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 Tom Tyson and Laura Williams.

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

Audio recording – 1 minute  23 seconds

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Tom Tyson and Laura Williams.

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

Councillor Elizabeth Dennis was absent.

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.

Audio Recording – 1 minute 41 seconds

Councillor Matt Barnes, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Ralph Muncer seconded and, following a vote, it was:

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.

Audio recording – 2 minutes 30 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.

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

Audio recording – 2 minutes 35 seconds

(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.

Audio recording – 3 minutes 42 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.

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.

Audio recording – 3 minutes 47 seconds

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.

Audio recording – 4 minutes 54 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 58 seconds

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).

Audio recording – 5 minutes 04 seconds

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

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.

N.B. This item was considered in restricted session and therefore no recordings were available.

Councillor Mick Debenham, as Executive Member for Environment, Leisure and Green Spaces, presented the report entitled ‘Leisure and Active Communities Agency Model – Part 2’.

Councillor Matt Barnes, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Claire Winchester seconded and, following a vote, it was:

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.

Audio recording – 50 minutes 09 seconds

Councillor Mick Debenham, as Executive Member for Environment, Leisure and Green Spaces, presented the report entitled ‘Leisure and Active Communities Agency Model – Part 1’ and advised that:

·       In March 2023, HMRC announced changes to the VAT applicable to leisure services which meant that these could now be treated as non-business.

·       Therefore, leisure services sold, for example a gym membership, would no long need to charge VAT.

·       Several leisure providers were now looking at how arrangements could be improved for both operators and authorities.

·       A proposal had been received from SLM by the Council following this announcement and this had been discussed in detail in Part 2.

In response to a question from Councillor Ralph Muncer, the Service Director – Place advised that the new proposed scheme would commence from 1 April 2025, subject to legal agreements.

The following Members took part in the debate:

·       Councillor Jon Clayden

·       Councillor Ralph Muncer

Points raised during the debate included:

·       There were clear opportunities presented, and the reasons provided were clear, however there was concern that there were risks involved and would not be able to support this.

·       All decisions of the Council have risk, and these must be balanced against the potential benefits.

·       If the risks could be managed effectively within contract negotiations, the proposal would lead to a substantial amount of money being available to the Council to invest in services in the district.

Councillor Matt Barnes, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Tina Bhartwas seconded and, following a vote, it was:

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.

Audio recording – 55 minutes 14 seconds

Chief Inspector Hannah Treadwell, Inspector James Land, and PS Taz Gill, from Hertfordshire Constabulary, provided a presentation, including slides and videos, on Youth Engagement and Crime Prevention and advised of the following, that:

·         The purpose of this presentation was to offer Members information on Youth Engagement and Crime Prevention.

·         The Control Strategy allowed the police to deal with everything and could pick specific areas for focus depending on statistics, including anti-social behaviour figures. This meant that different priority areas within a county might be focussed on by different Community Safety teams.

·         There were several organisations involved in the prevention of youth crime and providing engagement activities with young people, including the County Children and Young Peoples team, the Child Online Safeguarding team, Missing Persons teams, as well as others both internal at Herts Police and external.

·         Overall engagement with young people at North Herts schools was good and teachers and support staff were supportive of hosting engagement activities.

·         The Police had liaised with a group called the ‘Crucial Crew’ who provided engagement services to schools. The first of these sessions took place in October 2024 and over 1000 students attended across the 10 day period and included representatives from British Transport Police, Herts Fire and Rescue and the Ambulance service.

·         These were really important sessions to look at preventing harm and risk to young people.

·         Feedback from the events was good and plans were being made to run similar events in the future.

·         These events required a large input of resources, but it was important to provide opportunities like this to save time and money down the line by trying to prevent crime from an early age, and make young people aware of the impacts of crime.

·         The force had carried out knife and alcohol test purchases at sites in North Herts, with involvement from students at North Herts College. Of the 12 stores visited, 4 failed the test. The force had made videos for social media to promote these activities.

·         They had distributed literature to hotels in the area outlining their responsibility to raise safeguarding concerns and had followed this up with tests, alongside students, at the hotels to ensure that processes were followed and that staff were aware of potential signs of abuse.

·         Sessions had previously been delivered to primary students on Violence Against Women and Girls, which was a priority for the force and the Council. It was hoped this could be expanded to secondary students and focus on the incel movement with young boys.

·         Overall there was an attempt to provide young people with a voice to direct actions taken by the police. 

·         Previous priority setting had taken place on platforms which young people did not access and this was being addressed through different engagement styles, including completing work with younger people to understand their concerns in the community.

·         They were actively working with primary schools to engage their students and understand their concerns and take this on board  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

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.

Audio recording – 2 hours 54 minutes 00 seconds

The Scrutiny Officer presented the report entitled ‘Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme’ and advised that the Chair had agreed with relevant Officers that a briefing note would be provided to Members ahead of the Task and Finish Group on S106 contributions, and this would be supplemented by Officer led training on 13 January 2025, to ensure the Group was focussed and relevant.

The Chair noted that the Corporate Peer Challenge report would come to a future Committee, alongside the Action Plan being developed by Officers, and the Integrated Care Board for Herts and West Essex were due to attend a future meeting to provide an update on dentistry provision.

Councillor Matt Barnes, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Ralph Muncer 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, 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.

Audio recording – 2 hours 9 minutes 54 seconds

Councillor Ian Albert, as Executive Member for Finance and IT, introduced the report entitled ‘Council Delivery Plan 2024-25 (Quarter 2 Update)’ and advised that:

·       The Council Delivery Plan had been developed with important input from this Committee and tried to simplify and target information to focus on the key issues.

·       Colleagues outside of this Committee should be encouraged to review this report as it provided a snapshot of the key areas being progressed with Council projects and the milestones around these.

The Service Director – Resources presented the report entitled ‘Council Delivery Plan 2024-25 (Quarter 2 Update)’ and advised that:

·       There was 1 red indicator in this quarter and a further two marginal amber indicators, which were outlined at paragraph 8.4 of the report.

·       Previously the report had contained a summary listing all projects reported with their current status, but had been taken out in quarter 1, as all projects were green, and had been omitted from this report by mistake.

·       There were currently 6 green projects and 5 amber projects and the appendix contained detail of these, with amber projects first, followed by green projects.

The Service Director – Place provided an update on the Urgent Item relating to the Leisure Centre Decarbonisation Project, as outlined in Agenda Item 6, and advised that:

·       The Cabinet paper on this had been circulated to Members of this Committee earlier today.

·       During the design stage, whilst looking at heat pump options, there were identified issues regarding the projected running costs of these, which had increased.

·       The grant front loading in 2024/25 and in order to claim the funding, evidence must be provided that the spend was incurred in the correct financial year and that the asset was owned by the Council.

·       The Council was advised that bespoke designed heat pumps could not be provided in time for the grant funding requirements. Therefore, an off-the-shelf option was required.

·       Tables 1 and 2 of the report provided the best and worst case scenarios for increases in costs. However, it should be noted these figures do not take into account additional improvements to centres being made, and further detail on these figures was expected from the contractor.

·       Table 3 of the report provided the same scale of potential increases but for the larger heat pumps.

·       There were four options being presented in the Cabinet report, and subject to agreement from Salix that the Council could pay upfront for the bespoke heat pumps and provide this as evidence of spend in the correct year, Option 4 would be recommended as the preferred option.

·       One option proposed was to only continue with the work at Royston leisure centre, as there was still a small saving possible there, and some grant funding would still be available. 

·       Further detail to the report would be added as a supplement to Cabinet, once available.

The following Members asked questions:

·       Councillor Jon Clayden

·       Councillor Louise Peace

·       Councillor Ralph Muncer

·       Councillor Matt  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70.

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.

Audio recording – 2 hours 36 minutes 40 seconds

Councillor Amy Allen, as Executive Member for Recycling and Waste Management, presented the report entitled ‘Garden Waste Charge 2025-26’ and advised that:

·       The new garden waste charge would be effective from 1 April 2025.

·       The recommendation to Cabinet was to increase the charge to £55 per year. The 50% discount for households eligible for Council Tax reduction would continue. 

·       It was not a legal requirement to collect garden waste and not all households required this service. Therefore, only households who choose to use the service would pay the fee.

·       The charge would be effective from April, rather than October, as the previous charge had been for 18 months. This would align the service better with gardening seasons and would be in line with the process in East Herts.

·       Under the new waste contract, the overall cost of garden waste collection would rise by 42% and a further inflationary increase would apply in May 2025.

·       The current charge in North Herts was one of the lowest in the county.

The following Members asked questions:

·       Councillor Ralph Muncer

·       Councillor Louise Peace

·       Councillor Claire Winchester

·       Councillor Matt Barnes

In response to questions, the Service Director – Place advised that:

·       They had not explored the option of applying a reduction to residents with multiple garden waste bins.

·       The 42% rise related to the cost of garden waste collection in the contract. The charge to residents was not rising by this percentage.

·       Future changes to the price charged were within the remit of Cabinet, but current forecasts included the £55 per year rate for future years.

·       Only one collection of the garden waste should have been missed over the Christmas period and individual issues with this would be discussed with the relevant Members.

·       She could not currently confirm any increases by neighbouring Councils, as these had not yet been published. However, it was expected that they would be increasing charges and they may be available ahead of the Cabinet decision.

In response to questions, the Service Director – Resources advised that:

·       The 2% drop off included in the report was an estimate to reflect the potential for people to leave the service. Based on previous increases to the charge, there had not been a drop in numbers, however there may be a tipping point in charging and there was potential for more than 2% to leave.

·       No commercial alternatives were known of in the area.

·       The 42% rise was specific to the unit rate for the garden waste collection in the contract and other costs had been factored into that rise.

Councillor Ian Albert advised that he had spoken to the Service Manager – Waste, who had advised there was a small error in the communication around collections over the Christmas period and a garden waste collection would take place on Saturday 11 January. The Council would be providing communication of this to residents.

As part of the debate, Councillor Ralph Muncer noted that he  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71.

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.

Audio recording – 2 hours 51 minutes 59 seconds

The Scrutiny Officer presented the report entitled ‘Scrutiny Decisions and Monitoring Tracker’ and advised that the referrals had been presented by the Chair and these had been agreed by Cabinet at the meeting on 19 November 2025.

The Chair noted that there was an error in the published document in relation to the Museum Storage referral and that going forward this report would be included in the Work Programme report.

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

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.