Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on  23 November 2021

Cabinet Agreed the meetings from the previous meeting

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 November were agreed by Members present and signed by the Chair.

To receive any apologies for absence.

None

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]

None

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.

None

There were no members of the public who attended the meeting in person.

There were no referrals to Cabinet

None

There were no referrals to Cabinet.

Cabinet Agreed

To put the Budget  on the Forward Plan

Cabinet agreed that they would add the Budget to the Forward Plan.

The Forward Plan was noted.

Cabinet Agreed

1. That Cabinet approves the Collection Fund deficit estimate of £962,542.04 as at 31 March 2022. The Dacorum Borough Council share of this deficit is

£115,000.26

2. That Cabinet approve the payment profile for the deficit identified at 1) above and contained at section 2.8 to this report (Table 3).

3. That Cabinet approves the calculation of the Council’s

tax base for the year 2022/23 incorporating an estimated collection rate of 99.4%.

4. That, in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Tax Base) Regulations 2012, the amount calculated by the Council as its tax base for the year 2022/23 shall be 59,328.3 and its constituent elements shall be:

Decision

1. That Cabinet approves the Collection Fund deficit estimate of £962,542.04 as at 31 March 2022. The Dacorum Borough Council share of this deficit is £115,000.26

2. That Cabinet approve the payment profile for the deficit identified at 1) above and contained at section 2.8 to this report (Table 3).

3. That Cabinet approves the calculation of the Council’s tax base for the year 2022/23 incorporating an estimated collection rate of 99.4%.

4. That, in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Tax Base) Regulations 2012, the amount calculated by the Council as its tax base for the year 2022/23 shall be 59,328.3 and its constituent elements shall be:

Corporate Objectives

Agreement of the Council Tax Base 2022/23 and the Council Tax deficit as at 31 March 2022 supports sound financial planning and achievement of the corporate objective of ensuring efficient, effective and modern service delivery.

Statutory Officer Comments:

Deputy Monitoring Officer

No comments to add to the report.

Deputy Section 151 Officer

This is a Deputy Section 151 officer report.

Advice

Cllr Elliot introduced the Council Tax Base Report report

Recommendation agreed

Cabinet Agreed

That the position on the Strategic Risk Register, as at the end of quarter 2, 2021/22 be noted.

Cabinet Agreed

Decision

That the position on the Strategic Risk Register, as at the end of quarter 2, 2021/22 be noted.

Corporate Objectives

All. Risk management is an essential part of ensuring that the

Council meets all its corporate objectives

Monitoring Officer

This is a Deputy Section 151 Officer report.

S.151 Officer

No comments to add to the report.

Advice

Cllr Elliot introduced the report

Cllr Birnie refereed to the audit committee meeting mentioned they were concerned about the infrastructure risk, risk to both the local plan and the Hemel Garden Communities because of the lack of control that the Council have over funding infrastructure, and the sort of lottery that the government set up for bid to cover large items of expenditure on infrastructure. It seemed to him that he Council had no way of mitigating this and wondered whether they had or would approach government or have some other means of addressing this problem.

JDoe responded that there were a number of risk associated with this but he thought there were two statutory ones, there were risks around whether the funding could be achieved or not. There were two main things to be aware of, one id the mitigation in terms of the local plan and weather you can get their local plan through, that could be mitigated through their infrastructure delivery plan, which was something that they prepared in line with the local plan, so they make sure that is up to date. They are doing some more work on this at the current time, as the local plan is being revised and updated following last year’s publication. They do have to give an indication through the section 106 or SILL contributions but also where government support is needed or through bidding through to government programmes which is a spate process. He said the second mitigation is that when the development process moves on it moves to planning application stage then the developer has to prove it can provide for all the parts of infrastructure that were needed, so planning permission would not be granted until those things are in place and there are checks on that. He said they were currently working with the Hemel Garden Communities Programme now on a separate bid through to Homes England funding for next year and a big component that is around infrastructure. They envisage there will be more of those programmes moving forward.

Recommendation agreed

That the position on the Strategic Risk Register, as at the end of quarter 2, 2021/22 be noted.

Cabinet Agreed

That Cabinet approves the sites listed in Part 1 of the Brownfield Land

Register (BLR) as drafted in Appendix 1 and delegates authority to the

Assistant Director (Planning, Development and Regeneration) to finalise

the site-specific information before publication and notes that no sites are

Recommended for inclusion in Part 2.

Decision

That Cabinet approves the sites listed in Part 1 of the Brownfield Land Register (BLR) as drafted in Appendix 1 and delegates authority to the Assistant Director (Planning, Development and Regeneration) to finalise the site-specific information before publication and notes that no sites are recommended for inclusion in Part 2.

Corporate Objectives

A clean, safe and enjoyable environment; Building strong and vibrant communities; Ensuring economic growth and prosperity; Providing good quality affordable homes; Delivering an efficient and modern council;

The Brownfield Register will assist in more housing led sites becoming available for development This will provide more local housing, improved communities and economic growth.

Monitoring Officer

This report considers the Council’s statutory requirement to review its Brownfield Land Register at least once every year. It is noted that no sites are recommended for approval in Part 2 of the register and therefore approval of Part 1 remains an Executive decision to be made by the Council’s Cabinet.

S.151 Officer

There are no direct financial considerations arising from this report.

Advice

Cllr Anderson introduced the report

A Robinson reminded members that this was an annual report that they were required to publish and this was the 4^th one they had produced. The changes they had made were largely limited to updating information on sites, for example if sites have started on site they have made that clear. He wanted to draw members attention to four specific changes where they have removed some sites form the Brownfield Land Register on the basis that they have started on site or that in their assessment they have concluded that they should not appear on the register anymore and that related to 2 garden centers that are in the borough.

Cllr Williams asked for more information about why these sites may have come off.

ARobinson explained that although garden centers are strictly speaking, brownfield land officers felt that it would be prudent for those sites to be considered more formally through the planning process rather than giving an indication that thy might be suitable for housing development. This gives a little more clarity and a bit more control over what comes forward in future.

Recommendation Agreed

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.

Cabinet Agreed

1. That the main contract to construct 25 social rented units at five garage site locations in Hemel Hempstead and Kings Langley be awarded to Bugler Developments Limited.

2. 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.

Decision

Cabinet Agreed

1. That the main contract to construct 25 social rented units at five garage site locations in Hemel Hempstead and Kings Langley be awarded to Bugler Developments Limited.

2. 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.

Corporate Objectives:

Delivering Affordable Housing

Monitoring Officer

The proposed contract award follows a competitive and compliant tender process which demonstrates that the Council is receiving value for money for the contract.

Section 151 Officer

The award of this contract follows a tender process via an existing framework managed by Catalyst Housing. The award is to be made to the bid representing the greatest value for money.

The contract award is in excess of the pre-tender estimates due to the increasing pressures on the construction sector. The scheme is part of the HRA business plan and remains affordable within existing new build development budgets.

The HRA business plan is carefully monitored and updated on at least an annual basis. The impact of increasing construction costs on the overall new build development programme is kept under close review and will be reflected in the plan as appropriate.

Advice

The meeting moved into Part 2, please see Part 2 Minutes

This item is restricted, please see Part 2 minutes for details

This item is restricted, please see Part 2 minutes for details