Agenda, decisions and 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 due notice will not be able to take part in the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Simon Bloxham and Ian Albert.

Audio recording – 4 minutes 51 seconds

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Simon Bloxham and Ian Albert.

Councillor Morgan Derbyshire was expected as a substitute for Councillor Bloxham, however it was advised that he may join later.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet Panel on Community held on 31 January 2022.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on the 31 January 2022 be approved as a true record of proceedings.

Audio recording – 5 minutes 15 seconds

Councillor Keith Hoskins proposed and Councillor Judi Billing seconded and it was:

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on the 31 January 2022 be approved as a true record of proceedings.

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 debate and vote.

(1)  The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded as well as filmed. The audio recording would be available on the NHDC website and the film recording via the NHDC YouTube channel.

(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.

Audio recording – 5 minutes 45 seconds

(1)   The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded as well as filmed. The audio recording would be available on the NHDC website and the film recording via the NHDC YouTube channel.

(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.

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 – 6 minutes 10 seconds

There was no other business notified.

To receive any petitions, comments and questions from the public including a presentation from North Herts Citizen Advice.

The following presentations were provided for the Committee:

·         Rosie Waters – North Herts Citizens Advice

·         Andy Sage – settle

·         Hannah Morton-Gray – North Herts Centre for Voluntary Services

·         Ben Negus – Herts County Council Community & People Wellbeing Team

As well as the above,  a number of other representatives of local organisations were present to contribute to the discussions.

Audio recording – 6 minutes 13 seconds

The Chair advised that there were four people in attendance to give presentations this evening, and following each of these there would be a chance for Members, Officers and public attendees to ask questions.

The Chair invited Rosie Waters, Chief Executive Officer of North Herts Citizens Advice, to provide their presentation.

Ms Waters thanked the Chair for the opportunity and gave a presentation, supported by slides, and advised of the following:

·       Nationally Citizens Advice were tracking five issues to demonstrate the effects of the cost of living on clients. These were Personal Independence Payment, energy, Council Tax arrears, charitable support at a Foodbank and energy debts.

·       In the first two quarters of this year, the number of people contacting Citizens Advice in financial crisis was up 44% compared with the same period last year.

·       Contact was coming from areas with highest deprivation, but there had been an increase in people in work seeking advice and people making contact for the first time.

·       Some of the challenges faced included a reduction in number of volunteers available, rising costs of energy and IT equipment, increase in referrals from other organisations who do not have the capacity, financial pressures with more competition for funding and increased stress on staff and volunteers.

·       The reduction in people available as volunteers had been compounded as previous volunteers move to paid, or better paid, roles at housing associations and local authorities.

·       As part of dealing with these challenges, Citizens Advice had adopted a strategy to provide preventative information, increase access to services through new access points while maintaining digital access and collaboration with other organisations.

·       Available funds were being explored to cover the core costs and increased overheads, but there had been a need to explore how they could reduce non-salary costs without affecting staff. As part of this there has been a review of non-salary aspects of employment, including offering better wellbeing support to staff.

·       Some of the support offered with cost of living issues included checking that clients were in receipt of benefits to which they are entitled, advise clients on budgeting and money management, debt management advice, energy saving advice and support with disputes and support with charitable grants where applicable.

·       There was also a need to support with related issues including housing problems and relationship breakdowns.

·       Citizens Advice had distributed £49,500 in supermarket vouchers and £18,000 in fuel grants. In addition food vouchers were distributed on a daily basis, top up fuel cards provided to those on pre-payments metres and have recently procured pre-paid sim cards for clients in need.

·       Whilst these were positive actions to support people with hardship, they were not sustainable in the long term.

The following Members asked questions:

·       Councillor Keith Hoskins

·       Councillor Judi Billing

·       Councillor Chris Lucas

·       Councillor Mandi Tandi

In response to questions, Ms Waters advised:

·       Citizens Advice have some contact with energy companies, but this has slowed as more people contact the companies directly with concerns or issues.

·       Following  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

INFORMATION NOTE OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR - ENTERPRISE

To consider the Information Note entitled ‘Cost of Living Crisis’

The Chair presented the Information Note entitled ‘Cost of Living Crisis’.

Audio recording – 76 minutes 30 seconds

The Chair presented the Information Note entitled ‘Cost of Living Crisis’.

The Chair to lead a Member’s discussion on potential actions arising from the Group Discussion.

The Chair led a discussions amongst Members and representatives present as to how the Council can facilitate schemes and support communications.

Audio recording - 76 minutes 36 seconds

The Chair led a discussion amongst Members and representatives present as to how the Council can facilitate schemes and support communications.

Anna Cotton, North Herts Communication Officer, noted that they were currently running an ‘Easing the Squeeze’ campaign, which was primarily online and provided a one-stop-shop for information from various organisations. This meeting had demonstrated that other information and support was available and it would be useful to include that on the NHDC page.

Claire Morgan, North Herts Community Engagement Team Leader, noted that the North Herts webpage was really helpful and there was a link to the County page which offered further support. Funding was also advertised by the Community Engagement Team on the Engage North Herts Facebook group and local groups should be encouraged to join this for up to date information.

Mark Hanna, Chief Executive of Age UK, advised that the highest proportion of contact to Age UK in Herts is from North Herts, and there had been an 850% increase in contacts from concerned older people. These people were generally on state pension or pension credits, they were not able to work anymore. They had been involved with food voucher distribution, wellbeing support to older people and working with partners to improve energy efficiency of clients homes.

Councillor Ralph Muncer thanked those presented this evening for their presentations and their advice would support him as a Councillor to pass the message onto his constituents. It was important to continue to communicate with organisations and individuals, which will help understanding of support available, and that this should take place through various channels, both online and offline.

Andy Sage noted that this crisis could last a long time and there was a need to ensure that schemes were sustainable and durable, and that help was geared towards longer term outcomes.

Ben Negus advised that County were regularly meeting with Districts and it was expected that a dashboard would be put together to provide details of the support available and this information could then be provided to Members with identification of areas where support is lacking.

To record any actions arising from the Group Discussion for inclusion in the Panel’s Work Programme for 2021/22.

The Chair advised that this theme would be continued at the next Cabinet Panel meeting, but would instead look at small businesses and organisations, with a view to look at their performance over the Christmas period.

The Chair noted that it would be useful to have updates on the topics discussed with those present at this meeting at a future meeting of the Cabinet Panel.

Audio recording – 87 minutes 08 seconds

The Chair advised that this theme would be continued at the next Cabinet Panel meeting, but would instead look at small businesses and organisations, with a view to look at their performance over the Christmas period.

The Chair noted that it would be useful to have updates on the topics discussed with those present at this meeting at a future meeting of the Cabinet Panel.