Agenda, decisions and minutes

Members are requested to ensure that they are familiar with the attached summary of the Remote/Partly Remote Meetings Protocol. The full Remote/Partly Remote Meetings Protocol has been published and is available here: https://www.north-herts.gov.uk/home/council-and-democracy/council-and-committee-meetings.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the Council Tax Setting Committee meeting.

The Committee, Member and Scrutiny Officer undertook a roll call to ensure all those present could hear and be heard and drew attention to the Remote/Partly Remote Meetings Protocol which was noted.

Audio Recording – 35 Seconds

The Chair welcomed everyone to the Council Tax Setting Committee meeting.

The Committee, Member and Scrutiny Officer undertook a roll call to ensure all those present could hear and be heard and drew attention to the Remote/Partly Remote Meetings Protocol which was noted.

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.

There were no apologies for absence received.

Audio Recording – 1 Minute 33 Seconds

There were no apologies for absence received.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 14 January 2021.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 14 January 2021 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair; and

(2)       That, with the authorisation of the Chair, his electronic signature and initials be attached to the Minutes approved in (1) above.

Audio Recording – 1 Minute 39 Seconds

Councillor Ian Albert proposed and Councillor Sam North seconded the approval of the Minutes of 14 January 2021.

It was therefore:

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 14 January 2021 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair; and

(2)       That, with the authorisation of the Chair, his electronic signature and initials be attached to the Minutes approved in (1) above.

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 – 3 Minutes 5 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 welcomed those present at the meeting;

(2)       The Chair announced that, in accordance with Council policy, this meeting was being audio recorded as well as filmed. The audio recordings would be available to view on Mod.gov and the film recording via the NHDC Youtube channel; and

(3)       Members were reminded to make declarations of interest before an item, the detailed reminder about this and speaking rights was set out under Chair’s Announcements on the agenda.

Audio Recording – 3 Minutes 10 Seconds

(1)       The Chair welcomed those present at the meeting;

(2)       The Chair announced that, in accordance with Council policy, this meeting was being audio recorded as well as filmed. The audio recordings would be available to view on Mod.gov and the film recording via the NHDC Youtube channel; and

(3)       Members were reminded to make declarations of interest before an item, the detailed reminder about this and speaking rights was set out under Chair’s Announcements on the agenda.

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

There was no public participation.

Audio Recording – 3 Minutes 35 Seconds

There was no public participation.

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – RESOURCES

The purpose of this report is to obtain approval for the Council Tax requirement and the overall Council Tax rates for the district of North Hertfordshire for 2021/22.

Decisions as per the Addendum Report.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That it be noted that at its meeting on 14 January 2021 the Council Tax Setting Committee confirmed the amount 49,396.90 as its Council Tax base for the year 2021/2022 in accordance with regulation 3 of the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 2012 (the Regulations).

Audio Recording – 3 Minutes 39 Seconds

The Service Director – Resources presented the Addendum Report entitled Council Tax Resolution 2021/2022.

The Service Director – Resources advised that on 23 February 2021, Hertfordshire County Council and the Hertfordshire Police & Crime Commissioner formally requested their precept.

The Service Director – Resources affirmed that Council had approved an increase in Council Tax. However, a referendum on the Council Tax level was not required.

Prior to the vote, Councillor Claire Strong declared that she was a resident of Holwell which was one of the Parishes detailed in the recommendations.

The recommendations, as per the addendum report, were proposed by Councillor Ian Albert and seconded by Councillor Sam North.

In accordance with the Constitution, Standing Order 4.8.16 (h) (i), the Chair requested a Recorded Vote.

The result of the recorded vote was:

For: Councillors Ian Albert, David Levett, Sam North and Martin Stears-Handscomb. Total  4

Against: Total 0

Abstain: Councillor Claire Strong. Total 1

It was:

RESOLVED:

(1)       That it be noted that at its meeting on 14 January 2021 the Council Tax Setting Committee confirmed the amount 49,396.90 as its Council Tax base for the year 2021/2022 in accordance with regulation 3 of the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 2012 (the Regulations).