Agenda, decisions and minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on  27^th July 2021.

Minutes of the meeting held on 21 July 2021 were agreed by Members present and signed by the Chair.

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no 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.

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 was no public participation. 

There were no referrals to Cabinet

There were no referrals to Cabinet.

There were no referrals to Cabinet.

The forward plan was noted.

The forward plan was noted.

1.    RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND: to Council that the Statement of Common Ground (SoCG) underpinning the Joint Strategic Plan (JSP) as set out in Appendix 1 is approved.

2.    RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND: to Council that the Statement of Community Involvement for the Joint Strategic Plan (as set out in Appendix 2) is approved for consultation.

Cllr Anderson introduced the report and invited questions.

Cllr Elliot thanked JDoe for report and asked, when advising on duty to cooperate, how would you see that panning out?  Will that be more prescriptive, how will you prove there has been cooperation?

JDoe responded that it is not enough to have just met, it will be expected that common interest between parties have been set out and that they address areas that cannot be resolved.  Looking ahead it is speculation, awaiting announcement from the Secretary of State. 

Cllr Anderson added to say that the Planning White Paper proposed scrapping the duty to cooperate all together but indications are that any Local Authority that tries to get their local plan adopted, that has not gone through that duty to cooperate exercise will have little chance of getting their plan approved.

Recommendations Agreed.

1.    RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND: to Council that the Statement of Common Ground (SoCG) underpinning the Joint Strategic Plan (JSP) as set out in Appendix 1 is approved.

2.    RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND: to Council that the Statement of Community Involvement for the Joint Strategic Plan (as set out in Appendix 2) is approved for consultation.

1.     RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND: that Council approve the revised HRA capital programme to move £4.63m slippage identified at Quarter 1 into financial year 2022/23 as detailed in Appendix C.

2.     RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND: That Council approve a supplementary revenue budget of £590k in the Leisure budget, funded from the Economic Recovery Reserve, for financial support to the Council’s leisure provider Everyone Active.

Cllr Elliot introduced the budget monitoring report

Cllr Tindall asked; when will Everyone Active be able to resolve their contractual terms as agreed before COVID.

MBrookes responded to advise that in July the contract returned to a surplus for first time since start of COVID.  In terms of longer term projection, discussions are continuing with Everyone Active to put that together.  There is a meeting taking place next week and MBrookes will update Members once information is available.

Cllr Birnie asked; have we finished the acquisition of fleet for Clean, Safe & Green, particularly the specialist waste collection vehicles?

JDeane responded that he would check the current position is with regard acquisition of vehicles and will respond by email.

Cllr Griffiths asked that all members of Cabinet receive that response.

Recommendations Agreed.

1.    RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND: that Council approve the revised HRA capital programme to move £4.63m slippage identified at Quarter 1 into financial year 2022/23 as detailed in Appendix C.

2.    RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND: That Council approve a supplementary revenue budget of £590k in the Leisure budget, funded from the Economic Recovery Reserve, for financial support to the Council’s leisure provider Everyone Active.

1.     RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND: to Council the approval of the revised Medium Term Financial Strategy for the period 2021/22 – 2025/26, including the recommendations at Section 2 of the Strategy.

Cllr Birnie commented and noted the Council will need to expand its commercial activities to enhance income streams, asking; will there be a specific officer in charge of that or is it a blanket request for all departments?

Cllr Elliott responded that currently working on team restructure, this will very much be about strategic planning and being commercially astute to deliver extra income streams that are required over next few years.  The Portfolio Holder advised the Council will be bringing in consultants to advise.

Cllr Birnie asked; are we recruiting specifically for that, or relying on existing officers.

Cllr Elliot advised that would be covered in the part 2 discussions.

Cllr Birnie referred to assumptions underlying MTFS, page 12, note 9 - budgeting for a 2% increase in supplies and services and asked; is that realistic given we are looking at inflation.

JDeane advised that we are seeing income fluctuation now, will be updating those assumptions as we move through.

Cllr Birnie asked; does that mean we might have to revisit this pretty quickly if inflation does accelerate?

JDeane confirmed that is correct, it will be looked at as part of next year’s budget setting, adding that this is an exceptional year and we expect to see more movement than we would ordinarily see.

Recommendations Agreed.

1.    RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND: to Council the approval of the revised Medium Term Financial Strategy for the period 2021/22 – 2025/26, including the recommendations at Section 2 of the Strategy.

Cabinet Agreed:

1.     To approve the acquisition of Land at Bulborne Road, Tring from the Housing Revenue account.

2.     To confirm that the areas of land at Marchmont Farm, Hemel Hempstead and part of Paradise Depot Hemel Hempstead shown edged red at Appendix B are no longer required for the development and commercial purposes for which they are currently held.

3.     To approve the appropriation of land edged red on the plans at pages 3 and 5 Appendix B pursuant to section 122 of the Local Government Act 1972 for the planning purposes of facilitating redevelopment for residential use pursuant to section 226 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

4.     To authorise the Assistant Director of Finance to appropriate the sites known as Land at Marchmont Farm, Hemel Hempstead and Paradise Depot, Hemel Hempstead from planning purposes to housing purposes and to the Housing Revenue account following completion of the new build homes.

Cllr Griffiths introduced the report and noted that lots of consultation had been carried out and this was an excellent site for the delivery of social housing in Tring.

Cllr Griffiths then invited questions.

There were no questions.

Recommendations Agreed.

Cabinet Agreed:

1.    To approve the acquisition of Land at Bulborne Road, Tring from the Housing Revenue account.

2.    To confirm that the areas of land at Marchmont Farm, Hemel Hempstead and part of Paradise Depot Hemel Hempstead shown edged red at Appendix B are no longer required for the development and commercial purposes for which they are currently held.

3.    To approve the appropriation of land edged red on the plans at pages 3 and 5 Appendix B pursuant to section 122 of the Local Government Act 1972 for the planning purposes of facilitating redevelopment for residential use pursuant to section 226 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

4.    To authorise the Assistant Director of Finance to appropriate the sites known as Land at Marchmont Farm, Hemel Hempstead and Paradise Depot, Hemel Hempstead from planning purposes to housing purposes and to the Housing Revenue account following completion of the new build homes.

Cabinet Agreed:

1.     That the contract to construct 58 social rented units at Paradise Fields (Mountbatten View), Hemel Hempstead be awarded to Bugler Developments Ltd.

2.     That the contracts to construct 30 social rented units at Randall’s Ride, Hemel Hempstead be awarded to Bugler Developments Ltd.

3.     That delegated authority be approved to the Council’s Assistant Director (Corporate and Contracted Services) to execute and complete all legal agreements ancillary to the JCT Design & Build Contract 2016 and/or reasonably required to complete the Project, including (but not limited to):

a.     all professional appointments;

b.     collateral warranties; and

c.      Agreements under

S.38, & S.278, of the Highways Act 1980;

S.247, Part III of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990;

S.104 of the Water Industry Act 1991, and

S.50 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991.

Cllr Griffiths introduced the report.  There were no questions.

Recommendations Agreed.

Cabinet Agreed:

1.    That the contract to construct 58 social rented units at Paradise Fields (Mountbatten View), Hemel Hempstead be awarded to Bugler Developments Ltd.

2.    That the contracts to construct 30 social rented units at Randall’s Ride, Hemel Hempstead be awarded to Bugler Developments Ltd.

3.    That delegated authority be approved to the Council’s Assistant Director (Corporate and Contracted Services) to execute and complete all legal agreements ancillary to the JCT Design & Build Contract 2016 and/or reasonably required to complete the Project, including (but not limited to):

a.    all professional appointments;

b.    collateral warranties; and

c.     Agreements under

S.38, & S.278, of the Highways Act 1980;

S.247, Part III of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990;

S.104 of the Water Industry Act 1991, and

S.50 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991.

To consider passing a resolution in the following terms:

That, under s.100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 Schedule 12A Part 1 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006 the public be excluded during the items in Part 2 of the Agenda for this meeting, because it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, that, if members of the public were present during those items, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information relating to the financial and business affairs of the Council and third party companies/organisations.

Local Government Act 1972, Schedule 12A, Part 1, paragraph 3.

Members of the public were excluded as the committee moved to Part II

Members of the public were excluded as the committee moved to Part II

Full Details can be found in Part II Decision Sheet.

This item is restricted, please see Part II Minutes for details

Full Details can be found in Part II Decision Sheet.

This item is restricted, please see Part II Minutes for details

Full Details can be found in Part II Decision Sheet.

This item is restricted, please see Part II Minutes for details

Full Details can be found in Part II Decision Sheet.

This item is restricted, please see Part II Minutes for details

Full Details can be found in Part II Decision Sheet.

This item is restricted, please see Part II Minutes for details