The Policy and Resources Cabinet Committee meeting included discussion of the draft budget for the Chief Executive's Department and Deputy Chief Executive's Department, a resilience update, and a strategic overview of Kent County Council's (KCC) peppercorn lease estate. Also on the agenda was a proposed freehold disposal of land at the former Spires Academy in Canterbury.

Land Disposal at Former Spires Academy

The committee was scheduled to discuss the proposed disposal of land at the former Spires Academy site in Westbere, Canterbury. The site, which is approximately 1.34 hectares, has been vacant since 2013, when the school relocated. According to the report pack, the site has been submitted to Canterbury City Council and allocated in the Draft Canterbury District Local Plan under Policy N33 for 37 dwellings.

The report pack outlined several options for the site:

• Reuse the site
• Continue to hold the site vacant
• Disposal of the asset
• Letting the property as part of the Tenanted Estate to generate an income

The recommended option was a freehold disposal, with offers sought on an 'all enquiries' basis. The report pack stated that a marketing campaign would be undertaken to advertise the site, and that bids would be assessed considering factors such as the purchaser's ability to complete the purchase, the overall price, and compliance with local plan requirements.

Resilience Update

The Policy and Resources Cabinet Committee was scheduled to receive an update on the work of the Resilience and Emergency Planning Service. According to the report pack, the Resilience and Emergency Planning Service is responsible for ensuring KCC meets its duties under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004¹.

The report pack highlighted several recent incidents, including:

• Bitumen discharge, Gravesend: In August 2025, a suspected 5-10 tonnes of bitumen was discharged by FM Conway. The response was led by the Port of London Authority, and the clean-up took four weeks.
• Portlands Factory Club fire, Northfleet: In October 2025, a fire occurred at the derelict Portlands Factory Club on Northfleet High Street. Tests confirmed the presence of asbestos, and a Major Incident was declared.
• Tunbridge Wells water outage: In November 2025, an outage at South East Water's Pembury Treatment Works interrupted supplies to the Tunbridge Wells area, affecting 25,000 properties. A Major Incident was declared, and KCC services were involved in the response.

The report pack also mentioned Exercise Troy, an internal table-top simulation organised to assess KCC's preparedness for a cyber incident, and KCC's engagement with the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum (KMRF).

Strategic Overview of KCC's Peppercorn Lease Estate

The committee was scheduled to discuss a strategic overview of KCC's peppercorn lease estate. A peppercorn lease is a type of lease agreement where the rent is set at a very nominal amount. According to the report pack, KCC holds over 350 freehold properties which it lets out for peppercorns.

The report pack stated that KCC can form peppercorn lease arrangements for a number of reasons, including:

• An open market disposal where KCC wishes to retain/exercise control.
• KCC is subject to certain statutory processes of disposal where the law requires a property to transfer under a prescribed peppercorn lease arrangement.
• KCC may also consider value in transferring occupation of its assets within a commissioned contract to mitigate against administrative and legal costs.
• As part of a scheme where external funding may be a component along with external service groups.
• Lastly and occasionally, it may consider meanwhile uses for surplus property to mitigate against holding costs and risk.

The report pack also outlined the financial and legal implications of peppercorn leases, and stated that KCC applies a formal governance process to ensure peppercorn leases are only granted, or sold, when fully justified and compliant with legal and policy requirements, in line with KCC's constitution.

Draft Budget: Chief Executive's Department and Deputy Chief Executive's Department

The committee was scheduled to discuss the draft capital programme 2026-36, revenue budget 2026-27 and medium term financial plan (MTFP) 2026-29 for the Chief Executive's Department (CED) and Deputy Chief Executive's Department (DCED).

The report pack noted that the overall strategy for the budget is to ensure that the Council continues to plan for revenue and capital budgets which are affordable, reflect the Council's strategic priorities, allow the Council to fulfil its statutory responsibilities and continue to maintain and improve the Council's financial resilience within the overall resource constraints.

Key policy considerations included:

• Capital spending: Additional funding for the modernisation of assets, including Highways depots and Salt Barns.
• Revenue spending growth: Annual uplift to Member Allowances, funding for the Counter Fraud Team, and grants to district councils.
• Revenue savings and income: Savings related to Sessions House, car parking review, changes to drinking water provision, changes to provision of plants, KCC Estate, legal services, and contact centre service levels.

The report pack included a summary of the 2026-27 proposals for the relevant directorate/Cabinet portfolio, as well as an interactive dashboard.

Performance Dashboard: Chief Executive's Department and Deputy Chief Executive's Department

The committee was scheduled to note the Performance Dashboard for the Chief Executive's Department and Deputy Chief Executive's Department. The dashboard provides a progress report on performance against target for the 30 key performance indicators (KPIs) for 2025/26.

According to the report pack, 23 of the 30 KPIs achieved target for the latest month reported and were RAG rated Green, one was below target but did achieve the floor standard (Amber), and six did not achieve the floor standard (Red). The KPIs that were rated Red were:

• FN06: Percentage of sundry debt due to KCC under 6 months old
• FN08: Invoices received on time by Accounts Payable processed within 30 days
• FN16: Publication of budget proposals for Cabinet Committees
• GL02: Freedom of Information Act requests completed within 20 working days
• GL03: Data Protection Act Subject Access Requests (SARs) completed within statutory timescales.
• CS07: Complaints responded to in timescale

The report pack also noted that there are ongoing discussions within the services concerning a review of the existing KPIs, with one outcome being the inclusion from 2026/27 of a new section within the dashboard with KPIs from the Commercial and Procurement Division.