The Policy and Resources Cabinet Committee met to discuss a range of issues, including the performance of the Chief Executive's Department, reforms to local authority funding, and the future of the council's headquarters. A decision was made to designate Sessions House as the headquarters for Kent County Council (KCC) for its remaining lifespan, ceasing spending on Invicta House and putting it on the market.

Property Accommodation Strategy Strategic Headquarters

The committee addressed the Property Accommodation Strategy, focusing on the strategic headquarters. Councillor Brian Collins, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Corporate and Traded Services, proposed that KCC should remain in Sessions House for the immediate future, selling Invicta House and its car park. The recommendations to the Policy and Resources Cabinet Committee were that all spending on Invicta House should cease, that KCC makes only essential repairs to Sessions House to keep it functional for up to four years, and KCC puts Invicta House on the market to minimise ongoing costs.

Councillor Mark Hood raised concerns about the accessibility of Sessions House for staff and members with mobility issues, and the potential for future building failure. He stated:

the most damning piece of information we've got is the table of those necessary repairs, which I spoke about. And we've got a series of statements which completely outlines the limitations of Sessions House in terms of accessibility for our staff and members.

Councillor Harry Rayner recommended that the administration have a contingency over the budgeted figures, and improve the reliability of the lifts.

Councillor Alister Brady called the proposal a vanity project , a claim Councillor Collins rejected. Councillor Brady stated that if the council were to make Sessions House a fully functioning modern office environment, it would cost £67 million, compared to capital savings of £14 million for not moving to Invicta House.

The committee agreed to exclude the press and public from the meeting to discuss exempt information relating to the financial or business affairs of particular persons.

Disposals

The committee discussed several potential freehold disposals, and endorsed the proposed decisions for each. Councillor Collins stated that the disposals were a catch up due to the victorious selection back in May, and not a fire sale.

• Former Row Hill Primary School, Stock Lane, Wilmington, Dartford. The committee endorsed the proposed decision to dispose of the 3.63 acre vacant property, which was declared surplus in 2013. Councillor Antony Hook asked why there were no views of the local member included in the report. Councillor Brady also raised the issue of engagement with residents. Councillor Paul Stepto raised concerns about the shortage of special educational needs places, and asked if the site could be used for a special school.
• Land at the junction of West Malling Bypass and south of the London Road, Leybourne. The committee endorsed the proposed decision to dispose of the four hectare site, which was declared surplus in 2022 and has potential for 50 dwellings.
• Land to the south of Pratling Street, Aylesford. The committee endorsed the proposed decision to dispose of the 4.75 acre site, which is currently used for grazing and has pre-planning advice for 49 new dwellings.
• Land at Westcott Avenue, Gravesend. The committee endorsed the proposed decision to dispose of the vacant 7.46 acre site, which was being held for potential Education Department use but is now deemed surplus to requirements. Councillor Hook wondered if there were any lessons to be learned of how KCC had got itself in a position of buying land, planning to build schools that it later decided it did not need to do. Councillor Stepto said he was unhappy about the infilling of land with housing and would abstain on the vote.
• Former Oasis Academy, Hextable. The committee endorsed the proposed decision to dispose of the 38 acre site, noting that KCC does not plan to relocate the South East Dance School and is considering a new lease to support its continued use.

For each of the disposals, an Equalities Impact Assessment (EqIA) had been undertaken and identified no direct equalities implications arising from the disposal of the site.

Performance Dashboard

The committee reviewed the performance dashboard for the Chief Executive's Department and Deputy Chief Executive's Department. Amanda Beer, Chief Executive Officer, and Mr Matt Wagner, Chief Analyst, presented the paper. Of the 30 key performance indicators (KPIs) included within the dashboard, 21 were rated green, four were rated amber, and four were rated red.

The four red indicators were:

• Percentage of sundry debt due to KCC that is over six months old.
• Council and Committee papers published at least five clear working days before meetings.
• Subject access requests completed within statutory timescales.
• Complaints responded to within timescale.

Councillor Hook raised concerns about the subject access requests, saying there needed to be a decision to allocate more resource. Councillor Brady asked about the contact centres, and what determines an exceptionally high call volume.

Councillor Collins said that he had a lot of confidence in the officers, and would come back with more detail to satisfy the members at the next meeting.

The Cabinet Committee noted the performance position for the Chief Executive's Department and Deputy Chief Executive's Department.

Fair Funding 2.0 Consultation

The committee discussed KCC's response to the government's consultation on reforms to local authority funding. Councillor Collins said that the consultation was very extensive and could have major impacts on KCC's medium term and long term forecast. Dave Shipton, Head of Finance Policy, Planning and Strategy, gave a resume of the current funding arrangements, saying that the current arrangements were introduced in 2013-14 and have not been updated since then, so the data that informed that distribution is now 12 years out of date.

Councillor Hook asked about the relative needs formula, and whether the government had published its statistical modeling. He also asked how sure KCC was that the government was treating the council tax ban equalization in the right way. Councillor Rayner questioned whether the optimistic position that KCC was unlikely to be one of those authorities with a possible zero settlement funding assessment (SFA) was justified.

The committee noted KCC's response to the consultation.

Update from the Contract Management Review Group

The committee received an update from the Contract Management Review Group (CMRG). Councillor Collins handed over to Councillor Paul Chamberlain, Vice-Chair of the committee, who said that the group had restarted with increased frequency and as a cross-party group. Mrs Clare Maynard said that the first meeting would be on 30 September, and that the group aimed to report back to the committee on a six-monthly basis.

Councillor Rayner expressed his regret at the loss of Councillor Steptoe to this committee, and Councillor Steptoe asked if anyone had been called back to the group for future meetings.

The committee endorsed and noted the report.

Work Programme 2025/2026

The cabinet committee noted the work programme, and agreed to amend it to include an update on the Department of Local Government Efficiency (DOLGE) on 13 November, and to cover the review of and setting of new KPIs for 26, 27 at the 14 January meeting. Councillor Brady suggested having a conversation about the Local Authority Trading Companies (LATCOs).