Decisions

(1)  The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio 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 for the purposes of clarification for that 4.8.23(a) of the Constitution did not apply to this meeting.

There was no other business notified.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 14 December 2022 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors David Levett, Terry Hone and Simon Bloxham.

RESOLVED:That the Committee endorsed the actions taken by the Community Engagement Team to promote greater community capacity and well-being for Letchworth.

A verbal presentation was received from PS Lisa Perks of Hertfordshire Constabulary.

The following items were discussed in relation to Ward Matters and Outside Organisations:

·         Mrs Howard Memorial Hall

·         Settle Community Day

·         Traffic around the Grange Estate

·         Councillors Surgery on 18 March 2023

·         Outside Organisations Survey 2022/23

RESOLVED: That the Committee allocated £898 to Green Care at Norton CIC towards equipment for the next phase of their development as outlined in paragraphs 8.1.1-8.1.7 of the officer’s report.

RESOLVED:That the Committee allocated £1,160 to Letchworth Garden Shed towards shelving units and repair day equipment as outlined in paragraphs 8.1.8-8.1.12 of the officer’s report.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet:

(1)  Noted the forecast expenditure of £8.370M in 2022/23 on the capital programme, paragraph 8.3 refers.

(2)  Approved the adjustments to the capital programme for 2022/23 onwards, as a result of the revised timetable of schemes detailed in table 2 and 3, increasing the estimated spend in 2023/24 by £1.554M.

(3)  Noted the position of the availability of capital resources, as detailed in table 4 paragraph 8.6 and the requirement to keep the capital programme under review for affordability.

(4)  Considered the position of Treasury Management activity as at the end of December 2022.

REASONS FOR DECISIONS:

(1)  Cabinet is required to approve adjustments to the capital programme and ensure the capital programme is fully funded.

(2)  To ensure the Council’s continued compliance with CIPFA’s code of practice on Treasury Management and the Local Government Act 2003 and that the Council manages its exposure to interest and capital risk.

RESOLVED:That Cabinet:

(1)  Noted the report.

(2)  Approved the changes to the 2022/23 General Fund budget, as identified in table 3 and paragraph 8.3, a £1.060million decrease in net expenditure.

(3)  Approved the changes to the 2023/24 General Fund budget, as identified in table 3 and paragraph 8.3, a total £532k increase in net expenditure.

(4)  Approved the use of £140k of salary budget carry-forward for additional Service Director capacity for an 18- month period, and that the allocation of the remainder (if needed) will be delegated to the Managing Director (as Head of Paid Service), in consultation with the Leader, Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Finance and IT.

REASONS FOR DECISIONS: Members are able to monitor, make adjustments within the overall budgetary framework and request appropriate action of Services who do not meet the budget targets set as part of the Corporate Business Planning process.

RESOLVED: The Cabinet approved the RIPA Policy as amended (Appendix A).

REASON FOR DECISION: To comply with best practice guidance.

RESOLVED:

(1)  That the Council’s current Statement of Community Involvement should be revised and replaced having regard to the factors outlined in this report.  

(2)  That the revised draft Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) as attached as Appendix A to this report, be noted and approved for a six week public consultation.

REASON FOR DECISIONS: Officers consider that the SCI should be updated to reflect the change in emphasis from preparing the local plan to its implementation, particularly through masterplanning

RESOLVED: That Cabinet approved:

(1)  A Competitive Procedure with Negotiation (CPN) procedure for the procurement of the Leisure Management contract.

(2)  The delegation of powers to the Director of Place in consultation with project board, in relation to decisions associated with the development of the procurement strategy.

(3)  The letting of a 10-year contract with an option to extend by up to 5 years.

(4)  The combining of the existing three contracts into a single contract, using the nationally recognised Sport England contract format, in order to secure economies of scale and to attract the most interest from the operator market.

(5)  To continue with the principle of the existing contractual shared risk approach to utilities and maintenance.

REASONS FOR DECISIONS: the leisure management contract. expire on 31 March 2024. These recommendations ensure the procurement will be managed effectively to ensure the successful ongoing provision of leisure services in North Herts. The Procurement offers an opportunity to review the existing specification and provide a clear policy position on its approach to the future delivery of sports, leisure, physical activity and wellbeing across the district. 

There was no other business notified.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 31 January 2023 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Sean Prendergast.

The Chair advised that each referral would be considered under the relevant agenda item.

RESOLVED:

(1)  That the proposed structure and breadth of the draft Sustainability SPD was approved.

(2)  That the issues and points raised by the Cabinet Panel on the Environment were noted.

(3)  That, for the purposes of developing the draft SPD, Cabinet endorsed the principles of:

·         A tiered approach to assessing the sustainability of new buildings in terms of both built fabric and operational efficiency; and

·         Investigation of the application of parking standards, both residential and non-residential, with aview to reducing or offsetting them where appropriate.

REASON FOR RECOMMENDATION: To allow the Sustainability SPD to be progressed so that it may be publicly consulted upon with a view to being adopted.

RESOLVED: Cabinet considered and formally approved the Council Delivery Plan to be monitored throughout 2023/2024 by Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

REASONS FOR DECISION: An approved Council Delivery Plan provides the Cabinet with assurance that progress against achievement of the Council Plan objectives, will be monitored throughout 2023/24.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet noted the:

(1)  Progress against Council projects as set out in the Council Delivery Plan (Appendix A) including changes to milestone dates and risks.

(2)  Completion of the Business Recovery Grants, EV Charging for Council Vehicles and the Help Residents make payments at convenient Location milestones for this year.

(3)  Reduction in the Local Plan risk score from a 9, to a risk score of 6 following the end of the Judicial review period.

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

There was no public participation.

(1)  The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council policy this meeting would be audio recorded.

(2)  The Chair reminded Member that the Council has declared a Climate Emergency. This was a serious decision and means that, as this was an emergency, all of us, Officers and Members had that in mind as we carried out our various roles and tasks for the benefit of our District. More details were included on the agenda front sheet.

(3)  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.

(4)  The Chair advised that for the purposes of clarification Clause 4.8.23(a) of the Constitution does not apply to this meeting.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Committee noted the 2020/21 Annual Statement of Accounts (addendum version), as set out in Appendix A (addendum).

2.    That the Committee noted the audit work completed to date, the findings from that work and the resultant changes made to the Statement of Accounts.

3.    That, subject to the final audit work not requiring any substantial changes to the Statement of Accounts, the Committee delegated to the Chair of the Committee the final approval of the 2021/22 Annual Statement of Accounts. This will include confirming that the Chair of the Committee can sign the Statement of Accounts to confirm that they have been approved by the Committee.

REASON FOR DECISIONS:

1.    To ensure that the Council abides by the Audit and Account Regulations 2015, which require the approval and publication of audited Statement of Accounts.

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET:

1.    That Cabinet note this report.

2.    That Cabinet approves the changes to the 2022/23 General Fund budget, as identified in table 3 and paragraph 8.3, a £1.090 million decrease in net expenditure.

3.    That Cabinet approves the charges to the 2023/24 General Fund budget, as identified in table 3 and paragraph 8.3, a total £549k increase in net expenditure.

4.     That Cabinet approves the use of £140k of salary budget carry-forward for additional Service Director capacity for an 18- month period, and that the allocation of the remainder (if needed) will be delegated to the Managing Director (as Head of Paid Service), in consultation with the Leader, Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Finance and IT.

REASONS FOR DECISIONS:

1.    Members are able to monitor, make adjustments within the overall budgetary framework and request appropriate action of Services who do not meet the budget targets set as part of the Corporate Business Planning process

RESOLVED: That the Audit Results Report was noted.

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET:

1.    That Cabinet notes the forecast expenditure of £8.370M in 2022/23 on the capital programme, paragraph 8.3 refers.

2.    That Cabinet approves the adjustments to the capital programme for 2022/23 onwards, as a result of the revised timetable of schemes detailed in table 2 and 3, increasing the estimated spend in 2023/24 by £1.554M.

3.    That Cabinet notes the position of the availability of capital resources, as detailed in table 4 paragraph 8.6 and the requirement to keep the capital programme under review for affordability.

4.    Cabinet is asked to note the position of Treasury Management activity as at the end of December 2022.

REASONS FOR DECISIONS:

1.    Cabinet is required to approve adjustments to the capital programme and ensure the capital programme is fully funded.

2.    To ensure the Council’s continued compliance with CIPFA’s code of practice on Treasury Management and the Local Government Act 2003 and that the Council manages its exposure to interest and capital risk.

RESOLVED:

1.    Noted the SIAS Progress Report for the period to 17 February 2023.

2.    Approved the plan amendments to the 2022/23 Internal Annual Audit Plan.

RESOLVED: That the Committee approved the proposed North Herts Council Internal Audit Plan for 2023/24.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the report was noted.

2.    That the Committee reviewed and approved the Anti-Fraud Plan 2023/24

RESOLVED: That the Committee approved the Local Code of Corporate Governance 2023 (Appendix A).

REASON FOR DECISION: It is recommended practice to review the Local Code of Corporate Governance each year to ensure it remains up to date and relevant.

RESOLVED: That the Committee approved the amended AGS and Action plan (Appendix A).

REASONS FOR DECISION:

1.    The AGS must be considered and approved by this Committee before the approval of the Statement of Accounts under Regulation 6(4)(a) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations (‘AAR’ 2015/234).

2.    The Committee is the legal body with responsibility for approval of the AGS.

3.    Reviewing the AGS Action Plan during 2022-23 will provide the committee with assurances that the Council is examining and where necessary improving its governance arrangements.

This item was not considered at the Committee.

There was no public participation at this meeting.

(1)  The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio 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 for the purposes of clarification for that 4.8.23(a) of the Constitution did not apply to this meeting.

(4)  The Chair led a Minute’s silence in memory of former Councillor John Bishop, who passed away on 2 March 2023.

There was no other business notified.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 25 January 2023 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Terry Hone.