Agenda item

To confirm the minutes from the previous meetings.

The Chairman advised that the minutes had been circulated and asked if these could be taken as an accurate record.

Councillor Claughton referred to item 10 on page 18. He wanted to make an amendment regarding the absence due to stress and anxiety and stated that, according to the minutes, he had said it was unsurprising given the pandemic and asked for a deep-dive of the analysis to provide the reasons for the increase, which sounded as though he had already answered his own question. He noted that the Council had undergone significant change recently and they were trying to unscramble what was due to Covid and what was due to changes in the Council. The Secretary had been notified of the proposed amendment.

The Chairman said the proposed amendment would be clarified by the secretary. There were no other comments on the minutes.

The Chairman then asked whether everybody had seen all of the action points and responses.

Councillor Townsend referred to the action point regarding action point part 1 on page 2. He said that an assertion was made that the DBC-owned car parks include the Old School Yard in Tring, but he believed that they are owned by Tring Town Council and raised this point for clarification.

The Chairman asked B Hosier if he agreed with Councillor Townsend’s point of clarity. B Hosier replied he did.

Councillor Tindall said he understood that the County Council were reluctant about EV on-street chargers. Councillor Tindall wondered if this had any impact on what the Council were doing about EV chargers. He noted that there were narrow streets throughout the borough and that residents could be disadvantaged if the Council couldn't finish putting in on-street EV chargers in the future when technology allows.

B Hosier replied to Councillor Tindall by saying that, in order for the Council to install EV charger points, they need the landowner's permission and Hertfordshire County Council Highways will not give the Council that permission currently. B Hosier then stated that this is why the decision has been made to place the EVCPs in car parks which are in the Council's ownership, apart from the Old School Yard car park.

The Chairman said he would need to double check whether some of the action points were actually information points and an opportunity to ask further questions. This is something he wanted to take away to think about before the next meeting.

An information point was raised by Councillor Claughton regarding the question asked about face-to-face customer services in Berkhamsted and Tring, and the fact that they've been reintroduced had been widely advertised. He said he had had a very helpful response from H Peacock, setting out the way in which the services were advertised. He stated that, apart from physical posters being put up at the locations, all the other means of promulgating the change were digital. This had been pointed out to H Peacock, saying that the people who are most likely to want face-to-face meetings in these locations are the people who are least likely to have access to computers, and so before any conclusions are drawn about how heavily these services are used, he suggested that there should be a review of the way in which they were being advertised.

The Chairman noted H Peacock's response and referred Councillor Claughton back to the comment he made following Councillor Tindall's question.