Decision details

Council received five questions.  Details of the responses given to the questions are summarised below.

A.        Question from Councillor J Brown

In response to a question regarding the effect of Brexit on European funded and supported projects and employment in Stevenage, the Portfolio Holder for Economy, Enterprise and Transport advised that it is difficult to say with any certainty what is likely to be impact of Brexit on European funded projects due to the number of undecided issues relating to the type of Brexit which may occur and the timescales involved.

There are no directly European funded projects administered by SBC, but recent European funded projects in Hertfordshire, some of which will affect local residents, include Herts LEP enabled European Social Fund and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) projects. 

Bids have been made for 2019 by Herts LEP in partnership with the University of Hertfordshire, Anglia Ruskin University and other bodies but these will clearly be at risk. 

In response to a supplementary question regarding Brexit advice received from the government, the Strategic Director (Tom Pike) advised that the Council had received guidance from a range of organisations including the East of England Local Government Association. Officers were assessing advice received so far and a report would be presented to the January 2019 meeting of the Executive.

B.        Question from Councillor G Snell         

            In response to a question regarding the number of Dentists and other health professionals operating from residential properties across Stevenage and what consideration had been given to encourage the practices to relocate into vacant business properties or community amenity space, the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Regeneration advised that information regarding the number of dentists and other health professionals is not routinely collected by SBC. Accordingly up to date information would need to be gained from NHS sources for publicly funded professional practices.  Dental and medical practices fall into Use Class D1 and as such require planning permission for the part of the building which is to be used for that purpose. 

A practice operating from a residential property would be required to make a planning application for the part of the house affected.  No such applications have been made in SBC in the last twenty years and practices seeking planning advice would be encouraged to seek appropriate business premises rather than a residential house in most cases, depending on local circumstances. 

The specific circumstances of a number of medical practices operating from residential premises in Stevenage are the result of the legacy of the development corporation which located practices throughout the neighbourhoods in the early days of the New Town.  These practices now have an established use by virtue of being in existence for more than ten years.

In response to a supplementary question regarding Council initiatives to encourage dental practices to relocate to purpose-built premises, the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Regeneration stated that the location of dental surgeries was based on business decisions and local needs.

C.        Question from R Parker CC

            In response to a question regarding what are the Council doing to improve the poor sickness record of Stevenage Borough Council staff, the Portfolio Holder for Resources reported that she was pleased to report that the Council’s average sickness absence figure has seen a continued downward trend for the last five months, and as at the end of October 2018, sickness absence was 8.27 days, against a target of 8 days.

In comparison to national and local trends, we are in line with the national public sector average of 8.5 days.  It should also be noted that Stevenage Borough Council also provides its own operational services in-house while most of our council counterparts outsource these services. Research suggests that these types of services are likely to have higher levels of absence and therefore in-house staff would affect the figures. 

While our absence rates are not the highest, there is still significant room for improvement. The council recognises the importance of early intervention and support to staff can help to avoid the absence or reduce the length of the absence.

SLT undertook a sickness absence review during 2018 and one of several actions as a result was the introduction of Business Unit sickness absence targets which should help further reduce absence in subsequent years.

Officers are also in the process of preparing to implement a third party sickness absence provider (First Care) who will provide a nurse led sickness reporting facility for all employees. First Care advise that they are likely to reduce sickness absence by somewhere between 15-25% over a 5 year period.

In addition the Overview and Scrutiny Committee agreed on 10th September 2018 to bring forward a scrutiny review of the Council’s sickness management arrangements following encouragement from the Council’s Executive. The review is live and is giving consideration to the specific factors that are or may be affecting sickness absence and the aim of the committee is to identify potential changes to the Council’s Absence Management Policy and its application that may reduce absence levels.

The health and wellbeing of our staff are paramount to us and we aim to do everything possible to ensure they have everything they need and are fully supported in their roles. The Executive and the Senior Leadership Team will continue to monitor the performance and management of sickness absence and focus will be retained until there is a sustained reduction in sickness absence.

In response to a supplementary question regarding staff reporting to work while ill, the Portfolio Holder for Resources commented that in some cases, managers were not in a position to insist that officers report for work only after being certified as fit.

D.        Question from Councillor A McGuinness

            In response to a question regarding the Council’s policy on subletting within its community centres, the Portfolio Holder for Communities, Community Safety and Equalities advised that the Council does not currently have a policy on subletting community centres. Stevenage’s Community Centres have always been managed and operated by individual community associations as separate legal entities, who assume responsibility for room bookings and hires. Where leases exist the council will revert to provisions made within the lease to address any particular issues raised.  Part of the Community Centre Review has been exploring governance and management arrangements of community centres moving forwards. The report presented at last month’s Executive has recommended working with community associations through a co-operative agreement over the next 12 months to help them address governance and compliance obligations.

In response to supplementary comments made by Councillor McGuiness, the Chief Executive clarified that all lease holding community associations were obliged to honour the terms of leases.

E.        Question from Councillor T Wren

            In response to a question regarding what negotiations had the Council undertaken concerning access to affordable properties on the future Gresley Park development, the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Regeneration advised that the Gresley Park proposed development, within the East Herts District Council area, has been the subject of initial discussions and SBC has also made representations to the EHDC Local Plan with regard to the provision of infrastructure and related matters.  The EHDC Local Plan sets out a policy requirement for up to 40% affordable housing to be provided on this site.

Currently, no planning application has been submitted for Gresley Park but SBC would expect the anticipated application to be policy compliant. SBC will be consulted on the detail of the application once it is submitted in line with current practice.  We will make the appropriate representations with regard to access to affordable housing.

            In response to a supplementary question regarding arrangements to ensure compliance with the affordable housing provision, the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Regeneration stated that SBC was awaiting clarification on what East Herts District Council considered to be affordable housing.