Agenda, decisions and minutes

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting.

Cabinet Agreed the minutes of the previous meeting.

The minutes of the last meeting were approved.

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were apologies from Cllr England and Cllr Wilkie.

Apologies were received from Cllrs Wilkie and Cllr England.

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.

Legal & Shared Services to be removed from January Cabinet, he advised this would be scheduled later in the year.

The forward plan was noted.

Noted

M Brookes advised Legal and Shared Services were to be removed from January and that they would be re added at a later date.

Cabinet:

1.    Endorsed the principle of a direct award grants based approach to funding the Voluntary and Community Sector as set out in the report

2.    Agreed that awards be made to the following organisations for a three year period, with an option to extend for a further two years upon review, for the sums set out in section 5.1:

(a)   Citizens Advice Dacorum

(b)   Community Action Dacorum

(c ) Herts Age UK

(d)  Relate Dacorum, Watford and Three Rivers with Mediation Hertfordshire

3.    Delegated any decision to implement the two year extension to the Portfolio Holder for Place

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND

4.    Recommended to Council that authority be delegated to the Monitoring Officer and the Head of Commercial Development to amend the Procurement and Commissioning Standing Orders  to allow for a direct award approach to grant funding

Decision

Cabinet to:

1.     Endorse the principle of a direct award grants based approach to funding the Voluntary and Community Sector as set out in the report

2.     That awards be made to the following organisations for a three year period, with an option to extend for a further two years upon review, for the sums set out in section 5.1:

(a)    Citizens Advice Dacorum

(b)    Community Action Dacorum

(c )   Herts Age UK

(d)    Relate Dacorum, Watford and Three Rivers with Mediation Hertfordshire

3.     Delegate any decision to implement the two year extension to the Portfolio Holder for Place

4.     Recommend to  Council that authority be delegated to the Monitoring Officer and the Head of Commercial Development to amend the Procurement and Commissioning Standing Orders  to allow for a direct award approach to grant funding

Corporate Priorities

Building strong and vibrant communities

Ensuring efficient, effective and modern service delivery

Statutory Officer Comments:

Monitoring Officer:

The terms of the funding will be documented in a formal grant funding agreement to ensure that the funding is applied to the particular purpose of the organisation and can be monitored by the Council.

The proposal for direct award of the grant funding will require an amendment to the Council’s Procurement and Commissioning Standing Orders if the recommendations in this report are agreed.

Deputy S151 Officer:

The 2024/25 budget setting process will set a budget in line with the grant awards for VCS and future annual budget setting cycles provide relevant inflation in line with the approved MTFS.

Advice

Recommendation agreed

Cabinet:

Approved the Q1 and Q2 2023-24 update on the Strategic Risk Register.

Decision

To approve the Q1 and Q2 2023-24 update on the Strategic Risk Register.

Corporate Priorities

Ensuring efficient, effective and modern service delivery

Statutory Officer Comments:

Monitoring Officer:

The report presents an overview of the Council’s approach to strategic risks and the mitigations in place to manage those risks.  The arrangements in place to manage risk appear appropriate for this period.

Deputy S151 Officer:

This is a Deputy S151 Officer report.

Advice

Recommendation agreed

1. Cabinet agreed to progress with the statutory consultation on the proposed changes to parking tariffs and charging policies

as set out in appendix of this report, these include:

·         Off-Street Parking tariff changes for 2024,

·         On-Street tariff changes for 2024 – Minimum tariff for on street parking to be set at £2,

·         Changing on-street Limited Wait Bays to chargeable spaces,

·         Extending the current operating hours of the car parks,

·         Introducing new longer stay off-street tariffs to support extended car park operating hours

·         Consolidating off-street (car parks) short stay sessions to introduce a new minimum stay of 2 hours

·         Opening up part of the upper level of the Water Gardens North car park for public use Mon – Fri.

·          

2. Cabinet delegated authority to the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Commercial Services to consider the responses from the statutory consultation and make any final decision on the implementation of the parking tariff increases and changes to charging policy through formal Traffic Regulation Orders.

Decision

1. Cabinet agreed to progress with the statutory consultation on the proposed changes to parking tariffs and charging policies as set out in appendix of this report, these include:

·         Off-Street Parking tariff changes for 2024,

·         On-Street tariff changes for 2024 – Minimum tariff for on street parking to be set at £2,

·         Changing on-street Limited Wait Bays to chargeable spaces,

·         Extending the current operating hours of the car parks,

·         Introducing new longer stay off-street tariffs to support extended car park operating hours

·         Consolidating off-street (car parks) short stay sessions to introduce a new minimum stay of 2 hours

·         Opening up part of the upper level of the Water Gardens North car park for public use Mon – Fri.

2. Cabinet delegated authority to the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Commercial Services to consider the responses from the statutory consultation and make any final decision on the implementation of the parking tariff increases and changes to charging policy through formal Traffic Regulation Orders.

Corporate Priorities

Statutory Officer Comments:

Monitoring Officer:

The proposed changes to policy and charging are required to be confirmed by a Traffic Regulation Order following the statutory consultation period. Any views expressed through the statutory consultation will be considered by the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Commercial Services before final approval.

Deputy S151 Officer:

The proposed changes to the Traffic Regulation Order are estimated to provide an additional £660k per annum based predominantly on current parking behaviours. The part year implementation, if approved in 24/25, will provide an initial £500k income in year and the shortfall will be supported in 24/25 by a one off draw down from the Management of Change reserve.

There are risks when increasing the fees for services, as outlined in the risk section of this report, the most significant risk is in regards to maintaining competitive pricing. The current benchmarking and competitor data assessment shows this risk is limited. There will always be the risk that fee rises create behavioural change. As stated in the report the service will be under close financial scrutiny.

Advice

Recommendation agreed

RESOLVE TO RECOMMEND

1. To recommended that Council changes the council tax support scheme from April 2024 to:

a.    increase the backdating period for working age CTS applications to three months in line with pension age applications;

b.    remove the restriction for residents in properties from bands E to H for maximum CTS to be calculated using band D.

2. Approved an additional one off payment of support to Council Tax Support Claimants.

3. Cabinet approved the Collection Fund surplus estimate of £665,115.33 as at 31 March 2024. The Dacorum Borough Council share of this surplus is £77,517.77.

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND

4. Cabinet recommended to Council that Dacorum’s share of the Council tax surplus (£77,517.77) be transferred to the funding equalisation reserve, specifically to manage fluctuations in the collection fund position.

5. Cabinet approved the payment profile for the surplus identified at 3) above and contained at section 2.39 to this report (Table 4).

6. Cabinet approved the calculation of the Council’s tax base for the year 2024/25 incorporating an estimated collection rate of 98.5%.

7. Agreed 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 2024/25 shall be 60,276.5 and its constituent elements shall be

Decision

RESOLVE TO RECOMMEND

1. To recommended that Council changes the council tax support scheme from April 2024 to:

a.     increase the backdating period for working age CTS applications to three months in line with pension age applications;

b.     remove the restriction for residents in properties from bands E to H for maximum CTS to be calculated using band D.

2. Approved an additional one off payment of support to Council Tax Support Claimants.

3. Cabinet approved the Collection Fund surplus estimate of £665,115.33 as at 31 March 2024. The Dacorum Borough Council share of this surplus is £77,517.77.

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND

4. Cabinet recommended to Council that Dacorum’s share of the Council tax surplus (£77,517.77) be transferred to the funding equalisation reserve, specifically to manage fluctuations in the collection fund position.

5. Cabinet approved the payment profile for the surplus identified at 3) above and contained at section 2.39 to this report (Table 4).

6. Cabinet approved the calculation of the Council’s tax base for the year 2024/25 incorporating an estimated collection rate of 98.5%.

7. Agreed 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 2024/25 shall be 60,276.5 and its constituent elements shall be

Corporate Priorities

A clean, safe and enjoyable environment

Building strong and vibrant communities

Ensuring economic growth and prosperity

Providing good quality affordable homes, in particular for those most in need

Ensuring efficient, effective and modern service delivery

Climate and ecological emergency

Statutory Officer Comments:

Monitoring Officer:

No comments to add to the report.

Deputy S151 Officer:

This is a Section 151 officer report. Comments contained within the body of the report.

Advice

Recommendation agreed