Agenda, decisions and minutes

No minutes for consideration.

There were no minutes for consideration, minutes of the meeting held 30 January 2018 will be considered at March Cabinet.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Mark Gaynor – Corporate Director (Housing & Regeneration)

Cllr Sutton asked that best wishes be sent to M Gaynor following his injury.

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 and ask questions in accordance with the rules as to Public Participation.

There was no public participation.

There were no referrals to Cabinet

There were no referrals to Cabinet.

That the Cabinet Forward Plan be noted with the following items to be brought forward to March 2018;

·         Hemel Hempstead Town Centre Parking Access and Movement Strategy

·         South West Herts Memorandum of Understanding

Please note, the following items are to follow;

Appendix K     Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2018/19

Appendix L      Treasury Management Principles and Practices 2018/19

That Cabinet RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND theCouncil:

(details of the following are set out in Appendices A-M of the report to the Cabinet)

General Fund Revenue Estimate

a)    set a Dacorum Borough Council General Fund Council Tax requirement of £11.094m, and of £11.872m for the combined Borough Council and Parish Councils’ requirement for 2018/19;

b)    approve an increase of 2.99% in Council Tax for Dacorum Borough Council, taking Band D Council Tax to £195.51 for 2018/19;

c)    approve the base estimates for 2018/19, as shown in Appendix A1, and the indicative budget forecasts for 2018/19 – 2021/22, as shown in Appendix A2;

d)    approve the forecast balances of Revenue Reserves as shown in Appendix J, and approve section 10 of this report as the updated Reserves Strategy;

e)    approve increases in Fees and Charges for 2018/19 as set out in Appendices C3, D3, and E3;

f)     approve and adopt the Treasury Management Strategy for 2018/19, attached at Appendix K (to follow);

g)    approve and adopt the Treasury Management Principles and Practices for 2018/19, attached at Appendix L (to follow);

h)    note that this budget paper, when approved by Council, will form part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

Capital Programme

a)    approve the revised Capital Programme for 2017/18, and for 2018/19 to 2022/23, as detailed in Appendix I;

b)    approve the financing proposals in Appendix I subject to an annual review of the financing options by the Corporate Director (Finance & Operations), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources, during the preparation of the Statement of Accounts.

Housing Revenue Account (HRA)

c)    reduce dwelling rents by 1% in accordance with government legislation, resulting in an average rent of £101.22 per week (based on 52 weeks);

d)    approve the HRA estimate for 2018/19 as shown in Appendix F.

Terms & Conditions

a)    approve the continued application of a living wage supplement for all affected employees, in accordance with the rates of the Living Wage Foundation, for 2018/19 (to be reviewed annually thereafter).

Statement by Chief Finance Officer

a)    approve the statement by the Chief Finance Officer regarding the robustness of the budget estimates and level of reserves as set out in Appendix M.

Reason for decision

To present to Cabinet budget proposals for recommendation to Council in relation to:

·         Revenue and Capital Expenditure together with the potential use of reserves

·         The setting of the Council Tax for 2018/19

·         The Treasury Management Strategy 2018/19

·         The level of fees and charges for 2018/19

·         Advice to Councillors on the robustness of the Budget proposals and adequacy of balances and reserves as required by the Local Government Act 2003

Corporate objectives

All of the Council’s corporate objectives are reflected in the Budget proposals.

Monitoring Officer/S.151 Officer comments

Monitoring Officer:  

Under the Council’s Constitution it is the responsibility of Cabinet to draw up firm proposals for the Budget, having regard to the responses to the consultation, and to present those proposals to full Council for approval. Once full Council has approved the Budget it  ...  view the full minutes text for item CA/25/18

Decision

That Cabinet approved;

1.    The proposal to transfer responsibility for Tring Sports Centre to Tring School in line with the conditions and requirements outlined in this report to enable significant investment in Tring leisure facilities.

2.    Recommendation 1 above is conditional on the successful completion of due diligence and following formal approval from Tring School.   

3.    For DBC to mutually agree to terminate the existing Dual Use Agreement and enter into a new Funding Agreement to reflect the terms as set out in the Cabinet report. This will be undertaken in consultation with the Section 151 Officer and the Monitoring Officer. 

Reason for decision

For Cabinet to review and approve the proposal to transfer responsibility for Tring Sports Centre to Tring School in line with the conditions and requirements outlined in report

Corporate objectives

These reliefs will support the corporate objectives of:

·         Clean, Safe and Enjoyable Environment

and;

·         Modern and Efficient Council

Monitoring Officer/S.151 Officer comments

Monitoring Officer:  

No comments to add to the report

S.151 Officer

This investment is within the budget previously approved by Council for the improvements at Tring Pool.

In order to ensure the required returns from the investment, the new Funding Agreement with Tring School must adequately capture the appropriate guarantees over continued public use of the facility. The Service will need to work closely with Finance throughout the drafting of the Agreement.

Advice

RSmyth provided a verbal update further to discussions with Tring School that had taken place today (13/02/18); and was comfortable with everything outlined in report.  Tring School have some concern about timings as dependent on the Government signing off on a contract for 1^st April (EFSA will sign off).  We have developed a backup position, still involving Tring school taking over from the 1^st April, but allowing us more time to develop the contract should the EFSA take longer than the 4-6 weeks they suggest.  All parties happy we will be able to take this forward in the timescales proposed.

RSmyth added, construction work to be delivered by Kier, expecting final design and schedule of works in next couple of weeks but all progressing well.  Once received, will share this with the school to put a definitive timeline in place to start works (expected May 2018)

Cllr Marshall asked, what is the extent of the community use, will the School provide ‘X’ amount of hours over the duration of the contract?  RSmyth advised they will have to mirror the arrangements and hours that are already in place.

Cllr Marshall asked, will the contract allow the Council and the School to amend those hours in the future if needs arise?  RSmyth clarified that the school must, as a minimum, honour the existing hours. 

Cllr Williams confirmed, for clarity, that we will be ending the existing dual use agreement and starting a new dual use agreement, protections will be in place for those facilities covered by the agreement.

Cllr Harden asked, under Item 3.3 in the report around the potential  ...  view the full minutes text for item CA/26/18

Decision

Cabinet approved the Meeting Timetable for 2018/19, on condition of an additional generic stand-by scrutiny date to be programmed in April 2019.

NB – the date has been proposed as Tuesday 2^nd April 2019.

Reason for decision

To approve the Meeting Timetable for 2018/19 as set out in Annex A to this report.

Corporate objectives

The various meetings of the Council, Cabinet and Committees support the achievement of the Council’s Corporate Objectives.

Monitoring Officer/S.151 Officer comments

Monitoring Officer:

No comments to add to the report.

Deputy S.151 Officer:

There are no direct financial implications arising from the content of this report.

Advice

Cllr Sutton thanked officers for re-working the timetable to accommodate the 3 weekly DMC cycle.

Cllr Marshall noted there is no scrutiny committee’s during the months of April and May 2019, whilst appreciating there will be an Election, noted it would be beneficial to have at least 1 date in on stand-by should it be needed, or a call-in date.

Cllr Griffiths noted that this appears to happen annually, where no scrutiny meetings take place until after Annual Council and noted it can add pressure to the agendas of subsequent meetings.

Cllr Williams confirmed that should an emergency meeting be required, there is adequate time in the timetable to accommodate. Cllr Marshall requested a generic OSC be put in the diary and cancelled if not needed, this was agreed.

Voting

None.