Tracy said and I've been really pleased at all the work we've done, particularly with our outdoor events. Another events policy on food that we're giving this very positive message about how important it is to encourage people to eat healthily and critically to give lots of people access to healthy food. But I wanted to particularly draw attention to 4.9 and the experience that they had in having a healthier food policy implemented across transport for London's network and there were lots and lots of worries about the fact that there'd be a drop off in the revenue and there'd be all sorts of trouble. On the contrary, the revenue increase and I hope that that will happen here that people with different views on foods, more positively healthy views on foods will feel that they've got a good chance of getting take up here because of the policy that we've got and come to us for advertising so actually it's got the potential to increase revenue and increase our reputation for having association with healthy food and importantly access to healthy food. So I'm looking forward to benefiting like the friends in TFL on this one. Thank you very much and certainly from a budget perspective I would welcome that as well. I can't see any other colleagues so thanks for your positive responses. I think those particularly for the two areas where we're looking to increase the scope of where we will say thanks but no thanks I think for those looking to reject it. Are those recommendations agreed? Thank you very much indeed. That's then move us on to the next item which is over to Zoe on the Reaper policy update report. Thank you. Haven't it's asked to adopt the updated policy in the paperwork and note the inspectors comments regarding the improvement in Medway's position. In fact in 2021 the policy had to be significantly revised but in an inspection in 2023 there was a requirement for some very minor amendments and those were being put forward in the paper. Since then there have been a couple more amendments that need to be addressed they're very minor and so I'd like to add a further item 1.3 under the recommendations on this item. To delegate authority to the assistant director for legal and governance to correct any typo and administrative errors in the policy attached to appendix 1 in the report. These are really very straightforward and minor alterations that are typological essentially. So in proposing the motion I'm proposing that that edition is made as well. Thank you very much indeed Zoe any colleague. I think just before we move to the vote on that I mean certainly support the additional recommendation. I think it's always important to have that second pair of eyes when we've got such an important document which even if it was you know slightly inaccurate could lead to the processes which are within here being potentially challenged. I've really welcomed that third recommendation. From my perspective I'm really really clear and I've said here and elsewhere this administration wants people to play by the rules. And if you're not playing by the rules we will use whatever tools are necessary which includes obviously the things laid out in this document to make sure that any investigations and otherwise are dealt with in accordance with the law but also in accordance with what we would see as our priorities which is again making sure that if you don't follow the rules or due process will be followed to sanction you accordingly. I can't see another colleague apart from Theresa so I'm going to hand over to her. Yeah just quickly thank you for this Zoe because it deals with some really serious issues that we have to get right and that we get wrong at our peril. I draw people's attention to the end of the document which says if in doubt seek advice from the assistant director of legal governance or the legal team. So that's always there and I'm pleased that our version of Ripper emphasizes that and because it emphasizes that it's quite right to include the additional recommendation that you've put forward to us today giving that person and that team the ability to correct things that are minor typographical errors but could lead to misinterpretation if they weren't actually dealt with and I think rather than go back and forth giving that responsibility as part of the recommendations is a very straightforward and sensible way to go. Thank you Theresa I can't see any other colleagues so Zoe back to you for final just just to reaffirm the amendment 1.3 to delegate authority to the assistant director for legal and governance to correct any type of stroke of administrative errors in the policy attached as appendix 1 to the report. Thank you very much Zoe is that agreed. Thank you very much that moves us on to the gateway items first one of those item 10 Simon over to you for a rubbish item. Thank you very much. I mean I think just I mean this is an issue we've discussed quite a lot but we're now reaching this great moment when we're going to go ahead with the work and we have a legal responsibility under the environment to protect people's rubbish 120,000 homes in Medway approximately and that number between now and 2041 will grow by an additional 28500 so it's a huge responsibility 52 weeks of the year the teams go out and collect. And again we've mentioned it a number of times about the stuff that we've been left to deal with and this is another example where we should have had a waste fleet that was fit for the future and what we've been left with is a waste fleet that is completely replacing which is what we're doing. It's a headache but it's an it's expensive headache but it's something that we have to do and one example of how serious this issue is on the 29th of January this year we had 11 vehicles from a 46 vehicle fleet off the road because they weren't fit for use and they were they couldn't be used because they were breaking down so that's how serious this issue is we've grasped the nettle we've gone ahead with setting a budget. We agreed a 17 million pound capital program last year in July in actual fact the team have managed to put together a package that's only going to cost just under 12 million pounds. That's a real testament to how hard they worked in order to put this package together. And within that responsibility we would have loved to have our waste strategy in place first but obviously this has to be done but it is part of our waste strategy and we'll get mentioned that again in the next item. So it's a complex issue that the range of vehicles that we've got to buy have different capacities and all sorts of fine detail is in there that work has been done. The kind of engines that are using to go down the Euro six engines and that kind of stuff. It's all very complex stuff but it is now being in a position to deliver it. So I just keep mentioning how grateful we are to what really good work and one of the areas obviously that we have to think about is how we decarbonize our waste program. The mantra that you hear from our wasting all the time is firstly reduce the volume of waste, secondly recycle as much as you possibly can and thirdly we need to decarbonize and that's really important. So we're working on that basis with our strategy going forward and the purchase of this fleet is part of that process. So I'm looking for member support. Thank you very much indeed and of course with all three of these there are blue papers but I'm presuming no one's given me indication that we should speak on that. So I presume that we will not be going into a closed session. Thank you. Any other colleague on item 10? Can I just before I come back to you Simon just to say I agree with you on your analysis of the good level of negotiation and it shows that actually a budget is not a target. It's a budget and therefore with good negotiation and good officer engagement supported by yourself as put photo holder in this case. We've managed to bring that in substantially under budget so back to you. Thank you very much and thank you colleagues and just to say can we recommend the approval to award the contact. Thank you very much that agreed. Thank you. Let's move on to another rubbish item Simon back to you. Let me find my page. I'll be with you in one second. Thank you colleagues. This is about the re-engagement of Medway North under some tech agreements in order to take forward our household waste recycling centre procurement. What we're doing is we've been working very closely with Medway North over seven years on this in order to deliver three household waste tips, one at Chillingham, one at Capstone and one at Cuckston since 2017 we've been doing this. They're really well run. There is no doubt about that. The stats that we've got, 62% level of recycling going on there while nationally the figure is more like 40% something like that. So we're doing well in terms of national figures. Working really well. The public response on questionnaires has been very positive about how useful those sites are. They're free, which a lot of local authorities are not delivering, which is really good. The booking system works. It has a few hiccups down again, but generally it works. And certainly the staff on site are incredibly helpful and obliging to everyone. It turns up I'm a regular user myself for various reasons. So it's a really important asset that we have, a really important service that we provide. And this is about extending the contract with Monday Norse under the tech agreements by additional 60 months. It fits within the criteria of our waste strategy taking things forward. And there is obviously a negotiation to be gone through as we go into this process of extending the procurement with them. And within the context of that our decarbonisation, increasing our recycling levels and everything can be negotiated. Thank you for members support. Thank you very much. Indeed. Any colleague? No. I think one of the things I would add before moving back to you again, recognising this is specifically using those tech all rules and responsibilities. And from that perspective, the ongoing conversation, there was a good joint session with Midway Council officers and cabinet members. And Midway North, where we were looking at a number of different aspects which I thought was a positive day and helped move us towards further good outcomes in that joint venture. So back to you, Simon. Thanks very much. Just looking for members support for this item. Thank you. Thank you very much. Colleagues, is that agreed? Thank you. Then let's move on to item 12, which is the building contracted for the healthy living centre, pentagon shopping centre at Nashabra over to you. Thank you, Vincent. As you stated there in the introduction, the paper asks for cabinet to recommend signing off our building contracted for the healthy living centre in the pentagon. The reason why this has been bought forward relatively urgently is because it enables us to meet the timescales that we need in order to, while we're working with the ICB to bring forward the healthy living centre. And means that we can retain that funding. Just for some clarity, this process did go through initial procurement. That didn't deliver best value for money. So this went through a second round of procurement where we've got a much better deal as set out in the except appendix and also the name of the contractor. So there are reasons why this has been bought forward quickly, but essentially it's about unlocking that top floor. And as we've talked about for quite some time now, delivering that healthy living centre, which will then hopefully allow us to kind of bring forward the wider program that we have for the pentagon as well. And this enables us to ensure that the funding is therefore supported and protected. And it also gives us the transparency, which is why it's been bought forward to cabinet today, given that this was partially already agreed through our capital, but it's been bought here to cabinet today in order to give that transparency. And it is required as an urgent decision. Thank you very much. That's very helpful, Theresa. Thank you, Nishavro. And I think it's absolutely right to regard it as an urgent decision. And as I was seeing at 1.3 waver, the performance company guarantee to make this happen, it's been a long time coming. And in fairness, there was some vision from the previous administration about what this could bring, but it's critical to determining our ability to have a real impact on health inequality in one of the areas where we've got the most vulnerable and sickest people. And I think that apart from the fact that it will help bring forward the kind of wider use of the pentagon in the way that we hope to. And there'll be synergy and cooperation with the co-working hub. I think that will be something very unusual and really something that will make this project stand out. But most importantly, it will mean a growth in our GP base. It will be attractive to some of the new GPs who are being trained locally and really add and enhance our GP attraction program. And it will give access to people who often have very limited transport and are inhibited by their inability and difficulties that they have in terms of accessing local health services and it accords with the strategy of the ICB to bring services closer to people and out of the hospital. And I think there's loads of potential for developing some of those new sort of more modern community base services as part of this. So I'm really pleased to see it. It's going to contribute a huge amount to our local health and wellbeing strategy and it will give us a really good indication of whether all of those things coming together are actually going to start to make a difference on those persistent and pervasive health inequalities. And I'll be the first one cheering when we find that that bus journey from cuts into Chatham doesn't any more lose nine years on your life if you're a man. And, you know, we'll be watching this very closely. It's part of that picture. Thank you very much indeed Theresa, Simon. Yeah, thanks very much Vincent. Thank you and Shaba for the report and for the teams that put this together. It's hugely important about how we're investing in our town centres and what we're doing here. We've already pushed through a really exciting design code for the centre of Chatham as well and what that's going to look like. There's a lot of development taking place there at the moment, but we are doing a lot more as we're going forward. The paddock is about to be reopened and that garden there is looking absolutely beautiful. And that will complement the work that's going on here because people have those spaces and those public realm spaces to go and relax and enjoy. I mean, if you're waiting for your appointment and you can sit in a garden when under the trees, that's not a bad thing, is it? So there's a lot of positive sin within this. And again, I think the reflection and possibly the next step certainly in my head is about Chatham High Street itself and how we go about the public realm area there and what we're doing there. So this is really important to that. Thank you very much. Thank you very much indeed. Simon, obviously is a ward councillor within my ward. I really welcome this is fantastic news. And I want to highlight paragraph 2.1 that the, as it says there, the proposed contractor has got a track record of delivering both a health care facility in Ashford and indeed working out our own hospital. So again, someone who is a trusted organisation, so that's positive to see. And as Theresa rightfully says that combination for the first floor, the co-working space, it's brilliant to see the designs out there now and they were part one of the organisations who were there. This is a skill showcase, that combination both for residents who live there, residents who work there. I think it's going to add such value to the centre of Chatham, so really pleased to support this. Nashar, we're back to you. Thank you everyone for your supportive words. And I think just to reiterate that again, this is a really good example of collaborative working and how we can work together to sort of unlock and bring forward regeneration. And I agree with everything that's been said about the difference that this could potentially make to our communities, particularly in terms of accessing health care. I just want to provide some reassurance that obviously that we will only unlock this once the final signature has been given and the NHS has absolutely signed and said this is going ahead. And we've come a really, really long way with this contract now and we are confident that we will get this over the line, but just to provide that reassurance that we won't be unlocking any of this until that has been finalised. But thank you again for your support tonight. Thank you very much, Nasharba. Is that agreed? Thank you. Before we close the meeting, just two final comments. Firstly, it's great to be here at the Corn Exchange. Recognised tomorrow we've got a sold out event launching around three of UK Shared Prosperity Fund. And if that wasn't enough for Rochester, we've got the Brilliant Suites Festival this coming weekend. If you get down there and perform your Morris dancing or whatever else, enjoy some of the good food and drink. And secondly, obviously annual council, I'll be really proud to be moving the vote of thanks for all staff. But I want to just take a moment. This is a final cabinet of our first year to firstly thank Richard, your corporate management team for working so closely with us. And for a personal perspective, I want to thank my nine other cabinet colleagues. You have done tremendous work this year. I'm really proud of the progress we've made. There's a lot more work to do. I'm hoping year two doesn't start in the same way that year one did with Richard telling me we're losing 170 million pounds. I don't think that's going to happen. But whatever the next 12 months holds, I think the last year has been a very good collective effort. So on behalf of the people of Medway but me personally, thank you to my nine colleagues and thank you, Richard, to your corporate management team. Have a good rest of your evening. 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