Issue - meetings

To receive updates from the Chairs of the Scrutiny Committees on the recent activities of those Committees.

Councillor Jim Brown, Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, provided updates for Council from the meetings of the Council which had been held since the Council meeting in December.  He advised that the Committee had received a presentation from Officers on the Council Workforce and had raised the following issues:

·         Members asked HR officers to look into the percentage of senior staff living in SG1 & SG2 post codes;

·         Potential for recruitment biases relating to the academic institutions candidates had attended;

·         There needed to be an improvement on the 43% staff survey return rate in future years;

·         Workforce disability data was under reported and an improvement on the way the information was collected was requested;

·         Did the statistics on observations of harassment and bullying incidents in the workplace relate to staff on staff or incidents perpetrated by the public;

·         A number of questions regarding the impact of LGR on staff were raised and it was acknowledged that work was underway to support staff through a time of change.

Members considered the decisions of the Cabinet held on Wednesday 14 January and provided challenge and questioning on a number of reports including:

• (i) Housing Revenue Account Final Budget and Rent Setting 2026/27, (ii) Draft General Fund and Council Tax Setting 2026/27, and (iii) Draft General Fund Capital Strategy 2025/26 To 2029/30
• 2025 Residents Survey Findings
• Response to MHCLG letter re Postponement of Local Elections

Members were particularly interested in making sure that there would be budget available within the general fund and capital reserves for any future lighting scheme in Fairlands Vally Park once the studies had been completed.

Members welcomed the provisional settlement from Government for Stevenage under the fair funding review.  In response to the Residents Survey, a better response from younger respondents was welcomed alongside a request for future surveys to provide a better breakdown of responses from younger respondents, particularly those aged 18 to 25.

In the absence of the Chair of the Community Select Committee Councillor Ellie Plater, Councillor Leanne Brady advised that the Committee had not met since the last Council meeting on 17 December 2025.  However, Officers and Members had been preparing for an upcoming meeting on 4 February where the Committee would be talking to the Hertfordshire County Council Director of Public Health about aspects of public health that were of concern to residents, specifically on the detail of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment document. Members would also be receiving an update on the Stevenage Healthy Hub and joint working initiatives with partners and the County Council.

Councillor Leanne Brady, Chair of the Environment & Economy Select Committee then advised that the Committee had not met since the last Council meeting on 17 December 2025.  Members and officers had been preparing for the meeting on 28 January on cycling and would consider progress of the 2018 Cycle Strategy and would address two actions from the Action Plan to Create an implementation plan for cycle network improvements and maintenance and also to increase the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9

To receive updates from the Chairs of the Scrutiny Committees on the recent activities of those Committees.

Councillor Jim Brown, Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, provided updates for Council from the meetings held since the Council meeting in October:

He advised that alongside the scheduled meetings, a number of informal in-depth meetings had been held to cover its work programme items.  Items considered at those meetings included the following and Members asked a number of questions regarding these items:

·         The Council’s Local Government Reorganisation submission, including how the modelling for each option had been established; the financial challenges under each option; the impact on prospective candidates who worked for legacy authorities; clarity on foundation authorities and various impacts of aggregation and disaggregation of each authority’s debts and assets;

·         Five finance reports including; (i) 2^nd Quarter monitoring report for the general fund, (ii) HRA and capital, Mid-Year Treasury Management Review, (iii) Council Tax Support Scheme, (iv) Balancing the Budget priorities for 2026/27 and (v) upgraded 30 Year HRA Business Plan;

·         Management of Estates and Neighbourhoods Policy and the Housing Re-Charge Policy;

·         Annual Report of Equalities, Diversity & Inclusion and Action Plan Progress Update and

·         Part II items relating to the Station Gateway and an urgent decision relating to Claxton House;

·         Corporate Communications and Marketing and the Member Enquiries YourSay system.

·         Two further finance reports on the Council Tax Base 2026/27 and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Draft Budget and Rent Setting for 2026/27;

·         Relocation of Lister Hospital Taxi Rank;

·         Corporate Performance Q2 2025-26;

·         Digital Strategy

·         Two Part II reports relating to the Leisure Management Contract and Fire Doors in the Council’s Flat Blocks and Housing Stock

The Chair of the Community Select Committee, Councillor Ellie Plater advised that the Committee had received the interim report and recommendations of the review of Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion.  A number of recommendations were made which focussed on:

·         encouraging a more diverse range of people involved in community leadership roles;

·         Increased collaboration between Members and the Equalities Commission Legacy Group;

·         Voices and lived experience of the trans community would be invited into discussions and events to help combat misconceptions and hatred;

·         Carrying out an audit of the provision of benches and seating in the town centre;

·         Addressing concerns around digital exclusion for older people alongside concerns raised by Age Concern around the lack of provision of mobility scooter hire service from the bus interchange;

·         Addressing the needs of young people by supporting extracurricular activities in schools and in the community via sports, interests and social clubs; supporting neurodiversity to encourage better collaboration between the Council and external mental health experts and addressing the needs of the sight loss community regarding street furniture and accessibility screens in the bus interchange.

The final recommendations would be formally agreed by the Committee and sent to the Cabinet Portfolio for Equalities for formal response in due course.

The Committee had also held a meeting focused on services directed at Older People and had made the following observations:

·         Linked to the Age Friendly Hertfordshire initiative there was a commitment to audit the number of rest  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9

To receive updates from the Chairs of the Scrutiny Committees on the recent activities of those Committees.

Councillor Jim Brown, Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, provided updates for Council from the meetings held on 23 September and 14 October:

The September Meeting had reviewed Cabinet decisions from 17 September, including:

• Finance reports (Medium Term Financial Strategy, Revenue & Capital Monitoring, Treasury Management)
• Corporate Performance Q1
• Taxi Rank Revocation (Danestrete)
• Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2
• Social Housing Warm Homes Contract (Part II)
  
  

Key discussions at the meeting included the Fair Funding Review and Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), concerns about funding distribution and impact on Stevenage and Taxi Rank safety issues due to construction development.

The October Meeting had reviewed Cabinet decisions on:

• Fees and charges (2026/27) for General Fund, HRA, retail seating, planning, and taxi tariffs
• Climate Change Strategy Annual Update
• Rent setting and service charge policy (2025–2027)

Restricted items considered included Commercial opportunities, sports & leisure centre, regeneration, wholly owned companies, land & development and there was an upcoming discussion on LGR at the November meeting.

In the absence of the Chair of the Community Select Committee, Councillor Leanne Brady advised that the Committee had met in September and had received an update on Damp and Mould in Stevenage Council Housing and also on Tenant Enforcement and Tenancy Audits.

In relation to Damp and Mould case statistics, Members had been informed that from April to July 2025 97% of all cases raised had been completed, with 89% of these completed within the 10 working days.

Members were also brought up to date on the preparations that the Council was making to be compliant with Awaab’s Law which comes into force in October 2025.

Councillor Leanne Brady, Chair of the Environment & Economy Select Committee then gave an update on the work of that Committee. She advised thata presentation had been received from Stevenage Direct Services Officers regarding the challenges of providing recycling in the Council’s low rise flat blocks.  Challenges included limited space available for bin storage in older blocks, the difficulties posed by stair access, and the impact of poor signage and contamination on recycling levels.

Members welcomed the use of an SBC designed three wheeled bin for use by staff and a number of possible recommendations for the review where identified:

• Promotion of recycling champions and work with young residents, including consideration of smiley stickers use on bins
• Consider using large colour wraps on the bin lids to differentiate different recycling bins
• At Bring Bank sites consider using mobile CCTV and where fly tipping can be evidenced follow up with education and civil prosecution
• Regarding any future plans to rationalise the Bring Bank Sites, Members would like to see any plans ahead of any public consultation

Members had interviewed the Cabinet Portfolio with responsibility for Environment, Cllr Rob Broom who responded to a number of areas including:

·         the Portfolio Holders’ priorities for the future of the service;

·         target setting for Stevenage regarding improved recycling and time period;

·         barriers to effective recycling;

·         measuring success;

·         challenges and opportunities to the service through LGR.

Finally, the Committee received  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9