Agenda and decisions

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Doug Bainbridge, Andy McGuinness and Graham Snell.

Councillor Sharon Taylor declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of Items 12 (Members’ Allowances Scheme 2022/23) and 13 (Pay Policy Statement 2022/23), in view of her role in the negotiations on Local Government Pay Awards as a member of the NJC Employers’ Side.

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

The Mayor announced that she had accepted:

·        anadditional Question from the Public in respect of bus services in the town.  The question had arisen at a meeting of the Stevenage Bus Users Group held on 1 March 2022 and was submitted by Mr David Martin (Treasurer of the Group), and hence was received after the deadline date for submission of questions.  The question and answer had been sent to Members on the supplementary agenda for the meeting; and

·        an urgent motion from the Labour Group concerning the crisis in Ukraine.  This had also been sent to Members on the supplementary agenda for the meeting.  She announced that she would be taking this urgent motion first under Item 9 (Notice of Motions).

The Mayor summarised the activities that she and her consort had been involved with since the previous Council meeting in July 2021.  These had included:

·        the opening of two stores in the indoor market, one of which was the home for the Covid snake;

·        opening the specialist Walkwell shop in the Westgate Centre;

·        drawing the Christmas raffle at the Nationwide Building Society;

·        filming a Christmas message (with the Leader) to residents;

·        being involved in the film for Holocaust Memorial Day;

·        making a film to promote Stevenage Day 2022;

·        making a film to send a message celebrating the new Stevenage Special Constables’ passing out ceremony;

·        accompanied by Councillor Claire Parris, attending the Mayor of Hertsmere’s Holocaust Memorial Day lantern parade;

·        a visit to the Coptic Church cathedral in Stevenage, and being part of the contemporary martyrs’ day 2022, an online event to highlight the suffering of Orthodox Christians and modern day martyrs of the Coptic Church;

·        judging (with Councillor John Gardner) the green network logo competition; and judging (with the Deputy Mayor) the right up you street award, the friendliest road competition, which was won by Baddeley Close in Shephall;

·        awarding the winning medals to the children of Stevenage and North Hertfordshire Schools writing competition;

·        visiting Mossbury School to open the “Mossy Mile”, comprising new exercise equipment;

·        a visit to the new SADA refuge house in Stevenage;

·        attending the Betty Game Trust annual meeting;

·        a private viewing of the new art installation and exhibition titled “Out in Stevenage”, imagining an LGBTQ+ history of the town;

·        a preview of the new Bus Interchange facility;

·        opening/launching the new North Herts College Construction Hub;

·        breaking ground at Dunn Close, in readiness for the new supported housing scheme;

·        hosting a fundraising Gala Ball at the Cromwell Hotel;

·        the celebration of the life of her late friend and former councillor (and Mayor) Carol Latif at Harwood Park Crematorium; and

·        attending the very moving tribute to the bravery of the people of the Ukraine held in the Town Square on the early evening of 4 March 2022.

There is no Main Debate.

There was no Main Debate.

None received.

There were no Petitions and Deputations.

In accordance with Standing Orders, written response to the following questions submitted by the Youth Council will be sent out on a supplementary agenda.

(A)       What are the plans for the Youth Centre at Bowes Lyon House?  Will this affect the Youth Council?

(B)       Are the Council supporting Young People to get a house or learn more about housing?

(C)      The Youth Council have noticed a high amount of litter in Stevenage.  How are the Council looking to resolve this?  The Youth Council would love to support a campaign on this subject.

The Council received three questions from the Youth Council.  The responses to the three questions had been published in the supplementary agenda for the meeting.

No supplementary questions were asked by the Youth Mayor.

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

(A)       Question from Mr Jim Borcherds

“It has recently come to my attention that some secondary schools in Hertfordshire may not be recycling their waste paper due to cost.

Please could you let me know if there are any schools within the Stevenage District that Stevenage Borough Council does not currently collect waste paper for recycling from?

If there are any schools that do not recycle their paper with Stevenage Borough Council please could you provide a list of those that do and those that do not.”

The Council noted that a response to the question submitted by Mr Jim Borcherds regarding the recycling of waste paper by Schools had been published in the supplementary agenda for the meeting.

No supplementary question had been received.

The Council further noted that a response from Councillor Lloyd Briscoe (Executive Portfolio Holder for Economy, Enterprise & Transport) to the question submitted by Mr David Martin (from BUGS) concerning bus services in the town had also been published in the supplementary agenda for the meeting.

Mr Martin was present at the meeting, and addressed his original question to Councillor John Gardner (Executive Portfolio Holder for Environment & Regeneration).

Councillor Gardner replied that he echoed entirely the views expressed by Councillor Briscoe in his response to the original question.

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 Council had recently issued a press release without evidence claiming that ‘people who cycle regularly live longer than those who do not, and cycling regularly to work or school has been shown to be the most effective thing an individual can do to improve health and increase longevity’.  Should the Council not be giving more truthful and balanced advice, rather than propaganda?”

The Leader of the Council replied that she was not aware of the source of that information, but felt that it was unlikely that officers would make such statements without some empirical evidence to back it up.  She undertook to ensure that Councillor Bibby was provided with this evidence.  She also hoped that Hertfordshire County Council would continue to promote cycling as part of a healthy lifestyle and in the Climate Change ambition to achieve a net zero carbon target.

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

·        Health Protection Board spend;

·        Household Support Fund;

·        ICT work supporting Transformation;

·        Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund;

·        Hertfordshire County Council Support Funding;

·        Loyalty Initiative Funding;

·        Growth through Sustainability;

·        Storm Eunice response;

·        Icon Planning appeal; and

·        Launch of the Council’s Leisure Management Contract Procurement Process which would conclude in 2023.

In respect Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, the Leader of the Opposition noted that it would cost approximately 20,000 per unit to upgrade the whole of the SBC housing stock.  He appreciated that the Council would not be able to fund this immediately and was unlikely to attract 100% grant funding, but asked if the Council would be preparing a long-term plan to tackle the issue? 

The Executive Portfolio Holder for Housing, Health & Older People replied that the Council would be updating its Housing Revenue Account Business Plan in June 2022, which would include an assessment of decarbonisation costs.  The Leader of the Council added that the £1.8M funding received by the Council for Wave 1 of the Decarbonisation Fund was welcome, and commented that it would be incumbent on the Government to recognise that local authorities could not upgrade the whole of their housing stock without further financial support.

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 on a number of occasions in recent months, including some additional meetings to consider the Towns Fund Business Cases.  The Committee had also been involved in a Portfolio Holder Advisory Group meeting on the Council’s Transformation plans.

The Chair of the Community Select Committee stated that the recent work of the Committee had centred upon the proposed new Heritage Centre for the town.  Difficulties had been experienced in the Committee’s statutory responsibility to scrutinise crime and disorder due to data issues, although officers were working to resolve these issues.  The Committee had also received an interesting presentation from the Council’s Neighbourhood Wardens, as well as an update on the Your Say complaints system.

The Chair of the Environment & Economy Select Committee advised that the Committee’s work had continued to focus on scrutiny of the Council’s Climate Emergency plans.  The Committee would be producing an interim report on this matter covering progress over the past year.  As well as formal meetings, the Committee had also met informally to gather the views of Executive Members and other experts and interested parties.  He would report further on the Committee’s continuing work on Climate Change during the 2022/23 Civic Year.

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

1.          Bus Services in Stevenage

To be moved by the Labour Group

Bus services in Stevenage are vital to so many of our residents providing them with a vital link to work places, shops, medical services, social & leisure activity, access to education and so much more.

That is why it is so disappointing to see a deterioration in our bus services in town with residents reporting many bus services cut at short (or no) notice meaning they have long waits for their bus.  For some time now we have experienced some areas left with no bus service from early evening or no service at all.

This Council is working towards our net zero carbon by 2030 target and with the County Council on our Sustainable Travel Town status.  A key part of this will be to encourage more use of public transport rather than private cars. Our new bus interchange is part of building an integrated public transport system. However this depends on regular, reliable, sustainable and affordable bus services.

Therefore this Council resolves:

1.     To convene a bus summit with the bus operators to explore the opportunities and address the challenges of delivering better bus services

2.     To lobby the County Council, as transport authority, to work with us and bus operators to ensure every area of Stevenage has a bus service

3.     To seek reassurance from the County Council that there will be no further cuts to bus subsidies for Stevenage bus routes

4.     To explore with the County Council better ways of providing up to date travel information to passengers

5.     To ensure we do all we can through the planning process to ensure bus routes are planned with new neighbourhoods and maximum use is made of CIL & Section 106 to incentivise bus use.

6.     To encourage the County Council as the Local Transport Authority and Arriva to continue to work with SBC concerning the ZEBRA (Zero Emission Bus Regional Area) bid for Stevenage.

2.          Council Meetings

To be moved by the Conservative Group.

Council notes that in the interests of democracy, it is important to continue to encourage and allow all political parties represented in Council to table motions but, to ensure all Council meetings are conducted in a timely fashion, thus facilitating the continued attention and interest of both our members and the public, there is a need to limit the time spent in debate. This can be achieved by limiting the number of motions and the time allowed for both debate and individual speakers. 

Also, Council notes that the main debate has not taken place for some while, so could be regarded as no longer necessary. However, it is appreciated that members may benefit from presentations on matters of interest to the community, as appropriate and, therefore, we should provide for this in Standing Orders.

The Council therefore moves that Standing Orders, 19. Rules of Debate, is amended, as follows:

A  ...  view the full agenda text for item 9.

Urgent Motion – Crisis in the Ukraine

Councillor Sharon Taylor moved and Councillor Loraine Rossati seconded the following urgent motion:

“That this Council expresses its strong solidarity and support for the people of Ukraine and agrees that this be expressed on behalf of the Council and the people of Stevenage.     

We express our solidarity and support to the Ukraine community in Stevenage and pledge assistance within our powers with their humanitarian aid efforts.  

Council agrees to undertaking the following action urgently and in writing:

·     To the Russian Ambassador in the UK, demanding that he requests his Government to withdraw troops from Ukraine immediately;

·     To the Ukrainian Ambassador in the UK, expressing the Council’s support and solidarity, and respect for his nation’s sovereignty, freedom and courage; and

·     To the Prime Minister of the UK, asking that all efforts are made to welcome refugees coming from Ukraine to the UK, and advise of our willingness to help settle individuals and families whose lives have so sadly and suddenly been affected by the military action in Ukraine.”

Following debate, and upon being put to the vote, the motion was carried unanimously.

Bus Services in Stevenage

Councillor Lloyd Briscoe moved and Councillor Michael Downing seconded the following motion:

“Bus services in Stevenage are vital to so many of our residents providing them with a vital link to work places, shops, medical services, social & leisure activity, access to education and so much more.

That is why it is so disappointing to see a deterioration in our bus services in town with residents reporting many bus services cut at short (or no) notice meaning they have long waits for their bus.  For some time now we have experienced some areas left with no bus service from early evening or no service at all.

This council is working towards our net zero carbon by 2030 target and with the county council on our Sustainable Travel Town status.  A key part of this will be to encourage more use of public transport rather than private cars. Our new bus interchange is part of building an integrated public transport system. However this depends on regular, reliable, sustainable and affordable bus services.

Therefore this Council resolves:

1.   To convene a bus summit with the bus operators to explore the opportunities and address the challenges of delivering better bus services

2.   To lobby the county council, as transport authority, to work with us and bus operators to ensure every area of Stevenage has a bus service

3.   To seek reassurance from the county council that there will be no further cuts to bus subsidies for Stevenage bus routes

4.   To explore with the county council better ways of providing up to date travel information to passengers

5.   To ensure we do all we can through the planning process to ensure bus routes are planned with new neighbourhoods and maximum use is made of CIL & Section 106 to incentivise bus use.

6.   To encourage the County Council as the Local  ...  view the full decision text for item 9.

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

(A)       Question from Councillor Nicholas Leech

‘Why are Stevenage Borough Council recycling rates so far below our neighbouring councils according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS)*?’

* See  Table 1: Local Authority Collected and Household Waste Statistics 2014-15 to 2020-21, England

(B)       Question from Councillor Julie Ashley-Wren

‘Even before recent storms damage, we were receiving numerous reports about SBC owned fences not being repaired for months, sometimes years, after having been reported.

a.      What was the reason for this?

b.      What actions has the Council taken to put the matter right?’

(C)      Question from Councillor Stephen Booth

‘Which of the following has been the cause of the additional funding necessary to complete the new Bus Interchange: 

Was it a failure by the contractor to include the additional works in their tender?; or

Was it a failure by the Council to properly scope the works before inviting tenders?’

(D)      Question from Councillor Andy McGuinness

‘What steps are the Council taking to alleviate the impact on local residents of the unwelcome and unnecessary development at Gresley Park?’

(E)       Question from Councillor Robin Parker

Reference the recent traffic difficulties along Lytton Way, and acknowledging that HCC are the highway authority:

a.      What part did SBC play in the arrangements implemented?

b.      In retrospect, what should have been done better?

c.      What further disruption to traffic on Lytton Way is expected as a result of future town centre regeneration works?’

(F)       Question from Councillor Graham Snell

‘On the recently installed hoarding around the now closed Swingate car park in Stevenage Town Centre, there has been a number of information boards telling the story of Stevenage, which are very interesting.

a.      Are these the same boards that were previously around the new bus station?    

b.      What was the cost of (i) supplying them (ii) installing them and (iii) who paid?’

(G)      Question from Councillor Tom Wren

‘Supplementary question to the question submitted by Cllr. Wren to Council for the 15th December 2021 meeting.  Were any Government grants or funding schemes available for the Council to use for insulation or other works as part of the Major Refurbishment Contract?’

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

(A)       Question from Councillor Nick Leech re: Council recycling rates

Supplementary question – “The ONS statistics showed that the percentage of SBC waste sent to landfill over the past six years had remained at 60%.  Why had this not improved?”

In reply, the Executive Portfolio Holder for Environment & Regeneration acknowledged that there was room for improvement with regard to the recycling rates.  He had set out in his response to the original question some of the proposed measures for securing improvement.  The Government’s review of its Waste Strategy had been postponed a number of times.  One of the issues included in the Government’s consultation had related to kitchen waste – should SBC adopt a collection scheme it would increase the recycling rate by about 4.5%.  There was also an onus on residents to change behaviour and increase their own recycling rates, including that secured from the Borough’s flat blocks.  He would welcome a discussion with Councillor Leech and Waste Collection staff to consider the various issues going forward.

(B)       Question from Councillor Julie Ashley-Wren re: repairs to SBC-owned fences

Supplementary question – “What plans were in place to deal with the 1,000+ fence repairs that were required prior to the additional 300 or so that were needed following the recent storms?”

The Executive Portfolio Holder for Housing, Health & Older People replied that fencing had been at a low level of supply nationally over the past two years, both for councils and private properties.  The Council had been undertaking emergency only fencing repairs during that time.  Such emergency repairs would include, for example, where the fence bordered a footpath, and would need to be repaired for security purposes.  A sum of £250,000 had been allocated in the 2022/23 budget to help deal with the fencing repairs backlog.

(C)      Question from Councillor Stephen Booth re: funding for the new Bus Interchange

Supplementary question – “Did the Council fail to properly scope the works, thereby allowing the contractor once on site to maximise the costs for the additional works required to complete the contract?”

The Executive Portfolio Holder for Environment & Regeneration replied that the Bus Interchange was a circa £10M project.  He felt that the timelines on the hoarding which surrounded the site during the works represented good value for money, and would be re-used (and updated) on the hoardings used for other Town Centre Regeneration Schemes.  It helped to enhance the interface between the Council and the public.

(D)      Question from Councillor Andy McGuinness re: impact on residents of Gresley Park development

Supplementary question (from Councillor Robin Parker in the absence of Councillor McGuinness) – “Can he receive a list of the benefits for the Borough to be derived from the Section 106 Agreement for the Gresley Park development, and has SBC complained to East Hertfordshire Council (EHC) and/or Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) and/or the  ...  view the full decision text for item 10.

The report circulated at Item 11 was considered by the Executive on 9 February 2022 when the following recommendation to Council was agreed:

“That the proposed Stevenage Borough Council Gambling Act Statement of Principles 2022-2025, as attached at Appendix A to the report, be adopted.”

The Council considered a report in respect of a review of the Council’s Statement of Principles regarding the Gambling Act 2005.

It was moved by Councillor Jackie Hollywell, and seconded by Councillor Maureen McKay, that Recommendation 2.1 in the report be approved.

Following debate and upon the motion being put to the vote, it was RESOLVED that the Stevenage Borough Council Statement of Principles (Gambling Act 2005), as attached at Appendix A to the report, be adopted.

To agree a Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2022/23.

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

The Chief Executive drew attention to the addendum report and revised Scheme which had been circulated to Members on the supplementary agenda for the meeting.  He advised that the revised documentation reflected the very recent NJC Pay Award agreement for a 1.75% increase in pay for 2021/22, which had not been confirmed at the time that the original report was written.

It was moved by Councillor Taylor, and seconded by Councillor Mrs Joan Lloyd, that Recommendations 2.1 and 2.2 in the addendum report be approved.

During the debate, the Leader of the Conservative Group advised that he and the members of his Group present at the meeting would be voting against the recommendations, and would not be taking the 1.75% increase in allowances.

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

1.          That the Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2022/23, as set out in the revised Appendix A attached to the addendum report, be agreed.

2.          That the Scheme be updated should an NJC Pay Award be agreed for 2022/23.  

To consider a report recommending the Pay Policy Statement for the financial year 2022/23.

The Council considered a report in respect of a proposed Pay Policy Statement for 2022/23.

The Chief Executive advised that, as with the previous item, Recommendation 2.1 in the report would need to be revised to reflect the recent NJC Pay Award agreement for a 1.75% increase in pay for 2021/22, which had not been confirmed at the time the original report was written.

It was moved by Councillor Mrs Joan Lloyd, and seconded by Councillor Sharon Taylor, that a revised Recommendation 2.1 and Recommendation 2.2 set out in the report be approved.

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

1.          That the Pay Policy Statement set out in accordance with the Localism Act 2011 and the Local Government Transparency Code 2015, as attached at Appendix 1 to the report, and thereafter revised to take account of the recent NJC Pay Award of a 1.75% pay increase for 2021/22, be approved.

2.          That the Pay Policy be placed on the Council’s website and that a notice of the Policy be published in the next edition of Chronicle.

To note the Minutes of the meeting of the Audit Committee held on 8 February 2022.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Audit Committee held on 8 February 2022 were received.