Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for Absence were received from Councillors Julie Ashley-Wren, Sandra Barr, Phil Bibby, Kamal Choudhury, Ellie Plater and Nigel Williams.

Councillors Coleen De Freitas and Claire Parris, declared an interest in Item 12 – HRA Budget and Rent Setting as Council tenants.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Council on held on 17 December 2025.

It was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Council Meeting on 15 October and Special Meeting on 17 November 2025 be approved as correct records and signed by the Mayor.

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

The Mayor reminded Members that in compliance with the Constitution, they should refer to each other by their correct title of ‘Councillor’ throughout the meeting.

The Mayor then referred to a number of events she had attended since the Council December meeting which included:

·         The Christmas Social Evening where £385 was raised in the raffle for the Mayor’s Charities and the Charity Quiz night which had raised £867;

·         Sabbath evening service and supper during Jewish festival of Chanukah;

·         Warriorz Caribbean Christmas Experience;

·         Cycling UK Stevenage Christmas Lights Special Cycle Ride; and

·         The Mayor of Welwyn’s Civic Service. 

The Mayor advised that her next fundraising event would be the upcoming Mayor’s Charity Ball on the 7^th February and she gave special thanks to the Deputy Mayor, Cllr Lloyd Briscoe and Cabinet Members for representing and accompanying her to several events.  

None received.

There were no community presentations.

None received.

There were no petitions or deputations.

None received.

There were no questions from the Youth Council.

None received.

There were no questions from the public.

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 Andy McGuinness, asked the following question:

Does the Leader of the Council agree that since the introduction of the new shops at the Roaring Meg (9 Yards) retail park, the parking situation has got progressively worse and although not a Council responsibility could the Council play a facilitation role in trying to improve the situation for residents and shoppers?

The Leader of the Council asked the Portfolio Holder for Economy, Enterprise and Transport to respond.  The Portfolio Holder advised that although the parking at the Retail Park was privately owned and the responsibility of the owners of the site to manage, she would be happy to work in partnership with the owners and the County Council as this was primarily a highways issue.  She suggested that Councillor McGuinness could contact the Lib Dem Highways Portfolio Holder at the County Council to encourage joint working on this issue.

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

• STEM and STEAM Opportunities;
• Stevenage Works Community Chest Fund and the Meet the Builders Event at the Oval;
• New Weekly Food Waste Collection;
• work with Age UK;
• Sustaining Local Leadership and Place?Based Innovation project;
• Project Vigilant and The Orphan Film;

• Young Persons Working Party;
• Stevenage’s 80^th Anniversary;

• Stevenage Station Gateway.

In response to the updates, Councillor Andy McGuinness asked the Portfolio Holder for Environment if he was aware of the issues that had been reported with the mechanisms on the new food waste caddies.  The Portfolio Holder advised that there had been some teething problems which were being addressed.  He would be speaking to the Team and would report the concerns back to them but gave assurances that the problems would be addressed before the whole town roll out of the scheme.

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.

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

(1)          Care Experience as a Protected Characteristic

To be moved by Councillor Coleen De Freitas

This Council welcomes the changes already made to Government guidance, in that it removes the local connection requirement for care leavers when applying for and being allocated local social housing. The Council will ensure that guidance and support will be given to care leavers in accordance with its legal and statutory responsibilities.

This Council notes that:

a)    care experienced people face significant barriers that impact on them throughout their lives. Care leavers make up 25% of Britain’s young homeless population, and adults who have spent time in care are far more likely than their peers to die prematurely.

b)    despite the resilience of many care experienced people, society too often does not take their needs into account and care experienced people often face direct and indirect discrimination in many areas of life, including housing, health, education, relationships, employment and criminal justice.

c)    the Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies, such as councils, to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, and victimisation of people with protected characteristics.

d)    current Care Leaver provision ends at age 25, whereas recognition of care experience as a protected characteristic would mean that care experience would be taken into account for a lifetime – in the same way as the discrimination and hardships resulting from care experience last a lifetime.

This Council therefore resolves that:

1.    it recognises that care experienced people are a group who are likely to face discrimination and will treat care experience as if it were a protected characteristic, and expects councillors and Council staff to challenge negative attitudes and prejudices towards care experienced people.

2.    Equality Impact Assessments relating to any future decisions, services and policies made and adopted by this Council will now also include impact of changes on people with care experience, alongside those who formally have a protected characteristic.

3.    requests that the Chief Executive undertakes an assessment of current policies and service areas provided by Stevenage Borough Council to determine impact, including any financial impact, of this policy change.

4.    in its delivery of the Public Sector Equality Duty, this Council will include care experience in the publication and review of Equality Objectives and the annual publication of information relating to people who have a protected characteristic in services and employment.

5.    this Council formally calls upon all other bodies, including other local authorities in Hertfordshire, to treat care experience as a protected characteristic until such time as this recognition may be introduced by legislation.

6.    this Council will proactively seek and listen to the voices of care experienced people when developing new policies.

(2)       May’s local elections in Stevenage must go ahead

To be moved by Councillor Andy McGuinness

This Council understands the importance of having a replenished electoral mandate from the people of Stevenage which can only come through the ballot box.  This Council also affirms the sanctity  ...  view the full agenda text for item 10.

Care Experience as a Protected Characteristic

Councillor Coleen De Freitas moved the following motion:

‘This Council welcomes the changes already made to Government guidance, in that it removes the local connection requirement for care leavers when applying for and being allocated local social housing. The Council will ensure that guidance and support will be given to care leavers in accordance with its legal and statutory responsibilities.

This Council notes that:

a)    care experienced people face significant barriers that impact on them throughout their lives. Care leavers make up 25% of Britain’s young homeless population, and adults who have spent time in care are far more likely than their peers to die prematurely.

b)    despite the resilience of many care experienced people, society too often does not take their needs into account and care experienced people often face direct and indirect discrimination in many areas of life, including housing, health, education, relationships, employment and criminal justice.

c)    the Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies, such as councils, to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, and victimisation of people with protected characteristics.

d)    current Care Leaver provision ends at age 25, whereas recognition of care experience as a protected characteristic would mean that care experience would be taken into account for a lifetime – in the same way as the discrimination and hardships resulting from care experience last a lifetime.

This Council therefore resolves that:

1. it recognises that care experienced people are a group who are likely to face discrimination and will treat care experience as if it were a protected characteristic, and expects councillors and Council staff to challenge negative attitudes and prejudices towards care experienced people.

2. Equality Impact Assessments relating to any future decisions, services and policies made and adopted by this Council will now also include impact of changes on people with care experience, alongside those who formally have a protected characteristic.

3. requests that the Chief Executive undertakes an assessment of current policies and service areas provided by Stevenage Borough Council to determine impact, including any financial impact, of this policy change.

4. in its delivery of the Public Sector Equality Duty, this Council will include care experience in the publication and review of Equality Objectives and the annual publication of information relating to people who have a protected characteristic in services and employment.

5. this Council formally calls upon all other bodies, including other local authorities in Hertfordshire, to treat care experience as a protected characteristic until such time as this recognition may be introduced by legislation.

6. this Council will proactively seek and listen to the voices of care experienced people when developing new policies.’

In moving the motion, Councillor De Freitas advised that the motion built upon progress that had already been made and that she welcomed the Government’s changes to guidance which removed the local connection requirement for care leavers applying for social housing.  She also welcomed the positive steps taken locally including HCC’s signing of the care leaver covenant and the introduction of additional support around housing, council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

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

(A)         Question from Councillor Julie Ashley-Wren

Fire brigades nationally have been warning about the increasing danger of fires from lithium-ion batteries in e-scooters and home modified e-bikes. The London Fire Brigade recently announced there have been 169 e-bike and 36 e-scooter fires in the capital up to the end of September, sadly resulting in two fatalities

What proactive action is the Council taking to reduce the risks of these serious fires in our council properties, and in particular within our flat blocks?

(B)         Question from Councillor Robin Parker

The SBC website states that Chronicle magazine is delivered up to 5 times a year.  How many times was it actually delivered in 2023, 2024 and 2025; how many addresses were missed each time; what checking was done (and how) to obtain these figures; what remedial action is taken for missed addresses?

(C)         Question from Councillor Stephen Booth

Regarding the new food waste disposal scheme, I understand that DEFRA will be covering the initial set-up costs of this, the Government’s so-called "Simpler Recycling" scheme, how will ongoing and annual service costs be met and how much will this amount to annually? Given that waste collection authorities may decide "frequency and methodology for collection in a way that meets local needs and provides value for money for taxpayers" what consideration has been given to alternative collection methods to that proposed by the Council?

(D)         Question from Councillor Peter Wilkins

The Council website states it aims to remove offensive graffiti before other graffiti, and within one day of receiving a report, and all other graffiti within five days. Can you provide data that shows the councils performance against these standards for removing graffiti and offensive graffiti?

(E)         Question from Councillor Andy McGuinness

What costs have been already incurred by the Council and how much officer time has been taken up in dealing with Local Government Reorganisation in Hertfordshire?

(F)          Question from Councillor Tom Wren

At the council meeting held on 24th July 2019 I asked a question asking for figures for the number of council trees felled and replanted in the proceeding 3 years. This showed the council was not meeting it's pledge to plant replacements trees nearby for all felled trees. Please could the same figures be provided for each year 2020-2025. 

(G)         Question from Councillor Rob Henry

Does the Labour administration agree with me that free, fair, and open elections are fundamental to our democratic process and must be protected without exception?

(H)         Question from Councillor Mason Humberstone

Can this administration explain what it is doing to ensure that local infrastructure and essential services are not overwhelmed by the increasing number of new developments in our town?

The Council received eight questions from Members to Committee Chairs/Portfolio Holders. 

The responses to the eight questions had been published in the supplementary agenda for the meeting.

(A)      Question from Councillor Julie Ashley-Wren re: Fire risks from e-bikes and e-scooters.

Supplementary question from Councillor Tom Wren in Councillor Julie Ashley-Wren’s absence – is the provision of e-bike charging considered when looking at new developments in the Town?

The Portfolio Holder advised that he would provide a written response.

(B)      Question from Councillor Robin Parker re: Chronicle Magazine

Supplementary question – could the Council return to using council staff to deliver the Chronicle instead of the contractor currently bein employed and not doing a particularly good job.

The Leader of the Council advised that he would provide a written response.

(C)      Question from Councillor Stephen Booth regarding: the new food waste disposal scheme

Supplementary question – Had consideration been given to any alternative schemes?

The Portfolio Holder advised that service improvements would continue including the introduction of food waste recycling and flat block recycling facilities.

(D)      Question from Councillor Peter Wilkins regarding: Graffiti removal

Supplementary question – a number of incidents of graffiti around the team still needed to be removed.

The Portfolio Holder for Environment advised Councillor Wilkins to let him know directly of any areas that needed to be looked at and he would pass this on.

(E)      Question from Councillor Andy McGuinness regarding: Local Government Reorganisation

Supplementary question – What will scrutiny look like in Stevenage following LGR

The Leader of the Council advised that Herts Leaders were working together on the transition between now and June when the new configuration was known.  A number of all Member briefings were being organised and updates to Cabinet and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee would be arranged to update Members on the transition.

(F)      Question from Councillor Tom Wren regarding replacement tree planting

Supplementary question – could we use the 3 for 1 tree replacement requirement for the Council’s own developments?

The Portfolio Holder for Environment agreed to take this back to officers for consideration.

(G)     Question from Councillor Rob Henry regarding Council elections

Supplementary question – What impact does the Leader of the Council believe the decision to cancel the upcoming elections had on his credibility?

The Leader of the Council advised that this had been the subject of a long debate earlier in the meeting which had covered the issue.

(H)      Question from Councillor Mason Humberstone regarding: Local infrastructure and new developments

Supplementary question – will the Leader of the Council agree that there was a lack of communication between the Council and residents on the impact of new developments in the town?

The Leader of the Council advised that a communications summit had been held to look at how to get more information to a wider audience.  Short Cabinet briefings had also been launched but improvements to communications were constantly under review.

To update Members on the proposals for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budgets and rent setting for 2026/27.

The Council considered a report seeking approval to the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Budget and Rent Setting for 2026/27.

In moving the motion, Councillor Jackie Hollywell, Cabinet Member for Housing advised that the Council had taken major strides in strengthening the foundations of the Housing Revenue Account and improving its housing services.  Stock?condition surveys had been undertaken covering nearly 97% of homes and non?decency reduced to just 1.5%.  The data had shaped a clear investment pathway that would maintain 100% decent homes standard in 2026/27. 

The Portfolio Holder informed Council that by the end of this financial year, the Council would have delivered 623 new homes since 2014, with a further 281 homes currently under construction.  With substantial grant funding secured of over £40Million including Homes England funding of £38million, the target of delivering 1,000 new homes by 2029/2030 was being worked towards ensuring that more families in Stevenage could have access to safe, secure and affordable homes.

It was noted that the Business Plan committed £138million over the next five years, and £745 million over the next 30 years to maintain and improve homes including major investment in building safety, fire compliance, and energy efficiency, with firm commitments to deliver an energy or EPC?C rating across all council homes by 2030.

In relation to rents for next year, in line with the Government’s 10?year rent policy, rents would increase from April by 4.8%, equating to average weekly rises of £5.89 for social rent, £8.85 for affordable rent, and £7.26 for shared ownership.  The increases would provide essential income required to maintain homes, support compliance programmes, and invest in measures reducing living costs for tenants.

In relation to service charges, it was noted that only the actual cost of providing services would be recharged.  Two?thirds of tenants would pay no service charge at all; and for most who did, the increase would be less than 50p per week.

The Portfolio Holder advised that the 2026/27 HRA Capital Programme proposed £75.6 million of investment, including £35.6 million of borrowing, to support major works, to existing and delivery of new homes.  The capital programme also supported progress toward delivering the EPC?C energy rating by 2030, maintaining momentum on the Warm Homes retrofit programme, and continuing new?build delivery.

In respect of revenue, the budget included £700,000 of targeted growth for service improvements and regulatory compliance, alongside £496,000 of identified efficiencies across staffing structures, ICT licensing, cleaning and support costs.

In seconding the motion, Councillor Jeannette Thomas, Portfolio Holder for Resources and Performance and Deputy Leader advised that the budget made five clear promises:

·         Safety - The budget included programmed door, lift inspection and repair, water?system checks; targeted fire remedials; and the operational changes required by Awaab’s Law so damp and mould cases were dealt appropriately to support the Council’s improvement journey towards securing a C1 grading with the Regulator of Social Housing.

·         Warmer homes at lower running costs.  The worst?performing stock would be prioritised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.