Issue - meetings

S Whelan introduced the report to members. She said they had a good market share in the residential sector, but not quite as good in the commercial side and this is an area to improve on. The department is legally bound to publish its fees but this means they are undercut by private firms up to 10%.

There is a Hertfordshire consortium but it was felt that it was not financially viable or attractive so therefore building control is now in-house.

Staffing levels are critical. There are five temporary members of staff and two permanent. Building Control is a competitive market and Dacorum have a good reputation within Hertfordshire so temps are keen to come and work for the council. It is hoped that a ‘grow your own’ scheme can be used in the department to either support a candidate through a degree or a graduate. Performance related pay has been discussed and St Albans council have introduced this.

Councillor Ashbourn stated he liked the idea of the ‘grow your own’ scheme in order to instil the correct values.

Councillor C Wyatt-Lowe said Dacorum is a high employment area on the outskirts of London which means it is difficult to attract new staff. Do we have market forces payments to entice people to work and stay at Dacorum.

J Doe said the department did have but was withdrawn for budget savings. It is a careful consideration to make. St Albans performance pay comes from their surplus on fee income.

Councillor C Wyatt-Lowe said the Council must be paying over the odds for agency staff. Surely the savings from agency staff can be used for performance pay for permanent staff.

Outcome

The Strategic Planning and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee noted the report.