Agenda and draft minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were submitted from Councillors Boylan, Carter and Thomas. It was noted that Councillor Burt was substituting for Councillor Carter and Councillor Holt was substituting for Councillor Boylan.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 14 January 2025.

Councillor Buckmaster proposed, and Councillor Clements seconded, a motion that the Minutes of the meeting held on 14 January 2025 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 14 January 2025, be confirmed as a correct record, and signed by the Chair.

The chair mentioned that he had asked a question at full council regarding taking meetings of the council on the road to towns and villages in the community. He asked if there was any appetite for Overview and Scrutiny to perhaps be a trailblazer in meeting outside of Wallfields.

Councillor McAndrew said that this was a really good idea, and asked how this would work in terms of webcasting the meetings off site. Councillor Buckmaster commented on the challenge of finding appropriate facilities.

Councillor McAndrew said that going offsite to an area where the agenda topics were not relevant to that area would not be a useful exercise.

Councillor Swainston commented on whether the new Bishop’s Stortford High School had appropriate facilities in their new auditorium. Councillor McAndrew said that some parish councils had facilities for meetings to be webcasted.

To receive any Members’ Declarations of Interest.

Councillor Nicholls declared an interest in the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) report on the basis that she took part in the arts in East Herts event as a participating artist and East Herts resident, and applied for and received a grant towards this activity.

Councillors Horner, Jacobs and Swainston declared interests as Members of Bishop’s Stortford Town Council, which was a beneficiary of the UKSPF. Councillor E Buckmaster declared an interest as a Member of Sawbridgeworth Town Council, which was a beneficiary of the UKSPF.

Councillor Williams declared an interest as a Member of Ware Town Council, which was a beneficiary of the UKSPF.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth, the Executive Member for Communities and the Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability jointly submitted a report updating Members on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which officially started on 1 April 2022 and was due to cease on 31 March 2025.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth thanked Officers and the Town and Parish Clerks for their efforts in respect of projects and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). She spoke about the £3,000 new premises grants and the business strand of UKSPF funding. The Executive Member for Planning and Growth spoke about the significant work that had been undertaken towards securing grants for a lot of villages and the smaller towns. She referred in particular to the work undertaken in collaboration with Buntingford Town Council, Sawbridgeworth Town Council and Ware Town Council.

The Chair drew Members’ attention to the recommendations, which included an invitation for Members to consider priorities for the coming financial year (2025/26), and to make any recommendations to the Executive in that regard.

Councillor McAndrew said that the outcomes were all very positive so far. He referred to the table regarding funding in terms of where this had been received and what type of funding had been received.

Councillor McAndrew said that he was fully aware that some towns and parishes were more proactive than others, and he asked how the council was reaching out to those that needed help when considering applying for resources from the UKSPF.

Councillor Buckmaster referred to discussions at an environmental forum he had attended, and the links to the general environment agenda. He referred to small plots of land, town and parish councils and other clubs and associations, including allotment holders benefiting from small pots of money such as UKSPF grants.

Councillor Nicholls said that various different grants had made a massive difference to businesses, individuals, and the wider communities in so many places across the district. She was really pleased that there had been a decision to share the money, particularly in smaller communities where local parish councils had very low reserves and were trying to maintain buildings and put on events with very little budget.

Councillor Nicholls said that in Buntingford and Cottered, community spaces benefited from grant money to make them more accessible for local groups and events, and this meant that these spaces were available throughout the year as there was often a problem in the winter when communities were not accessible as it was too expensive or too cold to put on events. She said that it was great that funds had been put into refurbishing the toilets in Buntingford.

Councillor Nichols said that going forward, funding for climate change and funds available to improve town and village centres had a lot of overlap. She said that she would like to see this continue as a funding area in the next round of UKSPF allocations in the 2025/26 financial year. She referend in particular to Aspenden Parish Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 371.

The Committee Support Officer presented a report in respect of the East Herts Executive and Overview and Scrutiny Protocol to take effect from 18 March 2025, with a review due to take place in June 2027 following the district council elections.

The Committee Support Officer referred to government guidance issued in April 2024 in respect of Overview and Scrutiny and how this should be conducted. The guidance was shared with the Committee and the protocol set out the principles that should define the relationship between the Executive and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The Committee Support Officer explained that the protocol was less procedural than the constitution and was more of a set of principles to guide members of Overview and Scrutiny and the Executive. Members were invited to comment on the protocol and agree to sign up to the protocol prior to approval by the Executive.

Councillor Buckmaster commented on whether there were any differences that could be highlighted compared to what had been happening previously. The Committee Support Officer said that the protocol highlighted the opportunity for Executive Members to report to Overview and Scrutiny Committee on a regular basis.

Councillor McAndrew said that the protocol document had not included the words overview and scrutiny. The Committee Support Officer said that the protocol document was intended to be a guide for how the relationship between the Executive and Overview and Scrutiny should ideally work.

The Chair explained that this committee could still scrutinise external activities and could accept requests for scrutiny form external organisations. He said that this was not reflected in the flow chart and asked that the word Overview be included in the document.

Councillor McAndrew referred to the links in the document and referred to narrative in terms of what Members wanted to get out of meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. He said that Members to date had not got together to consider topics in terms of what was to be scrutinised and what questions were going to be asked, and in particular what outcomes Members were looking for.

Councillor McAndrew commented on training for the committee and referred to a half a day session he had attended some years ago in Westminster followed by observing a Westminster overview and scrutiny meeting. He said that training on offer now was less in depth, and he wondered what training could be on offer moving forward to adopt the scrutiny protocol.

Councillor McAndrew referred to a comment from the chair earlier in the meeting about going out to parishes. He asked about the guidance that stated that a Local Authority should consider how communications officers could help scrutiny engage with the public and how wider internal expertise and local knowledge from Members and Officers might contribute to that engagement.  

Members made a number of comments in respect of performance monitoring and key performance indicators (KPIs). The Chair made the point that the committee looked at the performance indicators that were relevant to the topic that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 372.

The Committee Support Officer submitted the work programme report and Members were invited to consider and determine the work programme going forward.

The Chair reminded Members of the workshop due to be held in March via MS teams, to which the Executive had been invited. There were a number of comments from Members that the forward plan for the Executive needed to go further ahead.

Councillor Nicholls proposed and Councillor Clements seconded a motion that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee work programme be agreed. After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee work programme in Appendix 1 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 were no urgent items.