“I'm quite boring”

Last week featured our specific conversation with Councillor Vince Maple about local government reorganisation and the new Labour Prime Minister. This week is part two, where we find out how much the unemployed councillor has made through brown envelopes and the sale of council property, the state of Chatham High Street, and how much Medway Labour have spied upon Local Authority Towers.

What is your official occupation? 
My official occupation is, I guess, technically, nothing, because I'm not employed by anybody. 

Are you not an employee of the council? 
No councillor is an employee, which is why we get an allowance and not a salary. The allowance is treated as a salary. I'm taxed on it. I've always paid all of my taxes in my entire life. I've always been on PAYE. 
I guess therefore, technically I've been unemployed for over a decade. 
I think I have been filling my time with a few bits and pieces though. I am leader of the best unitary authority in the region of Kent at the time of speaking. There will be four great councils in the future. I also happen to be the chair of Labour in Local and Regional Governments. That's the national voice within the party for elected mayors, police and crime commissioners, and of course, councillors. I've also recently taken on a new role, which is chair of Key Cities, which is exciting, being the voice for 22 different cities across the country, particularly in England and Wales. That's a cross-party organisation. I also serve on effectively the European LGA [Local Government Association] as well. I've done that for a few years. 
I'm not employed, but I have a boss, and that boss is the people of Medway.

As many people have said, Medway is a city in all but name

To clarify, how are you the chair of Key Cities? What is your city-based criteria?
As many people have said, Medway is a city in all but name. I'm not having a dispute with the Advertising Standards Agency, unlike my predecessors, but Medway has been a member of that organisation for some time. If we were a city, we'd be the 17th biggest city in the country. We function as a city. We've applied for city status many times. There are a handful of places that are cities in all but name, and we're one of them. 

What does your portfolio cover? 
I've got responsibility for strategic overview of the council. I've also got responsibility for finance. That happens to have been the same as my predecessor. That is not the norm in most councils. The normal is you'd have a separate person, but for the last nearly a decade now, my predecessor and I both had both portfolios. It does happen in other places. It's not unique to Medway. I've also got responsibility for democracy, for procurement, for governance, democratic services and also welfare, particularly things like the Crisis and Resilience Fund.

As leader you get to decide who has what portfolio. Could you have decided, ‘I'm the leader, I'm going to sit here and wave?’
Yes, and that happens. Some councils have council leaders who effectively have just got the strategic overview for the council. If that works for them, that's perfectly fine. I think it's more difficult in a unitary, because there's so much for us to do, particularly these days with things like public health. It's more challenging.
By law we're not allowed to have a cabinet bigger than ten. From that perspective, with everything we're now doing, that's what we have. And most councils, of all political persuasions, have the maximum ten on their cabinet, including leader. 

What would you like to be listed as your greatest achievement as leader of Medway Council?
I guess it will depend on the individual. For me, some of it is around opening up democracy. I think that's important to me. I think anyone who takes an interest can say that Medway, both the place and the council, has got more accessible. It has more transparency than it had in April 2023. 
James Williams Healthy Living Centre, blimey, that's a project. There'd be loads of reasons why it wouldn't have succeeded. I wish we didn't have to name it after James [Williams, Medway’s Director of Public Health, who died aged 57]. His death was one of the biggest losses in our time, and we all still think about James a lot. We talk about trying to reduce health inequalities, front and centre, that's happening.
Whether it is the retention of the Green Flags, whether it is the Ofsted ‘Good’ rating for children's services for the first time ever. All of those things will be important to different people. I guess it will ultimately be up to 292,000 people to decide.

You inspire people both by your track record, but also what you're going to offer in the future

You have the democracy brief. When we look at the turnout for local elections, could you have done more to get Medway invested in local politics?
This is not a Medway issue by itself. I'd rather lose an election with a 90% turnout. From a democratic perspective, that gives that further legitimacy, but we are where we are. We don't have compulsory voting. I'm not completely convinced by that. I think people can legitimately say, 'My democratic process is not going to vote.' I think you inspire people both by your track record, but also what you're going to offer in the future. Our track record as an administration is just over three years old. When people vote for North Kent, of course, they're not going to be voting for Dartford or Gravesham or Medway, but part of their thought process will be on how the council, and of KCC for colleagues outside of Medway, have performed, as well as what's being offered by the relevant political parties. 

Chatham Central has low voter turnout. Does that mean you've not been particularly inspiring?
Well, who knows? You'd have to ask the 12,000 people. I think you always try and encourage people to go out and vote.
One of the things you will see, particularly from the 2023 results, is that where elections are closer, there is a higher turnout. Chatham Central and Brompton, or indeed Hempstead and Wigmore, have returned the same flavour of councillor effectively since Medway Council was formed. Maybe that's part of it, but ultimately I guess the people who are not inspired to go and put a cross in the box will tell you the reasons why that is.