Decisions

There was no other business notified.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 12 October 2023 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Nigel Mason, Ian Moody and Terry Tyler.

Having given due notice, Councillor Ian Mantle substituted for Councillor Mason and Councillor Michael Muir substituted for Councillor Moody.

RESOLVED: That application 17/04017/FP be GRANTED planning permission subject to the reasons and conditions set out in the report of the Development and Conservation Manager.

(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 clarified matters for the registered speakers.

(4)        The Chair advised that Section 4.8.23(a) of the Constitution applied to the meeting.

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the report.

RESOLVED: That application 22/00709/FP be REFUSED planning permission subject to the reasons and conditions set out in the report of the Development and Conservation Manager.

The Chair confirmed that the registered speakers were in attendance.

RESOLVED: That application 23/01807/FP be GRANTED planning permission subject to the reasons and conditions set out in the report of the Development and Conservation Manager.

This item was not required at this meeting. Following the above resolution that the Waste, Recycling and Street Cleaning Service Design be deferred to the next meeting of the Cabinet, the meeting did not consider any matters in part 2.

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL: That Council adopt the Medium Term Financial Strategy, as attached at Appendix A.

REASON FOR RECOMMENDATION: Adoption of a MTFS and communication of its contents will assist in the process of forward planning the use of Council resources and in budget setting for 2024/2025 to 2028/2029, culminating in the setting of the Council Tax precept for 2024/25 in February 2024. This will (alongside the existing Council Plan) support the Council in setting a budget that is affordable and aligned to Council priorities.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet:

(1)   Approved the allocation £192k of HPG in order to fund the salary budget shortfall in the housing team to March 2027.

(2)   Authorised the remaining amount (of £7.9k) to be used to offset the cost of hotel placements, which are anticipated to grow further over the winter months.

REASON FOR DECISIONS: The recommendations in this report support the Council’s response to the increasing volume and complexity of housing approaches, whilst also meeting the requirements of DLUHC’s ringfenced use of the funding.

RESOLVED:

(1)   That the report on strategic planning matters was noted.

(2)   That the Planning Reforms responses from North Herts and HIPP, attached as Appendices A and B were endorsed.

REASON FOR DECISIONS: To keep Cabinet informed of recent developments on strategic planning matters.

There was no other business notified.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 19 September 2023 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

RESOLVED:

(1)   That any changes to the service design identified in paragraph 8.2 of the part 1 report (and Appendix 2 of the part 2 report) regarding waste and recycling service would be referred back to Cabinet for approval.

(2)   That any changes to the service design identified in paragraph 8.2 of the part 1 report (and Appendix 2 of the part 2 report) regarding street cleansing service would be referred back to Cabinet for approval.

(3)   That this item and the part 2 item, included as Agenda Item 11, be deferred to the next meeting of Cabinet.

REASON FOR DECISION: To ensure decisions are taken by elected representatives and not delegated to Officers.

The Chair invited Councillor Sean Nolan to present the Overview and Scrutiny Referrals on the ‘Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Service Design’.

N.B. The referral from the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee regarding the Medium Term Financial Strategy was considered with the relevant agenda item.

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)        Members were reminded that this Council had declared a Climate Emergency. This was a serious decision and meant 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.

(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 for the purposes of clarification that 4.8.23(a) of the Constitution did not apply to this meeting.

(5)        The Chair advised of a change in the order of the agenda.  The referrals from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Design would be considered first, followed by Agenda Item 12 ‘Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Service Design – Part 1’. Subject to the discussion and resolution on Agenda Item 12, the Chair advised that Agenda Items 10 and 11 may not be required and deferred to a future meeting.

There were no apologies for absence received.  

RESOLVED: That Councillor Alistair Willoughby be elected as Chair of the meeting.

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Sub-Committee (Council Charities):

(1)   Approved the information required by the Charities Commission for the four registered charities, so that the returns can be submitted prior to the 31st January 2024 deadline.

(2)   Noted the requirement for those charities with gross income of more than £25k in their financial year to have their accounts independently examined and, as this applies to King George’s Field and Hitchin Town Hall Gymnasium and Workman’s Hall, instructed this to be undertaken for those accounts for 2022/23. This will be undertaken by the Shared Internal Audit Service (SIAS).

REASON FOR DECISION: To facilitate the submission of approved returns to the Charities Commission.

There was no public participation.

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.

There was no other business notified.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 13 December 2021 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

There were no apologies for absence.  

RESOLVED: That application 22/02942/OP be GRANTED planning permission subject to the reasons and conditions set out in the report of the Development and Conservation Manager, with the deletion of Condition 7 and the re numbering of Conditions 8 to 17 to Conditions 7 to 16 with the following amendment to the new Condition 8.

“Condition 8

Prior to the commencement of the relevant phase of works, full details of the proposed green corridor link through the site shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The development shall be carried out in accordance with the approved details and the green corridor link permanently retained as part of the approved development.

Reason: To ensure construction of a satisfactory development in the interests of highway safety and amenity and in accordance with Policy 5, 13 and 21 of Hertfordshire's Local Transport Plan (adopted 2018). To also comply with Policy KW1 of the North Herts Local Plan 2011 – 2031’.

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET: That Cabinet note and comment to Council on the Medium Term Financial Strategy, as attached at Appendix A.

REASON FOR REFERRAL: Adoption of a MTFS and communication of its contents will assist in the process of forward planning the use of Council resources and in budget setting for 2024/2025 to 2028/2029, culminating in the setting of the Council Tax precept for 2024/25 in February 2024. This will (alongside the existing Council Plan) support the Council in setting a budget that is affordable and aligned to Council priorities.

RESOLVED: That the Committee:

(1)   Noted the SIAS Progress Report for the period to 20 October 2023.

(2)   Noted the implementation status of the reported high priority recommendation.

(3)   Noted the plan amendments to the 2023/24 Annual Audit Plan.

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.

There was no other business notified.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 13 September 2023 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Tamsin Thomas and Terry Tyler.

Having given due notice Councillor Clare Billing substituted for Councillor Thomas.