To receive announcements and business brought forward by the Mayor, Leader, and Members of the Cabinet or the Chief Executive.
4.1 By the Mayor:
4.2 By the Chief Executive:
4.3 By the Group Leaders: Any apologies for absence
4.4 Council Leader and Members of the Cabinet:
|
Cllr Williams |
Leader of the Council |
|
Cllr Williams Cllr Elliot Cllr Mrs Griffiths Cllr Anderson Cllr Banks Cllr G Sutton
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Corporate and Contracted Services Finance & Resources Housing Environmental Services Community and Regulatory Services Planning & Infrastructure |
Decision:
6.1 By the
Mayor:
The Mayor thanked everyone for participating and working their way through this very different and remote meeting.
6.2 By the Chief
Executive:
None.
6.3 By the Group
Leaders:
None.
6.4 Council Leader and Members of the Cabinet:
(Full details are in the minutes under Announcements of the Leader and Cabinet).
Minutes:
6.1 By the Mayor:
The Mayor thanked everyone for participating and working their way through this very different and remote meeting.
6.2 By the Chief Executive:
None.
6.3 By the Group
Leaders:
None.
6.4 Council Leader and Members of the Cabinet:
Councillor Williams, Leader of the Council
Questions:
Councillor Tindall thanked all DBC staff on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Councillors for their continuous service under these extreme conditions, in particular those at Cupid Green depot for maintaining essential services. He then referred to the sad resignation of the Chief Executive and asked Councillor Williams if any decision had been made as to when she will leave. Councillor Williams advised that the Chief Executive’s resignation was due to take effect at the end of July, however she had agreed to be flexible about that date. He explained that recruitment would be very difficult in the current circumstances but they had appointed recruitment consultants to assist them with the process.
Councillor Uttley referred to the forward plan in the Cabinet agenda for next week’s meeting and asked if the Climate Change Strategy was still due to be published on 19 May. Councillor Williams said the report was still on course to go to Cabinet in May. He advised that some of the underlying work had fallen behind slightly due to officers being seconded to other roles. The work to engage a Climate Change officer was also continuing and they hope to interview in early May.
Councillor Symington advised she was a representative for the Berkhamsted Town Hall Trust and the trustees would like to know what the Council could do to protect this asset. Councillor Williams said we would seek to give any support we could but he couldn’t commit to a firm answer at this stage as it depends on the financial support we receive from Central Government. He explained we would have to prioritise charities that are providing immediate support to residents to supply food, mental health support, etc. and we would have to look at the wider sector on a case-by-case basis. Councillor Symington thanked The Leader and said the trustees understood that there was a hierarchy of need.
Councillor Birnie asked if it would still be possible to observe Cabinet meetings if they’re carried out remotely. Councillor Williams advised that all members can join the Cabinet meeting via Microsoft Teams if they wished to.
There were no further questions.
Councillor Williams, Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Contracted Services
Questions:
Councillor England asked if the Portfolio Holder could share the package details that have been agreed with Everyone Active during the lockdown situation. Councillor Williams said he didn’t have any agreement details to hand but he would happily share the information subject to any commercial confidentiality. Councillor England asked if the information could also be made available to the public as it was in the public’s interest. Councillor Williams said he could, but again it would be subject to commercial confidentiality.
There were no further questions.
Councillor Elliot, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources
Questions:
Councillor Tindall asked what the actual expenditure was as of last Friday (10 April) for the Council at the fault of Covid-19 and what financial promise we had from the Government to cover that cost. Councillor Elliot said we were still to quantify any promise from the Government and our main priority is to get aid to businesses and residents and then we will tally that up later. He thanked the council staff that had stepped up and worked long hours to get funds out to residents and businesses. He advised the Council were modelling the possible budgeting pressures of lost income and increased expenditure but as we are only 15 days in to this financial year we are not yet able to quantify the impact.
Councillor Symington referred to the £1.6b that the Government had announced as support and noted that DBC have only been allocated £60k of that. She asked how it was apportioned and what the criteria was for it. Councillor Elliot advised it was based on a Government model but he would need to come back to her on the criteria.
There were no further questions.
Councillor Griffiths, Portfolio Holder for Housing
Questions:
Councillor Uttley noted the increase in homelessness due to Covid-19 for various reasons, one of which is domestic abuse. She asked if we had been able to identify additional accommodation suitable for families or individuals who were victims of domestic abuse. Councillor Griffiths advised that we had used all the stock we had and have unfortunately had to revert to B&B but we were looking at whether we could move people around and also making use of general needs properties. Also Osbourne’s have started working on voids to bring them up to standard for families. She said it wasn’t a quick fix but we were trying our best with what we had available to service the needs of those in a desperate situation. Councillor Uttley queried the approximate time delay we were looking at and also how many voids we had in the pipeline. Councillor Griffiths said she didn’t have the figures to hand but advised that we were using a significant amount of B&B’s so that no one is on the streets or in accommodation that is not suitable for them.
Councillor England asked if the Portfolio Holder was satisfied that the flexi care staff and sheltered housing wardens had adequate PPE including eye protection if required since the beginning of the reported cases of Covid-19 in the UK. Councillor Griffiths advised that flexi care staff were administered by the County Council. She said we were following guidance for our own staff and ensuring distancing measures between staff and residents to reduce risk. She said she wasn’t aware of an issue with PPE and asked if he was suggesting there was a problem. Councillor England said it was just a factual question.
Councillor England asked how the Council were ensuring continuity of supplies. Councillor Griffiths said she didn’t have that information to hand so she would provide a written response.
Councillor Freedman asked if we expected a major impact on the council’s investment in its own housing stock or do we only expect a time delay. Councillor Griffiths replied they only expected a time delay at the moment. She advised we had stopped work on all the sites but will commence work as soon as possible as these homes are needed even more than usual.
Councillor England asked for the working definition of essential works with council homes. Councillor Griffiths explained that the majority of work happening now would be urgent works such as gas or electricity works as these are categorised as critical. We are also working on void properties and this is also classed as essential works as people need homes. Councillor England asked what the consequences were for the housing service if lockdown continued after 1st June for example. Councillor Griffiths advised it would be the same as any other business; we are having to put off works that need doing and the longer things are left the more issues we will have. She added that we had 27 bathrooms and kitchens that were already in the process before lockdown but no new kitchen or bathrooms are being undertaken at the moment.
Councillor Griffiths said she would like to thank all the council staff that were going above and beyond to help our residents.
There were no further questions.
Councillor Anderson, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services
Councillor Anderson expressed his thanks to the staff at Cupid Green depot for doing a fantastic job under the circumstances and were being flexible and taking on additional roles.
Questions:
Councillor England echoed Councillor Anderson’s gratitude to the staff in waste services. He then asked where the collected waste was going as he believed that the waste transfer station was closed to the public at the moment. Councillor Williams advised that whilst the household waste sites were closed to the public the Counties transfer station for commercial waste and council collected waste were operating as normal.
Councillor Beauchamp commended the Portfolio Holder for his radio interview this morning and felt he responded well to some very aggressive questioning. He then expressed how wonderful Gadebridge Park was looking at the moment, in particular the walled garden and asked if it was possible to open the gates and create a one-way system so that it can still be enjoyed. Councillor Anderson said he was happy to consider that but wasn’t sure if it was feasible with social distancing and how we would police that.
Councillor Stevens asked if we were experiencing a higher level of fly tipping now that the household waste sites were closed. Councillor Anderson advised we had not experienced any increase in fly tipping or littering and suggested that we may have seen a decrease in littering as people are staying at home more. He explained that the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership had done a lot of work county-wide in the last 18 months to tackle the problem with fly tipping and the numbers in Dacorum and Hertfordshire were reducing.
There were no further questions.
Councillor Banks, Portfolio Holder for Community and Regulatory Services
Councillor England said he understood that the calls to customer services were being taken remotely due to lockdown and asked if there had been an increase or decrease in calls. Councillor Banks advised there had been an increase and gave an example; in January we received an average of 1,647 calls per week, as we went in to lockdown the calls increased to over 2,500.
Councillor Symington returned to the issue of maintenance of football pitches, particularly those in Berkhamsted and Tring. She asked that as there were people in the community that would be happy to help maintain public spaces, is it possible for the council to relax restrictions on football clubs using volunteers to help maintain their pitches. Councillor Banks said the issue was around liability and the health and safety of the chemicals used on the pitches. She advised there are meetings planned with the stakeholders but as they’re currently furloughed they’re unable to enter any discussions about the pitches. Councillor Symington said they had been assured that no council staff had been furloughed. Councillor Banks clarified that the stakeholders from the football association had been furloughed, not DBC staff.
Councillor Tindall thanked the members of staff that had been volunteering to come in to The Forum to assist with the opening and distributing of mail and were carrying out a valuable service for our residents. Councillor Banks agreed with Councillor Tindall and thanked him for his comments.
Councillor England asked if the Portfolio Holder agreed that community centres were not able to stand alone on their reserves and what level of support does she think they will need from DBC to continue to enrich the community if lockdown continues. Councillor Banks declared an interest as she was employed by both Grovehill and Woodhall Farm community centres. She explained that all community centres in Dacorum were registered charities and as part of the charitable status they need to hold reserve funds. She understood that they held at least three months of reserves so it wasn’t an immediate issue. If lockdown continues the community centre network will have difficulties, however the council will be making grant payments through the small business rates scheme and Councillor Banks will be encouraging the community centres to make those applications.
Councillor Birnie referred to a previous question about football pitches and asked if the same applied to cricket fields. Councillor Banks advised it applied to any open spaces that DBC have responsibility for.
There were no further questions.
Councillor G Sutton, Portfolio Holder for Planning & Infrastructure
Councillor G Sutton thanked DBC staff for their hard work under the circumstances and he felt extremely proud of them.
Questions:
Councillor Symington noted in the report that the Council were anticipating that developers may be seeking variations on s106 monies and requirements. She asked what the indications were for that and how we will assess those requests. Councillor G Sutton advised that we will be pursuing the developers to get as much revenue as possible but we may have to be flexible. He explained that no two developments are the same so we would need to look at individual case as it comes up and find the correct solution.
Councillor Birnie recalled that as part of the South West Herts Strategic Plan there was a South West Herts, Your Future questionnaire circulated. He said it was scheduled for February/March and asked if we had any results. Councillor G Sutton advised it had been delayed as it wasn’t a priority so it would be picked up in the future. Councillor Birnie asked if we had any idea of the scale of results. Councillor G Sutton said he didn’t know but he would find out and let him know.
There were no further questions.