Agenda and decisions

Members are required to notify any substitutions by midday on the day of the meeting.

Late substitutions will not be accepted and Members attending as a substitute without having given the due notice will not be able to take part in the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Tina Bhartwas.

Having given due notice Councillor Cllr Emma Fernandez substituted for Councillor Bhartwas.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 12 March 2024.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 12 March 2024 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Members should notify the Chair of other business which they wish to be discussed at the end of either Part I or Part II business set out in the agenda. They must state the circumstances which they consider justify the business being considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chair will decide whether any item(s) raised will be considered.

There was no other business notified.

Members are reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and are required to notify the Chair of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda.  Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item. Members declaring a Declarable Interest, wishing to exercise a ‘Councillor Speaking Right’, must declare this at the same time as the interest, move to the public area before speaking to the item and then must leave the room before the debate and vote.

(1)   The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be recorded.

(2)   The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

(3)   The Chair advised that for the purposes of clarification clause 4.8.23(a) of the Constitution does not apply to this meeting.

(4)   The Chair advised a change in the order of the published agenda. Agenda items 15 – 18 would be considered after item 8, followed by items 11 – 14 and finally items 9 and 10.  The Chair noted that a supplementary document relating to questions from Members along with the provided answers had been published regarding Agenda Items 17 and 18 of the published agenda.

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

There was no public participation at this meeting.

The Chair to report on any urgent or general exception items which required their agreement. At the time of printing the agenda, the Chair had not agreed any urgent or general exception items.

The Chair noted two urgent items in relation to the Leisure Investment Options and Award of the Waste Collection and Street Cleaning Contract.

The Forward Plan of Executive Key Decisions was published on Tuesday 28 May 2024, which listed both matters as being considered as Part 1 and Part 2 reports at the Cabinet meeting on 25 June 2024 and the Cabinet meeting on 9 July, respectively. However, the required 28-day private notices were not published ahead of the decision being taken.

Both matters were commercially sensitive, and the decisions could not practicably be delayed to the next Cabinet meeting in September 2024 as they were time critical.

As per the requirements, the Council obtained the agreement of the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and the formal notices were published on the Council’s website.

To consider any matters referred to the Committee for a decision in relation to a call-in of decision. At the time of printing the agenda, no items of business had been called-in.

There were no called-in items.

To receive and respond to any questions from Members either set out in the agenda or tabled at the meeting.

No questions were submitted by Members.

To consider passing the following resolution: That under Section 100A of theLocal Government Act1972, thePress andPublic beexcluded fromthe meeting  on  the  grounds  that  the  following  report  will  involve  the  likelydisclosure of exemptinformation asdefined inParagraph 3of Part1 ofSchedule 12A of the said Act (as amended). 

RESOLVED: That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the said Act (as amended).

To take as read and approve as a true record the Part 2 minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 7 November and 5 December 2023.

RESOLVED:That the Part 2 Minutes of the Meetings of the Committee held on 7 November and 5 December 2023 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – PLACE

To consider and comment on the Leisure Investment Options available to theCouncil.

RECOMMENDED:

2.1       To take this Part 2 report into consideration when reaching the decisions         detailed in Part 1.

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – PLACE

To consider and comment on the Leisure Investment Options available to theCouncil.

RECOMMENDED:

That Overview and Scrutiny recommends to Cabinet:

That Cabinet takes into account the matters set out in the Part 2 report when reaching the following decisions:

2.1       That Cabinet agree in principle to terminate the Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Centrica contracts at North Herts Leisure Centre (NHLC) and Hitchin Swimming and Fitness Centre (HSFC) at the appropriate time during the PSDS project and recommend to Council as per 2.6 below regarding the termination fee.

2.2       That Cabinet expresses its profound disappointment at the position taken by Centrica over the cost of the CHP contract termination, given the company's stated position as "Energising a greener, fairer future" and requests that the Council continues to raise, and seek solutions to, the issue of long-term inflexible agreements for gas CHPs with Salix and Government, which will inevitably prevent many public sector organisations from achieving their net zero ambitions.

2.3       That Cabinet does not approve the business case for Royston Leisure Centre Learner Pool at this time due to matters identified in the part 2 report.

2.4       That the Project Board keep business case under review and meaningful and legitimate work to explore all funding options is undertaken for Royston learner pool.

That Cabinet recommends to Council:

2.5       an increase in capital expenditure of £2.4m into the capital programme for the decarbonisation work to the three leisure centres. The overall budget will be profiled across 2024/25 and 2025/26

2.6       an increase in the capital budget of £250k for the Royston Leisure Centre (RLC) gym extension, to ensure the extension is built to net zero carbon standards.

2.7       approval of revenue expenditure of up to £757k for termination and removal fees of the gas CHPs at North Herts Leisure Centre and Hitchin Fitness and Swimming Centre. This would be funded from General Fund reserves

RESOLVED: That the 3Cs Information provided was noted.

RESOLVED:

The content of the Vice Chair’s report, attached as Appendix A, was noted and findings included within were endorsed.

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – RESOURCES

This report presents progress on delivering the Council Delivery Plan for 23-24 at the end of year.  

RESOLVED:

That Overview and Scrutiny Committee request more detail as part of the next monitoring report on the process for adding new projects to the plan and ensuring that it reflects priorities.

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – RESOURCES

To  consider  and  provide  comments  on  the  adoption  of  Council  keyperformance indicators for 2024/25.

RECOMMENDED:

2.1.      That Overview and Scrutiny recommend to Cabinet that the performance indicators set out in paragraph 8.3 be adopted for 2024/25.

2.2       The additional performance measure of Staff Satisfaction measures be incorporated into future reports.

RECOMMENDED: That the report entitled ‘Resolutions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’ was noted.

RECOMMENDED:

2.1.      That the Committee prioritises topics for inclusion in the Work Programme attached as Appendix A and, where appropriate, determines the high-level form and timing of scrutiny input.

2.2.      That the Committee, having considered the most recent iteration of the Forward Plan, as attached at Appendix B, suggests a list of items to be considered at its meetings in the coming civic year.

2.3       That the Corporate Peer Challenge Action Plan as attached at Appendix C be considered.