Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Wallfields, Hertford. View directions

Contact: Katie Mogan  Tel: (01279) 502172 Email:  katie.mogan@eastherts.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

78.

Apologies

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

An apology for absence was submitted by Councillor Buckmaster.

 

79.

Leader's Announcements

Minutes:

The Leader welcomed those who were watching on the East Herts Youtube Channel. She urged residents to take care in the extreme heat.

 

80.

Minutes - 19 April 2022 pdf icon PDF 255 KB

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 April 2022.

Minutes:

Councillor Haysey proposed, and Councillor Boylan seconded a motion that the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 April 2022 be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Leader. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED – that the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 April 2022 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Leader.

 

81.

Declarations of Interest

To receive any Member(s) declaration(s) of interest.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

 

82.

Update from Overview and Scrutiny Committee

To receive a report of the Committee Chairman.

Minutes:

The Leader said that the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee was not present but the comments from the Committee were provided in the reports.

 

83.

Update from Audit and Governance Committee

To receive a report of the Committee Chairman.

Minutes:

The Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee said that there was still no clarity from the external auditors as to when the 2020/21 account audit would be concluded. He said that the Committee received training on the internal audit function at the last meeting on 31 May 2022. The Committee also looked at the strategic risk register, received a data protection update and reviewed the internal audit for the Next Steps Accommodation Capital Grant.

 

The Leader thanked the Committee for their work. She said it was annoying that the audit was not completed but said this was an issue affecting councils across the country.

 

84.

Annual Corporate Plan pdf icon PDF 234 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability presented the Annual Corporate Plan report. He said the report covered the council’s achievements over the last year through the delivery of its corporate priorities.

 

Councillor Williamson said that the Communications Team had produced a short video to highlight these achievements and was available to view on the website.

 

Councillor Haysey thanked the Communications Team who had developed the video. She said it was a good way of presenting data in an easy to digest format.

 

Councillor Williamson proposed, and Councillor Cutting seconded a motion supporting the recommendations in the report. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED – To recommend to Council the approval of the Annual Corporate Plan.

 

85.

Climate Change Strategy pdf icon PDF 390 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability presented the Climate Change Strategy. He said the Council had a living sustainable action plan in place and the new strategy added to the action plan but clearly laid out the council’s vision and approach.

 

Councillor McAndrew said that unlike other local authorities, East Herts’ strategy made it clear that the council was already putting actions in place and stated what actions were being put in place between now and 2030 to make the council carbon neutral by 2030. The public consultation received 35 respondents and some amendments had been made following the consultation. The report was presented to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 21 June 2022 and their comments were listed in Appendix B.

 

Councillor Haysey said the strategy was a thorough piece of works and thanked the Officers involved. She said that all councils in Hertfordshire were working closely together and all had the same ambitions and aspirations to deal with climate change.

 

Councillor McAndrew said that the respondents to the consultation were grateful to the council for listening and added that Officers had done an excellent job under difficult circumstances.

 

Councillor McAndrew proposed, and Councillor Goodeve seconded a motion supporting the recommendations in the report. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED That the draft Climate Change Strategy 2022 – 2026, as amended be considered and recommend it to Council for approval.

 

86.

Castle Park Improvement Project - match funding contribution via proposed sale of community centre/s pdf icon PDF 114 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Leader said that the report had been deferred and would be presented to a future meeting of the Executive.

 

87.

East Herts Council Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessment (GTANA) May 2022 pdf icon PDF 276 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth presented the Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessment report. Councillor Goodeve said that in accordance with national legislation and policy, it was the council’s duty to provide a range of housing for different needs such as older people, affordable housing and the gypsy and traveller community.

 

Councillor Goodeve said that this assessment would replace the outdated 2016 study and strengthen the council’s position in identifying housing needs. The assessment would inform discussions with applications of relevant key strategic sites and if approved, would become a material consideration in future planning applications. She said that in the 2022-2037 Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessment identifies 43 pitches for Gypsy and Traveller households with 31 needed in the next five years and 23 plots for travelling show people with 16 needed in the next five years.

 

Councillor Kaye said that the discussions with the Gypsy and Traveller community during the East and Equal Strategy consultation raised the challenges they faced. He said that the document allows the council to think about the community’s need and how they can be met in the District. Unplanned settlements were a concern for residents and Councillor Kaye said the evidence based approach in the assessment should help avoid this in the future and help address community cohesion.

 

Councillor Haysey said that the council needed to work with all residents to understand their needs.

 

Councillor Goodeve proposed, and Councillor Kaye seconded a motion supporting the recommendations in the report. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED – To recommend to Council that (A) the East Herts Council Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessment (GTANA) May 2022, as detailed at Appendix A to this report, be agreed as a material consideration in the determination of planning applications; and

 

(B)       The East Herts Council Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessment (GTANA) May 2022, as detailed at Appendix A to this report, be agreed as technical evidence to support any future review of the East Herts District Plan, October 2018 and any potential local planning guidance.

 

88.

Bishop's Stortford Neighbourhood Plans - Adoption pdf icon PDF 88 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth presented the report on the Bishop’s Stortford Neighbourhood Plans. She said that the legislation allowed for Neighbourhood Plans to be reviewed and Bishop’s Stortford Town Council had undertaken a review of the two plans in the town. She said they were examined together by an independent examiner and they decided that the proposed modifications were not material and so a referendum was not necessary.

 

Councillor Haysey thanked the residents in Bishop’s Stortford for their time and diligence and thanked the Principal Planning Officer for her work. She said that it was important to have high quality Neighbourhood Plans for any future planning applications.

 

Councillor Goodeve proposed, and Councillor Haysey seconded a motion supporting the recommendations in the report. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

 

          RESOLVEDTo recommend to Council that (A) the recommendations and modifications made by the Independent Examiner of the two Bishop’s Stortford Neighbourhood Plan Revisions, as detailed in Appendix A to this report, be received and considered;

(B)       The Bishop’s Stortford Neighbourhood Plan for Silverleys and Meads wards (1st Revision) 2021- 2033, as detailed at Appendix B to this report, be formally ‘made’; and

(C)       The Bishop’s Stortford Neighbourhood Plan for All Saints, Central, South and Parts of Thorley (1st Revision) 2021- 2033, as detailed at Appendix C to this report, be formally ‘made’.

 

89.

Transforming East Herts Update and Commercial Strategy pdf icon PDF 152 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

That the Transforming East Herts Business Case be endorsed.

That the Commercial Strategy be approved.

 

Minutes:

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability presented the Transforming East Herts report. He said that the Transformation Programme was launched last year to enable the council to meet its financial challenges as an alternative to cutting front line services. The report presented the business case for the programme.


Councillor Williamson said that the proposals cover a CRM system so that residents would be able to engage more effectively with the council. The new commercial strategy aimed to embed a commercial mind set in staff to give them the commercial skills to identify new opportunities. He added that this was a huge piece of work undertaken by the Leadership Team and thanked Officers.

 

Councillor Haysey reiterated Councillor Williamson’s gratitude and hoped that the introduction of a CRM would reduce any duplicate working.

 

Councillor Pope also gave his thanks to Officers. He asked if Officers would be encouraged to take risks in a controlled way and how they would be scrutinised and would there be an impact on the council’s risk register.

 

Councillor Williamson responded that the commercial strategy detailed a strong process for any proposals coming forward and how to encourage Officers to take risks in a controlled way. If they were deemed to be high risk to the council, they would be entered onto the council’s risk register.

 

The Deputy Chief Executive confirmed that any projects deemed to be a risk to the council would be entered onto the risk register which was reviewed on a regular basis.

 

Councillor Williamson proposed, and Councillor Boylan seconded a motion supporting the recommendations in the report. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED – That (A) the Transforming East Herts Business Case be endorsed; and

(B) the Commercial Strategy be approved.

 

90.

Social Value Policy pdf icon PDF 156 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

a)    Approve the Social Value Policy at Appendix A;

 

b)    Delegate to the Head of Legal & Democratic Services the authority to amend Contract Procedure Rules to reflect the new policy;

 

c)    Endorse the Social Value Maturity Index results and the suggested action plan items for improvement at Appendix C; and

 

d)   Approve that Cllr Williamson be the lead Member for Social Value and that the Head of Strategic Finance & Property be the lead officer with responsibility for reporting, managing and delivering Social Value across procurement and commissioning.

 

Minutes:

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability presented the Social Value report. He said that this was a new policy for the council and aimed to add social value to the procurement and contract service alongside quality and price. A scoring framework has been included based on the national social value framework of themes, outcomes and measures.

 

Councillor Haysey said the council was going into a consortium with Stevenage Borough Council and she asked how many other district/borough councils would be involved.

 

The Head of Strategic Finance and Property said that East Herts would be entering into an agreement with Hertsmere and Stevenage Borough Councils but Stevenage have offered and negotiated out to all 10 District/Borough Councils and the County Council.

 

Councillor Williamson proposed, and Councillor Kaye seconded a motion supporting the recommendations in the report. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED – that (A) the Social Value Policy be approved;

(B) the authority to amend Contract Procedure Rules to reflect the new policy be delegated to the Head of Legal and Democratic Services;

 

(C)         the Social Value Maturity Index results and the suggested action plan items for improvement at Appendix C be endorsed; and

 

(D)        Councillor Williamson be the lead Member for Social Value and that the Head of Strategic Finance & Property be the lead officer with responsibility for reporting, managing and delivering Social Value across procurement and commissioning.

 

91.

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) Policy Annual Review pdf icon PDF 75 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

That the Executive considered the content of the report and provided any observations to the Head of Legal and Democratic Services.

 

The revised Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) Policy at Appendix A be adopted.

 

Minutes:

The Executive Member for Corporate Services presented the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) Policy Review. He said that there had been no new RIPA authorisations since the last annual report and that there had been a minor change to the policy.

 

Councillor Cutting proposed, and Councillor Williamson seconded a motion supporting the recommendations in the report. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED - That (A) the content of the report be considered; and

(B) the revised Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) Policy at Appendix A be adopted.

 

92.

Urgent Business

To consider such other business as, in the opinion of the Chairman of the meeting, is of sufficient urgency to warrant consideration and is not likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information.

Minutes:

There was no urgent business.