Agenda and decisions

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Rob Broom, Liz Harrington, Graham Snell, Anne Wells, Tom Wren and from the Youth Mayor Paige Abrey.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any communications that the Mayor may wish to put before the Council.

The Mayor announced that this would be Baroness Taylor’s final Council Meeting as leader of the Council after over 16 years in the role and gave Members an opportunity to offer their own personal tributes.

A number of Members paid tribute to Baroness Taylor for her hard work, commitment and passion to the Town.

Councillor Taylor thanked Members for their comments and advised that she would be championing Stevenage and local government generally in her work in the House of Lords.  She paid thanks to a number of people including Officers of the Council, Partners, political friends and allies, Uniform Services, private sector partners and to the people of Stevenage for their support over the years she had been Leader of the Council.

The Mayor then presented Councillor Taylor with a bouquet of flowers.

A list of recent Mayoral events had been circulated to all Members.  The Mayor then summarised the activities that she and her consort had been involved with since the October 2022 Council meeting which had included:

·         Performance by the Stevenage Lytton Players of Young Frankenstein at the Gordon Craig Theatre;

·         Stevenage Pride Awards and subsequent Tea Party for all nominees;

·         Launch of Event Island, Stevenage, including the opening of the ice skating rink;

·         Visit by Knebworth School Parliament;

·         Annual Firework Display at Fairlands Valley Park;

·         Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day;

·         The Old Town Lights Switch on;

·         Scouts Christingle Service;

·         Mayor’s Christmas Celebration Service at the Holy Trinity Church; and

·         The Irish Network Stevenage Christmas Lunch at the Holiday Inn.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Council meeting held on 19 October 2022 for signature by the Mayor.

It was RESOLVED:

that the Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 19 October 2022 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor subject to the following amendments:

·         7 – QUESTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC – Question A the word ‘ben. Be replaced by ‘been’; and

·         11 – QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS – Question F should read ‘various reports’.

None received.

There was no community presentation.

None received.

There were no petitions or deputations.

To recommend to Council a revised term of office for the new Leader of the Council (to take effect from 1 January 2023).

The Council considered a report in respect of a revised term of office for the new Leader of the Council (to take effect from 1 January 2023)

It was moved by Baroness Taylor, and seconded by Councillor Mrs Joan Lloyd, that the report be approved.

Upon the motion being put to the vote, it was RESOLVED that subject to the postholder being re-elected as a councillor or being removed from office, the new Leader of the Council be appointed to take up office on 1 January 2023 until the Annual Council meeting in May 2026 (a term of approximately 3 years and 6 months), and that thereafter the four year term of office for the Leader be re-commenced as set out in the Council’s Constitution.

To appoint a new Leader of the Council, to take up the position with effect from 1 January 2023.

Baroness Taylor nominated and Councillor Mrs Joan Lloyd seconded that Councillor Richard Henry be appointed the new leader of the Council with effect from 1 January 2023, for a period of 3 years and 5 months up until Annual Council in May 2026.

Upon the nomination being put to the vote, it was RESOLVED that Councillor Richard Henry be appointed the new leader of the Council with effect from 1 January 2023, for a period of 3 years and 5 months up until Annual Council in May 2026.

None received.

There were no questions from the Youth Council.

A written answer to the question below will be published on a supplementary agenda.

Question from Mr Jim Borcherds

“It is now over six months since Stevenage Borough Council published the report from Mutual Gain “Thinking about Stevenage High Street”.

What progress has been made on the suggestions for change listed in the report?”

Question from Mr Jim Borcherds

The Council noted that a response to the question submitted by Mr Borcherds regarding the report from Mutual Gain “Thinking about Stevenage High Street” had been published in the supplementary agenda for the meeting.

Mr Borcherds was present at the meeting and he asked the following supplementary question: there was general public support for the green cycle parking on the High Street. The cycle parking had been removed in May 2022 and had yet to be replaced.  Could Councillor Briscoe advise when replacement cycle parking would be installed?

Councillor Briscoe, the Portfolio Holder for Economy, Enterprise and Transport, advised that one of the green cycle racks had been damaged and the other two relocated.   New cycle racks for the High Street were currently being considered and would be installed in the near future.

In accordance with the Council’s Standing Orders, the Leader of the Opposition shall be given the opportunity to raise one matter relevant to the Borough that has arisen since the last meeting of the Council. The Leader of the Council shall then have the opportunity to advise the Council of matters relevant to the Borough that have arisen since the last meeting.

The Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Phil Bibby, asked the following question:

“The current compliance rules and guidelines for mould in rented properties were being tightened.  Is Stevenage Borough Council up to speed with the requirements and could confirm that any inspections due in this regard would be satisfactory?”

The Leader of the Council advised that she had received a detailed letter from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities which had been reviewed and that the Council had looked very closely at the Coroner’s report following the tragic incident in Rochdale.  The Community Select Committee had been tasked to review the letter to consider if there were any lessons to be learned.  It was a complex issue and a lot of work had been done in Stevenage but there was more to be done.  Particularly in New Towns most properties had been built at the same time and repairs were needed at the same time.  Members would be kept informed throughout the process.

The Council then received updates from relevant Executive Portfolio Holders on the following matters:

·           Small Business Saturday;

·           Garages Digital Letting;

·           Operational Efficiency Award;

·           Community Tree Planting;

·           Warm Spaces Initiative;

·           Co-operative Councils;

·           Stirling Close Visit;

·           Aids and Adaptations Awards.

To receive updates from the Chairs of the Scrutiny Committees on the recent

activities of those Committees.

The Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee advised that the Committee had met twice since the last Council meeting, looking in depth at the Cost of Living crisis including the financial position of the Council.

The Chair of the Community Select Committee stated that the Committee was continuing its work on Housing Voids and had received detailed answers from the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Housing Development in response to questions on this subject .  A presentation had also been received from the Housing Operations Manager.

The Vice-Chair of the Environment & Economy Select Committee, in the absence of the Chair, advised that a meeting would be held later this week to consider the Council’s aim to achieve net zero. The meeting had also included a discussion with the Youth Council.

In accordance with Standing Orders, the following motions have been received for consideration:

(i)          Government Use of Hotels as Hostels

To be moved by the Labour Group.

“We are proud of our town, how we support one another in our community, and support those who are vulnerable and in need. We have played our part in welcoming and supporting refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine in recent years, but the current actions of the Home Office, placing large numbers of asylum seekers in a Stevenage hotel against the advice of all local partners is unacceptable. It puts extraordinary pressures on local resources and is a completely unsuitable location for vulnerable individuals leading to real humanitarian issues. 

We recognise that there is a national challenge for the Home Office, which all parts of our country need to tackle alongside international partners.  But having failed to deal with this issue for 12 years, it is absolutely vital that Government recognise they must work together with local partners and communities rather than against local advice and often with little or no notice to the areas concerned.

We have made clear to the Home Office that using the Novotel as accommodation to temporarily house asylum seekers is not appropriate and that we could not support this location being used.  It is isolated and with poor transport links, impacts on our local economy by losing space for business visitors, impacts on the events and activities in Knebworth House and Gardens, has disrupted local peoples wedding & event plans in addition to creating great pressure on public services. 

Local services, from the hospital to healthcare, to Council and police services are already under great strain.  Having a large-scale facility brought into use in Stevenage in short order makes these challenges even more difficult for our community.  

Along with all Councils in Hertfordshire, we have written to the Minister given our deep concerns over the lack of consultation on the Home Office use of hotels across the county, choice of highly unsuitable sites, and pressures on vital services and our communities.  We have asked for an urgent meeting with the Home Secretary to make the strength of local views absolutely clear.  Locally we have requested that the Home Secretary or her representative visit the Novotel with us to see how unsuitable it is to be used for this purpose.

That this Council calls upon the government to:

1.     Carry out an urgent review of the policy of using hotels to accommodate asylum seekers and refugees

2.     Introduce a formal process of consultation with local partners on the suitability or unsuitability of accommodation which is being considered locally by the Home Office contractors

3.     Ensure that consultation is carried out in good time for responses to be carefully considered and for local concerns to be taken into account

4.     Work with local government to develop more sustainable options for housing asylum seekers and refugees including the use of MOD land, modular buildings and develop these along with  ...  view the full agenda text for item 12.

(i)            Government Use of Hotels as Hostels

Councillor Sharon Taylor moved and Councillor Sandra Barr seconded the following motion:

We are proud of our town, how we support one another in our community, and support those who are vulnerable and in need. We have played our part in welcoming and supporting refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine in recent years, but the current actions of the Home Office, placing large numbers of asylum seekers in a Stevenage hotel against the advice of all local partners is unacceptable. It puts extraordinary pressures on local resources and is a completely unsuitable location for vulnerable individuals leading to real humanitarian issues. 

We recognise that there is a national challenge for the Home Office, which all parts of our country need to tackle alongside international partners.  But having failed to deal with this issue for 12 years, it is absolutely vital that Government recognise they must work together with local partners and communities rather than against local advice and often with little or no notice to the areas concerned.

We have made clear to the Home Office that using the Novotel as accommodation to temporarily house asylum seekers is not appropriate and that we could not support this location being used.  It is isolated and with poor transport links, impacts on our local economy by losing space for business visitors, impacts on the events and activities in Knebworth House and Gardens, has disrupted local peoples wedding & event plans in addition to creating great pressure on public services. 

Local services, from the hospital to healthcare, to Council and police services are already under great strain.  Having a large-scale facility brought into use in Stevenage in short order makes these challenges even more difficult for our community.  

Along with all Councils in Hertfordshire, we have written to the Minister given our deep concerns over the lack of consultation on the Home Office use of hotels across the county, choice of highly unsuitable sites, and pressures on vital services and our communities.  We have asked for an urgent meeting with the Home Secretary to make the strength of local views absolutely clear.  Locally we have requested that the Home Secretary or her representative visit the Novotel with us to see how unsuitable it is to be used for this purpose.

That this Council calls upon the government to:

1.    Carry out an urgent review of the policy of using hotels to accommodate asylum seekers and refugees

2.    Introduce a formal process of consultation with local partners on the suitability or unsuitability of accommodation which is being considered locally by the Home Office contractors

3.    Ensure that consultation is carried out in good time for responses to be carefully considered and for local concerns to be taken into account

4.    Work with local government to develop more sustainable options for housing asylum seekers and refugees including the use of MOD land, modular buildings and develop these along with support packages for the needs of asylum seekers  ...  view the full decision text for item 12.

In accordance with Standing Orders, written answers to the following questions will be circulated on a supplementary agenda.

(A)       Question from Councillor Bret Facey

“Does the Council consider the warmth residents suffering from fuel poverty in the south of Stevenage as equally important as those residents living in the north and centre of the town?"

(B)       Question from Councillor Chris Howells

“There are ongoing issues with a lack of response to residents on housing repairs.  They are then contacting Councillors, and this is no doubt creating more work for Officers.  How can the Council improve communications with residents, so they stop feeling ignored?”

(C)       Question from Councillor Alex Farquharson

“Does the Leader of the Council believe that all politicians aspiring for public office in Stevenage should uphold the highest standards of honesty, trust and transparency?”

(D)       Question from Councillor Julie Ashley-Wren

“Are other options for the inappropriate location for the proposed primary school in the Town Centre being considered?”

(E)       Question from Councillor Stephen Booth

“IT failures at SBC have continued since this Group last raised the issue.  In the last year:

(a)        how many major failures have occurred?

(b)        how many (estimated) work hours have been lost or disrupted?

(c)         what has been the (estimated) cost to council tax payers?”

(F)       Question from Councillor Andy McGuinness

“Given the significant financial pressures the Council will find itself in the future, what assessment has been or will be undertaken to establish any possible efficiency savings from either outsourcing or pooling current council services with other neighbouring authorities?”

(G)      Question from Councillor Robin Parker

“Response and answering times for telephone contacts at the SBC Customer Service Centre have been appalling for several years and local social media continues to be full of complaints about this.  Recognising that we have also repeatedly raised this issue and that not all customers either can go online for their particular query, or may not want to do so:

(a)        what plans have SBC management got to address this issue by deploying additional resources?

(b)        will you undertake to rectify this gross failing by June 2023?”

(H)       Question from Councillor Graham Snell

“SBC is sometimes slow and unresponsive over dealing with perceived breaches of planning conditions.  Will a dedicated Planning Enforcement Officer now be appointed?”

(I)          Question from Councillor Tom Wren

“SBC consults only with immediate neighbours on planning applications.  Will SBC widen the scope of such consultations, so that, for example, those with a clear view of the proposed development are also consulted?”

The Council received nine questions from Members to Committee Chairs/Portfolio Holders.  The responses to the nine questions had been published in the supplementary agenda for the meeting.

(A)      Question from Councillor Bret Facey re: fuel poverty in the South of Stevenage

Supplementary question – Only 1 session out of the 28 provided for warm spaces would be taking place in the South of Stevenage.  Please can the provision of warm spaces in the south of the Town be considered?

The Executive Portfolio Holder for Communities, Neighbourhoods and Co-operative Council advised that an interim community space was in the process of being developed in the central hub of the new Kenilworth building. In the meantime, officers were currently in negotiation with St Peter’s Church, SPRUSE at Marymead and the Four Seasons Café at the Roebuck for the provision of warm spaces in the area.

(B)      Question from Councillor Chris Howells re: housing repairs

Supplementary question – “although in the minority, there was a percentage of residents dissatisfied with repairs. What mechanisms were there to ensure the minority of these cases do not slip through the net?”

The Executive Portfolio Holder for Housing and Housing Development agreed that sometimes responses to residents were not as they should be exacerbated by a high turnover of staff.  The Portfolio Holder advised that this was continually under review.

(C)      Question from Councillor Alex Farquharson re: standards in public office

Supplementary question – the recently selected labour Parliamentary candidate for Stevenage was until recently a London Councillor with no links to Stevenage. Can the Leader of the Council guarantee that the Parliamentary Candidate would hold up the highest standards of honesty, trust and transparency?

The Leader of the Council advised that the parliamentary candidate was now permanently based in Stevenage, was passionate about the Town and had attended many more community events this year than the current MP for Stevenage and was the best person to represent Stevenage at the next General Election.

(D)      Question from Councillor Julie Ashley-Wren re: Town Centre proposed primary school.

There was no supplementary question.

(E)      Question from Councillor Stephen Booth re: IT failures

Supplementary question – when would Councillors be consulted regarding their IT needs?

The Executive Portfolio Holder for Resources, Transformation and Information Technology advised that there had been many IT meetings recently that Councillor Booth could have attended and any questions could have been sent via her in this regard.  The system was complex and recent failures had been dealt with as soon as they could be.

(F)      Question from Councillor Andy McGuinness re: potential outsourcing opportunities

Supplementary question – Could Councillor Mrs Lloyd provide more detail on the improvements mentioned in regard to the waste and recycling services.  Also could confirmation be given that no services would be off the table in terms of outsourcing other services?

The Executive Portfolio Holder for Resources, Transformation and Information Technology replied that all services had been looked at in trying to get the budget ready and for the Council to  ...  view the full decision text for item 13.

The report circulated at Item 14 was considered by the Executive on 16 November 2022 when the following recommendation to Council was agreed:

“That the 2022/23 Mid Year Treasury Management Review and Prudential Indicators be recommended to Council for approval”.

The Council considered a report in respect of the 2022/23 Mid Year Treasury Management Review and Prudential Indictors. 

It was moved by Councillor Mrs Joan Lloyd, and seconded by Baronness Taylor, that Recommendation 2.3 in the report be approved.

Upon the motion being put to the vote, it was RESOLVED that the 2022/23 Mid Year Treasury Management Review and Prudential Indictors be approved.

To consider a proposed Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2022/23.

The Council considered a report in respect of the Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2022 – 23.

It was moved by Baroness Taylor, and seconded by Councillor Mrs Joan Lloyd, that the report be approved.

Upon the motion being put to the vote, it was RESOLVED that the Members Allowances Scheme for 2022 -23, as set out in Appendix A to the report, be approved.

To consider and approve a revised Members’ Code of Conduct.

The Council considered a report presenting a revised Code of Conduct for Members.

It was moved by Councillor Mrs Joan Lloyd, and seconded by Baroness Taylor, that the report be approved.

Upon the motion being put to the vote, it was RESOLVED:

1.    That the comments of the Standards Committee set out at paragraph 4.5 of the report be noted;

2.    That the draft Code of Conduct for Members, attached at Appendix A to the report, be approved for immediate implementation

To consider a report in respect of the Stevenage Local Government Boundary Review.

The Council considered a report relating to the Electoral Review of the Borough of Stevenage – Final Recommendations of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.

It was moved by Baroness Taylor, and seconded by Councillor Thomas, that the report be approved.

Upon the motion being put to the vote, it was RESOLVED that it be noted that that a Polling District and Polling Places review would be undertaken in the summer of 2023.

To note the Minutes of the meeting of the Audit Committee held on 9 November 2022.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Audit Committee held on 9 November 2022 were noted.