Agenda, decisions and minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on  19 May 2020

Minutes of the meeting held on 19 May 2020 were agreed by Members present.

Minutes of the meeting held on 19 May 2020 were agreed by Members present.

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 with the following change:

·         Add Herts Growth Board for Hemel Garden Communities to the July meeting

The forward plan was noted with the following change:

·         Add Herts Growth Board for Hemel Garden Communities to the July meeting

That the 2020-24 Homelessness & Rough Sleeper Policy be approved.

Decision

That the 2020-24 Homelessness & Rough Sleeper Policy be approved.

Corporate objectives

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

Deputy Monitoring officer comments:

Further to Section 2 of the HA, local housing authorities are required to review homelessness in their district and formulate a strategy based on the result of the review.  A new strategy is required every four years.

The proposed strategy meets the statutory duties under the HA.

Deputy S151 Officer comments:

There are no direct financial implications as a result of this strategy.

Advice

Councillor Griffiths introduced the report to members and said it had been to Housing & Community Overview and Scrutiny Committee. She said the housing team had been under a lot of pressures due to Covid-19 and said they had coped admirably. The strategy has been updated in line with the latest legislation and legal requirements.

N Beresford said it replaces the 2016-2020 strategy and it is a legal requirement to have an up to date strategy. There is a change in the title which is a requirement from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) to include ‘rough sleeper’. The strategy outlines the five key commitments the team believes are relevant to prevent homelessness. The report also includes the key challenges for the service, including the impact from Covid-19.

Recommendations agreed

That the Private Sector Housing Strategy be approved.

Decision

That the Private Sector Housing Strategy be approved.

Corporate objectives

The Strategic Housing Service’s responsibilities and activity in relation to the Private Rented Sector contributes to the following corporate objectives:

•          A clean, safe and enjoyable environment
•          Building strong and vibrant communities

Deputy Monitoring Officer comments

Local authorities are under various statutory obligations in relation to the provision of, and standard of, accommodation in its district.  The attached Strategy sets out how Dacorum will meets its obligations to ensure that accommodation in the private sector is maintained to the appropriate standard.

Deputy S151 Officer Comments

No direct financial requirements as a result of this strategy paper.

Advice

Councillor Griffiths introduced the report to members. The Private Sector Housing team moved under Housing two years ago and have been slowly developing new initiatives and policies. This strategy has been to Housing and Community Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

N Beresford said this strategy outlines the council’s commitment to improving private sector housing standards in the borough. It focusses primarily on private sector accommodation but also have to have regard to registered providers and owner occupier accommodation. There is no legal requirement to adopt this strategy but after the service moved under the housing remit, it was felt that it was a good idea to have a strategy in place to outline the key priorities in addressing private sector housing standards. It has been informed be recent BRE stock model report undertaken earlier this year and is reflective of current housing condition in the borough.

Councillor Birnie referred to the 1148 HMOs in the borough of which 234 need to be licenced. He asked what evidence that was based on.

N Beresford said the information provided by the BRE is made up of data from a range of sources including DBC’s information. The BRE compiled data from trading standards, revenue and benefits department, EPC data, energy companies and the electoral roll which provides detail overview of the stock within Dacorum and indicates high level of occupancy in properties. Only 234 HMOs require mandatory licensing which is set out in the regulations and governed by MHCLG. 100 have already been licenced, 32 in the process and the remainder are still to come forward and submit an application. The team will be prioritising the landlords that are yet to come forward.

Recommendations agreed.

1. That:

(a) The projected financial impact of Covid-19 for 2020/21 as set out in section 1 and;

(b) The proposed recovery framework as set out in section 2 be noted.

2. That the extension of the voluntary sector contracts as set out in paragraphs 3.2 – 3.5 and the new one year contract to DENS as highlighted in paragraph 3.7 be

agreed.

3. That the Covid-19 Strategic Risk annexed to the report is agreed.

Decision

1. That:

(a) The projected financial impact of Covid-19 for 2020/21 as set out in section 1 and;

(b) The proposed recovery framework as set out in section 2 be noted.

2. That the extension of the voluntary sector contracts as set out in paragraphs 3.2 – 3.5 and the new one year contract to DENS as highlighted in paragraph 3.7 be agreed.

Corporate objectives

The financial impact and the Council’s response to Covid-19 will impact all of the Council’s Corporate Objectives.

Monitoring Officer comments

The Monitoring Officer continues to monitor the key issues raised by legislative changes and relevant government guidance and ensure that effective policies and procedures are in place to assist services to continue to deliver during the pandemic and subsequent recovery phase.

S151 Officer comments

The Financial Implications section of the report have been written by the S151 officer and will continue to be monitored as actual costs become clearer. Members will be regularly updated on the financial implications of Covid-19 as they develop.

Advice

Councillor Williams introduced the report to members and wanted to place on record his thanks to the whole organisation for the way it has dealt with the current crises and how well all the staff have stepped up to meet the challenge. He said the report contains a number of sections and the impact of Covid-19. The financial implications are still speculation at this stage and a number of measures have been put in place to help businesses, vulnerable people and other organisations. This report is comprehensive in outlining the challenges faced and will continue to face.

S Marshall echoed the thanks to staff who have been working under extreme circumstances and thanked members for their support. This situation is unprecedented and the report identifies the impact on services and identifies the governance for the officer recovery team to work on the programme and this is linked and in line with broader work across Hertfordshire through the resilience forum and the chief executive group. The key recommendations are extending the voluntary sector contracts to give them greater financial security and the sector needs certainty to receive more financial support to continue services at a difficult time. The community grant scheme will be widened to include Covid-19 related projects and there has been a lot of support for local businesses and S Marshall gave credit to the finance and economic development teams for processing grant payments so quickly and effectively. It was also highlighted that the homelessness team had gone from 95 people presenting as homeless pre-pandemic to 185 and this has been done with existing resources. There have been some new services provided to the community such as the food parcels being delivered to vulnerable residents in partnership with the county council. The plans to return to The Forum are flexible dependant on government guidance on public buildings and are currently preparing the building with a 2m distance  ...  view the full minutes text for item CA/58/20

Report to follow after the SPAE OSC meeting being held on 16^th June 2020.

1.         That the approach to the development and delivery of the Climate Emergency Strategy and Action plan as set out in the report be approved.

2.         That the Climate Emergency Statement in Appendix 4 be approved

Resolved to recommend:

3.         The creation of a budget for the Climate Emergency of £75,000 in 2020/21  and authority be delegated for its expenditure be made to the Corporate Director Housing and Regeneration and the Assistant Director Corporate and Contracted Services in consultation with the Leader be approved

4.         That an annual review of the progress of the Strategy and Action Plan be made to Cabinet each year and an update be provided to Cabinet in September 2020 on initial progress

5.         That a training and development programme for both staff and Members be delivered in 2020/21

6.         That a ‘Climate Emergency impact statement’ be incorporated into Cabinet and Overview and Scrutiny reports

Decision

1.    That the approach to the development and delivery of the Climate Emergency Strategy and Action plan as set out in the report be approved.

2.    That the Climate Emergency Statement in Appendix 4 be approved

Resolved to recommend:

3.    The creation of a budget for the Climate Emergency of £75,000 in 2020/21  and authority be delegated for its expenditure be made to the Corporate Director Housing and Regeneration and the Assistant Director Corporate and Contracted Services in consultation with the Leader be approved

4.    That an annual review of the progress of the Strategy and Action Plan be made to Cabinet each year and an update be provided to Cabinet in September 2020 on initial progress

5.    That a training and development programme for both staff and Members be delivered in 2020/21

6.    That a ‘Climate Emergency impact statement’ be incorporated into Cabinet and Overview and Scrutiny reports

Corporate objectives

The Council’s Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan will help to support all 5 corporate objectives:

·         Safe and clean environment: e.g. contains actions relating to the quality of existing environments and design and layout of new development that promote security and safe access;

·         Community Capacity: e.g. provide a framework for local communities to be better informed and involved in climate emergency mitigation.;

·         New and Affordable housing: through both direct delivery and setting improved sustainability requirements in new homes would help to reduce both the cost of energy and water and the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions the homes would produce;

·         Dacorum delivers: fulfilling the zero carbon pledge will make a huge contribution to local sustainability and assist in the national target to reach zero carbon as a nation by 2050;

·         Regeneration: the strategy and action plan will provide improvements to air quality, biodiversity, opportunities for cycling and walking as well as major economic potential for ‘green’ businesses.

Monitoring Officer comments

The Strategy and Action Plan will require continual review against the baseline data in order to measure the effectiveness of the agreed actions.

S151 Officer comments

The recommended £75k budget can be funded through draw down from the Climate Change and Sustainability Reserve.

Whilst the Council remains ambitious in the delivery of its Climate Change Action Plan, it should be acknowledged that there may be occasions when financial restrictions prevent the implementation of desirable service changes in the future.

Future recommendations to Members will need to be presented within the context of the Council’s broader financial position in order to support evidence-based decision-making.

Advice

Councillor Williams introduced the report and asked for feedback from cabinet members about the comments from overview and scrutiny about their service areas.

Councillor Griffiths said she had concerns over the recommendation from SPAE OSC about increasing rents. This recommendation has not been discussed by H&C OSC and was not happy with the suggestion. The council needs to bring people along and some tenants are already in fuel poverty so increasing rents or forcing them to go all electric in their homes which is  ...  view the full minutes text for item CA/59/20