Agenda, decisions and minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 25 July 2017.

The minutes of the meeting held on 25^th July 2017 were agreed by the members present and signed by the Chairman.

The minutes of the meeting held on 25^th July 2017 were agreed by the members present and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies of absence were received from Councillor Elliot

Apologies of absence were received from Councillor Elliot

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]

None received

None received

An opportunity for members of the public to make statements and ask questions in accordance with the rules as to Public Participation.

Mr Harbridge gave a statement on behalf of Berkhamsted Residents Action Group in relation to the deferred Item 11.

Councillor Williams made a statement regarding Item 11:

This item will be deferred until the next meeting of cabinet at the earliest.

Last week (on Thursday 14 September 2017), the Department for Communities and Local Government published its consultation on “Planning for the right homes in the right places”. As part of this, the Government proposes to introduce a new and standard methodology for assessing housing need and as a result it is possible the number of new homes the Council needs to plan for may change. Although we will in due course be consulting on a range of development levels and locations within Dacorum, it is important that this is broadly with compliant with emerging Government policy.

As such Officers will now review the proposed Local Plan Issues and Options consultation document and bring it back to Cabinet for consideration with any necessary changes.

The new Local Plan is of great importance to the Borough Council and we intend to progress with our plans for a full consultation with residents and stakeholders as soon as possible.

Mr Harbridge made a statement on behalf of the Berkhamsted Residents Action Group who welcomed the deferral of this item.

There were no referrals to Cabinet

None received

None received

That the Cabinet Forward Plan be noted with the following changes:

-       Brownfield Land Registry – move to October

-       Local Plan Review – move to October

-       Strategic Risk Register – add to October

-       Award of Parking contract – add to October

Decision                                                      

That the Cabinet Forward Plan be noted with the following changes:

-       Brownfield Land Registry – move to October

-       Local Plan Review – move to October

-       Strategic Risk Register – add to October

-       Award of Parking contract – add to October

1.    That the budget monitoring position for each of the above accounts be considered;

Resolved to recommend:

2.    the approval of the revised capital programme to move slippage identified at Quarter 1 into financial year 2018/19 as detailed in Appendix C of the report to Cabinet.

3.    the approval of the supplementary budgets.. Details for these supplementary budgets are set out in the body of the report to Cabinet and have a net nil impact on the General Fund Working Balance:

·      Increase the Strategic Planning & Regeneration Employees budget by £60k

·      Increase use of the Dacorum Development reserve by £60k

·      Increase the Regulatory Services legal budget by £95k

·      Increase use of the Litigation reserve by £95k

4.    the supplementary Capital budget funded by grant for the Disabled Facilities Grants budget of £66k as per paragraph 9.3 of the report to Cabinet.

Decision

1.    Consider the budget monitoring position for each of the above accounts;

Resolved to recommend:

2.    the approval of the revised capital programme to move slippage identified at Quarter 1 into financial year 2018/19 as detailed in Appendix C of the report to Cabinet.

3.    the approval of the supplementary budgets.. Details for these supplementary budgets are set out in the body of the report to Cabinet and have a net nil impact on the General Fund Working Balance:

·      Increase the Strategic Planning & Regeneration Employees budget by £60k

·      Increase use of the Dacorum Development reserve by £60k

·      Increase the Regulatory Services legal budget by £95k

·      Increase use of the Litigation reserve by £95k

4.    the supplementary Capital budget funded by grant for the Disabled Facilities Grants budget of £66k as per paragraph 9.3 of the report to Cabinet.

Reason for decision

To provide details of the projected outturn for 2017/18 as at Quarter 1 for the:

•  General Fund

•  Housing Revenue Account

•  Capital Programme

Corporate objectives

Delivering an efficient and modern council

Monitoring Officer/Deputy S.151 Officer Comments

Monitoring Officer: No further comments to add

Deputy S.151 Officer: This is a Deputy Section 151 Officer report.

Advice

D Skinner introduced the report and explained it was a continuation of the good news story from 2016/17. There has been a focus on in-year and future savings. The key item in the report is Appendix D on page 34 – this monitors the future year savings. £1 million of savings have been identified in the Medium Term Financial Strategy and 80% of these savings are on track to be achieved and there is action in place for those savings that are not on track. Additional savings of £141k have been identified by service managers for delivery during 2018/19 and will be monitored to assess their deliverability. Furthermore, there has been a good continuation in income streams from investment, property and the Alternative Financial Model.

Voting

None

Resolved to recommend:

the acceptance of the report on Treasury Management performance in 2016/17 and the Prudential Indicators for 2016/17 actuals.

Decision

Resolved to recommend:

the acceptance of the report on Treasury Management performance in 2016/17 and the Prudential Indicators for 2016/17 actuals.

Reason for decision

To report upon the performance outturn for treasury management in 2016/17.

Corporate objectives

Dacorum Delivers - Optimising investment income for General Fund and Housing Revenue budgets whilst managing investment risk is fundamental to achieving the corporate objectives.

Deputy Monitoring Officer/S.151 Officer comments

Deputy Monitoring Officer: No comments to add to this report

S.151 Officer: This is a S.151 officer report

Advice

D Skinner introduced the report and explained this was a statutory report indicating if there had been any breaches of indicators. There have not been any. The low interest rates are currently proving a challenge and have a level of sustained impact.

Voting

None

That the report was noted.

Decision

That the report was noted.

Reason for decision

To report upon the performance outturn for treasury management in 2016/17.

Corporate objectives

Dacorum Delivers - Optimising investment income for General Fund and Housing Revenue budgets whilst managing investment risk is fundamental to achieving the corporate objectives.

Deputy Monitoring Officer/S.151 Officer Comments

Deputy Monitoring Officer: No comments to add to this report.

S.151 Officer: This is a S.151 officer report.

Advice

J Deane introduced the report and explained that this report had been delayed. The quarter 1 risk management report will be presented to the Audit committee on 20^th September and then at the October Cabinet meeting.

Councillor Williams asked the members if they were content with the risks within their portfolio.

The members said they were.

Voting

None.

That the award of the contract for the demolition of the Civic Centre to the contractor named in paragraph 6 of Appendix 1 Tender Report for the contract sum as set out in paragraph 5 be approved.

Decision

That the award of the contract for the demolition of the Civic Centre to the contractor named in paragraph 6 of Appendix 1 Tender Report for the contract sum as set out in paragraph 5 of the Cabinet report be approved.

Reason for decision

For Cabinet to review and approve the award of the contract for the demolition of the former Civic Centre to enable redevelopment of the site.

Corporate objectives

Affordable Housing: to enable the development of the site including an element of affordable housing.

Regeneration: drive value from Council-owned assets.

Safe and Clean Environment: maintain a clean and safe environment.

Dacorum Delivers: to use DBC assets more effectively and  to generate financial efficiency by removing the liability for business rates.

Monitoring Officer/Deputy S.151 Officer comments

Monitoring Officer: The award of contract follows a procurement process carried out in accordance with the Council’s Commissioning and Procurement Standing Orders.  Officers must ensure than an appropriate works contracts is completed prior to commencement of demolition.

Deputy S.151 Officer: The award of the contract can be met from within existing approved budgets.

Advice

D Skinner introduced the report and explained that this report was to award the contract for the demolition of the Civic Centre building. Additional surveys have been carried out due to the large amount of asbestos present in the building. The nature and scale of the project is quite complex due to the sub stations and the bore holes around the building but specialists have been involved in the whole process. There have been a lot of bids from companies and the procurement report sets out the recommended company.

Councillor Tindall asked what would be happening to the Health Centre.

Councillor Williams said the Health Centre and the Court are on a different plot of land which has been sold for the purchaser to demolish.

Councillor Williams said he was surprised to see so many bids and asked what the time scale was for the demolition company to be on site.

D Skinner said this would need to be clarified but the company have indicated that they could be on site within four weeks.

Councillor G Sutton asked why it was necessary to keep the lights on.

D Skinner said it was to act as a deterrent.

Councillor Williams mentioned that the back of the building was damaged – are there issues with people staying in there?

D Skinner confirmed there was.

Councillor Douris queried if there would be attempts to locate the time capsule that was buried under the site.

D Skinner said there had been numerous attempts to try and locate it.

Councillor Williams suggested it might be an idea to speak to the demolition company and see if they could be gentler in turning over those areas the time capsule could be to see if it can be retrieved.

Voting

None.

This item was deferred.

This item was deferred. See minute CA/084/17 for further details.

That the virements as detailed on Form A of the report to Cabinet be approved.

Decision

That the virements as detailed on Form A of the report to Cabinet be approved.

Reason for decision

To seek Cabinet approval for the proposed virements for the purpose of:

1)    moving Business Systems Developer salary budgets into the ICT Service following a minor restructure of ICT posts

2)    moving budgets to appropriate account codes following transfer of CSU back in-house

Corporate objectives

To standardise documentation and authorisation requirements for all virements.

Monitoring Officer/Deputy S.151 Officer Comments

Monitoring Officer: No comments to add to the report.

Deputy S.151 Officer: This is a Deputy S151 Officer report.

Advice

D Skinner introduced the report and said it was a straight forward report and related to the movement of posts in ICT and the in-sourcing of the Customer Service Unit.

Voting

None.

Resolved to recommend:

• the approval of the changes to staff terms and conditions detailed in section 3 of the report to Cabinet and these changes be implemented subject to 30 days’ written notice.

Decision

Resolved to recommend:

• the approval of the changes to staff terms and conditions detailed in section 3 of the report to Cabinet and these changes be implemented subject to 30 days’ written notice.

Reason for decision

For Cabinet to approve the changes to staff terms and conditions and recommend to Council that these are implemented.    

Corporate objectives

Delivering a modern and efficient Council – To ensure our existing terms and conditions are modern and attractive for staff whilst also offering value for residents.

Monitoring Officer/Deputy S.151 Officer comments

Monitoring Officer: Appropriate consultation has been carried out on the proposed changes and responses have been considered before finalising this report. As noted in the report the trade union do not support the proposed change to redundancy rates and therefore there is a risk, which members will note, relating to possible industrial action in relation to this change.

Deputy S.151 Officer: The increased deficit contribution of £50k per annum would need to be built into the Medium Term Financial Strategy to ensure that the deficit can be recovered.

Advice

Councillor Harden introduced the report and explained the change in terms and conditions was to ensure they are modern and good value for money for both employees and residents. He ran through the changes and said this has been communicated to staff via staff briefings and written communication. The trade unions have also been consulted.

Councillor Williams said any changes to terms and conditions have an effect on staff. He asked if the consultation with the trade unions had highlighted any areas of concern.

M Rawdon said they had formally met with both Unison and Unite. They have agreed to all the changes except the reduction in redundancy pay. The current position is that the trade unions have told the council that they will be in formal dispute unless this is changed and will be balloting their members regarding this issue in the future.

Councillor Marshall understood the concerns raised regarding the reduction in redundancy pay but said the current package is out of kilter with what is offered elsewhere and it would be inappropriate to not change it. Councillor Marshall questioned the lease car changes and asked what the consequences were of a consolidated payment.

R Smyth said the car allowance would be consolidated into the salary so it will be subject to tax and pension.

Councillor Marshall asked if this would result in uneven salaries paid for similar graded posts.

J Deane said the car allowance is only paid at Band 11 and above. The car allowance scheme was non pensionable so by consolidating it into the salary, it becomes pensionable. There will be a net nil impact for the Council.

Councillor Marshall referred to page 334 and asked if officers could provide examples of how the Council is promoting staff health and well-being.

R Smyth said there are a number of initiatives. One is to produce a series of posters to encourage staff to use the stairs not the  ...  view the full minutes text for item CA/93/17

That the following grant funding payments for affordable housing developments in the Borough be approved:

1. £812,233 to Watford Community Housing Trustfor a development known as Goldcroft garage site, Hemel Hempstead. 

2. £1,417,000 to Thrive Homes for a site known as land off Two Waters Road, Hemel Hempstead. (Old Hewden Hire site)

3. £133,168 to Hastoe Housing Associationfor a development known as garage site adjacent to 28 & 30 West Dene, Gaddesden Row, Great Gaddesden.

4. Approve the purchase of the site known as Garages to the South of 71 – 81 Burns Drive, Hemel Hempstead for a sum of £495,000. Agree an additional expenditure of £100,000 for consultant fees to deliver the scheme on this site.

Decision

That the following grant funding payments for affordable housing developments in the Borough be approved:

1. £812,233 to Watford Community Housing Trustfor a development known as Goldcroft garage site, Hemel Hempstead. 

2. £1,417,000 to Thrive Homesfor a site known as land off Two Waters Road, Hemel Hempstead. (Old Hewden Hire site)

3. £133,168 to Hastoe Housing Associationfor a development known as garage site adjacent to 28 & 30 West Dene, Gaddesden Row, Great Gaddesden.

4. Approve the purchase of the site known as Garages to the South of 71 – 81 Burns Drive, Hemel Hempstead for a sum of £495,000. Agree an additional expenditure of £100,000 for consultant fees to deliver the scheme on this site.

Reason for decision

To seek approval for the payment of “one for one” grant funding to Housing Associations (Registered Providers) delivering affordable housing schemes in the Borough.To seek approval for the payment of “one for one” grant funding to Housing Associations (Registered Providers) delivering affordable housing schemes in the Borough.

In addition seek approval to purchase a site known as Garages to the South of 71 - 81 Burns Drive for the purposes of building Council homes and commit expenditure to developing the scheme to build out.

Corporate objectives

Delivering Affordable Housing.

Deputy Monitoring Officer/Deputy S.151 Officer Comments

Deputy Monitoring Officer: Under the scheme introduced in 2012 investment in new affordable housing can be made by the Council itself or through grant funding registered providers.  This decision proposes funding developments by Watford Community Housing Trust, Thrive Homes and Hastoe Housing Association.  Officers should ensure that each grant going forward is covered by the grant agreement (referred to in para 5 below) to ensure that the Council’s position is protected and enable it to meet audit requirements. In relation to the purchase of the garage site, the final terms of the purchase contract must be reviewed by the Legal Team prior to completion. 

Deputy S.151 Officer: The award of these grants can be met from the 1-4-1 receipts and will be reported on the pooling return to CLG which is audited on an annual basis by DBC’s appointed external auditors. The grant agreement protects the Council from the payment of any interest penalties charged for late delivery of schemes. The purchase of the site identified can be met from within existing approved capital budgets.

Advice

Councillor Griffiths introduced the report. She explained this deal was to use receipts for further development instead of sending the money back to central government. 75% of subsequent lettings will be available for immediate rent from people on the registered housing list, have a local connection or have served in the armed forces. If they have not been let after four weeks, then they may be offered to others.

E Brooks introduced D Barrett who was the new group manager for Housing Development. He explained that there was an allocation of three grants and a purchase of a piece of land to develop new homes  ...  view the full minutes text for item CA/94/17