Kent County Council Local Boards

Kent County Council wants to work more closely with all the communities of Kent. Local Boards provide a two-way dialogue to look at local needs and priorities and to fund locally needed projects. Some of the local issues discussed at Local Boards last year were -

Disorder / Community Safety,

Local Highways and Transport Issues,

Climate change and environmental pollution,

Education & Schools,

2012 Olympics,

Combined Health / Adult Social Services,

Consultation on 'Towards 2010'

There is a network of 12 Local Boards in Kent. Each one covers a Borough /City or District Council area - Ashford, Canterbury, Dartford, Dover, Gravesham, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Shepway, Swale, Thanet, Tonbridge & Malling and Tunbridge Wells. All of the county councillors whose electoral division is within that area are members of the Local Board.

The 12 County Councillor Local Board Chairmen are:

• ASHFORD- Mike Angell

• CANTERBURY - David Hirst

• DARTFORD - Bertie Bassam

• DOVER (Neighbourhood Forums) - Bryan Cope

• GRAVESHAM - Mike Snelling

• MAIDSTONE - Paulina Stockell

• SEVENOAKS - David Brazier

• SHEPWAY - Chris Capon

• SWALE - Tom Gates

• THANET - Bill Hayton

• TONBRIDGE & MALLING - Valerie Dagger

• TUNBRIDGE WELLS - John Davies

Each Local Board will meet at least four times a year. The Boards are accountable to KCC's Cabinet, and have the following key objectives:

• To work more closely with local communities throughout the County, by providing a forum for effective two-way dialogue.

• To enable local KCC service profiles to be examined and local need established.

• To provide a forum for consultation on strategic issues and to advise Cabinet on outcomes or matters of concern in relation to services.

• To provide via Member Community Grants and Small Community Capital Grants, resources for projects and initiatives which would benefit the community in each Local Board Area.

Meetings

Members and officers are available for half an hour before each Local Board meeting for an informal discussion. Each meeting will have time set aside for members of the public to ask questions. This is YOUR opportunity to get involved about the things that matter to you in your local area.

To find out more about your local board, you can either contact your Community Liaison Manager (contact details at the bottom of this page) or click on

Funding For Local Projects - Member Community Grants

Every County Councillor can recommend approval for financial support for local projects, up to the total value of £10,000 a year per County Councillor.

The County Councillor financial support last year (April 2007- March 2008) provided a total of 760 grants, totalling £822,198 (97.9% of available grant committed). The average amount of an individual grant was £1,082, with an average allocation of 9 grants per Member.

The Lib Dem Group think it is important to let you know what recommendations Councillors had suggested for financial support. Details of the Lib Dem Groups financial support are therefore posted on this website:

County Councillor Financial Support >> click on image

Small Community Capital Projects Fund

Each Local Board will also consider bids for larger local projects of up to £20,000, which will be funded from a separate fund of £500,000 for Kent as a whole.

The Cabinet Member decides annually on the recommendations made by each Board regarding the applications they have received. Last year there were 183 applications totalling £958,750 (in the year 2006/07 were 147 applications totalling £1,241,256) so once again demand exceeded supply! Awards were made to 156 agreed bids, and the whole of the £500,000 available was committed.

Funding For Local Projects - Grants

Details of Kent grants available in 2008/09, who to contact for up to date details of the application processes or additional details of the schemes and a link for further information on government funding, trust funding and lottery funding are available on the following Lib Dem webpage. Click on

Looking For Funds? KCC Can Help.

Contacts

KCC has appointed a Community Liaison Manager to work with each Local Board.

They:

1. Manage Local Boards and co-ordinate agendas

2. Are the links between Local Boards, local communities & KCC services

3. Provide advise on the grants.

4. Provide details of forthcoming meetings.

You can contact the Community Liaison Managers as follows:

• Dartford and Gravesham: Dartford - Kayley Phillips kayley.phillips@kent.gov.uk and Gravesham - Will Farmer will.farmer@kent.gov.uk

• Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells - Tom Phillips tom.phillips@kent.gov.uk

• Maidstone and Tonbridge & Malling - Loic Flory loic.flory@kent.gov.uk

• Swale and Canterbury: Swale - Bill Ronan bill.ronan@kent.gov.uk and Canterbury - Anne Charman anne.charman@kent.gov.uk

• Ashford and Shepway - David Geoghegan david.geoghegan@kent.gov.uk

• Thanet and Dover: Dover excluding Sandwich - Emma Carey emma.carey@kent.gov.uk and Thanet and Sandwich - Anne Charman anne.charmen@kent.gov.uk

For all telephone enquiries to the CLMs please call: 08458 247247 and ask to speak to the appropriate officer (listed above), you will only be charged at a local rate.