Agenda and draft minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were submitted from Councillors D Andrews, P Boylan and N Cox. It was noted that Councillor A Holt was substituting for Councillor P Boylan.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 10 September 2024.

Councillor Buckmaster proposed, and Councillor Nicholls seconded, a motion that the Minutes of the meeting held on 10 September 2024 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that the Minutes of the meeting held on 10 September 2024, be confirmed as a correct record, and signed by the Chair.

There were no Chair’s announcements.

To receive any Members’ Declarations of Interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Executive Member for Wellbeing invited the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider and comment on the report following the interest expressed by Members in scrutinising the Council’s use of Glyphosate. She said that the use of Glyphosate had been a topic of debate for some years now, and this debate had been informed by chemical suppliers and the agriculture industry against a background of environmental groups raising concerns about its safety.

The Executive Member summarised the pros and cons of using Glyphosate. She said that the council previously explored the use of Glyphosate through a scrutiny process to tender the current grounds maintenance contract.

The Executive Member said that the new administration had expressed concerns and raised new questions. The scrutiny proposal form was submitted in September asking about alternatives and how this herbicide was currently used by the ground’s maintenance contractors.

The Executive Member said that the proposal recognised that some local authorities had found in favour of Glyphosate and others were against, and that some had reversed their policies. The proposal had emphasised that this was a topic of public interest and had asked for a greater depth of detail than what had been included in the previous summary bulletin circulated in May.

The Executive Member said that the report provided answers to the questions in the scrutiny proposal form and summarised why and how the council was currently using Glyphosate, offering reassurances about how this use was controlled. The report also explored how the council might choose a way forward taking into consideration the complexity of the debate, advice from our current contractors and the pragmatic issue of cost.

Councillor Buckmaster said that one or two boroughs in Hertfordshire had resolved not to use Glyphosate, but a vast number of councils in Hertfordshire did use Glyphosate on the basis that this substance was the most viable and effective method of control compared to other substances. He said that he believed using Glyphosate was the way forward for the foreseeable future, until a more viable cost effective and effective solution was introduced for treating weeds.

Councillor Carter said that Members needed to consider the use of Glyphosate not just from the point of view of financial cost. She referred to the ecological and biodiversity emergency declared by the council in July and commented on the findings of the 2023 state of nature report which had documented the fall in insect numbers, particularly pollinators on which humans were dependent for food suppliers.

Councillor Carter said that doing nothing was not really viable going forward due to the biodiversity emergency. She said that the increase in the use of pesticides and herbicides was about 20-fold since the 1980s, and there were different methods of controlling weeds. She acknowledged that it was a difficult problem to solve as councils had become dependent on these herbicides to manage the public expectation of no roadside vegetation.

Councillor Carter asked if the council blanket sprayed roadsides or whether spraying was limited to areas  ...  view the full minutes text for item 225.

The Committee Support Officer submitted the work programme report and drew Members’ attention to the list of potential items for scrutiny detailed at paragraph 2.3 of the report. Members were invited to consider this list and determine the work programme going forward.

The Committee Support Officer reminded Members to complete the scrutiny proposal form. He said that the Parking Engagement Strategy was in the work programme for the January meeting and the March meeting was for Housing.

Councillor Buckmaster said that heat pumps could probably be removed from the work programme, as council policies had been adjusted since the outcome of an appeal. He thought that the residents who were concerned about this were more satisfied than they were.

Councillor McAndrew referred to the item entitled IT and Cyber Security and he had thought from earlier discussions that this was IT and digitalisation of the council services. The Chair invited the Members to complete the scrutiny proposal form to formulate the questions and refine this topic.

Councillor Nicholls mentioned that the matter of IT and cyber security came up regularly at the Audit and Governance Committee where there were quarterly risk reports. The Chair said that Members needed to complete the form to construct an argument for this matter to be considered by Overview and Scrutiny.

Councillor Horner said that he noted the inclusion of the anti-racism charter, and he had noted that the Executive forward plan included the Equalities Strategy coming to Executive in February 2025. He commented on whether these two matters could be consolidated into one topic for the Overview and Scrutiny meeting in January 2025.

The Chair said that the Head of Communications, Strategy and Policy had offered to report to Overview and Scrutiny Committee in respect of the UK Shared Prosperity Funding (UKSPF), which had been extended. He had offered to give an update on how this funding was being spent. The Chair said that he would welcome that and this topic could be included on the work programme in either January or March 2025.

The Committee were supportive of the above suggested changes and additions to the work programme. Councillor Jacobs proposed and Councillor Horner seconded a motion that the 2024/25 Overview and Scrutiny Committee work programme in Appendix 1, be agreed subject to the following changes:

·               The topic of Heat pumps be removed from the work programme;

·               UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) considered on either 14 January 2025 or 4 March 2025;

·               Scrutiny proposal forms be submitted to refine the topic relating to IT and Cyber Security and the digitalisation of council services;

·               The anti-racism charter and the Equalities Strategy be consolidated into one topic for the meeting in January 2025.

After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that the 2024/25 Overview and Scrutiny Committee work programme in Appendix 1, be agreed subject to the following changes:

·               The topic of Heat pumps be removed from the work programme;

·               UK Shared Prosperity Fund  ...  view the full minutes text for item 226.

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.