Minutes of the RSN South East Regional Seminar & Meeting held at Sevenoaks District Council,  29 April 2019

Thank you to Sevenoaks District Council for kindly hosting this event

To download a copy of these minutes click here

Present:

PART 1 OF MEETING: 11.30 am – 1.00 pm hrs

 
SEMINAR SESSION

1. Welcome from the Chairman of Sevenoaks District Council, Councillor Patricia Bosley.

The Chair formally thanked everyone for attending today’s seminar and meeting.

The Rural Services Network was now the only organisation in England seeking to pull together the many rural areas which are spun across England so that they can present a national rural argument on behalf of the people living and working in these communities about their services and their issues.

She observed that rural areas have their fair share of problems and these can be very specific to them.  People shouldn’t fool themselves that because they are attractive areas, all must be well.  These specific rural problems deserve some focus and the Network seeks to do that.

She was pleased to say that this is the first of the RSN Seminars that has been held in the South East and Sevenoaks were delighted to host it.

The very remoteness that so many others value, can for others gradually become a real burden. She observed that if you were vulnerable in a rural area you could be very vulnerable indeed in a rural one?

She very much hoped the event would cast some light on the problems and consider how by working together it may be possible to assist.

She thanked people for attending.

2. Introductory Remarks from Councillor Peter Fleming OBE, Leader of Sevenoaks District Council

The Leader welcomed the opportunity Sevenoaks had been given to attend the event. They had their fair share of rural areas across the Council area and were aware of the problems people faced.

He personally was involved with the District Council Network who likewise were aware and were concerned that rural problems lacked focus nationally.

He very much hoped the event would be a successful one and that it would bring about much needed scrutiny on this important topic and the exchange of best practice.

3. Introduction from David Inman, Corporate Director, RSN

David set out what ground the Network sought to cover and how they wished to work at local authority, community and parliamentary level. It was vital that the problems of rural areas were not simply mainstreamed with the assumption that national viewpoints would equally apply to rural areas. That was not always the case and rural areas would always lose out unless they achieved specific focus and attention. While the problems in inner cities were very much understood, England was almost 80% rural with 20% of its population living there. Its problems were specific and they needed special attention. He referred to the vulnerability problem with individuals in rural areas as the average age of the population was increasing and access to facilities becoming more difficult for many.  

Vulnerability – Presentation One

Kerry Potter, UK Power Networks (download the presentation here)

Kerry is the Customer Vulnerability Officer for the Electricity Distributer, UK Power Networks holding the franchise for much of South East of England.  She is a very experienced officer who is a central player in the Electricity Industry and their policies with people who are regarded, either permanently or temporary to be in a vulnerable situation. Kerry detailed now working with Ofcom a Priority Services Register system had been developed and how the industry had used this to give appropriate assistance to vulnerable customers.

Vulnerability Presentation Two

Hayley Brooks, Sevenoaks District Council, Head of Housing and Health (download the presentation here)

The Department that Hayley headed up had sought to devise policies and procedures that sought to give special consideration to those who were vulnerable or who had special difficulties. The authority had gained a reputation in the South East for work in this area.

Vulnerability Presentation Three

Rachel Ryan-Crisp, Southern Water PLC, Affordability and Vulnerability Lead (download the presentation here)

The company had been giving special recent consideration to their customer service work and had introduced many recent new systems. Whilst Water Companies’ Priority Service Registers were not currently as extensive as those of Power Companies, Ofwat was encouraging Water Companies to be more pro-active in this work. Rachel detailed initiatives being undertaken including the introduction of a new Customer Inclusion Panel on which rural organisations were represented.

4. Q&A of morning speakers

Particular questioning took place about what would constitute vulnerable customers, what special measures may be considered and how people were made aware of Priority Registration and how they could register

PART 2 OF MEETING: 1.30 pm – Finish

1. Afternoon presentation (download the presentation here)

Learning from the Rural Services Partnership - Simon Kitchen, Bipolar UK

Simon detailed how Bipolar diagnosis took place and how increasingly the number of people being diagnosed was increasing. This was particularly true in rural areas where isolation could be a key factor.

2. Roundtable Networking Session

Learning from others about Rural Vulnerability in the South East.

A very full discussion took place. It was felt that far more emphasis needed to be given to the priority registration system, which it was felt could and should be used far more extensively both across the regulated industries. It was also felt it hadrelevance in the public sector.

3. Summing up of afternoon session - Cllr Cameron Clark, Sevenoaks District Council (Cllr Clark’s remarks are linked here)
   
   

4. Meeting Apologies

The following were received: