Agenda item

Background:

The Sub Committee considered the report which provided an overview of the progress made in Quarter 4 of 2025/26 against the approved Kyndi Business Plan.

The Sub Committee considered and discussed the Exempt Appendices. Noting that Exempt Appendices 1 to 5 provided the CEO report to the Board, the Operations report Q1 26/27, Quarterly Management Accounts – Kyndi Consolidated (Q1 2026/27), the Sales & Business Development report Q1, and the Strategic Risk Register. It was also noted that Exempt Appendices 6 to 7, provided further information in respect of the Board Effectiveness Review in March 2026.

The Chief Executive Officer, Kyndi Ltd, advised that a range of transformation activities were underway across organisational culture, workforce development and automation. Key appointments included a Transformation Manager on a fixed-term basis, an Interim Head of Finance and ongoing recruitment for an Operations Manager to support the Control Centre following the departure of the Head of Operations. It was reported that recruitment to the Head of Operations role had proved challenging, although a further round of interviews was scheduled. In the meantime, officers had worked closely with managers to ensure service levels remained unaffected.

It was also reported that the organisation had successfully achieved Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation, which reflected the importance of protecting sensitive data held on behalf of vulnerable residents. In response to a question, it was reported that a dedicated project focusing on aged debt had achieved positive results and that improvements would be reflected in the Quarter 2 financial report.

In response to further questions, it was confirmed that the CCTV camera upgrades were on track and the drop in incident reporting may have been due to changes in the control centre staff structure that had now been addressed and was being monitored closely. It was confirmed that stage 1 of the Real time Information for public transport would be completed with a test in mid-October, with Phase 2 commencing from November. It was agreed that the communications plan could be shared with the Sub Committee. It was suggested that there could be more joint working with the relevant bodies at the railway station and the Police with regard to CCTV coverage. The Sub Committee were advised that there were some data issues with regards to sharing.

The Sub Committee discussed recent recruitment challenges and it was confirmed that the recruitment process was being strengthened with regard to disclosures. The Sub Committee were advised that there was now a further challenge associated with enhanced vetting requirements recently introduced by Kent Police for CCTV operators, which was impacting on workforce capacity throughout Kent. Discussions were scheduled with the Kent Police vetting team later in October, and further clarification was being sought regarding arrangements for existing staff.

The Sub Committee touched on the use of technological advances and how they could be validated as saving ideas. It was noted that work around this formed part of the work of the One Medway Financial Improvement and Transformation (FIT) Plan 2026/27.

It was requested that an update be provided at the next meeting on the outcome of discussions with Kent Police on the updated vetting system and any associated operational risks.