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:
Councillor Williams Leader of the Council
Councillor Harden Residents & Corporate Services
Councillor G Sutton Planning and Regeneration
Councillor Marshall Environmental, Sustainability and Regulatory Services
Councillor Elliot Finance & Resources
Councillor Mrs Griffiths Housing
Decision:
1. By the Mayor:
The Mayor welcomed Councillor Pringle to her first meeting.
2. By the Chief Executive:
There were no announcements from the Chief Executive.
3. By the Group Leaders:
Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors W Wyatt Lowe, C Wyatt-Lowe, Clark, Chapman, Conway, Griffiths and Whitman, Collins
4. By the Leader and Members of the Cabinet:
(Full details are in the minutes under Announcements of the Leader and Cabinet).
Minutes:
1 By the Mayor:
The Mayor welcomed Councillor Pringle to her first meeting.
2 By the Chief Executive:
There were no announcements from the Chief Executive.
3 By the Group Leaders:
Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Clark, Chapman, E Collins, Conway, Griffiths Whitman, C Wyatt-Lowe and W Wyatt Lowe,
4. Council Leader and Members of the Cabinet:
Councillor Williams, Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Community Leadership
The Leader did not make a report at this time but he offered to take questions.
Councillor Harden, Portfolio Holder for Residents & Corporate Services
PEOPLE & PERFORMANCE
Community Partnerships
Dacorum Volunteer Centre – Are merging with Community Action Dacorum.
Community Grant Awards – Held 26 March 2018. Many volunteer groups attending to pick up their awards in the inaugural awards evening. It was a real celebration of how our community grant money has supported the community.
Community Safety
Support for Staff Project – We have just commenced a project that looks at what support is available for staff that deal with difficult/high needs people. This was identified as key project to improve our current support package.
Human Resources
Appraisals – Roll out phase on new process and system – holding manager briefing sessions and appraisal training. This new approach supports more regular one to one meetings between manager/staff and streamlines the system to support more engaging discussions
Customer Services
Service Review – Project underway which is looking at performance, training, current service offering, channel shift and staff structure.
Old Town Hall
Building Maintenance – We are planning to implement a building structure survey to establish a planned maintenance schedule to assist with some of the problems that are occurring
LEGAL GOVERNANCE
On 14th March, the Council exchanged contracts for the sale of land adjacent to the Forum (former Magistrates Court and Health Centre land) to Hill Residential Limited. Completion of the sale is due to complete by 1st August. Hill are now working up their reserved matters planning application which will be submitted by the end of June.
The Leisure Contract with Sports and Leisure Management Limited was completed on 29th March for running the leisure services across the borough. The contract is for a period of 10 years with an option to extend for a further 5 years.
The address management service (now run by Legal Governance) has achieved Gold Standard. As part of the service – we have to submit every domestic and commercial property to the Geoplace Hub and our own gazetteer forms part of the National Gazetteer maintained by the hub. Geoplace measure the accuracy of the data submitted. When the legal team took over the service in September 2016 from Luton Borough Council it was assessed as Below National Standard and there has been significant improvement in the service from the team which has now achieved ‘Gold’. The team have also introduced charging for the service which has brought in over £6,000 of income from the start of the year.
There have been a number of successful cases in the courts in the last month including a prosecution for fly tipping, breach of planning enforcement notice, and a taxi driver prosecution for plying for hire.
DEMOCRATIC SERVICES
Electoral Registration
With elections being held in the surrounding Boroughs, electoral registration has been participating in the Electoral Commission’s ‘Got 5’ campaign in an effort to encourage increased registration. The theme of the campaign is it only takes a ‘spare’ 5 minutes to get yourself registered to vote.
The Commission’s campaigns can be found on their website: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/
Electoral Registration have also been working with our Forum partners, Hertfordshire Registrars’ Office; Council Tax and Housing - providing them with leaflets for their visitors who may be getting married, changing their name, etc., to remind them to also alter their details with electoral registration.
Councillor Harden welcomed any questions.
Cllr England asked Cllr Harden about the extent and timing of the Sports Strategy consultation - particularly assurance that the Council’s draft strategy will now be published on the resident’s portal on the website. Could he now advise the dates of the public consultation and supply a text of the consultation questions - presumably the same questions that have been put to other consultees?
Cllr Harden advised that it is due to go on to website in next few weeks, potentially in May and confirmed that he does not have the questions but will circulate when available.
Councillor Madden asked the portfolio holder support the creation of safe cycling routes
across the borough and made the following statement;
‘Some of you will be
aware that four weeks ago there was a fatal accident on the
Bennetts End roundabout, when the air ambulance was called to a
cyclist who had been in a collision with a car.
The lady who was killed was Debbie Mills, a friend of mine. Many of
you will have met her as she was the catering manager at the
Dacorum Cycle Hub since it opened last year. She was on her way to
work at the Hub that morning.
Debbie started cycling in October 2016 after I persuaded her to
join me in a 100km charity bike ride that I was training for. She,
like many other people in Dacorum, fell in love with cycling, but
acknowledged the dangers of a busy town and was meticulous in her
approach to safety with the best helmet, brightest clothing and
very careful cycling.
We have welcomed major cycling events in Dacorum in the last couple
of years, but we have very few safe, traffic free places to
encourage people to cycle locally, in contrast to towns such as
Milton Keynes that has 309kms of shared cycle/pedestrian
tracks.
I have made a pledge to Debbie’s husband and family that I will do all I can to promote safe cycling in our borough. I spoke to the manager for South West Herts Transport Strategy last week, who agreed with my views. Of course money is an issue, but I have identified several routes that I really believe can be explored without a ridiculous outlay.
Please can you, and Dacorum Borough Council, support my quest for
safe cycling across the borough and work with Hertfordshire County
Council to this end?’
Cllr Harden responded that he was extremely saddened to hear Debbie was killed in the accident. He went on to state that he is reluctant to associate the accident with cycle paths as he had not yet had opportunity to speak to police and see if that would have impacted the outcome. Cllr Harden added that he is very supportive of cycle paths, but advised that it is very much a County Council issue and he would direct Cllr Maddern to them, confirming that certainly where the borough can be of support it will.
Cllr P Hearn asked the Portfolio Holder to expand a little on the merge between the Voluntary Bureau and Community Action Dacorum and whether the Chief Executive is one of the Chief Executives previously involved with one of the two charities?
Cllr Harden advised that the information available to him suggests it will be a joint contract between Community Action Dacorum and the Dacorum Volunteer Centre, adding that his understanding is that Community Action Dacorum will be running The Volunteer Centre as part of their overall package of services and the Chief Executive of Community Action Dacorum will be Chief Executive of all.
Cllr Tindall asked, if the portfolio holder could update the council on the Tring Leisure Centre and the employment of Everyone Active on short term basis; what is going to happen with the swimming pool?
Cllr Harden advised that his understanding is that the council have asked SLM to run the service at Tring and currently the proposal is that the school will be taking on the service once the swimming pool has been updated and the various facilities the council have agreed to fund. The school is not ready to do that yet so temporary agreements are in place with SLM until school are ready.
With regard the swimming pool, plans have been finalised by contractors and they will be available to officers in due course and hopefully an update to Cabinet.
Councillor G Sutton, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Regeneration
Maylands continues to invest in its future success!
The ongoing regeneration of Maylands continues to go from strength to strength.
At the Heart of Maylands, The Kylna Court housing development continues to move forward and will create an opportunity for seven new move- on office facilities on the ground floor. This will enable the small businesses moving out of the Maylands Business Centre to take the next step in their growth journey. The new centre is due to be completed in January and work will begin now on the fit out of the business area.
Kylna Court will complement the already very successful development at Maylands Plaza which has delivered 130 new homes set around a new community hub, featuring a public square, new shops and a café, which is already proving to be a well-used and vibrant facility brining new life to the centre of Maylands Business Park
Additionally, work is continuing apace on new commercial buildings at Prologis Park Hemel Hempstead, within the new Hertfordshire Enviro-tech Enterprise Zone on Maylands Gateway, where Prologis have recently announced their first tenant as Hermes distribution with a new 80,000 sq ft distribution centre.
Work has also started on the new Maylands retail park on the Aviva (formerly Lucas Aerospace site). Offering eleven new retail units, the first occupiers will be Aldi, Costa and McDonalds with lettings to be confirmed by Aviva on the remaining units.
Councillor Sutton was happy to take questions.
Cllr Tindall commented that given the partnership of South West Herts Local Authorities, will that allow the council to have a greater influence on Hemel development and ease concerns on pressure on Hemel Hempstead infrastructure.
Cllr Sutton advised that the South West Herts partnership is aimed at working together, the fact we are all going to sit down together to discuss infrastructure will give us greater strength and allow us to discuss things like transport.
Cllr Fisher asked, are there any plans for the old market square which seems to have been left out of all the town centre work. What will happen to the business there?
Cllr Sutton responded that there is nothing he can report at the moment, it is something that will be developed for the best of the community; nothing is being ruled in or out and as soon as anything has been decided this Council will be the first to know.
Cllr Birnie commented in relation to the market place and asked, has it been allotted yet to either residential or commercial use?
Cllr Sutton responded, as his comments to Cllr Fisher, we have not come to any final decision about what will be considered commercial or residential. There are other areas being considered and developed at the moment and the market square will be considered in time
Councillor Marshall, Portfolio Holder for Environmental, Sustainability and Regulatory Services
Summer grass cutting has commenced.
The additional Garden Waste collections scheme is going well – so far 642 subscribers, which is above the total for the previous year
The annual Compost giveaway takes place at Cupid Green on Sunday 13 May, between 9 and 11 a.m. First come, first served. 2 bags of compost can be collected free of charge.
The Great British Spring Clean this year was affected by the very cold weather. Nevertheless, around 700 hardy volunteers litter picked, there were 30 groups and around 200 bags of rubbish was collected with an additional 200 bags of recyclable litter. Cupid Green will of course be always ready & willing to help provide advice together with bags & litter pick sticks and will, by arrangement, pick up the filled bags any time during the year, not just in spring.
A Clothes swap event is taking place here at the Forum on Friday 20 April to encourage reuse of textiles and raise awareness about recycling damaged textiles. There will be another such event at St Albans on the 27 April. The swap commences at 1 p.m.
A County-wide Fly-tipping campaign entitled “Let’s SCRAP Fly Tipping” started in March. The Mayor, together with the Police & Crime Commissioner David Lloyd, the Chief Constable Charlie Hall and several other senior police officers, Sir Mike Penning MP and others attended a photoshoot at a fly tipping installation set up in the Marlowes and there was an information stall too. An eye-catching Fly tipping information leaflet was circulated to all households in the Borough with the Council Tax bill. The campaign continues for the rest of this month on social media. The emphasis of the campaign is the environmental impact and the fact that fly tipping is a crime and that it is the owners of the dumped stuff that can be prosecuted, not just the waste carriers.
Allied to this, I can advise that since the last Council meeting, DBC successfully prosecuted two fly-tippers in respect of separate incidents of fly tipping in garage blocks in Grovehill. Both were fined, ordered to pay victim surcharge and costs.
Also, again since the last Council meeting, DBC successfully obtained another closure order, this time on a home in Hemel Hempstead in which the resident was using and providing drugs. The closure order last for 3 months and, as it is a DBC property, the Council will take action against the tenant.
Councillor Marshall was happy to take questions.
Cllr Ransley commented that she was pleased to hear results of litter pick and asked, as there is such interest now in plastic, she asked if DBC are taking any action on single use plastic; cups, straws, take away cups for coffee etc? Pleased to see Leader has reusable cup in front of him and hope any facilities we supply will also follow.
Cllr Marshall advised that there is a group of officers looking at plastic use in The Forum; nothing I can alert you to yet with regard DBC usage. Added that the government is going to pursue or consult on the principal of bringing in a deposit scheme for plastic containers and are encouraging organisations that use single use plastic cups.
Cllr Adshead commented that he was interested to hear what the Portfolio Holder had to say about fly tipping as there is a continuous blight of fly tipping near recycling bins at Adeyfield Square in particular; recent items that have been noted are sofas and a toilet. What can be done to target areas that we know are a real problem and a real blight?
Cllr Marshall agreed that it is a problem in certain Bring Bank sites where there is fly tipping and asked colleagues to continually report these fly tipping incidents on DBC website. The fly tips are investigated to see if there is any evidence as to who the owners of the fly tips are and we will persist in doing that. Signage will be going up in next few weeks at Bring Banks to make it clear that dumping items in these locations is fly tipping and will be prosecuted. The Council will prosecute where it finds such evidence to warrant.
Cllr England asked, has the Portfolio-holder travelled the Dacorum stretch of the A41 since the expensive DBC clean-up, and since the comms dept. PR release which advised that ‘signage had been erected in an attempt to reduce the future deposits of litter’? There is, as at last weekend, only one portable ‘no littering’ sign, along the whole 26 miles...”
Cllr Marshall responded that our signage needs to be invigorated to make it stronger and confirmed that 4 signs were purchased, 2 of which referred to lane closure. Can confirm in hand.
Cllr Ritchie asked, given increased use and reliance on volunteer groups to litter pick, can the Portfolio Holder confirm it is still the primary responsibility of the Council and its staff to pick litter, and as a measure of that, could she tell us the percentage of time the teams spend on litter picking?
Cllr Marshall advised that she is not able to give specific time allocation information now and advised Cllr Ritchie that she will come back to him and copy in the whole Council. The portfolio holder further advised that teams from Cupid Green regularly clean the main paths in the towns, villages and so on. It is not reasonable to expect every alley way and pathway to be swept and cleaned on a regular basis, there are regular road sweepings. It is difficult to keep on top of the litter and volunteers take a major role in keeping the borough as clean as it is. I don’t think we could count on the level of Council Tax that would be required to employ a huge army of street sweepers to keep whole boroughs pathway in pristine manner throughout the year.
Cllr Ritchie – I respect what has been said, can you confirm it is the responsibility of the Council, as the prime responsibly to clear the litter that is dropped endlessly in the streets of the Borough. I want confirmation it is the Council’s responsibility not the volunteers.
Cllr Marshall responded that she would hesitate to use word responsibility; it is the responsibility of residents and visitors not to drop the litter in the first place. Certainly the Council has an obligation to clear litter and to keep the streets clear where they can but there has to be a balance somewhere.
Cllr Hearn commented that Tring Town Council have a Town Warden and an Assistant Town Warden and every morning they are out cleaning the streets, which adds to the work the Borough Council do and has made a tremendous difference to the state of Tring Town.
Cllr Marshall thanked Cllr Hearn and commented that the example of Tring Town Council is excellent and she is aware of other Parish Councils that take action through their wardens to keep their areas clean.
Cllr England asked, does the Portfolio Holder think that some more litter bins might help with the problem?
Cllr Marshall asked that if councillors are aware of an area where further bins would be appropriate please let Cupid Green know so additional bins can be input if appropriate.
Councillor Elliot, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources
Commercial Assets & Property Development
We are continuing with the demolition of the Civic Centre prior to the re use of the site for housing. The stripping out of asbestos is now well advanced and the physical demolition of the structure is expected to commence during April.
The sales of underutilised garages to release a capital receipt are continuing. We currently have in the region of £5.5m of sales moving towards exchange. This will increase the supply of homes in the Borough by approximately 60 units as well as providing funds for the Capital Programme moving forward.
We have gained planning permission for the creation of a new cemetery at Bunkers park which will meet the requirements of the Borough for the next 75 years. We are currently undertaking detailed design work with contractors prior to moving towards a tender phase for the project.
Revenues & Benefits
The team have again successfully completed the annual billing process for council tax and business rates, with the issue of over 68,000 bills. We also sent around 7,500 letters to tenants and their landlords giving details of changes to housing benefit awards. We have also finished a review of council tax single person discount awards, which has led to the removal of over 600 discounts which were no longer valid, and should lead to the collection of around an extra £0.25million pounds of council tax (of which DBC’s share is about £29k)
Finance
March is consistently a busy time for the Financial Services, being the last month of the financial year. A review of performance indicators for March shows that the service continues to deliver above target in the areas of debt collection and payments processing.
March also saw the commencement of the 2017/18 interim audit by the Council’s external auditors Grant Thornton. This work is ongoing but at present no concerns have been raised.
The current focus for the service is the closing of the financial year and the subsequent publication of the 2017/18 statutory financial statements for the Council by 31st July 2018. This deadline represents a contraction of timescales from previous financial years and hence an additional challenge to the service.
Financial Services launched a targeted programme of communications across the Council, to facilitate the timely completion of financial transactions for 2017/18. This has proved successful, with the service currently on target for the delivery of key milestones for the closure of accounts.
The service is now looking ahead to the 2018/19 budget setting cycle and the refresh of the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy.
Councillor Elliott was happy to take questions.
Cllr. Tindall asked, is the Portfolio Holder aware that in February this year, the Ministry of Communities, Housing and Local Government directed English local authorities to prepare at least one investment strategy for each financial year, to be made publicly available and approved by the whole council. Can you update the council on where we are with the strategy for this year?
Cllr Elliott advised that no, he is not aware of this.
Cllr Tindall asked that the Portfolio Holder to take particular interest to the request made by the government
Cllr Elliott confirmed that he is sure officers have it in hand and will work together.
Cllr Birnie referred to the extra housing arising from sale of garages and asked if this would affordable housing?
Cllr Elliott advised that it will depend on who we sell the site to and what planning permission is given, there will be private sales to private developments.
Cllr Birnie asked, is it not the case that most of these garages are sold to Housing Associations, so would expect most to be affordable housing?
Cllr Elliott confirmed that yes that is generally the case.
Councillor Griffiths, Portfolio Holder for Housing
Cllr Williams advised that Cllr Griffiths Portfolio Holder of Housing is unavailable so will update at the next meeting.