Agenda and decisions

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Rob Broom and Tom Plater.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve The Council’s proposed response to the Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution’s formal invitation to develop proposals for a single tier of local government in Hertfordshire.

Cabinet received a report requesting approval of the Council’s proposed response to the Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution’s formal invitation to develop proposals for a single tier of local government in Hertfordshire.

The Leader of the Council thanked Cabinet colleagues, for their continued support and engagement on Local Government Reorganisation and Members of all political parties who had engaged so constructively on this vital topic. The Leader also thanked the officer team who had been tireless in their work on LGR, in developing the options, working with the community to listen to their views, keeping Members involved and engaging Council teams positively.

In relation to Devolution, The Leader advised that he had supported the proposal to request a Mayoral Strategic Authority for Hertfordshire which would help secure funding for many more council homes, to continue regeneration, to create jobs for local people and to improve the local area.

The Leader stated that he would be supporting the 4 Unitary Model option based on a number of factors including the clear messages that had come through from local people preferring councils that were close to their communities and wanting value for money and well managed services.

Tom Pike, Chief Executive, gave a summary of the outcome of the Council meeting held on 17 November and an overview of the reports and proposals.

Clare Fletcher, Strategic Director and Victoria Wilders Monitoring Officer and Borough Solicitor gave a summary of the financial and legal implications of the report.  The Monitoring Officer also informed the meeting that the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny has agreed to disapply call in in relation to Cabinet’s decision today in accordance with the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules under the Constitution.

The decision to disapply the call-in would be reported to the next available meeting of the Council.

Members made a number of comments on the report in support of the 4 Unitary Model.

Following debate, each Member of the Cabinet was asked to indicate their preferred option and it was RESOLVED:

1.            The indicative resolution of Full Council be noted.

2.            That the preferred Option C be approved to submit the proposal and identify the modified four unitary option (4UA modified) as preferred and request that the SoS formally modify the proposal by boundary changes as set out in the proposal.

3.            That the report be endorsed and that authority be delegated to the Chief Executive, having consulted with the Leader of the Council, to work with Hertfordshire County Council and District and Borough Councils to finalise and submit Hertfordshire’s proposals for Local Government Reorganisation to Government by 28 November 2025.

To consider any Part 1 business accepted by the Chair as urgent.

It was RESOLVED:

1. That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as described in Paragraphs 1 – 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act as amended by Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006.
2. That the reasons for the following reports being in Part II were accepted, and that the exemption from disclosure of the information contained therein outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

TOWN CENTRE DEVELOPMENT FINANCE

It was reported that The Leader had consented to the report being dealt with as a matter of urgency for the reasons set out in the report.

It was also confirmed that the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had agreed to disapply call in in relation to the Cabinet’s decision in accordance with the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules under the Constitution on the basis that the decision was reasonable in all the circumstances and should be treated as urgent

The Cabinet then received an update on Town Centre Development Finance.

It was RESOLVED that the recommendations set out in the report be approved.