.

The Leader advised that since the last Council meeting, he had had meetings with other Kent Leaders, KCC members, the MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey and representatives of the local community.  He had also joined the Cabinet Member for Economy and Property at the Thames Gateway Kent Partnership where she had made a very forceful and cogent case for Health investment throughout North Kent.

The Leader advised that the same theme had recurred over and over.   There was a sense that all over Kent, Councils were being asked by Government to accept unrealistic levels of housing allocations; that there was already a serious deficit in infrastructure delivery, and that that deficit was set to increase and that support was contingent on more centralised control and less local autonomy for locally elected members.

The Leader advised that he was particularly disturbed by an assertion from one significant County Member that when it came to housing growth, it would prove impossible to achieve both infrastructure investment and affordable housing at the same time. If that notion was accepted, then he considered that the Council would be letting down its local community.

The Leader then gave an update on the immediate aims of the Coalition.

·         On the constitutional review, an ‘objectives and options’ paper would be considered by the Policy Development and Review Committee (PDRC) in July, and a resolution would be submitted to Full Council in October 2019.

·         Progress was being responsibly made by the Deputy Leader on reviewing the Local Plan in such a way as to reflect the deep concerns of residents right across Swale. Personally, he was pleased to see last Thursday that the planning committee had not been prepared to be cavalier about the need for affordable housing, for genuine infrastructure and for protecting our environment.

·         Steps were in place to re-organise and enhance the Council’s resources in housing and health;  high level meetings had been organised with housing providers and contacts had been forged with community groups that regularly confronted the problems of social exclusion.

·         They were in the process of reviewing provision for CCTV surveillance and a report would be considered at the July 2019 Cabinet meeting.

·         They were looking forward to meeting local business leaders, who must be conscious of the need for skills enhancement locally. A meeting had been arranged with Further Education leaders in the near future, however, he did not wish to diminish previous efforts or the challenges involved.

·         The Cabinet’s commitment to environmental issues had been represented by the motion at tonight’s meeting, proposed by the Cabinet Member for the Environment who brought depth and knowledge to their understanding of these vital issues.

·         Questions and answers under agenda item 10 indicated their intention to introduce a projects budget that would be used to enhance local people’s experience of our open spaces, in our towns, in the countryside and in our leisure and tourist environment.

·         Much time had been spent by Cabinet members and officers on sorting out concerns about the Sittingbourne Town Centre project. The Council was entering a critical stage in their dealings with Spirit of Sittingbourne and he hoped to report more on this at future Council meetings.

In concluding, he acknowledged that the Cabinet had a very full and clear agenda. Officers at all levels had responded in a very positive way, and he particularly thanked Ms Wiggins, Mr Vickers and Mr Clifford for their guidance during a period of change and in the absence of the Chief Executive, who he was keeping in regular contact with.

The Leader of the Conservative Group was invited to respond to the Statement.  He thanked the Leader for the courtesy of early sight of the Statement, but urged the Planning Committee to take a balanced approach to avoid the risk of non-determination appeals.  He then read out details of two corporate announcements on the Council’s intranet page and asked why this information had not been shared with councillors?  He noted that the measures set out were in connection with officers, and he expressed his wider concerns.

The Leader advised that the intention of this item was for the Leader to respond to the issues covered by the Leader’s Statement, and hoped that in future there may be some reference to it.