00:00So we've just had a full council meeting here at Kent County Council and I was really pleased to be able to announce in the chamber
00:06that the pay cut that I proposed across all councillor allowances has been passed as a motion.
00:12So that means, as from today, we have saved over £200,000.
00:17Now that money is going to be split up between all 81 councillors and it's going to go straight into their community grant funds.
00:23So if you approach your county councillor and put forward an idea for them to fund with their extra money,
00:30you may just get a little bit of money to do that project that matters so much to you.
00:35We've also found £32 million saving over the next four years by simply scrapping the net zero property modification plan that was about to go ahead.
00:45I've saved a further £7.5 million by choosing not to transition the Kent County Council fleet of vehicles over to electric cars.
00:53Again, that was a net zero pledge.
00:55We're also saving £1.5 million by bringing children's care homes back in-house by purchasing four separate properties,
01:03which will become KCC-owned care homes.
01:06That means we're not at the mercy of the private sector and we can ultimately save money.
01:12I've also written to the Secretary of State to ask for money back from the Dartford toll crossing to go into Kent's highways to help us fix our roads.
01:20And I've written to the Home Secretary to ask her to refund us for the money we spend on unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
