Agenda and draft minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors McAndrew, Thomas and Woollcombe. It was noted that Councillor Burt was substituting for Councillor Woollcombe and Councillor Marlow was substituting for Councillor Thomas.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 16 January 2024.

Councillor Buckmaster proposed and Councillor Redfern seconded, a motion that the Minutes of the meeting held on 16 January 2024, be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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

RESOLVED – that the Minutes of the meeting held on 16 January 2024, be confirmed as a correct record, and signed by the Chairman.

There were no Chairman’s announcements.

To receive any Members’ Declarations of Interest.

Councillor Buckmaster declared a non-pecuniary interest in the matter referred to in minute 366, on the grounds that he was a Member of Sawbridgeworth Town Council, which was listed as a recipient in the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Councillors Carter and Redfern declared non-pecuniary interests in the matter referred to in minute 366, on the grounds that they were Members of Hertford Town Council, which was listed as a recipient in the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Councillor Horner and Swainston declared non-pecuniary interests in the matter referred to in minute 366, on the grounds that they were Member of Bishop’s Stortford Town Council, which was listed as a recipient in the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth submitted a report that updated Members on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), which was now approaching the final 12 months of delivery, having officially begun on 1^st April 2022.

The Head of Communications, Strategy and Policy set out the wider background to the shared prosperity funding dating back to 2016 following the Brexit referendum.

Members were advised that shared prosperity funding would still be coming through, and the programme would exist until 31 March 2025.

The Head of Communications, Strategy and Policy said that East Herts was not an area of need based on a range of metrics such as employment and skills. He said that East Herts had issues in certain areas and levelling up meant different things to different places.

Members were advised that every area had an allocation based upon a population formula and the East Herts allocation was £1.77m payable over the three years.

The Head of Communications, Strategy and Policy summarised the work that had taken place starting in the summer of 2022 culminating in a workshop at Fletchers Lea in Ware. He said that four different priority areas had been identified where the money should be spent and these priorities had been agreed at Council in January 2023 alongside a series of individual projects agreed for that year.

The Head of Communications, Strategy and Policy said that the May 2023 elections had resulted in the Council decision being revisited in consultation with some of the portfolio holders who were now responsible for allocating that money. Members were advised that the steer from the Executive Members was that they were broadly happy with the decision from January 2023 and the overall direction of travel. 

Councillor Andrews welcomed the idea of supporting town and village centres. He mentioned the importance of keeping track of business support for Hertfordshire businesses in the villages that employed fewer than 20 people.

Councillor Redfern referred to a table on page 27 of the report and expressed her concern at the £50k of levelling up funding allocated to skills and transport projects. She said that the European fund for helping people develop literacy and digital skills had not been replaced.

The Head of Communications, Strategy and Policy said that the government had been very clear in the guidance that the skills theme was to have no money spent on it until year 3, on the basis that the EU structural funding for skills and employment-based projects was still being honoured until 2023/24. He emphasised that East Herts Council would not be a major deliverer of any skills-based projects and there were other funding streams to support skills.

Councillor Nicholls said that she had raised the subject of UK Shared Prosperity Funding (SPF) at a Buntingford Town Council meeting. The Councillors there had not heard about it and as a result had missed the opportunity of receiving funding when they had a project that was ideally suited.

Councillor Nichollssaid that Officers had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 366.

The Scrutiny Officer submitted the work programme report and sought Members’ comments on items for inclusion on the agenda for the future meetings in 2024/25. She drew Members’ attention to the Appendix to the report and provided an update on the programme.

The Scrutiny Officer said that in relation to Parks, Officers had provided Councillors with potential dates in respect of a site visit to review the district’s parks. This date has yet to be confirmed.

Members were advised that a first of a kind playground for children with disabilities opened in the London Borough of Barnet. The Scrutiny Officer said that the cost of the park was £500,000 with £400,000 obtained from private funding and a £100,000 contribution from the London Borough of Barnet.

Members were advised that the award of the waste, recycling and street cleansing contract would be presented to Overview and Scrutiny on 11 June and then to the Executive.

The Chairman said that a number of questions had been asked of the three key registered social landlords. Only one had responded.  In the absence of other responses, he asked Members for their views on how to progress this further.  Councillor Boylan referred to the recently agreed Housing Strategy and Action Plan which might provide a better platform to identify issues for scrutiny.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services suggested that Members might wish to debate this further at a Work Programme Workshop on a date to be agreed.  This approach was supported.

The Scrutiny Officer confirmed that the summary bulletin in respect of climate change had been finalised and would be circulated as soon as possible.

In relation to neighbourhood policing and financial support given by Parish and Town Councils, the Scrutiny Officer provided an update to that already stated in the report adding that that 14 Parish Councils and one Town Council had so far responded and that she would provide updates as and when received.

The Chairman said that he was content for neighbourhood policing to be removed from the work programme. This was supported.

The Scrutiny Officer said that a summary bulletin in respect of the Anti-Racism Charter had been drafted and would be circulated to Members shortly.

On the issue of the use of herbicides and particularly Glyphosate, Officers had confirmed that Glyphosate was being used across East Herts. She sought Members’ views on whether they wanted to progress this issue further.

Councillor Buckmaster said that Hertfordshire Highways still used Glyphosate and he wondered whether a paper or summary bulletin could come before the Committee that covered the pros and cons of Glyphosate for controlling weeds. This was supported.

Members suggested that the summary bulletin should include background information on the Pros vs Cons of its use, frequency, how and where and its impact on the Biosphere and Eco System.  Members also asked if the bulletin could include an update on the Class Action in the USA in terms of the impact on human health and also refer to alternative  ...  view the full minutes text for item 367.

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.