Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

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 Dominic Griffiths and Ralph Muncer.

Having given due notice, Councillor Matt Barnes substituted for Councillor Griffiths.

Audio recording – 1 minute 28 seconds

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Dominic Griffiths and Ralph Muncer.

Having given due notice, Councillor Matt Barnes substituted for Councillor Griffiths.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 11 March 2025 and 6 May 2025.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meetings of the Committee held on 11 March 2025 and 6 May 2025 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Audio Recording – 1 minute 46 seconds

Councillor Claire Winchester, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Jon Clayden seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 11 March 2025 and 6 May 2025 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.

Audio recording – 2 minutes 36 seconds

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.

Audio recording – 2 minutes 43 seconds

N.B. Councillor David Chalmers entered the Council Chamber at 19:33.

(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.

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

There was no public participation at this meeting.

Audio recording – 4 minutes 2 seconds

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.

No urgent or general exception items were received.

Audio recording – 4 minutes 7 seconds

No urgent or general exception items were received.

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.

Audio recording – 4 minutes 11 seconds

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.

Audio recording – 4 minutes 15 seconds

No questions had been submitted by Members.

INFORMATION NOTE OF THE CUSTOMER AND DIGITAL SERVICES MANAGER

This information note is to provide an update on the full year (24/25) performance regarding the Comments, Compliments and Complaints (3C’s) for the Council the and the contractors that provide services on the Council’s behalf. This briefing accompanies the 3C’s dashboard at Appendix A, and the breakdown of the 3C’s by service and type at Appendix B.

Councillor Val Bryant, as Executive Member for Customer Experience, presented the information note entitled ‘Full Year Update on Comments, Compliments and Complaints (3C’s) 24/25’, which was followed by a verbal update from the Customer and Digital Services Manager on the current performance of the Customer Service Centre, following which Members asked questions.

Audio recording – 4 minutes 23 seconds

Councillor Val Bryant, as Executive Member for Customer Experience, presented the Information Note entitled ‘Full Year Update on Comments, Compliments and Complaints (3C’s) 24/25’ and advised that:

·             This Information Note included a comparison of data with 2023/24.

·             The number of compliments received by the Council had decreased and complaints, including those to contractors, had increased which was attributed to the change in leisure contract detailed at paragraph 3.10 of the information note.

·             The percentage of Stage 1 complaints resolved within ten days had increased to 91% which was well above the 80% target.

·             The percentage of visits and interactions with the Council resulting in a complaint remained below 1%.

·             Urbaser saw a 73% decrease in complaints received compared with the previous year.

·             The Council and their contractors received 184 compliments across a variety of service areas as shown at Appendix B.

·             24 Stage 2 complaints were received across all service areas but only 9 were justified to be escalated to senior managers.

·             5 complaints were received from the local ombudsman and 2 of these were upheld for fault and injustice and 3 were closed after initial enquiries.

·             Monthly meetings were arranged with the Customer and Digital Services Manager to discuss Customer Service Centre (CSC) related issues.

·             CSC staffing had been problematic through some parts of the year but was now at a good level.

·             The leisure contract change had caused call volume to increase greatly from April to September 2024.

·             Call volume had also increased due to increased resident anxiety which was attributed to some major events throughout the year.

·             One of these was Council Tax reminders which were sent to residents earlier in the year and required residents to use a new reference number and a huge number could not find this. This was being investigated to make sure that in future, anxieties stemming from new systems like this were pre-empted.

·             Increased resident anxiety had also come from the garden waste invoices which some residents had perceived to be a scam. Due to the timing of a police message through Herts Connected which advised residents to contact the business directly if they were unsure, call volume had increased from this as well.

·             To reduce resident anxiety resulting from Council correspondence, they would trial human blind testing on documents before they were sent out to residents to test that officer and Member perception matched that of residents.

·             A suggestion had been made to create another resident panel to focus on pinpointing problems on forms and applications before they were formally introduced to reduce the likelihood of resident anxiety resulting from these. 

·             Work would begin to take place on digital inclusion to ascertain the data on digitally excluded residents and how the Council could better reach them through their communication streams. Funding had been dedicated to this and an officer had been recruited to work on digital inclusion, however, they were still at the initial stages of this process.

·             The Council had a team  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

INFORMATION NOTE OF THE SHARED SERVICE MANAGER – WASTE MANAGEMENT

At the meeting of Cabinet on 9 July 2024 the Council agreed to award the new waste, recycling and street cleansing contract to Veolia UK Ltd. This contract has subsequently been mobilised with the contract beginning on 4 May 2025. Service changes as part of the new contract are due to commence on 4August 2025.  

Councillor Amy Allen, as Executive Member for Environment, presented the information note entitled ‘Update on Mobilisation of Waste Collection and Street Cleansing Contract’, following which Members asked questions.

Audio recording – 44 minutes 0 seconds

Councillor Amy Allen, as Executive Member for Environment, presented the Information Note entitled ‘Update on Mobilisation of Waste Collection’ and advised that:

·             The new waste, recycling and street cleansing contract with Veolia had commenced on 4 May.

·             Mobilisation of the contract had created minimum disruption to residents. 

·             Teams were working behind the scenes on IT integrations.

·             The delivery of the electric vehicles was delayed due to a manufacturer issue which was out of the control of the Council.

·             Over 90% of the new bins had been delivered to North Herts residencies.

·             The first draft of the new proposed collection routes had been received and was being examined by officers.

·             Service leaflets had been finalised and would be sent to print in addition to letters that would be printed to inform residents of the new proposed route changes.

·             They had successfully recruited for the Waste Communications Officer role and an advert had been released for the Waste Contract Officer vacancy.

The following Members asked questions:

·             Councillor Matt Barnes

·             Councillor Elizabeth Dennis

·             Councillor Daniel Wright-Mason

·             Councillor Paul Ward

·             Councillor Claire Winchester

·             Councillor Matt Barnes

In response to questions, the Shared Service Manager – Waste advised that:

·             It was difficult to accurately predict the increase in call volumes that the waste contract change might bring, however, additional calls were anticipated, and extra CSC staff had been provisioned for this.

·             The Council received 4,000 emails in an average 3-month period. However, during the waste service change in 2018, they received 19,000 over 3 months due to the glitches and data issues that it created.

·             However, they knew where they went wrong last time through data analysis and would look at ways to prevent recurrences of issues.

·             Phone lines would be available to those who needed additional support and waste officers could respond to problem areas when needed if they could not be resolved over the phone.

·             The provision of waste vehicles was part of the Veolia contract, therefore the delay to the delivery of the electric vehicles would incur no additional costs for the Council as Veolia would finance an alternative in the meantime.

·             Residents that already required additional waste support services were accounted for and were being contacted regarding the new collection system. They were contacting medical services to make them aware of the service change so they could make spread awareness of the additional services that the Council offered. More residents were coming forward regarding special waste needs and they were being added to their database.

·             The probability for the Material Recycling Facility Contract had reduced to 1 in the Mobilisation Risk Log. It had been procured and was operational as the incumbent supplier was awarded the contract which meant that the transition was seamless. They were in the process of getting the contract signed but no issues were anticipated with the service change.

·             Most outstanding new bin deliveries were due to technical glitches in the system and these would be checked over the next  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

REPORT OF THE SCRUTINY OFFICER

Annual Report of work undertaken by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the Civic Year 2024/25.

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL: That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered and commented on the Annual Report of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee 2024/25 as attached at Appendix A.

REASON FOR RECOMMENDATION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider and comment on the report of the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee regarding the work of the Committee in the 2024/2025 Civic Year prior to consideration by Council.

Audio recording – 1 hour 0 minutes 7 seconds

Councillor Matt Barnes, as the Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee in the Civic Year 2024/2025, presented the report entitled ‘Annual Report of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee 2024/2025’ and advised that:

·             The report set out the work undertaken by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee over the previous Civic Year 2024/25.

·             The report also contained a foreword which highlighted some of the notable achievements of the Committee in the same period.

Councillor Matt Barnes thanked all Members of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee in 2024/25 for their contributions and thanked the Scrutiny Officer for her support throughout the year.

The Chair thanked Councillor Barnes for ensuring an easy transition process from Committee Member to Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Daniel Allen, as Leader of the Council, put on record his thanks to all Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in the Civic Year 2024/25 for holding Cabinet to account in this period and for the ideas that they had conceived.

Councillor Jon Clayden thanked the Chair and Vice Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in the Civic Year 2024/25 for being supportive through the transition process from Committee Member to Vice Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Jon Clayden proposed and Councillor Matt Barnes seconded and following a vote, it was:

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL: That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered and commented on the Annual Report of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee 2024/25 as attached at Appendix A.

REASON FOR RECOMMENDATION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider and comment on the report of the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee regarding the work of the Committee in the 2024/2025 Civic Year prior to consideration by Council.

REPORT OF THE SCRUTINY OFFICER

This report highlights items scheduled in the work programme of the Overview and Scrutiny
Committee for the 2025-26 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, suggest 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 be 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.

Audio recording - 1 hour 3 minutes 17 seconds

The Scrutiny Officer presented the report entitled ‘Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2025-26’ and advised that:

·             Following the work programme workshop delivered by the Centre for Governance on Tuesday 13 May, Members agreed an initial Work Programme for the Civic Year 2025-26 which was attached at Appendix A to the report.

·             Two items on the Pay on Exit Parking Scheme and North Herts Town Centres Strategy were scheduled to be presented at this Committee meeting. However, they had been deferred to a later meeting of the Committee and officers had given reasons for the delay which were outlined in the Supplementary Document to the report.

·             Members were reminded that they could suggest topics for the Work Programme or Task and Finish groups in the meeting, to the Chair or Vice Chair or by emailing the Scrutiny Officer.

·             The Section 106 Task and Finish Group met on Monday 30 April to finalise the scoping document.

·             Another meeting was being scheduled to address any questions on scope or S106 obligation with the Strategic Planning Officer and to have a discussion with the Communications Officer on a consultation.

·             The Local Government Association Peer Review actions were attached at Appendix C to the report to allow Members to review their progress. 

·             Information regarding referrals was detailed in the decisions and monitoring log.

In response to a question from Councillor Paul Ward, the Scrutiny Officer advised that the main reason the Strategic Project Board had agreed to defer the report of the Town Centres Strategy was because they felt that it needed to be of a better standard before being presented to both the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet.

Councillor Daniel Allen also advised that had the Town Centres Strategy been presented to both committees, it would not have been representative of all towns in North Herts, therefore further work would take place to ensure that the needs of each town were considered within the strategy.  

Councillor Matt Barnes took part in the debate and expressed disappointment that the report for the Pay on Exit Parking Scheme had not been presented at this Committee meeting but understood the reasons for its deferral. He also encouraged Members to put forward items for consideration to be put onto the Work Programme and highlighted topics on Crime and Disorder Issues and Health Partners that were not currently on the Work Programme. 

Councillor Sadie Billing proposed and Councillor Jon Clayden seconded and, following a vote, it was:

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, suggest 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 be considered.

REASONS FOR  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.