Decisions

There were no items for consideration under the exclusion of the public.

None.

None.

Resolved:

That the following be approved:

13 November 2018

CA/091/18       REVIEW OF GAMBLING ACT STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES

Council endorse the revised draft Statement of Principles under the Gambling Act 2005 for the period 2019 – 2022, and refer it to Full Council for approval and adoption.

None.

None.

TO BE CONSIDERED SUBSEQUENT TO AGENDA ITEM: Cabinet Referral 7.1

1)         It be noted that the Cabinet, at its meeting on 11 December 2018, calculated the following amounts for the year 2019/20 in accordance with regulations made under Section 31B (3) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended), as inserted by Section 74 of the Localism Act 2011:-

(a)        57,270.20 being the figure calculated by the Council in accordance with regulation 3 of The Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) (England) Regulations 2012 as its Council Tax base for the year;

(b)        the amounts in Table 1 of this report (Tax Base for each part of the Council’s area to which one or more special items relate) being the amounts calculated by the Cabinet in accordance with regulation 6 The Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) (England) Regulations 2012 as the amounts of its Council Tax base for the year for dwellings in such parts;

2)         the following amounts be now calculated by the Council for the year 2019/20 in accordance with Sections 31A and 31B and Sections 34 and 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended) (referred to as “the Act”):

            (a)        £143,789,041.64         being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A (2) of the Act, taking account of all precepts;

            (b)        £131,441,000.00         being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A (3) of the Act, including the aggregate of the sums which the Council estimates will be payable for the year into its General Fund in respect of redistributed Non-Domestic Rates and Revenue Support Grant;

            (c)        £12,348,041.64           being the amount by which the aggregate at 2)(a) above exceeds the aggregate at 2)(b) above, calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 31A(4) of the Act as its Council Tax requirement for the year;

(d)        £215.61           being the amount at 2)(c) above, divided by 1)(a) above, calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 31B (1)  of the Act as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year;

(e)        £816,114.17    being the aggregate amount of all special items referred to in Section 34(1) of the Act;

(f)        £201.36           being the amount at 2)(d) above, less the result given by dividing the amount at 2)(e) above by the amount at 1)(a) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 34(2) of the Act as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which no special item relates;

(g)

Band D charge for Parish and District combined), being the amounts given by adding to the amount at 2)(f) above, the amounts of the special item or items relating to dwellings in those parts of the Council’s area mentioned above divided in each case by the amount at 1)(b) above, calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 34(3) of the Act, as the basic amounts of its Council Tax for the year for dwellings in parts of its area to which special items relate;

3)         it be noted that for the year 2019/20 Hertfordshire County Council have stated the amounts in precepts issued to the Council in accordance with Section 40 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 for each of the categories of dwellings as set out in table 3;

4)         That it be noted that for the year 2019/20 the Hertfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner has proposed the amounts in precepts issued to the Council in accordance with Section 40 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 for each of the categories of dwellings as set out in table 3;

5)         That having calculated the aggregate in each case of the amounts at 2)(g), 3) and 4) above the Council in accordance with Section 30(2) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, hereby set the amounts set out in Table 3 of the report as the amounts of Council Tax for the year 2019/20 for each part of the area and for each of the categories of dwellings shown;

6)         It be noted that in setting the Council Tax for 2019/20 the Council is required to have taken account of the report of the Chief Financial Officer on the robustness of the budget.

7)    Agree the following determinations in respect of council tax charges for empty properties under sections 11, 11A and 11B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended), to remain in effect until varied of revoked by determination:

•           From 1 April 2019 - for unoccupied and unfurnished properties undergoing major repairs or structural works (prescribed class D), a 100% discount for one month and then a full charge.

•           From 1 April 2019 - for unoccupied and unfurnished properties (prescribed class C), a 100% discount for one month, and then a full charge.

•           From 1 April 2019 – for unoccupied and unfurnished properties which have been empty for more than two years, a 100% premium (total of twice normal charge)

•           From 1 April 2020 – for unoccupied and unfurnished properties which have been empty for more than five years, a 200% premium (total of three times normal charge)

•           From 1 April 2021 – for unoccupied and unfurnished properties which have been empty for more than 10 years, a 300% premium (total of four times normal charge).

1.    That Council confirm the following Polling Stations for the elections to be held on 2 May 2019:

1. That the administrators of the Church Hall, St Mary and Joseph, on St John’s Road be approached to host the Polling Station Boxmoor Ward, polling district AGB. In the event of the Church Hall not being available then Camelot RFC be confirmed as the temporary Polling Station for the AGB District for the election on 2 May 2019.

2. That the polling station for Tring East Ward, polling district DAA, be moved from Grove Road Primary School to the Scout Hut, Grove Road.

3. That the polling station for the Nash Mills Ward, polling districts BA, BAA, and BAB, be moved from Nash Mills C of E School to Nash Mills Parish Village Hall, Lower Road, Nash Mills

4. That, in the event that Communal Hall is not available, electors in polling district AC will be redirected to the temporary Polling Station in Adeyfield Community Centre; where they will be admitted through a separate entrance

2.    That Council agree to amend theTHE BOROUGH OF DACORUM (PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCIES POLLING DISTRICTS AND POLLING PLACES) ORDER 2011 to include the changes noted in (a-d) above noting that Camelot RFC will be used for the May 2019 election and will revert to St Mary & Joseph, Boxmoor thereafter.

(Note: since the above meeting St Mary and St Joseph have been contacted and due to the existence of a number of prior bookings they cannot provide the facilities we require for a polling station for the local elections in May 2019. However they have confirmed that they would be prepared to be the venue for the Polling Station in future years.)

The following changes were agreed:

Move Group meetings from 18 February 2020 to 25 February 2020

Move Council from 19 February 2020 to 26 February 2020

Move Call-in contingency from 26 February 2020 to 19 February 2020

Councillor Mills will be replacing Councillor Clark on Development Management Committee with immediate effect.

The following motion proposed by Councillor Fisher was agreed:

The Council has demonstrated its concern with the serious problem of modern slavery by providing awareness training for staff and members. However the Council needs to press ahead with work to ensure that its supply chain is free from any taint of modern slavery.

It therefore resolves to sign the Charter Against Modern Slavery put forward by the Co-operative Party and already signed by over eighty councils of various political complexions.

This pledges to:

1.    Train its corporate procurement team to understand modern slavery through the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply’s (CIPS) online course on Ethical Procurement and Supply.

2.    Require its contractors to comply fully with the Modern Slavery Act 2015, wherever it applies, with contract termination as a potential sanctions for non-compliance.

3.    Challenge any abnormally low-cost tenders to ensure they do not rely upon the potential contractor practising modern slavery.

4.    Highlight to its suppliers that contracted workers are free to join a trade union and are not to be treated unfairly for belonging to one.

5.    Publicise its whistle-blowing system for staff to blow the whistle on any suspected examples of modern slavery.

6.    Require its tendered contractors to adopt a whistleblowing policy which enables their staff to blow the whistle on any suspected examples of modern slavery.

7.    Review its contractual spending regularly to identify any potential issues with modern slavery.

8.    Highlight for its suppliers any risks identified concerning modern slavery and refer them to the relevant agencies to be addressed.

9.    Refer for investigation via the National Crime Agency’s national referral mechanism any of its contractors identified as a cause for concern regarding modern slavery.

10.  Report publicly on the implementation of this policy annually.

The Council will take a lead locally in the fight against modern slavery.

There were no referrals from Overview & Scrutiny.

Resolved:

The following referrals from Cabinet on 12 February were approved.

7.1       CA/018/19 – Budget 2019/20

General Fund Revenue Estimate

a) set a Dacorum Borough Council General Fund Council Tax requirement of £11.532m, and a provisional amount of £12.348m for the combined Borough Council and Parish Councils’ requirement for 2019/20;

b) approve an increase of 2.99% in Council Tax for Dacorum Borough Council;

c) approve the base estimates for 2019/20, as shown in Appendix A1, and the indicative budget forecasts for 2019/20 – 2022/23, as shown in Appendix A2;

d) approve the forecast balances of Revenue Reserves as shown in Appendix J, and approve section 10 of this report as the updated Reserves Strategy;

e) approve increases in Fees and Charges for 2019/20 as set out in Appendices C3, D3, and E3;

f) approve and adopt the Treasury Management Strategy for 2019/20, attached at Appendix K;

g) approve and adopt the Treasury Management Principles and Practices for 2019/20, attached at Appendix L;

h) approve and adopt the Capital Strategy for 2019/20, attached at Appendix M;
 

i) note that this budget paper, if approved by Council, will form part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

Capital Programme

j) approve the revised Capital Programme and Capital Strategy for 2018/19, and for 2019/20 to 2022/23, as
detailed in Appendix I and Appendix M respectively;

k) approve the financing proposals in Appendix I subject to an annual review of the financing options by the Corporate Director (Finance & Operations), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources, during the preparation of the Statement of Accounts.

Housing Revenue Account (HRA)

l) reduce dwelling rents by 1% in accordance with government legislation, resulting in an average rent of £100.08 per week (based on 52 weeks);

m) approve the HRA estimate for 2019/20 as shown in Appendix F.

7.2       CA/019/19 – Period 9 Budget Monitoring Report

Cllr Williams mentioned the Period 9 Budget Monitoring Report and resolve to recommend.

Cllr Griffiths seconded the report and this was agreed by Council.

7.3       CA/021/19 – Senior Officer Pay

Cllr Williams put forward the proposals for Senior Officers Pay for 2019/20 to be resolved to recommend.

Cllr Griffiths seconded the report and this was agreed by Council.

7.4       CA/022/19 – Growth and Infrastructure

Cllr Williams asked for the Growth and Infrastructure Strategy to be resolved to recommend.

Cllr Griffiths seconded the proposals and this was agreed by Council.

None.

None.

1.      By the Mayor:

There were no announcements from the Mayor.

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, Conway, Fethney, Mclean, Ransley, Taylor and Whitman and apologies for the late arrival of Councillor Imarni.

4.    By the  Leader and Members of the Cabinet:

(Full details are in the minutes under Announcements of the Leader and Cabinet).

There was no public participation.

Councillor Douris declared an interest in a company in which he has some shares in, who rent properties from Dacorum Borough Council.

The minutes of the meeting held on 16 January 2019 were agreed by the Members present and then signed by the Mayor.