Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

To receive any announcements from the Leader of the Council.

The Leader welcomed everyone to the meeting and reminded them to use the microphones to be heard on the webcast.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 13 February 2024.

Councillor Goldspink proposed, and Councillor Brittain seconded a motion that the Minutes of the meeting held on 13 February 2024 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 13 February 2024 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Leader.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

(A)      The net revenue budget forecast overspend of £220k be noted;

(B)       The capital programme forecast outturn variance of £4.105m be noted;

(C)       The proposed capital budget carry forwards of £807k be noted.

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability presented a report on the Financial Management of the Council 2023/24 - Quarter 3 forecast financial outturn to year end.

Councillor Brittain said that the forecast headline overspend on the revenue account was £220k and the forecast underspend on the capital budget was £4.1m, and the forecast revenue overspend detailed in enclosure 1 was significantly lower than the £491k forecast in quarter 2.

Councillor Brittain proposed that the recommendations in the report be supported. Councillor Glover-Ward seconded the proposal.

Councillor Wilson asked for a comment from the Executive Member for Financial Sustainability in respect of the current state of reserves. Councillor Brittain said the council did have lower reserves like a lot of similar councils, but the total reserves were around about £20m. He said that the general reserves were £4m.

Councillor Crystall asked for a comment from the Executive Member in respect of the rephasing of IT capital spend. Councillor Brittain said that this capital spend had come out of the quarter 3 forecast and had not been rolled forward.

Councillor Crystall asked if the police dogs had gone into Charringtons House. The Head of Strategic Finance and Property said that there had been a request from the Metropolitan Police to use Charringtons House for dog training. He advised that they had not yet started to use the building as services needed to capped off before this use started. 

The motion to support the recommendations having been proposed and seconded was put to the meeting and upon a vote being taken, was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED - that (A) the net revenue budget forecast overspend of £220k be noted;

(B)   the capital programme forecast outturn variance of £4.105m be noted; and

(C)   the proposed capital budget carry forwards of £807k be noted.

(A)      To agree a 6-month postponement in bringing an options report to Executive on the future of the pool.

The Executive Member for Wellbeing presented a report that provided an update on Ward Freman Pool following its closure in December 2023 for health and safety reasons.

Councillor Hopewell said that the Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) had found out that the DfE funding was ending at the end of the next academic year, meaning that HCC who owned the building were not in a position to offer any ongoing support.

Councillor Hopewell said that Hertfordshire County Council had provisionally agreed in principle that a community group could take on the facility pending a viable business plan. She said that a group had formed, and an application had been submitted to the Charity Commission on the 15March 2024. The group was on track to submit a business plan for Thursday.

Councillor Hopewell said that the main grant pot for the estimated £700k required to fix the pool was the community ownership fund. She said that there would be quarterly funds until March 2025 and due to the delays, this recommended a 6-month delay so that all the information could be collated. She said that the final deadline had been brought forward to the end of May.

Councillor Hopewell proposed that the recommendation in the report be supported. Councillor Hoskin seconded the proposal.

Councillor Glover-Ward asked how long the condition survey would take and was there a way of getting an assurance that this could be in place before May. Councillor Hopewell said that she could not give that assurance, but it would be great to have a date in diary in the next couple of weeks to have the report by May.

Councillor Bull said that he admired the group for the hard work that they had done. The motion to support the recommendations having been proposed and seconded was put to the meeting and upon a vote being taken, was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that a 6-month postponement in bringing an options report to Executive on the future of the pool, be agreed.

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.

There was no urgent business.