Issue - meetings

Annual Review of North Herts' Trading Companies - Building Control

Meeting: 22/09/2026 - Cabinet Sub-Committee (Local Authority Trading Companies' Shareholder) (Item 66)

66 ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE NORTH HERTS' TRADING COMPANIES - BUILDING CONTROL PDF 259 KB

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR – PLACE

To provide the Sub-Committee with a report upon Local Authority Trading Companies (LATCos) in which North Herts Council has a role, to enable the Sub-Committee to fulfil its role as shareholder. The LATCos in this report cover the area of building control in which the Council is one of eight equal shareholders. The committee is also requested to consider any information they wish to be included in future reports.

Decision:

RESOLVED:

(1) That the Cabinet Sub-Committee noted the report.

(2) That the Cabinet Sub-Committee provided shareholder consent to the proposed arrangements for the Building Safety Levy recommended by the Hertfordshire Building Control Board.

(3) That the Cabinet Sub-Committee made recommendations on the content of future reports and annual reviews.

REASONS FOR DECISIONS:

(1) To enable the Cabinet Sub-Committee to fulfil its role and responsibilities as shareholder in the local authority trading companies for building control.

(2) To ensure the Council appropriately discharges its new responsibilities under the Building Act in relation to the Building Safety Levy from October 2026.

Minutes:

Audio recording – 14 minutes 07 seconds

The Director – Place presented the report entitled ‘Annual Review of the North Herts’ Trading Companies – Building Control’ and advised that:

· North Herts Council was one of 8 equal shareholders relating to Hertfordshire Building Control (HBC), which had previously been provided in house until 2016. The joint service was established due to increasing costs to the individual authorities.

· The services were supplemented by consultancy arms of the business.

· Hertfordshire Building Control was celebrating its 10^th anniversary this year and the key headline was that there had been a return to profitability to the group of companies.

· Following the Grenfell Inquiry, there was a Building Safety Levy introduced which was a statutory charge to make good substandard buildings. The board had agreed that HBC should cover this on behalf of the member authorities, but this required shareholder agreement which was part of the recommendations within the report.

The following Members asked questions:

· Councillor Tamsin Thomas

· Councillor Ian Albert

In response to questions, the Director – Place advised that:

· The centralised HBC meant that there was a better economy of scale, as it was providing services to a wider area, and increased resilience in the service.

· St Albans City and District Council and Watford Borough Council were not part of HBC currently. However, prior to the pause in the Local Government Reorganisation process, it was the aim to bring all new unitary authorities into HBC.

· There was potential for growth in the services provided, including to London Boroughs and into Essex, which were both key areas of growth.

Councillor Ian Albert proposed the recommendations and this was seconded by Councillor Tamsin Thomas.

As part of the debate, Councillor Ian Albert noted that the previous Director – Place, Ian Fullstone, had been part of the set up of this company and put a significant amount of time and effort into doing so. It was a great, and successful, example of authorities working together.

Councillor Albert requested that it be noted that the Sub-Committee place on record their thanks to Ian Fullstone for his work on this. This was agreed with the other members of the Sub-Committee.

Having been proposed and seconded and, following a vote, it was: