To consider questions (if any) by members of the Council of which the appropriate notice has been given to the Head of Legal Services
Minutes:
Councillor Williams, Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Community Leadership
The Leader of the Council made no announcements and invited any questions on his Portfolio.
Councillor Elliot, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources
Finance
The Finance Team are working closely with the Leadership Team on the 2016/17 budget. The Medium Term Financial Strategy highlighted a savings requirement for next year of £1.4 million.
Officers have been asked to suggest savings proposals for the next three years to ensure longer term savings can be delivered with an adequate lead in time. Meetings are being held this month, and options for efficiencies are being collated to be considered by the Budget Review Group in early October.
Revenue & Benefits
The Benefits team have been working with the local jobcentre to make sure that officers are ready to support residents who are affected by the introduction of Universal Credit to Dacorum which started from 21 September. This new benefit will only impact on a small number of residents in the next few months as it is being phased in gradually by central government. Relevant training has been provided to staff in the housing, customer services, benefits and council tax teams, so that we can provide assistance to any residents who need it. We are also working in partnership with Dacorum Citizens Advice Bureau to ensure the range of support required is available.
As part of the work that has been done to look at how we can improve the service provided to residents and minimise costs then the team will be able to provide a more efficient way of delivering a quicker service to those claiming benefits following the approval of a Risk Based Verification Policy at Audit Committee on 23rd September.
Commercial Assets & Property Development
The Demolition of the Old Court House is now complete and we are just awaiting the final stages of demolition of Unit B which requires Transco assistance. Parking has now been reinstated and when the works are completed additional parking will be provided. We are continuing to support and provide assistance by working with the project teams to deliver the Forum.
We are working to maximise capital receipts and as part of the ongoing asset management strategy the disposal of a number of garage sites has now commenced and we anticipate that this will start to realise income in this financial year.
Work on a number of significant leases is progressing and the lease for 39-41 Marlowes to Health has now been signed. Officers have also commenced reviewing the Asset Management Strategy and supporting documentation and will be bringing it forward in due course for consideration and approval.
Questions and answers:
Councillor Tindall commented that given the success of the verge hardening program and other schemes to be completed this financial year, can more money be found for the programs to continue into 2016/17.
Councillor Elliot stated that this was certainly on top of the agenda as parking is a big problem, especially for residents, and he will contact Councillor Tindall to liaise on this issue.
Councillor Griffiths, Portfolio Holder for Housing
Tenant and Leaseholder Services
Rent Campaign: Don’t get ripped off - The Housing Income Team in conjunction with a host of voluntary sector organisations such as the Citizens Advice Bureau and Herts Savers Credit Union will be launching a campaign in October ‘Don’t Get Ripped Off’ to promote more cost effective ways of borrowing as opposed to pay day loans or weekly payment stores. Advice on budgeting and on purchasing cheaper household goods will also be included in the campaign.
An event to support the campaign will be held at the South Hill Centre on Tuesday 27th October where individuals can access financial advice and details of cheaper financial services.
Animal Action Week - The Housing Tenancy Team in conjunction with Environmental Health Services will be running a follow up to the normal July Animal Action Week to provide additional animal health checks, to micro-chip dogs and to continue to promote responsible pet ownership.
This will be held from 25th- 30th October
Northend Orchard - On 17th October the Housing Tenant Involvement Team will be holding a tree planting day at the new Northend Community Orchard. This will be run between 11am – 3pm. At the event there will be a local folk band, a smoothie bike where residents can create their own smoothies, juice pressing run by the Sunnyside Rural Trust and a host of children’s activities.
Strategic Housing
In the last year the Team have reduced the overall time taken to re-let empty homes by 12 days. This obviously helps to generate more income for the Council and has been achieved through great partnership working between the Council, Osborne and other contractors. The New Build projects continue to progress. Aspen Court in Apsley is due for completion March/April and demolition work is due to start at both Able House in the Old Town and Martindale School in the next few weeks.
The formal opening of the ELMS was on Tuesday 29th September and HRH the Duchess of Gloucester was in attendance.
Property and Place
Longlands Refurbishment and Rooftop development - The building is now water tight and the internal fit out works to the 6 new flats have started, with plasterboard in progress and acoustic floor to follow. The external wall insulation is progressing well and the colour and texture of the finish coat approved. The windows and door are now complete and the residents are very happy with the finish and there has been positive feedback on both the design and the site team.
New balconies will be installed and the scaffolding will gradually come down in October. The allocation of the new properties will commence in November, at which stage the external works to provide new refuse areas and parking will commence with the scheduled completion for the end of the month.
Structural Upgrading of Walkways / Balconies - Steel work has now been erected at several garage sites and single balconies including Little Road and Bennetts End. The residents are getting regular newsletters and have been very co-operative and patient. The project main contractor, Thomas Sinned, relocated from Able Road and now hold open mornings in their new site office at Wood Lane End. The contract is due to be completed early 2016.
Osborne Total Asset Management Contract - The audit for the first nine months of the contract has been concluded and there is a further £232,772.18 of shared savings, which will be returned to Dacorum for reinvestment in this year’s programme of works.
There have been improvements in a number of areas of the service, which have been reflected in the KPI’s and the focus has been to ensure that appointments are kept and that customer satisfaction is high.
· In excess of 7,000 Planned jobs to date with 97% Customer Satisfaction
· Reduction in Empty Homes key to key times – 42.5 days to 29.5 days
· 70% of Supply Chain is local subcontractors
· Low level of complaints currently 0.46% of all jobs
Osborne is delivering a programme of external wall insulation at 22 properties in Runham Road which is nearing completion and will be followed by 16 properties in Bassil Road. The programme will be extended to other solid wall properties; including 8 in Deaconsfield Road, 9 in St Albans Road and 2 in Lawn Lane. The insulation will improve the thermal performance of these properties and reduce the fuel bills for the tenants.
Gas Servicing - The servicing and installation contract has been delivering consistently high levels of compliance, currently 99.98%, with two properties currently overdue and there continues to be high levels of customer satisfaction.
Questions and answers:
There were no questions for the Portfolio Holder.
Councillor Guest arrived at 7:48pm
Councillor Harden, Portfolio Holder for Residents and Corporate Services
Resident Services
Verge Hardening project
This quarter we have installed 44 new parking bays. This brings the total number of parking bays since the project started in April 2013 to 321.
We still have areas to programme in for October/November.
Love Your Neighbourhood (Tring)
For this event we focussed on ‘Love your Health’ and ‘Love your Future’. There were nineteen service providers that set up their stalls and gave out a variety of information from healthy weight management to general health concerns from the local doctor’s surgery under Love your Health.
Love Your Future advice was given on how to save on your energy bills to volunteering to increase their skills.
We had 81 attendees on the day and really positive feedback.
Youth Action Entertainers (Tring)
This was the afternoon session of Love Your Neighbourhood (Tring). We had 37 elderly residents from Tring and rural Tring attend for lunch and an afternoon of entertainment and activities.
We had 13 'Let's Dance' performers entertaining the residents, they must have been impressed because they have asked for a 'Let's Dance' class at Tring. This is under consultation with Tring residents at the moment.
A mixture of volunteers helped us on the day, 7 young people served tea and coffee to the residents along with 2 adult volunteers.
We had 2 young performers on the days, entertaining us with opera and flute playing.
Anti-Social Behaviour
3 injunctions obtained from court for:
· racial abuse
· Neighbour nuisance
· Threat to harm
2 Community protections notice warning letters issued (new ASB powers)
· Harassment
· Garden clean up
Corporate Services
Research and Innovation
LGA & Design Council Pilot
· We are half way through the joint project with the police to review and improve the way we manage and deal with anti-social behaviour. We will be looking to pilot some new approaches at the end of the year.
Nudge Theory/Behavioural Insight
· We are working with housing, HR, waste services and revenues and benefits to implement a series of ‘nudge ideas’ that will help residents to make positive choices and improve the services they receive.
Innovation Lab
· We are running some workshops to develop new ideas and help services to re-design their processes.
Digital Services
DCLG Statutory Notices Pilot
· Our Hertfordshire wide mobile app (Notice Herts) is live on both Apple and Android and the feedback has been really positive (it’s already been downloaded 747 times) . We have also developed some more simple designs for statutory notices and we will be looking to introduce those shortly.
LGA Research Pilot
· Research with Hull University on channel shift is moving forward – we have held a series of workshops with residents and we also ran a survey. We have had a draft report and we are expecting the final version in October.
Digital Dacorum
· Cyber-Media have been appointed as our website designer and they have begun to consult on some new designs. Members will get the opportunity to comment and the proposed designs will be presented at Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Proposed go-live is Feb 16
· We have started to re-design services. We are planning to introduce a new online process for council tax and benefits in October. We will then be moving onto licensing, taxi complaints and land charges before the end of the year. Early in 2016 we will look at waste, recycling and various housing services.
· We have developed a detailed plan for digital inclusion programme and we are currently working to map out the location of free Wi-Fi to make that available for residents.
· We have received proposals from Northgate for the next phase of CRM and we are currently considering their ideas.
People
Communication and Consultation
· Digital Dacorum – Managing website content approach in preparation for the new website in Feb 2016. Working with GMs to remove content and update information.
· New SharePoint – Internal communications platform. New improved look so easier for staff to see the important news / documents / updates. The comms team are currently working with managers to clean to data ready for the launch in Oct/Nov 2015.
Community Partnerships
· Strategic Partners Commissioning – Consultation stage (8 weeks) with all strategic partners commenced on the proposed service outcomes. Next stages – consultation with scrutiny committees and Cabinet in October
Legal
· The Legal team completed a 15 year lease to the Health Trust for 39/41 Marlowes and a contract to purchase the existing health centre site which will complete on 31st October 2015.
· Successfully prosecuted for breach of Advertising control –unlawful display of estate agents boards – £700 fine and recovered costs in full.
· Obtained an anti-social behaviour injunction preventing domestic violence and an order excluding the perpetrator from the local area.
Stoptober – Stop smoking campaign
During Stoptober last year 600 Dacorum residents quit smoking. If you would like help or want to promote Stoptober through your neighbourhoods contact either Public Health Hertfordshire or DBCs Partnerships team. Also from 01Oct if you didn’t know already smoking in cars with an 18 year old or under present will be illegal with a potential £50 fine for smoker and driver.
Questions and answers:
Councillor C Wyatt-Lowe commented that she was delighted about Stoptober and asked whether it was being promoted from within the Council and the Councillors.
Councillor Harden replied that posters and leaflets have been distributed and Community Partnerships works closely with Public Health England to promote the campaign and last year, 600 people in the borough quit smoking.
Councillor G Sutton, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Regeneration
Hemel Hempstead
Town Centre – This Saturday the
Council hosted its Live At New Town
Square event. The weather was kind to us and the turnout was one of
the highest ever as children enjoyed the Disney film Frozen on our
new big screen, were entertained by face painting and all were able
to enjoy our first live act on the new rainbow stage.
Feedback has been very positive and I am pleased to say that the
works are well on their way to completion. We now look forward to
the Christmas lights switch on 29th November.
With works in the Marlowes, Bank Court
and the new bus interchange approaching completion before
Christmas, the restoration of the water gardens will become the
main focus of attention in the town centre. Members will know that
the works are well underway now with the process of silt removal
from the bed of the river progressing well.
Enterprise Zone – I am pleased to announce to
members that on Friday 18 September the Hertfordshire LEP submitted
to the department of communities and local government
proposals to seek enterprise zone status for land at the Maylands
gateway and east Hemel Hempstead, including two other sites in the
St. Albans district - BRE at Garston and Rothamsted Research.
If confirmed by government, the EZ would offer a 5 year business
rate holiday to new firms establishing within it as an incentive to
locate there. Importantly though, the business rates uplift would
be retained by the LEP to deliver much needed new road and other
infrastructure in the Maylands area. DBC, with SADC have fully
supported the bid which is based on work initiated originally by
our own officer team, and by St. Albans.
We await news on the outcome following the Chancellor’s
comprehensive spending review in November.
Place Manager – Recruitment for the new Place Manager has been completed. Gary Stringer will join us mid-October to lead the Ambassador programme. A breakfast event will be held on December 11th to showcase Maylands and the economy ten years on from the Buncefield explosion, and to launch this new scheme which will encourage businesses to become ambassadors for the area to help secure more investment into the future and drive the profile and reputation of Hemel Hempstead to a much wider business audience.
Questions and answers:
Councillor D Collins said that the Dacorum Endorsement Board helped protect areas of outstanding natural beauty and could Councillor G Sutton pass on his thanks.
Councillor G Sutton noted the comments and will pass on Councillor D Collins comment to the Conservation board.
Councillor Tindall referred to the 21st July 2015 Cabinet minutes and asked about the minor change on the map with regards to withdrawing the boundary to LA5 may raise significant issues as this will impose on Green Belt land which is highly valued in that area.
Councillor G Sutton said he will be discussing this with officers in the future.
Councillor Fisher mentioned a problem with refuse collection in Figtree Hill as they have had no collection for a few weeks. The communal bins have not been collected when they should be emptied twice a week and therefore residents have just been dumping their rubbish.
Councillor Marshall took this question as it fell under her portfolio. Councillor Marshall said she would be grateful if Councillor Fisher could provide details of this incident. Missed bin collections are recorded by the refuse crews as they do their rounds. Councillor Marshall stated her concern that these were communal bins and again, would be grateful for further details.
Councillor Marshall, Portfolio Holder for Environmental, Sustainability and Regulatory Services
Environmental Services
· Bunkers Park in Nash Mills has been awarded a Green Flag for the first time.We now have a total of four Green Flag parks and they are Chipperfield Common, Tring Memorial Garden and Canal Fields, Berkhamsted. (The requirements for a Green Flag are a balance of good management, responsibly sourced products, partnership working and good access)
.
· This year’s Clean, Safe and Green Community Champion Award are Friends of Chipperfield Common (from the group category) and John Savage from Tring (from the individual category). John Savage is the secretary for the Chiltern Society Rights of Way Group and regularly patrols footpaths encouraging good behaviour to others. Leading by example, John single-handedly collects over 1000 sacks of litter on his countryside walks each year. Friends of Chipperfield Common are a dedicated group of around 40 members who engage with the public regarding management of the Common. By carrying out activities such as hedge laying, path cutting and pond clearance they have helped to ensure Chipperfield Common has retained its coveted Green Flag Award.
· The 'Recycle for Dacorum' Project Team have been shortlisted for Best Team of the Year at the fifth annual LARAC (Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee) Celebration Awards to be held in October.
Regulatory Services
· Fly tipping – There has been 1 Formal Caution issued and full investigation and clearance costs recovered from an offender.
· Housing - DBC prosecuted Mrs Bunker at Watford Magistrates Court on the 11th May 2015 for a breach of the Housing Act 2004 for operating an illegal HMO. (Mrs Bunker also appealed against the sentence issued by the courts in an attempt to reduce her fines and to restrict the payments required by her. This was heard by a Circuit Judge and the previous fines made by the court were upheld. Mrs Bunker has been ordered to pay the court approx. £36K within the next 6 months).
· Procured new Air Quality monitor having received HCC funding. (Now installed data can be seen at http://www.hertsbedsair.net )
· Joanne Lee-Dade(Environmental Health Officer) was asked to give a presentation on Human Placenta as a food substance to Chartered Institute of Environmental Health Wales at their annual conference.
· Costco signed up to a Primary Authority Agreementwith Dacorum Borough Council. (All primary authority agreements are taken on a cost recovery basis).
· Environmental Health Officer Mary Mullan won Environmental Health Graduate of the Year.
Questions and answers
Councillor Tindall thanked Councillor Marshall for the extension of the green bin collection. However, with a mild winter last year, residents were still disposing of green waste and asked if it would be possible for a further look at collections for the whole of winter.
Councillor Marshall stated that she understood Councillor Tindall’s point but said it was difficult to make plans for the future when the weather is unknown. Garden refuse significantly decreases throughout winter and the plan is to see how the extended collections go and then look again for the 2016 schedule.
Councillor Chapman commented that last week, Hertfordshire Highways resurfaced his residential street on the day of the refuse collection. The refuse team collected the green bins but the team had to come back as the road was wet. Councillor Chapman would like to thank the Cupid Green team for coming back the next day to collect the other bins.
Councillor Marshall thanked Councillor Chapman and will pass on his comments.
Councillor Ritchie asked that with the new bin scheme, would it be possible for the members to be advised on recycling rates. This is a good new scheme and the aim was to increase recycling rates.
Councillor Marshall stated that it was difficult to give comparative figures as the recycling material was now mixed whereas before it was separated. Councillor Marshall advised that regular reports go to SPAE OSC regarding recycling rates and recycling has increased and residual waste has decreased.
Councillor Anderson explained that the scrutiny committee has been advised that the recycling rates are just hitting 60% which is an improvement up from 48%.
Councillor Marshall said she was grateful for the question.
Councillor Ritchie asked if it was possible to have a reduction in landfill waste rate and said he will be happy to receive it in due course.