Agenda, decisions and minutes

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting of the council.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 January 2022 were agreed by the members present and then signed by the Mayor.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 January 2022 were agreed by the members present and then signed by the Mayor.

To receive any declarations of interest.

Councillor England advised he was a member of Herts Valley Hospital which was mentioned in one of his written questions.

Councillor England advised he was a member of Herts Valley Hospital which was mentioned in one of his written questions.

To consider questions (if any) by members of the public of which the appropriate notice has been given to the Assistant Director (Corporate and Contracted Services).

There was no public participation.

To receive announcements and business brought forward by the Mayor, Leader, and Members of the Cabinet or the Chief Executive.

4.1       By the Mayor

4.2       By the Chief Executive

4.3       By the Group Leaders:  Any apologies for absence

4.4       Council Leader and Members of the Cabinet

Councillor Williams                       Leader of the Council

Councillor Anderson                     Planning and Infrastructure

Councillor Elliot                             Finance and Resources

Councillor Griffiths                        Housing

Councillor Williams                       Corporate and Contracted Services

Councillor Barrett                          Environmental Services

Councillor Banks                          Community and Regulatory Services

4.1       By the Mayor:

The Mayor welcomed new Councillor Anne Foster and Councillor Simy Dhyani.

4.2       By the Chief Executive:

The Chief Executive confirmed the results of the by elections on

Thursday 3^rd February were as follows:

Berkhamsted West Ward: Anne Foster, Liberal Democrats

Berkhamsted Town Council West Ward: Anne Foster, Liberal Democrats

Boxmoor Ward: Simy Dhyani, Liberal Democrats

4.3       By the Group Leaders:

Councillor Williams gave apologies on behalf of Councillors Bassadone and Chapman.

Councillor Tindall gave apologies on behalf of Councillors Barry-Mears, McDowell, Pringle and Townsend.

4.4       Council Leader and Members of the Cabinet:

Full details are in the minutes under Announcements of the Leader and Cabinet.

4.1       By the Mayor:

The Mayor welcomed new Councillor Anne Foster and Councillor Simy Dhyani.

4.2       By the Chief Executive:

The Chief Executive confirmed the results of the by elections on

Thursday 3^rd February were as follows:

Berkhamsted West Ward: Anne Foster, Liberal Democrats

Berkhamsted Town Council West Ward: Anne Foster, Liberal Democrats

Boxmoor Ward: Simy Dhyani, Liberal Democrats

4.3       By the Group Leaders:

Councillor Williams gave apologies on behalf of Councillors Bassadone and Chapman.

Councillor Tindall gave apologies on behalf of Councillors Barry-Mears, McDowell, Pringle and Townsend.

4.4       Council Leader and Members of the Cabinet:

Councillor Williams, Leader of the Council

The Leader had a couple of announcements:

Yesterday I circulated the response from the Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable on the letter on violence against women and girls. I felt it was a comprehensive response and I hope members had had the chance to read it.

WH Smith in Hemel Hempstead town centre is closing. This houses the Post Office which makes the closure more disappointing. Contact is being made with the Chairman of the Post Office to seek provision of another facility in the town centre of Hemel Hempstead. The current facility closes on 31^st May 2022.

Happy to take questions.

Questions

Councillor Tindall asked, in light of the Prime Ministers recent statement regarding living with Covid, what are we doing to protect our staff and visitors at the Forum.

The Leader responded that all government guidance was being followed and the advice of the Director of Public Health in Hertfordshire had been exemplary in his guidance which has often changed. We must continue to be cautious and responsible. The safety of staff, visitors and members continues to be paramount.

Councillor Symington queried why the DBC Code of Conduct differed from the LGA model. The Leader advised that without seeing both documents side by side he couldn’t advise of the variants, however there is no requirement to copy the code exactly. The Standards Committee agreed our interpretation of Declarations of Interest and it works.

Councillor Symington raised concern that we weren’t adopting best practice. The Leader said it was a very detailed question and couldn’t tell the differences without seeing the pages Councillor Symington was referring to. He didn’t feel the need to review the document every year unless there were legislative changes we needed to adopt. He felt our model was as good and sufficient for DBC.

Mayor Riddick confirmed that practices had taken place for many years were still being followed and there was no need to review these now just to match the model code of conduct.

Councillor Anderson, Portfolio Holder for Planning & Infrastructure

Councillor Anderson presented a report on Planning and Infrastructure:

The member briefing on the technical reports to the Local Plan is happening shortly. This will include a general update on the Local Plan.

There has been an increase in developers approaching ward members. Can I ask that members don’t be rude but equally don’t be too  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The following Motion was proposed by Councillor Timmis and seconded by Councillor Tindall:

I move that Dacorum Borough Council strongly opposes Luton Airport’s further planned expansion, from 18 million passengers per annum to 32 million passengers per annum by 2040, with the resulting negative impacts of increased noise, emissions and surface transport. This disproportionately impacts the Watling Ward villages in Dacorum, and more widely our Borough and much of Hertfordshire.  Given National Climate Change goals, air travel awareness, and noise and environmental pollution levels, it cannot be justified. This cannot go unchallenged and so Dacorum Borough Council will therefore commit to oppose the expansion of the airport at every opportunity.

A recorded vote was held:

For: 37 (Adeleke, Allen, Anderson, Banks, Barrett, Beauchamp, Bhinder, Birnie, Claughton, Dhyani, Douris, Elliot, England, Freedman, Griffiths, Guest, Harden, Hearn, Hobson, Hollinghurst, Johnson, Link, Sobaan Mahmood, Suqlain Mahmood, Peter, Ransley, Riddick (Mayor), Rogers, Silwal, Stevens, Sutton, Taylor, Timmis, Tindall,  Williams, Wilkie and Wyatt Lowe)  

Against: 1 (Arslan)

Abstain: 1 (Foster)

Therefore the Motion was carried.  

The following Motion was proposed by Councillor Timmis and seconded by Councillor Tindall:

I move that Dacorum Borough Council strongly opposes Luton Airport’s further planned expansion, from 18 million passengers per annum to 32 million passengers per annum by 2040, with the resulting negative impacts of increased noise, emissions and surface transport. This disproportionately impacts the Watling Ward villages in Dacorum, and more widely our Borough and much of Hertfordshire.  Given National Climate Change goals, air travel awareness, and noise and environmental pollution levels, it cannot be justified. This cannot go unchallenged and so Dacorum Borough Council will therefore commit to oppose the expansion of the airport at every opportunity.

A recorded vote was held:

For: 37 (Adeleke, Allen, Anderson, Banks, Barrett, Beauchamp, Bhinder, Birnie, Claughton, Dhyani, Douris, Elliot, England, Freedman, Griffiths, Guest, Harden, Hearn, Hobson, Hollinghurst, Johnson, Link, Sobaan Mahmood, Suqlain Mahmood, Peter, Ransley, Riddick (Mayor), Rogers, Silwal, Stevens, Sutton, Taylor, Timmis, Tindall,  Williams, Wilkie and Wyatt Lowe)  

Against: 1 (Arslan)

Abstain: 1 (Foster)

Therefore the Motion was carried.  

To consider questions (if any) by members of the Council of which the appropriate notice has been given to the Assistant Director (Corporate and Contracted Services).

Full details can be found in the minutes under Questions.

Question for Councillor Andrew Williams from Councillor Sally Symington:

At the last meeting of the Full Council, you agreed to write follow up letters to the Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable of Hertfordshire Police as no response had been received to the following questions agreed by the Council on 17 November 2021 to the following:

1. To ask what steps they are taking to review safeguarding and vetting procedures and misconduct processes in Hertfordshire Police in light of what has been learnt during the sentencing of a serving metropolitan police officer on 30 September 2021.

2. To ask whether they will review the wider workforce culture in relation to violence against women and girls.

3. Urging Hertfordshire Police formally to record Misogyny as a hate crime.

The dual issues of Violence Against Women and Girls manifested in the press by the high profile cases relating amongst other things to the late convicted sex offender, Jeffery Epstein, and his cohort; and the recent conviction of a Hertfordshire police officer for corruption and making indecent images of children and charges against another serving officer for raping a child under 13 highlight the ongoing importance of this issue.

Q1. Could the Leader confirm the date the follow up letter was sent and the response received from the Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable?

Q2. Does the Leader think it is appropriate that it took two letters for the Chief Constable and the Police and Crime Commissioner to respond to such an important issue?

Responses from Councillor Williams:

Response to Q1. The original letter was sent by post, the follow up was sent by email on 10^th February and the response was sent on 16^th February.

Response to Q2. I agree it was a long time to receive a response as the initial letter was sent in December and it would have been better to receive a response sooner.

Question for CouncillorAndrew Williams from CouncillorAdrian England:

At a public meeting of Health in Dacorum on 8th December 2021, an apparent commitment was made verbally by West Herts Hospital Trust, to conduct a comparative costing of a Greenfield hospital site. This exchange was recorded on the MS Teams recording but has not appeared in the subsequent Minutes. There appears to be some question of interpretation as to whether or not this offer was hypothetical or actual.

At a subsequent meeting of several Dacorum-based hospital campaign groups with the Health and Social Care Secretary of State, together with and arranged by Hemel Hempstead’s MP, campaigners had sought to rely on this witnessed commitment and indeed to refer to it in the meeting with the SoS. This was not possible, due to it being missing from the Minutes and the MS Teams recording not being readily-available.

In view of the critical importance to Dacorum residents of this issue, does the Leader of the Council agree that it is regrettable that this MS Teams recording of a public  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider any business referred from the previous meeting.

None.

Councillor Symington asked for the action points from the previous meeting to be circulated and added to future agendas. The Mayor confirmed that request was recorded and would be actioned.

Resolved:

That the following be approved:

15 February 2022

Item 8.1          CA/07/22        SENIOR OFFICER PAY POLICY

Decision

(1)  That Cabinet recommends to Council that it adopts the Pay Policy for 2022/23 as set out in appendix 1 to the cabinet report.

(2)   That Cabinet recommends to Council that authority be delegated to the Chief Executive in conjunction with the Council’s Monitoring Officer to approve any amendments to the Pay Policy throughout the financial year 2022/2023, which may be required as a result of legislative changes.

Item 8.2          CA/10/22        CUSTOMER SERVICE STRATEGY

Decision

(1)     Approves the outline plan for phase two implementation and recommends to Council the drawdown from reserves of £150,000 to complete the phase 2 work.

(2)     Approves the principle of a new Head of Transformation post to lead the on-going transformational change programme, including the Customer Strategy, and recommends to Council the drawdown from reserves of £180,000 to fund the post.

Item 8.3          CA/11/22        TREASURY MANAGEMENT- MID YEAR REVIEW

Decision

That Council accepts this report on mid-year treasury management performance and prudential indicators for 2021/22

Item 8.4          CA/12/22        BUDGET REPORT

Councillor Tindall proposed an amendment to the budget and this was seconded by Councillor England. The amendment was as follows:

To use the Negative RSG Contribution of £900,000 as follows –

1. To set up a specific reserve to be available to kick-start initiatives for carbon reduction in Council domestic properties - £450,000
2. To set up a specific reserve for the purchase of electric vehicles in and for the Council and facilitate development of propulsion - £450.000

A recorded vote was held on the alternate budget:

For: 15 (Allen, Claughton, Dhyani, England, Foster, Freedman, Hobson, Hollinghurst, Link, Ransley, Stevens, Symington, Taylor, Tindall and Wilkie)

Against: 17 (Anderson, Banks, Barrett, Beauchamp, Birnie, Douris, Elliot, Griffiths, Guest, Harden, Hearn, Johnson, Riddick (Mayor), Rogers, Timmis, Williams and Wyatt-Lowe)

Abstain: 0

Absent for vote:4 (Adeleke, Arslan, Peter and Silwal)

Therefore the amendment failed.

A recorded vote was then held on the preliminary budget:

For: 20 (Anderson, Arslan, Banks, Barrett, Beauchamp, Birnie, Douris, Elliot, Griffiths, Guest, Harden, Hearn, Johnson, Peter, Riddick (Mayor), Rogers, Silwal, Timmis, Williams and Wyatt-Lowe).      

Against: 1 (Hollinghurst)

Abstain: 14 (Allen, Claughton, Dhyani, England, Foster, Freedman, Hobson, Link, Ransley, Stevens, Symington, Taylor, Tindall and Wilkie)

Absent for vote: 1 (Adeleke)

Therefore it was resolved that the following be approved;

Decision

General Fund Revenue Estimate

a) set a Dacorum Borough Council General Fund Council Tax requirement of £12.836m, and a provisional amount of £13.851m for the combined Borough Council and Parish Councils’ requirement for 2022/23;

b) approve a Band D Council Tax increase of £5 (2.4%) for Dacorum Borough Council;

c) approve the base estimates for 2022/23, as shown in Appendix A1, and the indicative budget forecasts for 2022/23 – 2025/26, as shown in Appendix A2;

d) approve the forecast balances of Revenue Reserves as shown in Appendix J, and approve section 11 of this report as the updated Reserves Strategy;

e) approve increases in Fees and Charges for  ...  view the full decision text for item 8.

Resolved:

That the following be approved:

15 February 2022

Item 8.1          CA/07/22        SENIOR OFFICER PAY POLICY

Decision

(1)  That Cabinet recommends to Council that it adopts the Pay Policy for 2022/23 as set out in appendix 1 to the cabinet report.

(2)   That Cabinet recommends to Council that authority be delegated to the Chief Executive in conjunction with the Council’s Monitoring Officer to approve any amendments to the Pay Policy throughout the financial year 2022/2023, which may be required as a result of legislative changes.

Item 8.2          CA/10/22        CUSTOMER SERVICE STRATEGY

Decision

(1)     Approves the outline plan for phase two implementation and recommends to Council the drawdown from reserves of £150,000 to complete the phase 2 work.

(2)     Approves the principle of a new Head of Transformation post to lead the on-going transformational change programme, including the Customer Strategy, and recommends to Council the drawdown from reserves of £180,000 to fund the post.

Item 8.3          CA/11/22        TREASURY MANAGEMENT- MID YEAR REVIEW

Decision

That Council accepts this report on mid-year treasury management performance and prudential indicators for 2021/22

Item 8.4          CA/12/22        BUDGET REPORT

Councillor Tindall proposed an amendment to the budget and this was seconded by Councillor England. The amendment was as follows:

To use the Negative RSG Contribution of £900,000 as follows –

1. To set up a specific reserve to be available to kick-start initiatives for carbon reduction in Council domestic properties - £450,000
2. To set up a specific reserve for the purchase of electric vehicles in and for the Council and facilitate development of propulsion - £450.000

A recorded vote was held on the alternate budget:

For: 15 (Allen, Claughton, Dhyani, England, Foster, Freedman, Hobson, Hollinghurst, Link, Ransley, Stevens, Symington, Taylor, Tindall and Wilkie)

Against: 17 (Anderson, Banks, Barrett, Beauchamp, Birnie, Douris, Elliot, Griffiths, Guest, Harden, Hearn, Johnson, Riddick (Mayor), Rogers, Timmis, Williams and Wyatt-Lowe)

Abstain: 0

Absent for vote:4 (Adeleke, Arslan, Peter and Silwal)

Therefore the amendment failed.

A recorded vote was then held on the preliminary budget:

For: 20 (Anderson, Arslan, Banks, Barrett, Beauchamp, Birnie, Douris, Elliot, Griffiths, Guest, Harden, Hearn, Johnson, Peter, Riddick (Mayor), Rogers, Silwal, Timmis, Williams and Wyatt-Lowe).      

Against: 1 (Hollinghurst)

Abstain: 14 (Allen, Claughton, Dhyani, England, Foster, Freedman, Hobson, Link, Ransley, Stevens, Symington, Taylor, Tindall and Wilkie)

Absent for vote: 1 (Adeleke)

Therefore it was resolved that the following be approved;

Decision

General Fund Revenue Estimate

a) set a Dacorum Borough Council General Fund Council Tax requirement of £12.836m, and a provisional amount of £13.851m for the combined Borough Council and Parish Councils’ requirement for 2022/23;

b) approve a Band D Council Tax increase of £5 (2.4%) for Dacorum Borough Council;

c) approve the base estimates for 2022/23, as shown in Appendix A1, and the indicative budget forecasts for 2022/23 – 2025/26, as shown in Appendix A2;

d) approve the forecast balances of Revenue Reserves as shown in Appendix J, and approve section 11 of this report as the updated Reserves Strategy;

e) approve increases in Fees and Charges for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Report to follow.

A recorded vote was held:

For: 32 (Adeleke, Allen, Anderson, Banks, Barrett, Beauchamp, Birnie, Claughton, Dhyani, Douris, Elliot, England, Foster, Freedman, Griffiths, Guest, Harden, Hearn, Hobson, Johnson, Link, Peter, Riddick (Mayor), Rogers, Silwal, Stevens, Symington, Taylor, Timmis, Tindall, Wilkie, Williams and Wyatt-Lowe)

Against: 0

Abstain: 1 (Hollinghurst)

Therefore the Council Tax Declaration for 2022/23 was agreed.

As the billing authority for the borough of Dacorum, the Council is required to set the Council Tax annually. The purpose of this report is to set the Council Tax for 2022/23 in accordance with statutory requirements.

A recorded vote was held:

For: 32 (Adeleke, Allen, Anderson, Banks, Barrett, Beauchamp, Birnie, Claughton, Dhyani, Douris, Elliot, England, Foster, Freedman, Griffiths, Guest, Harden, Hearn, Hobson, Johnson, Link, Peter, Riddick (Mayor), Rogers, Silwal, Stevens, Symington, Taylor, Timmis, Tindall, Wilkie, Williams and Wyatt-Lowe)

Against: 0

Abstain: 1 (Hollinghurst)

Therefore the Council Tax Declaration for 2022/23 was agreed.

None.

There were no overview and scrutiny referrals. 

There were no overview and scrutiny referrals. 

The Council agreed that Dacorum opt into the national auditor arrangement scheme, overseen by the Public Sector Audit Appointments (PSAA), for procurement of

External Audit appointments for financial years 2023/24 to 2027/28.

The Council agreed that Dacorum opt into the national auditor arrangement scheme, overseen by the Public Sector Audit Appointments (PSAA), for procurement of

External Audit appointments for financial years 2023/24 to 2027/28.

To consider any proposals for changes to committee membership.

The following changes to committee membership were agreed:

Ø  Remove Councillor Allen from the Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Ø  Add Councillor Dhyani to the Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Ø  Remove Councillor McDowell from the Strategic Planning and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Ø  Add Councillor Foster to the Strategic Planning and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The following changes to committee membership were agreed:

Ø  Remove Councillor Allen from the Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Ø  Add Councillor Dhyani to the Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Ø  Remove Councillor McDowell from the Strategic Planning and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Ø  Add Councillor Foster to the Strategic Planning and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

To consider any proposals for changes to committee dates.

There were no changes to committee dates.

There were no changes to committee dates.

The Council noted the following urgent Portfolio Holder Decision:

PH/001/22 - Additional Resilience Grant (ARG) Policy update

The Council noted the following urgent Portfolio Holder Decision:

PH/001/22 - Additional Resilience Grant (ARG) Policy update