Decisions

The Committee received a report on Parking Strategy Consultation. Members expressed views on the consultation.

It was RESOLVED that the Council carry out consultation in line with the consultation plan.

The Planning Policy Manager presented the report on Stevenage Connection Area Action Plan. Members expressed views on the report before submission  to  Executive on Wednesday 10 February 2021.

It was RESOLVED that the report be noted.

It was Resolved that planning permission be granted subject to conditions as per the recommendation in the report and the following amended condition:

·       Condition 9:  Windows in southern elevation to be glazed with obscured glass and fixed shut

·       Condition 13: Removed as it was not relevant to the development

None.

Note required.

The Chair updated the Committee on the future work of the sub-groups of the Committee.

Noted.

Noted.

It was Resolved that the minutes of the Planning and Development Committee meeting held on Wednesday 06 January 2021 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

There were no apologies for absence and no declarations of interest.

Apologies for absence were received from the Youth Mayor, the Chair of the Youth Council and Councillor Adrian Brown.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair paid tribute to SBC staff who had lost their lives in recent months and passed his condolences to their families, friends and colleagues.  He stated that two Members of the Council had been hospitalised with Covid-19.  He welcomed Councillor Graham Snell to the meeting and hoped that he was recovering well, and reported that it was expected that Councillor Adrian Brown would be discharged from hospital within the next few days.

The Mayor advised that the Strategic Director (RP) would provide a national and local update on the Covid-19 pandemic at the end of the meeting.

The Mayor took the opportunity to state that he had the pleasure of announcing that a number of Councillors were to receive a certificate in recognition of their years of service as Councillors to Stevenage Borough Council, namely:

·        Councillor Jackie Hollywell – 20 years’ service;

·        Councillors Richard Henry and Simon Speller for 25 years’ service; and

·        Councillor Dave Cullen for 35 years’ service.

The Mayor advised that all of those Members would receive their certificates by post following the meeting.

The Council considered a report in respect of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Final Budget proposals and rent setting for 2021/22.  The recommendations of the Executive, made at its meeting held on 20 January 2021, had been circulated to Members on a supplementary agenda.

The Executive’s recommendations contained in the supplementary agenda were moved and seconded.

During the debate, it was clarified that the recommendations referred solely to the HRA Budget, and not the General Fund Budget, which would be submitted for approval to the 24 February 2021 Council meeting.  It was agreed that the relevant recommendations would be amended to state this explicitly.  

It was therefore RESOLVED:

1.          That the HRA rent on dwellings be increased, week commencing 5 April 2021, by 1.5% which is an average increase of £1.46 for social rents, £2.38 for affordable rents and £1.80 for Low Start Shared Ownership homes per week (based on a 52 week year).  This has been calculated using the rent formula, CPI +1% in line with the Government’s rent policy as set out in Paragraph 4.1.1. of the report

2.          That the 2021/22 HRA budget, as set out in Appendix A to the report, be approved. 

3.          That the 2021/22 HRA Financial Security options, as set out in Appendix B to the report, be approved.

4.          That the 2021/22 HRA growth options, as set out in Appendix C to the report, be approved.

5.          That the 2021/22 HRA Fees and Charges, as set out in Appendix D to the report, be approved.

6.          That the 2021/22 HRA service charges be approved.

7.          That the minimum level of HRA reserves for 2021/22, as shown in Appendix E to the report, be approved.

8.          That the HRA contingency sum of £250,000 within which the Executive can approve supplementary estimates, be approved for 2021/22 (unchanged from 2020/21).

9.          That the comments from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, as set out in the report, be noted.

At this juncture, and as announced by the Mayor at the beginning of the meeting, the Strategic Director (RP) provided a verbal update on the national and local positions in respect of the Covid-19 pandemic.  The Mayor asked Members to e-mail any questions they had on the update to the Strategic Director (RP), and noted that the next Coronavirus Emergency Committee meeting was due to take place at 10.00am on Tuesday, 2 February 2021.

It was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Council meeting held on 16 December 2020 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

None.

None.

It was RESOLVED:

1.         That, under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as described in paragraphs 1 to 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended by SI 2006 No. 88.

2.         That having considered the reasons for the following item being in Part II, it be determined that maintaining the exemption from disclosure of the information contained therein outweighed the public interest in disclosure.

The Strategic Director (TP) reported to the Committee on the lifting of the holding direction by the Secretary of State on the SG1 planning application.

None.

The Committee considered the decisions on the following matters arising from the Executive meeting held on 20 January 2021.

Minutes of the Executive – 9 December 2020

Noted.

Minutes of Overview & Scrutiny Committee and Select Committees

Noted.

Covid-19 – Update

The Strategic Director (RP) advised that he would be providing a brief update on the latest Covid-19 position at the Council meeting on 28 January 2021 and a fuller report to the Coronavirus Executive Committee on 2 February 2021.

In response to a series of Members’ questions, the Strategic Director replied as follows:

·         Information relating to the rate of those individuals who had refused the vaccination had been requested from the Local Resilience Forum and would be shared with Members when it was available.

·         A lot of coverage had been made recently regarding the efficacy of the vaccine since the change in the timing of the administration of the second dose. Further clarity was awaited from the Director of Public Health.

·         In relation to the provision of free school meals, the SD advised that confirmation was currently awaited regarding the HCC provision for the school summer holidays.

·         The armed forces had been involved in the planning of the Mass Vaccination Centre at Robertson House.

·         In terms of the upcoming elections, officers were continuing to prepare for the May 2021 polls following the formal Government advice to continue to plan for the poll.

Launch of Stevenage Amenity Tree Management Policy

In response to Members’ questions, the Environmental Policy and Development Manager replied as follows:

·         Although less trees were being planted than in the past, a wider, more interesting selection of trees were now being used.

·         Any new developments in the town would require the developers to replace trees on a 3 to 1 basis. Where resources allowed the Council would replace any felled trees on a 2 to 1 basis.

Launch of Stevenage Cemetery Policy

In response to a question, the Cemeteries Services Supervisor advised that she would look at the suggestion of the Council providing a service to tend graves when nobody was able to look after them once resources would allow the Council to consider it.

Future Town Future Transport Strategy

Members were pleased to note that the Executive had requested a further report back in 12 months’ time in order to review progress on the Strategy post-pandemic.

Council Tax Base 2021/22

In response to a question, the Strategic Director (CF) advised that although every year was different, this was the first year she had ever seen a decrease in the Council Tax Base

Final Housing Revenue Account and Rent Setting 2021/22

In response to a question, the Strategic Director (CF) advised that there were 2 free rent weeks per year at Christmas and at the end of the financial year.

Draft General Fund and Council Tax Setting 2021/22

A Member expressed concern regarding the level of LCB’s and in particular that the Stevenage Youth Mayor’s budget was higher than the rest of the Members. The Strategic Director (CF) advised that following consideration it had been agreed to reduce all budgets by 40%

Draft Capital Strategy 2021/21 – 2025/26

Noted.

It was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 15 December 2020 be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chair.

In response to a question, the Assistant Director Housing and Investment agreed to follow up the suggestion of contacting the Stevenage MP in relation to the request to the Minister of Housing, Communities and Local Government to recognise and assist with the significant funding gap now experienced by Local Authorities operating a Housing Revenue Account.

There were no apologies for absence and no declarations of interest.

The Executive considered a report with regard to the draft General Fund Budget and Council Tax Setting for 2021/22.

The Portfolio Holder for Resources and officers were requested to give further consideration to the amount of Local Community Budget (LCB) for the Youth Mayor for 2021/22 and to the introduction of a process whereby Members could, if desired, carry over a proportion of their LCB funds from one financial year to the next.

It was RESOLVED:

1.          That the 2020/21 revised net expenditure on the General Fund of £11,189,490 be approved.

2.          That a draft General Fund Budget for 2021/22 of £728,360 (as adjusted for the transfer from reserves of £8,000,000 to allow for the repayment to the Collection Fund of that amount) be proposed for consultation purposes, with a contribution from balances of £380,590 and a Band D Council Tax of £220.57 (assuming a 2.32% increase).

3.          That the updated position on the General Fund Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), as summarised in Section 4.12 of the report, be noted.

4.          That a minimum level of General Fund reserves of £3,650,000 in line with the 2021/22 risk assessment of balances, as shown at Appendix A to this report, be approved.

5.          That the contingency sum of £400,000 within which the Executive can approve supplementary estimates, be approved for 2021/22 (reflecting the level of balances available above the minimum amount).

6.          That the 2021/22 proposed Fees and Charges increase of £131,700 be approved (Appendix C to the report) and included in the draft budget.

7.          That the 2021/22 proposed Financial Security Options (General Fund share) of £1,462,182 (Appendix B to the report) be included in the draft budget for consideration by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

8.          That the Growth bids (General Fund share) of £166,966 (Appendix D to the report) be approved in principle, as set out in the report, and that the priority order of implementation be approved, as set out in Paragraph 4.3.2 of the report.

9.          That the pressures of £656,540 be noted (Appendix D to the report).

10.       That the 2021/22 Council Tax Support scheme be approved, as set out in Section 4.8 of the report.

11.       That the use of New Homes Bonus be noted, as referred to in Paragraph 4.4.4 of the report.

12.       That the revised Financial Security targets for the General Fund, as set out in Paragraphs 4.11.1 - 4.11.2 of the report, be approved.

13.       That the signing off of further COVID business grant schemes be delegated to the Strategic Director (CF), after consultation with the Resources Portfolio Holder, as referred to in Paragraph 4.5.14 of the report.

14.       That the use of the additional COVID grants, as set out in Paragraphs 4.5.9 - 4.5.10 of the report, be approved.

15.       That the Strategic Leadership Team be requested to identify further options totalling £500,000, which could be implemented if the impact of COVID and other recessionary pressures are worse than projected (as referred to in Paragraph 4.1.3 of the report).

16.       That the Strategic Leadership Team be requested to bring forward a Productivity Focused Transformation Programme by June 2021 to set out the plan for future savings (as referred to in Paragraph 3.11 of the report).

17.       That, in accordance with the Council’s Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules, the Council be recommended to continue with the current Co-operative Corporate Plan, subject to further review in Autumn 2022, (as referred to in Paragraphs 4.16.8 - 4.16.9 of the report).

18.       That the decisions taken in Resolutions 2. – 12. above be referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for consideration, in accordance with the Budget and Policy Framework Rules in the Council’s Constitution.

19.       That the Equalities Impact Assessments appended to the report at Appendices E and F be noted.

Reason for Decision:  As contained in report.

Other Options considered:  As contained in report.

The Executive considered a presentation providing an update on the Covid-19 pandemic from the Strategic Director (RP), assisted by other officers.

Officers were requested to progress the following actions:

·        To ascertain to what extent (if any) the Army had been involved in the Stevenage Mass Vaccination Centre and Primett Road Testing Centre;

·        To investigate if there were statistics relating to the rate of those individuals who had refused the vaccination;

·        To find out from the clinical sector whether delays in the administration of the second dose of vaccine would be likely to affect its efficacy;

·        To ask the Hertfordshire Community Health Trust for further information regarding access arrangements to the Stevenage Mass Vaccination Centre for non-car users, and to request improved directional signage for such users;

·        To refer to the Local Resilience Forum a request that the eligibility criteria for the vaccine was clarified, and a priority was given for key workers, particularly the “blue light” services, to receive the vaccine;

·        To feed back to the operators of the Primett Road Testing site that the term “walk-in” was misleading, as the site operated via a prior appointment/booking system; and to feed back that the parking arrangements for the site needed to be made clearer for users on arrival;

·        To investigate the legal position with regard to the responsibility of employers to insist on workers receiving Covid-19 tests; and whether key workers would be eligible to receive a test, even if they were asymptomatic;

·        To maintain vigilance and the inspection regime in relation to the Covid-safe operation of food delivery services (delivery drivers, etc.);

·        To investigate and report back on the position with regard to potential funding for additional Covid Marshals;

·        To ask the appropriate health bodies to ensure that when producing literature and posters for display in Local Outbreak areas, the wording of such documents was clear and not designed to unnecessarily scare the local population;

·        To feed into the Economy Recovery Task Force details of the work being carried out with the Voluntary and Community Sector on the submission of a community recovery bid to the National lottery Fund for financial support;

·        To seek clarification from Hertfordshire County Council regarding its proposals for the provision of free school meals to disadvantaged children during the upcoming half-term, Easter, and Summer half-term holidays; and

·        To provide a link on the SBC website to highlight all of the Government’s various business support grant mechanisms/funds.

It was RESOLVED that the Covid-19 update be noted.

It was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the following meetings of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee and Select Committees be noted:

Overview & Scrutiny Committee – 25 November 2020

Community Select Committee – 2 December 2020

Overview & Scrutiny Committee - 15 December 2020