Come along, be informed, have a chat and maybe meet other parents and carers of SEND children!
Are you a parent and/or carer of a child or young person who has special educational needs and/or disabilities or you believe may require additional help? Are you looking for services in your area that can offer extra support for your child as they go through their education journey? Then Ashford Family Hubs would like to invite you to our SEND Information, advice and guidance event for Ashford.
There will be a short presentation at the start to introduce the services in attendance, followed by your opportunity to visit their stalls and find out how they can help.
Refreshments will be available and some toys can be provided in case you need to bring little ones.
16th July 2024 10 am -12 noon or 1 pm – 3 pm
Ashford North Family Hub Mabledon Avenue Ashford TN24 8BJ
Consultation opens: 19 July 2023 Consultation closes: 13 September 2023
Kent County Council (KCC) has launched an eight-week Family Hub services consultation which sets out proposals on the future of young peoples’ services.
Family Hubs brings together and integrates support services for children, young people and families, so that they are easier for people to access. By being focused on building better, strong relationships with families, we can work with multi-agency services, reducing the need for families to tell us their stories more than once and allow them to access help and support how they chose to i.e., from a physical building, outreach in the community or online/virtual. The consultation sets out the range of services that would be available under the Family Hub model, and the different ways they could be delivered.
KCC was one of 75 local authorities successfully awarded Department for Education (DfE) funding to design and implement a three-year Family Hub model in Kent, following the September 2020 review by Dame Andrea Leadsom MP focusing on improving outcomes for babies and the first 1,001 days of a child’s life.
The findings of that review enabled the DfE and Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) to develop a framework to support successful and ambitious local authorities to work with health partners to develop a Start for Life concept and Family Hub model.
Kent has been awarded Trailblazer status; one of only 14 authorities awarded the honour of becoming a national leader for the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme.
the DfE Family Hub model fits perfectly into the Framing Kent’s Future strategic vison for children, young people, and families, as well as supporting the wider national and community challenges following the Covid-19 pandemic.
just read the summary document which gives an overview of the proposals .
KCC are keen to hear your views on our proposals and how any changes may affect you.
Attend an activity event over the summer across Kent to find out more and ask your questions.
Events in Ashford
Date
Time
Address
Come and meet the team at the Bandstand, find out about your local youth services and join in with some activities!
Tuesday 8 August
12pm to 3pm
High Street, Ashford, TN24 8SA
A family event providing practical advice, information and support including healthy eating on a budget, looking after yourself and your bank balance! Lots of local organisations offering additional support services, benefits advice, free school meals and healthy start vouchers and other schemes. Come along and find out more.
In March 2021, the government published a new National Bus Strategy which sets out a framework for recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and a vision for future bus service improvements across the UK.
The strategy places a requirement on all Local Transport Authorities and Bus Operators to create a Bus Service Improvement Plan, which will act as the vision for how they are going to try to improve bus services in Kent in the next few years. This will then be used to help create Enhanced Partnership Schemes with bus operators, which will set the standards for all bus services running in the county.
Kent County Council’s (KCC) first version of the Improvement Plan must be published by the end of October and their Enhanced Partnership Schemes need to start from April 2022.
KCC need your help!
KCC are excited about the opportunity this presents and want to ensure that our Improvement Plan reflects the views of Kent residents.
First of all they want to know what would make bus travel more attractive to you. Answer two quick questions to tell them your thoughts.
Your feedback will help them create proposals for the Plan. They will be shared later in the Summer.
Kent’s Strategy for Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities 2021-2024
Opened: 02 December 2020 Closes: 04 February 2021
Kent County Council and the NHS in Kent and Medway are keen to hear your views and opinions about their new special educational needs and disabilities strategy for children and young people in Kent.
The strategy sets out our ambitions to make sure that all children in Kent have equal access to support and education that meets their unique needs and that they and their families are supported to live their best life.
It also explains how we will shape our services for children and their families in a way that improves wellbeing, resilience and learning in our communities.
The strategy has been prepared jointly by Kent County Council and the NHS in partnership with children and young people, parents and carers, Kent PACT and other key stakeholders.
We recommend you read the draft Strategy before completing the questionnaire using the link at the bottom of the post.
Consultation Questionnaire The consultation questionnaire should be completed online via the ‘Respond to this Consultation’ section below. Alternatively complete this Word version and return by post or email.
Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) will open from Friday 15 May for essential use.
It’s important for you to limit use of these restricted slots, as they should be used for emergency waste disposal.
To be able to visit a HWRC you must book a slot in advance. Please note that booking slots are very limited to maintain social distancing for staff and visitors.
Booking will be available from Wednesday 13 May 2020
Note that the demand is high: there was a queue of 17500 to get on to the online booking form at Wednesday lunchtime; there is likely to be a long wait time on the phone.
Who can visit
You will only be able to book one trip in any 4 week period to ensure everyone can use the site safely.
Please note that the restricted vehicle and voucher scheme still applies. If you have a restricted vehicle you must apply for a voucher.
See our previous post for links to KCC and ABC pages giving information about other council services.
Kent County Council has launched its Trading Standards Checked scheme for businesses in the home repair and improvement sector.
Trading Standards Checked helps protect Kent residents – especially those who are more vulnerable to doorstep callers – from criminal and rogue traders. It also supports legitimate businesses by giving them trusted accreditation to show consumers that they are legitimate and trustworthy.
Traders applying to be on the scheme are checked thoroughly. KCC has access to information and systems that no other scheme in Kent has, together with highly trained, experienced staff with a range of skills developed in their work supporting KCC Trading Standards.
Mike Hill, KCC’s Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services, said: “Trading Standards Checked is a trusted accreditation like no other for Kent traders.
“It will set businesses apart and give customers peace of mind when dealing with Trading Standards Checked traders. It’s also a simple, hassle free trader scheme that offers value for money and provides businesses with all the support they need to trade with confidence.”
KCC currently has two special offers for traders, which are available until 31 March.
Kent members of Checkatrade are offered free membership for the first year, and non-members of Checkatrade can benefit from an “early-bird” discount of 50%, which means a fee of £249 plus VAT for the year.
The main precepting authorities for residents of the Borough have announced their proposed precepts for the year commencing 6 April 2020 as shown in the table below for a Band D property:
Authority
19/20
% Rise
£ Rise
20/21
KCC
£1,299.42
3.99%
£51.84
£1,351.26
ABC
£162.50
3.08%
£5.00
£167.50
FRA
£77.76
1.97%
£1.53
£79.29
PCC
£193.15
5.18%
£10.00
£203.15
Total unparished
£1,732.83
3.95%
£68.37
£1,801.20
The total Council Tax for each property band is shown in the table below.
Band
Proportion Band D
%
Band D
2019/20
2020/21
Rise
pa
2019/20
pm
2020/21
pm
Rise
pm
A
6/9
67%
£1,155.22
£1,200.80
£45.58
£115.52
£120.08
£4.56
B
7/9
78%
£1,347.76
£1,400.93
£53.18
£134.78
£140.09
£5.32
C
8/9
89%
£1,540.29
£1,601.07
£60.77
£154.03
£160.11
£6.08
D
9/9
100%
£1,732.83
£1,801.20
£68.37
£173.28
£180.12
£6.84
E
11/9
122%
£2,117.90
£2,201.47
£83.56
£211.79
£220.15
£8.36
F
13/9
144%
£2,502.98
£2,601.73
£98.76
£250.30
£260.17
£9.88
G
15/9
167%
£2,888.05
£3,002.00
£113.95
£288.81
£300.20
£11.40
H
18/9
200%
£3,465.66
£3,602.40
£136.74
£346.57
£360.24
£13.67
Some authorities have yet to vote on their budgets.
