In presenting his statement, the Leader firstly paid tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on her Platinum Jubilee and to residents of Swale who celebrated the unique occasion. He said it was a memorable event and compared it to the Silver Jubilee in 1977.  The Leader referred to some elements of the media calling Swale a miserable borough and defended this by highlighting the beacon lighting across towns and villages, church services, local events and many street parties which brought communities together to make lasting memories.  He said that SBC had awarded grants totalling £36,500 to events held across the Borough.

Turning to the Government’s Levelling Up paper, the Leader thanked Gordon Henderson Member of Parliament (MP) for his time in discussing it.  He said, although still vague, there were opportunities in the paper and he hoped that amendments would come forward to address local issues.  The Leader said that SBC would continue to work towards a Local Plan that suited the Borough, and he would be looking towards Parliament for changes and amendments that meant Kent would no longer face an unsustainable level of house building and the ongoing lack of infrastructure needed to cope with current levels of housing.  He said for truly sustainable communities, good local jobs were needed and the ability to provide local people with the skills to access those jobs, if long commutes and the stress on wellbeing was to be avoided.

The Leader gave an update on the energy rebate payments that had been paid out to date.  He said that SBC staff had processed a total of 43,324 rebates (80% of the total expected to be awarded).  This totalled just over £6.4million.  He said around 39,000 of the rebate payments had been paid into bank accounts and 4,300 credits had been applied to Council Tax accounts.  The Leader paid tribute to the staff involved in processing the payments.

The Leader said that 16 June 2022 was the Sixth Annual Clean Air Day and he had signed a letter calling for the target to be strengthened.  He referred to the theme of this year’s event which was ‘Air Pollution Dirties Every Organ in your Body’. The Leader quoted Larissa Lockwood, the Director of Clean Air at Global Action Plan, saying that everyone could do something to cut pollution to benefit health, the planet and community and he gave examples of actions that could be taken.

Finally, the Leader said he was delighted that the first Policy and Resources Committee had been held the previous week.  He said it was a radical change in how SBC operated and whilst it might take time to bed in, Members would get out of it what they put into it.  He said every Member had the opportunity to suggest ideas, make comments and help shape Swale’s future policies and he welcomed ideas and suggestions for improvements in delivering from all parties.

In response, the Leader of the main opposition group, Councillor Alan Horton, acknowledged that SBC were now working differently, and his group were looking forward to working with the administration in a better way than previously.  He gave his personal experience of celebrating the Platinum Jubilee at a street party and paid tribute to the Queen’s commitment to public service.  Referring to the rebate payments, the Leader of the main opposition group praised the outstanding effort of SBC staff and said that the Government did not always consider the practicalities of administering a scheme and the issues it might cause staff.  The Leader of the main opposition group praised a presentation given by the Active Travel Coordinator at the Area Committees who shared ideas of how to improve air quality, in not using a car to move about.  The Leader of the main opposition group finished by saying that his group would support the Leader when they believed he was right, and would point out and explain why, if they felt he was wrong.

Other Members asked questions and raised points including:

·         Government apprenticeship scheme was not working as well as it needed to or could be and sought the Leader’s help in putting pressure on Government to improve apprenticeships;

·         gave thanks to organisers of Platinum Jubilee celebrations in the Borough, in particular to Teynham Parish Council and to the development of the new play area in Teynham which was opened on Platinum Jubilee weekend;

·         did the Leader think the MP understood that the levelling up of areas in the south was as important as those in the north?;

·         had the Leader spoken with the Faversham MP, Helen Whately on Levelling Up?;

·         could the Leader put pressure on Government via local MP’s to abandon the Right to Buy scheme which just reduced availability of desperately needed affordable and social housing?;

·         was the Leader speaking to local MP’s about the impact of rail strikes on residents in Swale?;

·         the Platinum Jubilee celebrations had brought communities together;

·         hoped there would not be job cuts in Local Government as staff would not be able to cope with any future pandemics; and

·         praised the grant funding to help fund Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

In response, the Leader thanked Members their comments, questions and support.  He welcomed the Leader of the main opposition group’s suggestion to meet regularly. The Leader said that the Council paid the Living Wage to apprentices and he would include the issue of apprenticeships in his discussions with the local MP’s. Referring to Levelling Up, the Leader said he thought that Gordon Henderson MP was genuinely interested and saw it as a great opportunity although it might not meet the Borough’s hopes and aspirations, and he would feed back his thoughts.  The Leader confirmed he would be meeting with the Faversham and Mid-Kent MP, Helen Whately, soon and would raise the issue of abandoning the Right To Buy scheme.  He said he would not be wasting the MPs’ time in discussing the rail strikes.  The Leader finished his response by agreeing that services could not be delivered with continual job cuts and could not cope if there was another pandemic.