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 Councillors Tom Tyson and Laura Williams.

Having given due notice Councillor Emma Fernandes substituted for Councillor Williams.

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

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 12 November 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 reminded Members of the adopted North Herts Scrutiny Charter and the need to ensure that the meeting was conducted with independence, initiative and integrity. The full Charter was available to Members via the Scrutiny Intranet pages.

(5)   The Chair advised of a change to the order of the agenda and Agenda Item 13 would be taken after Agenda Item 16.

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 advised that he had agreed to one item under the Urgent Proceedings regarding the Leisure Centre Decarbonisation Project and provided detail on the reasons for urgency. The Chair noted that the full Urgency Notice had been published on the Council 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 have been 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 had been submitted by Members.

To consider passing the following resolution: That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the Press and Public be excluded from the meeting on the grounds that the following report will involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the said Act (as amended).

RESOLVED: That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the Press and Public be excluded from the meeting on the grounds that the following report will involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the said Act (as amended).

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – PLACE

To consider the benefits and risks of the Council changing its current contractual arrangements into an Agency Agreement with SLM (Everyone Active) for the operation of our leisure facilities.

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET: That Overview and Scrutiny recommend to Cabinet that:

(1)   Cabinet agrees in principle to entering into an Agency Agreement with SLM (Everyone Active) for the operation of our leisure facilities, subject to the Council obtaining favourable VAT Tax advice, and varying the Contract in accordance with the external Part 2 Appendix C legal advice and Part 2 legal implications.

(2)   That the final decision on entering into the Agency Agreement be delegated to the Service Director – Place, in consultation with the Executive Member for Leisure, Environment and Green Spaces and Service Directors – Resources and Legal & Community.

REASON FOR RECOMMENDATION: To ensure the maximum financial sustainability of our leisure services, in line with our council priorities.

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – PLACE

To consider the benefits and risks of the Council changing its current contractual arrangements into an Agency Agreement with SLM (Everyone Active) for the operation of our leisure facilities.

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET: That Overview and Scrutiny recommend to Cabinet that:

(1)   Cabinet agrees in principle to entering into an Agency Agreement with SLM (Everyone Active) for the operation of our leisure facilities, subject to the Council obtaining favourable VAT Tax advice, and varying the Contract in accordance with the external Part 2 Appendix C legal advice and Part 2 legal implications.

(2)   That the final decision on entering into the Agency Agreement be delegated to the Service Director – Place, in consultation with the Executive Member for Leisure, Environment and Green Spaces and Service Directors – Resources and Legal & Community.

REASON FOR RECOMMENDATION: To ensure the maximum financial sustainability of our leisure services, in line with our council priorities.

To receive an update from the Herts Police on Youth Engagement and Youth Crime Prevention in North Herts.

Hertfordshire Constabulary provided a presentation, including slides and videos, on Youth Engagement and Crime Prevention, following which Members asked questions.

REPORT OF THE SCRUTINY OFFICER

This report highlights items scheduled in the work programme of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2024-25 civic year. It also includes items that have not yet been assigned to a specific meeting of the Committee.

RESOLVED:

(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)  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.

(3)  That the Corporate Peer Challenge Action Plan as attached at Appendix C was considered.

REASONS FOR DECISIONS:

(1)  To allow the Committee to set a work programme which provides focused Member oversight, encourages open debate and seeks to achieve service improvement through effective policy development and meaningful policy and service change.

(2)  The need to observe Constitutional requirements and monitor the Forward Plan for appropriate items to scrutinise remains a key aspect of work programming.

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – RESOURCES

This report presents progress on the Council Delivery Plan for 2024-25. This is a Quarter 2 update, but reflects progress up to the point that this report was prepared.

RESOLVED: That Overview and Scrutiny Committee determined any project that they want to receive more detail on as part of the next monitoring report.

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET: That Overview and Scrutiny Committee commented on the Council Delivery Plan Quarter 2 monitoring report, including the recommendations made to Cabinet:

(1)   That Cabinet notes the progress against Council projects as set out in the Council Delivery Plan and approves the changes to the milestones (Appendix A).

(2)   That Cabinet notes the performance against the performance indicators and confirms the actions detailed in paragraph 8.4.

REASON FOR RECOMMENDATION: The Council Delivery Plan (CDP) monitoring reports provide Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and Cabinet, with an opportunity to monitor progress against the key Council projects, and understand any new issues, risks, or opportunities.

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – PLACE

For Cabinet to agree the level of garden waste charge for the subscription period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026. The charge can be considered in relation to charges by other Local Authorities, increases in the cost of providing the service and encouraging home composting.

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET: That Cabinet approve the garden waste subscription charge for the period 1 April 2025 – 31 March 2026, at £55.

REASON FOR RECOMMENDATION: To ensure the Council’s garden waste service is financially sustainable, in line with the priorities of the Council and of the Shared waste service.

REPORT OF THE SCRUTINY OFFICER

To consider the outcome of Overview and Scrutiny Committee resolutions, decisions and referrals.

RESOLVED: That the content of the Decisions and Monitoring Tracker was noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to review and comment on actions and feedback received regarding resolutions previously made.