Social Value Ideas for Dover District Council

Regaining assurance roadmap

Grant Thornton presented a regaining assurance strategy to rebuild audit confidence after five years of disclaimed opinions. The plan includes a phased return to a qualified opinion by 2027-28, comple…

“"So I have the um regaining assurance strategy to share with you. It sets out our plan to rebuild assurance at the council following the 5 years of di…”

Audit prep for accounts

The draft statement of accounts was noted as unaudited and scheduled for external audit from September 2026, with a return to governance committee for formal sign-off in November. Officers said they w…

“So um this is the the unodudited set of accounts. So um the audit will be taking place in full from Septemberish time onwards with a view to bringing …”

Year-end surplus and project spend

Cabinet noted a £400,000 general fund surplus and a £3 million housing surplus, with £43 million spent on projects including housing developments, compliance works to dwellings, the beacon project and…

“The general fund has a £400,000 surplus for the year and this surplus will be transferred to the smoothing fund smoothing reserve to help top that bac…”

Tech One finance controls

The committee discussed the stability and use of the Tech One finance system, particularly around budget preparation, reconciliations and financial procedure rules. Officers confirmed the system is no…

“"In terms of the other questions I think we're going to hand over to Helen. Thank you. Thank you. Um, so yeah adding to the tech one um the budgets we…”

Sandwich boatyard scheme refused

The committee refused a scheme for three dwellings and four flats at the former boatyard in Strand Street, Sandwich. Reasons included overdevelopment, harm to the conservation area and listed setting,…

“The application before you is for the erection of three dwellings and four flats with associated access and landscaping. Uh just a couple of points. U…”

Finglesham dwelling approved with tree retention

A new dwelling at The Street, Finglesham was approved as policy-compliant, with members accepting an amendment to explicitly retain existing trees/planting. The discussion highlighted concerns about t…

“So with this boundary planting and the distance, we consider appropriate um screening for that property. The proposals generally are policy compliant.…”

Deal conservation-area house approved

The committee approved a new dwelling on Clan William Road/Stanley Road in Deal within the conservation area after amendments to replace uPVC with timber windows and lower the roof height. Members acc…

“So there's been concerns um set as set out in the report relating to so materials but the windows are amended from UPVC to timber because it's within …”

Park remains loss-making

The owners stated that Betshanger Country Park is currently loss-making and financially difficult to sustain, creating continuing pressure to find new income-generating uses. They said they are trying…

“Now, we've owned it for seven years. There's no legal obligation for us to keep that park open. And the guys are right who spoke. It is a loss making …”

Ongoing capital and operating spend

The owners described substantial historic and ongoing investment in the park, including refurbishment of the visitor centre and regular weekly operating spend to keep the site open. They also highligh…

“The museum has a lease on that. So you can't get rid of them. If you were to if we were to sell the uh park, which is extremely unlikely for all the r…”

Community buyout explored

Multiple speakers raised the possibility of a community bid or community-led ownership model for the park, supported by the new community empowerment legislation and ACV status. The owners said they w…

“I think the committee can support the development of the park as an asset of community value and for the community to construct a bid for the purchase…”