Agenda item

M Brookes introduced the performance report and drew attention to a couple of court cases we had been successful in; one environmental health prosecution and one taxi licensing prosecution. He advised that we had just finished the annual canvass which was particularly tricky this year due to the lockdown and all the PPE required. Despite the difficulties we had managed a really successful canvas with over 95% success rate which was actually the highest ever for the council. He gave credit to the team for that success.

Councillor Tindall referred to the legal cases in relation to Stone and Sherman. He said there was no indication of whether we were granted costs or not.

F Hussain advised that the Stone case was a closure and the defendant was possibly on benefits so sometimes it was not actually worth seeking costs that we’re not going to recover. The Sherman case was struck out in the early stages so we wouldn’t have applied for those costs.

Councillor Tindall referred to the developing Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan on page 54. He queried if there was a timeline on when that was going to be discussed.

Action: B Hosier said he would investigate and come back to members with a response.

Councillor Symington asked what consultation had been done with residents regarding the Berkhamsted Leisure Centre. She said she hadn’t been made aware of any consultation with residents about what they might want, especially in view of the fact that we have a number of rival projects going on that have come through the Local Plan or have had planning permission granted. She sought clarification on how we’re going to pull all this together.

M Brookes explained that the stage they just completed was the feasibility stage where they looked to see what was possible on the site in terms of a facility mix and options for reconfiguring the site. The consultation on that was more focused on user groups; so lots of sports clubs and also national and regional groups and bodies. He advised that the public focus hasn’t happened yet because they wanted to focus on the art of the possible at this stage before we started the detailed design planning, and that would be carried out at the next stage which was stage two. The report going to Cabinet in April was to seek authority to award the consultants that develop that side of the project and that was where the public consultation would come in.

Councillor Symington asked for a timeline on how long it would be until it came back to the public domain.

M Brookes advised that after Cabinet in April they hope to award the contract and then begin the next stage which will be developing the plan, the design, the business plan and the revenue cost plan. It will be at that stage they would look to go out and do some public consultation. He suggested we would be looking at the summer time before we do that consultation.

Councillor Symington asked if there was an update on the ongoing discussions between DBC, HCC and Berkhamsted Town Council in relation to a potential TTRO (Temporary Traffic Regulation Order) on Berkhamsted High Street.

B Hosier advised that there had been correspondence sent through from HCC at the end of last week to the Leader of the Council with some final proposals. The Leader has been looking at it over the weekend and is due to go back to HCC at some point this week, either to clarify some further parts or to make a decision.

Councillor Symington sought clarification on the process of that decision.

Action: B Hosier replied he believed it was just an operational decision that would be made by the Portfolio Holder but he would need to speak to the Portfolio Holder responsible for parking for clarification.

Councillor Chapman asked what delays we were anticipating with legal cases now that the courts were open again.

M Brookes advised that prosecutions had been going ahead so we had been able to conduct those cases. It was only possession cases that had been delayed.

F Hussain said there was a significant backlog and some areas had been trialling weekend court as an attempt to clear the backlog. She added that when lockdown restrictions are eased we expect there will be a lot more activity in the courts, however that will put a strain on the legal team.

The Chairman referred to the Leadership Development Programme on page 47. He said he couldn’t understand why we were procuring that and asked if we often go out to a lot of training organisations.

L Roberts explained that the Leadership Development Programme was a transformation programme that they were looking at across the council, and in terms of procurement, this particular party have worked in detail with the new Chief Executive and they thought it was more appropriate to work with a trusted partner rather than go out to a full tender because it would be very difficult to get the kind of response that we require for this type of personal work. The work will happen over the next few months and was quite important because to start with it is supporting the leaders who have been through Covid with coaching. They felt it was important to process what has happened and what is has meant to them, their teams and their leaderships styles before moving on to other areas.

The Chairman asked if they procured an agency to deliver temporary staff.

B Hosier advised they had a corporate contract that was used across the organisation for temporary agency staff to cover particular posts that were more generic. He said it was a framework agreement that they had that different services within the council can dip in and out of.

Outcome:

The report was noted.