Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Stephen Giles-Medhurst and Alex Hayward.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the Policy and Resources Committee meeting held on 19 July 2021.

The Minutes of the Policy and Resources Committee meeting held on 19 July 2021 were confirmed as a correct record and were signed by the Chair.

Items of other business notified under Council Procedure Rule 30 to be announced, together with the special circumstances that justify their consideration as a matter of urgency. The Chair to rule on the admission of such items.

The Committee were advised that item 5 the Equalities Impact Assessment was published late but that it did not affect the report.  

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest

To consider the draft Calendar of Meetings for the Local Government Year2023/24

This report was to consider the draft Calendar of Meetings for the Local Government Year 2023/24. 

A Member referred to paragraph 2.5.12 of the report and said it would be useful to get some sub-committee dates added at the earliest opportunity.

On being put to the Committee the recommendations as set out in the Officer report were declared CARRIED by the Chair the voting being unanimous.

RECOMMEND:

The Committee are asked to recommend to Council:

•           That the attached draft Calendar of Meetings for 2023/24 be agreed with Members able to comment on the dates before ratification by Council on 19 October.

•           That the proposed changes in the scheduling of the Annual Council and Planning meeting in May as detailed in Paragraph 2.4.1 be agreed for ratification by Full Council on 19 October.

i.        All Local Forum meetings be held virtually.

ii.       That all Sub-Committee meetings when organised, as non-decision making bodies, be held virtually.

iii.      Whether Equalities Sub-Committee meetings and Local Plan Sub-Committee meetings are livestreamed for people to watch live due to high public interest in the meetings.

To seek Council’s agreement to a Statement of Common Ground (SCG) and an agreement to consult on a draft Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) to support the preparation of a Joint Strategic Plan (JSP) for South West Hertfordshire

This report provided details on the South West Herts Joint Strategic Plan and sought the Council’s agreement to a Statement of Common Ground (SCG) and an agreement to consult on a draft Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) to support the preparation of a Joint Strategic Plan (JSP) for South West Hertfordshire.

The Senior Planning Officer introduced Chris Outtersides and Marko Kalik to the meeting who were managing the South West Herts Joint Strategic Plan.  The Senior Planning Officer advised the Committee of the Council’s involvement in the South West Herts Joint Strategic Plan and gave details of the Statement of Common Ground and Statement of Community Involvement.

The following points were raised by Members:

•           Paragraph 3.6 stated the SW Herts JSP Planning Members Group comprised the Planning Portfolio Holder for each of the SW Herts authorities, was there a need for a Shadow Portfolio Holder in case of absence or election changes? 

Response: It had been agreed that Councils would be able to send a deputy to those meetings.  The current representative for the Council was the Leader.  In terms of opposition Members, briefings could be held to ensure they were aware of all the changes.  The aim of the Statement of Common Ground was to futureproof the process.  For the Plan to work it would have to be brought through the Committee cycles of each of the Council’s involved. 

•           A concern was raised that there were two further neighbouring authorities, Buckinghamshire and Hillingdon and whether this would affect working with them. 

Response: We would reach out to all neighbouring authorities to ensure we all reached common ground.  Working together in South West Herts meant we could respond to other Authorities as a Group which gave us a stronger voice than as individual Councils.

•           There were already 2 questionnaires out in Three Rivers, one about the Aquadrome and one about the High Street and it was doubtful residents would know anything about them unless they had accessed the TRDC website.  How were we planning on getting important issues on the Statement of Community Involvement across to Residents? 

Response: The Plan was that the Community Engagement and Community Strategy would be ahead of the game.  The new Innovative website would be going live in the next 4 to 5 weeks.  Once the Statement of Common Ground was signed there would be a press release and they were working with the University of Hertfordshire to get the messages out particularly to young people.  They wanted to ensure the messaging on the JSP was clear.  They were doing visioning work with the community and stakeholders to get the plan into people’s minds.  All Member briefings had been taking place across all authorities to get the messages out. 

•           Who was on the Steering Group? 

Response:  The Strategic Members Group was chaired by Councillor White from St Albans which provided a briefing link to Hertfordshire Growth Board.  The other Members were Councillors Alan Anderson, Dacorum; Harvey Cohen, Hertsmere; Stephen Boulton, HCC  ...  view the full minutes text for item PR29/21

The Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Policy expired in 2019, and therefore has now been updated and reviewed. The new draft policy is attached at Appendix A.  The policy was under review in early 2020 but the impact on the service due to COVID meant that the review was delayed until 2021.

This has been consulted on internally and with key partner agencies working on anti-social behaviour including the Police, Hertfordshire County Council, Watford Community Housing Trust and Thrive Homes.

The Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Policy expired in 2019, and was now being updated and reviewed. The new draft policy was attached to the report at Appendix A.  The policy was being reviewed in early 2020 but the impact on the service due to Covid meant that the review was delayed until 2021.

The policy had been consulted on internally and with key partner agencies working on anti-social behaviour including the Police, Hertfordshire County Council, Watford Community Housing Trust and Thrive Homes.

The Head of Community Partnerships introduced the report and advised that the policy had been updated in line with changing Government policy and reflected new issues in the community such as cuckooing and serious violence.  It now incorporated new requirements for ASB case review which was known as community trigger giving victims in the community details on the way complaints are dealt with, more information on reporting tools and methods which was in line with our customer experience strategy.  Issues which constituted ASB had been expanded on in the policy and the way ASB was dealt with across other Council departments was also now included.  In the past 18 months over 400 high to medium risk cases had been dealt which was more than 70 cases on the previous time period.  There was now a full time ASB Officer working with the Community Safety Intervention Officer as well as a functioning Youth Violence Service being delivered across Hertfordshire.  The Herts MIND network service had been expanded delivering community support and mental health support to residents.  The policy covered four different areas prevention, early intervention, support and enforcement with details provided in the covering report and policy.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 35(b) a member of the public spoke on this item.

The Chair said these were not problem tenants but families without a home.

The Head of Community Partnerships said in terms of the policy, it is process based, but does detail victim support. There was are also a lot of other support services for victims that we work with in partnership and which was mentioned in the report and policy on what we can do and what support can be provided. 

In terms of the process of dealing with an ASB case the Community Safety Invention Officer advised that with regard to Jack Prescott Place this was a new building that had not been welcomed by the Community at first.  People that had been housed there had been homeless and some of the families living there had complex needs.  The Community Safety and Housing Teams had worked with local residents to support them and would continue to do this.  They could not comment on the CCTV query but the Head of Community Partnerships would look at this if more information could be provided on the issue.  The Council wanted to see the best outcome for everyone and worked tirelessly to get the best outcome for both the residents and the families living in the accommodation. 

Members raised  ...  view the full minutes text for item PR30/21

Item deferred

The item had been deferred and would come back to a future meeting.  Officers were progressing getting quotes but at this time had been unable to get all the information required. 

To advise Members that an exemption to the Procurement process was approved by the Head of Finance under the Exceptional Circumstances exemption as permitted by the Council’s Constitution.

To advise Members that an exemption to the Procurement process was approved by the Head of Finance under the Exceptional Circumstances exemption as permitted by the Council’s Constitution.

The Head of Community Partnerships said the report had been provided following an exemption agreed with regard to our CCTV management contract which had been reviewed.  It had been agreed we would go into partnership with Hertfordshire CCTV Partnership who can provide a better service and a more reactive monitoring service for Three Rivers and would give our team’s better support.  Each camera will be dialled into twice a day to check the CCTV is operating and to monitor the cameras to make sure they are operational.  Hertfordshire CCTV Partnership had been in place for a number of years and had a number of partnerships with other District Councils. 

A Member said the cost was going to increase annually by 1 to 3% which seemed a bit vague.  Thrives contribution was £1,000 a year and asked if their contribution would also increase by 1 to 3%.  When we have exemptions from procurement coming to Committee it stopped Councillors from doing due diligence. 

The Shared Director of Finance advised that in terms of the percentage it would increase by inflation.  The Thrive contribution was fixed at £1,000 but this had not been received before and we had only been able to negotiate this contribution for 3 years.  The Council would continue to negotiate with them to see if we can obtain a contribution after the 3 years. There was only one credible supplier for the contract but if there had been three credible suppliers we would have asked them all to tender for the contract.

A Member said with the old contract when we wanted to move a camera it took between 9 to 18 months to get moved due to a number of factors but under this contract they can just be moved.  Previously, Thrive Homes had not contributed so the fact they were now was a bonus. 

The Head of Community Partnerships advised that there was a process on the placement of the CCTV cameras and details could be provided to Members.

RESOLVED:

That the action taken be noted.

The purpose of this report is to seek agreement to the process whereby the Council will determine its three-year medium-term Corporate Framework for 2022-2025, the related service plans, and the allocation of financial resources to achieve them.

The purpose of this report was to seek agreement to the process whereby the Council will determine its three-year medium-term Corporate Framework for 2022-2025, the related service plans, and the allocation of financial resources to achieve them.

The Chair advised that the report had been prepared by Nigel Pollard who would be retiring from the Authority after 33 years of service.

The Shared Director of Finance advised that this report set out the process for budget and would go through the Service Committees in the normal way, providing details on service planning and the timeline.  On the Corporate Framework and the objectives from it, the report repeated those already agreed in the Corporate Plan.  In terms of things to note in preparation of the budget, for Pay Awards at present we have 1% in the budget but have contingencies in place for any additional costs pertaining to this.  We are experiencing high inflation at around 3% which remains a concern but we will monitor this.  The recent increase in National Insurance announced by the Government, they had indicated that this would be funded by them but have yet to get this confirmed. 

A Member raised concern about our supply of affordable housing in the District targets and we will be recognised as a great place to do business with and asked if this plan was supporting those two points.  Also could clarification be provided on what “pump prime” meant and at Point 2.17 it referred to briefings to be requested by Party Groups and asked if they could be provided.

The Shared Director of Finance stated that the framework had been adopted by Council and the budget aimed to support that.  In terms of briefings officers would approach Members to organise them as we get into the budget process.  The word “pump prime” meant getting money upfront to get a scheme moving forward.

Councillor Chris Lloyd moved the recommendation, duly seconded, but on behalf of all the Committee wished to thank Nigel Pollard for all the work he had done for the Council and wanted to wish him all the best in their retirement. 

On being put to the Committee the motion was declared CARRIED the voting being 8 For, 0 Against and 3 Abstentions.

RESOLVED:

1.         That the assumptions to use in preparing the detailed budgets for the period shown in Appendix 1 be agreed.

2.         That the scheme used to prioritise revenue & capital growth shown in Appendix 2 be agreed.

3.         That the draft timetable at Appendix 3 be agreed.

4.         That the format of any budget consultation if agreed be approved by the Director of Finance in consultation with the Lead Member for Resources.

Budget monitoring report is a key tool in scrutinising the Council’s financial performance. It is designed to provide an overview to all relevant stakeholders. It is essential that the council monitors its budgets throughout the year to ensure that it is meeting its strategic objectives and that corrective action is taken where necessary.

This report seeks approval to a change in the Council’s 2021 - 2024 medium-term revenue financial plan. The report shows the Council’s overall consolidated medium term financial plan for both revenue and capital.

The Budget Monitoring report was a key tool in scrutinising the Council’s financial performance. It is designed to provide an overview to all relevant stakeholders. It is essential that the council monitors its budgets throughout the year to ensure that it is meeting its strategic objectives and that corrective action is taken where necessary.

This report sought approval to a change in the Council’s 2021 - 2024 medium-term revenue financial plan. The report shows the Council’s overall consolidated medium term financial plan for both revenue and capital.

The Shared Director of Finance said the key variation we were seeing in this budget was the Leisure Management contract income which as a result of Covid we were forecasting we will not meet the budget this year.  A full report had been provided to Members on this but were assuming that some of the losses will funded by the Government.

A Member asked about planning applications as it stated that there had been a reduction in income but they thought the department was very busy.  The Shared Director of Finance advised there had been an increased volume in planning applications but because they were householder applications rather than from developers there was less income coming from them.

The Director of Community and Environmental Services advised that the planning department was the busiest it had been however there had not been the major applications received recently which generated the largest fees.  Also because of the move towards permitted development we are getting lots of applications for Certificate of Lawfulness and pre applications for Permitted Development so there are no fees or very limited fees attached to those.  The department are still seeing the same volume of work with the same amount of paperwork to be done.  We are expecting some major applications in the next quarter which may make up the difference but we can’t guarantee they will come through.

The Member asked how much Government support had been received. The Shared Director of Finance advised that the figures quoted in point 1.6 were for the first quarter however this included money that was previously provided for the whole year as part of our funding against expenditure for the first quarter.  The impact last year was much greater and we had to use £1.8m of our Economic impact reserves.

A Member referred to staff vacancies and asked how that compared with other local authorities and how are we doing in terms of advertising the vacancies and uptake.  On the property investment we had a 5% yield target and asked were we managing to hit that target. 

The Shared Director of Finance said in terms of vacancies we are getting a high response but not necessarily the right candidates were applying.  In Finance the vacancies have been inundated with applications but it was very hard to get the right people with the experience required.  The Customer Service Centre had also been struggling to fill vacancies.  The Council had to recently increase the HGV Driver  ...  view the full minutes text for item PR34/21

A Member asked when reports on Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and Community Interest Company would be coming forward to the Committee.

In regard to CIL this would be reviewed with the Local Plan but Officers would seek clarification from the Head of Service on when a report may come forward to the Committee.

With regard to the Community Interest Company officers would check details with the Head of Service.

Post meeting note: it was not proposed to take forward this matter and the item would be removed from the work programme.

On the Business Rates Pooling a report will come forward to the December meeting and the year should read 2022/23. The work programme would be updated on this.

RESOLVED

That the work programme be noted and the amendments provided above included.