Agenda and draft minutes

To confirm the minutes from the previous meeting

The minutes of the meeting held on 4^th March 2020 were agreed by members present

To receive any apologies for absence

There were no apologies for absence.

To receive any declarations of interest

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered -

(i)            must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent

and, if the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest, or a personal interest which is also prejudicial

(ii)           may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter (and must withdraw to the public seating area) unless they have been granted a dispensation.

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Members’ Register of Interests, or is not the subject of a pending notification, must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal and prejudicial interests are defined in Part 2 of the Code of Conduct For Members

[If a member is in any doubt as to whether they have an interest which should be declared they should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer before the start of the meeting]

There were no declarations of interest.

An opportunity for members of the public to make statements or ask questions in accordance with the rules as to public participation

There was no public participation.

None.

None

F Jump presented the report and asked Committee for any questions.

Cllr England wanted to record his appreciation of how Officers are dealing with the current situation and said that looking at the report it’s as is Covid isn’t happening, he enquired when we would get to an accurate outlook.  F Jump confirmed that the report is for 19/20 and therefore does not include the Covid impact which will not be known until the first report for 20/21.

Cllr Freedman echoed the thanks to staff and queried if post events, were there a number of things in the report that will have changed, also if the report was being prepared now would there be any key data you would highlight.  F Jump advised that we are keeping a very close eye on the bad debts provision, it is under constant review, but realistically it’s too early to say exactly what the impacts are on this financial year.

Cllr Mahmood asked why the need for the delegation of power to Audit Committee for movements.  F Jump confirmed this was in regards to the publication of accounts and was moved to keep it in line with the published timetable.

Cllr Mahmood wanted to know if the Covid impact is minimal on last years budget.  F Jump replied that it was but the current year would be clearer.  Cllr Mahmood said that he would look forward to the first report.

Cllr Freedman noted that Universal Credit had been less adverse than had been prepared for.  F Williamson advised that in respect of Universal Credit there had been a lot ofF Jump presented the report and asked Committee for any questions.

Cllr England wanted to record his appreciation of how Officers are dealing with the current situation and said that looking at the report it’s as is Covid isn’t happening, he enquired when we would get to an accurate outlook.  F Jump confirmed that the report is for 19/20 and therefore does not include the Covid impact which will not be known until the first report for 20/21.

Cllr Freedman echoed the thanks to staff and queried if post events, were there a number of things in the report that will have changed, also if the report was being prepared now would there be any key data you would highlight.  F Jump advised that we are keeping a very close eye on the bad debts provision, it is under constant review, but realistically it’s too early to say exactly what the impacts are on this financial year.

Cllr Mahmood asked why the need for the delegation of power to Audit Committee for movements.  F Jump confirmed this was in regards to the publication of accounts and was moved to keep it in line with the published timetable.

Cllr Mahmood wanted to know if the Covid impact is minimal on last years budget.  F Jump replied that it was but the current  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

L Roberts introduced the report and asked the Committee for any questions.

Councillor Banks said that as Portfolio Holder she had been very impressed with how the services had overcome the problems, especially where some of the big events had to be cancelled and the efforts of the CSU.  Cllr Banks thanked everyone for all they had done.

Cllr Mahmood queried if the Council has a homeworking policy.  L Roberts confirmed that we do have policies as people were encouraged to work from home when we moved to the Forum, so we’ve been able to do it quite successfully, overall it’s been very positive.

Cllr Mahmood asked about the domestic violence and if it’s been an issue recently due to Covid.  L Roberts advised the report was for the final quarter of last year so it will be in the report for next year.

Cllr Mahmood wanted to know if targets could be revised, namely the abandoned call rates and 450 seconds, as the outputs were well within these targets.  L Roberts advised they could be changed but it would not be a great time to change them due to the impact of Covid, this could be reconsidered later in the year when we are back closer to normal.

Cllr Mahmood queried whether the Old Town Hall was closed.  L Roberts confirmed that it was and that staff were working virtually to support artists, processing refunds and working on what will happen in the future with social distancing, how it will impact on the income as we would be limited to approximately 30 seats rather than 100.

Cllr England mentioned that he was mystified how we have managed to downgrade a target without approval from Overview and Scrutiny.  L Roberts confirmed she had sent round an email detailing the change.  Cllr England requested that the target was reinstated to 210 seconds and wanted it reviewed at Committee.  Cllr Banks advised she would discuss with L Roberts and bring back to the next meeting.

Action: L Roberts/Cllr Banks

Cllr Barry enquired where the 3G pitches will be placed at Grovehill playing field.  L Roberts confirmed they would not be in the playing field, there is a concrete area at the side of the Adventure Playground.

Cllr England asked if there is any opportunities to link in to the climate emergency at Adventure Playgrounds.  L Roberts confirmed this hadn’t been specifically looked into but she will investigate the options including the costs.  Cllr England raised concerns that out of the 10years we have already had 10% of the time and unless we take decisions that will impact our carbon footprint, not worrying about the financial, we will miss the bus.

Cllr Banks highlighted that the Adventure Playground’s wooden equipment had been removed and that Grovehill had an active environmental group who go out little picking etc.

The Chairman asked what kind of feedback staff are getting from customers when they are speaking to them and how do you keep them interested, offering  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

F Williamson introduced the report and asked if Committee had any questions.

Cllr Mahmood asked who Sopra Steria were.  F Williamson confirmed they were a local company who went through the procurement processes and had been appointed under New Normal to streamline processes.  They are working on a proof of concept process.

Cllr Mahmood enquired if the 32 day key to key period was working days.  F Williamson confirmed it was calendar days.

Cllr Mahmood said that he had noticed that the service objectives had started in 2018 and finished in 2019 and asked if there would be any new ones.  F Williamson advised that there is a new service plan for this year, we’ve had to revisit some of the objectives due to Covid, but most of them will be new.

Cllr Mahmood commented that in light of social distancing what are we doing to ensure work can be carried out in homes.  F Williamson explained that we have had two remobilisation meetings to ensure that we work safely, both on external sites and in homes.  We carry out risk assessments prior to starting work onsite and the operatives have to sign to confirm they comply with Covid restrictions.  Work in sheltered schemes has been suspended but we have had to increase cleaning in schemes, so there will be an impact on key to key times.

Cllr Pringle asked how the increase in domestic abuse due to lockdown had been identified.  N Beresford stated there has been an increase and this has been identified via the victims and perpetrators, engagement with the Police and where we are making placements into temporary accommodation.  We have also seen an increase of reports from male victims but we’ve needed to seek support from elsewhere as there are no facilities for men in Dacorum.  Due to Covid there has been a reduced capacity within refuges across the county, but there will be a new dedicated refuge with six units in Dacorum and completion of sale is next week.

N Beresford outlined the Private Sector Housing Strategy and offered Committee the opportunity to ask questions.

Cllr Hollinghurst was very pleased with how the Council is working on this and wanted to say very well done and that he supports this project.

Cllr Mahmood asked if landlords paid a fee for HMO’s and how this could be re-invested.  Cllr Mahmood asked if we could look at selective licensing.  N Beresford said that they do have to pay for licences, there is a part 1 and part 2 fee and also an ongoing management fee, plus an enforcement fee (if landlord doesn’t freely apply for licence).  All fees are re-invested into private sector housing as fees are ring-fenced.  We could look at selective licensing in the future but we are not currently able to commit to this as we have a very small team who do not have the capacity and have to focus on the mandatory licencing and bringing empty homes back into use.

Cllr Mahmood commented that it was a very good report.

The Chairman echoed that it was a very comprehensive report that is easy to follow and clearly sets out our intentions.

N Beresford presented the Homelessness Strategy and asked Committee for questions.

Cllr Durrant queried if there is a hotel in Dacorum that is being used for asylum seekers.  N Beresford advised that is correct, we have been working with the Home Office to ensure that they are effectively managed and there have been no issues reported.  The Home Office are paying.

Cllr England wanted to say congratulations on running an excellent service and mentioned the two grant funding amounts of £7.5K which we have received and whether the actual amount of £49k that has been spent will be reimbursed.  N Beresford confirmed that it wouldn’t automatically be reimbursed.  The first £7.5k funding was for the rough sleeper snapshot and street outreach workers, which reduced the number from 23 to below 10 and was based on six rough sleepers at that time.  Then there was a further ability to claim additional funds and we have claimed the maximum funds available.  The Council has had additional funding for its Covid response, but this will offset against the overall bottom line and pressures on overall budgets. Additionally funding has been allocated to County (26million) and we can attempt to claim costs from Herts County Council, we have had a successful claim for DENS for £40k due to their additional support provided to us during this time.

Cllr England said about the domestic abuse figures are up due to Covid.  N Beresford said yes, the figures provided on Friday show a significant increase and they are reflective of what we are seeing in the service, not only in Dacorum but other parts of the County.

Cllr England mentioned that on page 145 the table refers to 1,568 cases and two thirds of these have been closed but give no reason, he suggested that the data could be changed to successful outcomes, inconclusive outcomes and not successful outcomes.  N Beresford agreed that the data can raise more questions, but that it’s H-CLIC government data that is a proforma put directly into our system so we do not have the ability to change it, it has been an issue for some time, some districts are manually counting, we are having a systems update in October and it is hoped that will enable us to manipulate the drop downs to provide more accurate data reporting.

Cllr Bassadone said she was very sad to hear that we were using bed and breakfast and asked how many non-DBC people do we have staying in accommodation plus how much is the additional cost to DBC.  N Beresford confirmed it was disappointing but we have to be aware of the wider picture, we are very lucky, our colleagues in Stevenage have 100 in bed and breakfast, Watford and Broxbourne are very similar.  Whilst we do have some in bed and breakfast we are in a much more favourable position, with 5 households in bed and breakfast currently (no families or young children).  All our clients in temporary accommodation are all known  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

M Gaynor introduced the Climate Change report and asked Committee if there were any questions.

Cllr England thanked Officers for the report and stated that APSE were credible so it makes sense to work with them.  He asked how we can encourage community buy in and that perhaps Scope three isn’t wide enough.  M Gaynor said that Scope 3 was largely from assets  out of our direct control and included our 10,000+ Council homes and other leased properties and the target was now aligned to the national target of 2050 though we will make efforts to achieve this earlier.  The 2050 aim for the Borough as a whole t will take a combination of ways to reach our goals but it is something that local people can get involved in.  There will also need to be some stimulation from Government.  We will be dramatically improving the website to the degree which will facilitate engagement from interested groups and everyday people.

Cllr England commented that the changes to the website are good, but in the last year he was unable to recall any messages preparing people for this.  Cllr England asked what else is planned that will change perceptions and habits.  M Gaynor replied that the report is headline terms only and there had been consistent coverage of the Council’s work on sustainability.  We’ve also recently appointed a Climate Change Officer, who will be looking at the website and explore direct communication, involvement and improvement as a priority.

Cllr England urged Officers and Portfolio Holders that our response needs to be far more than just the web, the Council needs to have authoritative leadership messages.  M Gaynor advised that we could do this now that we have got a baseline, a trusted source of information which we aim to use.

Cllr Bassadone mentioned heating sources and asked if we were still putting in boilers.  M Gaynor advised the government has already stipulated that you can’t put gas services into new properties from 2025.  There is roughly 9,000 council properties that are gas heated and there isn’t another credible source that can be used at the moment.  Air/ground source heat pump companies only have capacity for 27,000 homes per year, electric systems are 30% dearer to install and are not as efficient, we will be looking at alternatives as they become available, but it’s unlikely we’ll be able to shift away from gas for some time.  F Williamson added that mixed/hydrogen boilers are in production which are capable of being replaced with full hydrogen, we can only work with what’s available on the market.  Boiler replacements all meet A or A+ ratings so we are improving our position. There is also a shift towards district heating systems but primarily on new sites as issues with ownership and infrastructure make retrofitting more difficult. 

Cllr Freedman asked if the Climate Change Officer will be introduced to Members.  M Gaynor confirmed that would be okay, many Members will know her as it’s  Melanie Parr and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

Cllr England requested that Climate Change was a standing item on the agenda, this request was supported by a number of Councillors.  There was some discussion around whether it was within this committee’s remit and whether the impact of Climate Change on services should be included in every report that comes to Committee, the Chairman confirmed Members could email her, she would discuss with Officers before a decision was made and come back with a sensible timetable.

Action: the Chairman