Agenda and minutes
Venue: Committee Rooms A & B, Hertsmere Civic Offices, Elstree Way, Borehamwood
Contact: Ms Rehill, Democratic Services 020 8207 7423
No. | Item |
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Membership To receive
details of any changes in membership of this Committee notified since the
agenda was printed. Minutes: There were no changes. |
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Communications & Apologies (a)
Communications (if any) relating to business on the agenda. (b) Apologies for
absence. Minutes: There were none. |
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Declarations of Interest Members are required to declare any
Disclosable Pecuniary Interests they or their spouse/partner have in any matter
which is to be considered at this meeting. Members must also declare any other
pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests they have in any matter to be considered
at this meeting. The responsibility for declaring an interest rests solely with
the Member concerned. Members must
clearly state to the meeting the existence and nature of any Disclosable
Pecuniary Interest, other pecuniary interest or non-pecuniary interest and the
agenda item(s) to which it/they apply. Disclosable
Pecuniary Interests are prescribed by the Relevant Authorities (Disclosable
Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012 as follows: a. Employment, office, trade, profession or
vocation Any
employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or
gain. b. Sponsorship Any payment
or provision of any other financial benefit (other than from the relevant
authority) made or provided within the relevant period in respect of any
expenses incurred by a member in carrying out duties as a member, or towards
your election expenses. This includes any payment or financial benefit from a
trade union within the meaning of the Trade Union and Labour Relations
(Consolidation) Act 1992. c. Contracts Any contract
which is made between the relevant person (or a body in which the relevant
person has a beneficial interest) and the relevant authority— (a) under which
goods or services are to be provided or works are to be executed; and (b) which
has not been fully discharged. d. Land Any
beneficial interest in land which is within the area of the relevant authority. e. Licences Any licence
(alone or jointly with others) to occupy land in the area of the relevant authority
for a month or longer. f. Corporate tenancies Any tenancy
where (to the member’s knowledge) - (a) the landlord is the relevant authority;
and (b) the tenant is a body in which the relevant person has a beneficial
interest. g. Securities Any
beneficial interest in securities of a body where – (a) that body (to the
member’s knowledge) has a place of business or land in the area of the relevant
authority; and (b) either (i) the total nominal value of the securities exceeds
£25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body; or
(ii) if the share capital of that body is of more than one class, the total
nominal value of the shares of any one class in which the relevant person has a
beneficial interest exceeds one hundredth of the total issued share capital of
that class. In cases of Disclosable Pecuniary Interest,
Members must withdraw from the meeting room while the matter is being
considered. Minutes: There were none. |
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Minutes of the last meeting To confirm
and sign the ATTACHED minutes of the
meeting of the Committee held on 7 March 2019 and the Annual Special Meeting
held on 15 May 2019. In
accordance with the Constitution no discussion shall take place upon the
minutes, except upon their accuracy. Additional documents: Minutes: RESOLVED that the
minutes of the meetings held on 7 March 2019 and 15 May 2019 be approved and
signed as a correct record. |
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COMMITTEE BRIEFING ON CIL/CIF POLICY To note the ATTACHED report. Minutes: The Head of Planning
and Economic Development and the Planning Strategy Manager were in attendance
for this item, supported by the Planning Portfolioholder, Councillor Cohen. The report was
presented and a number of points discussed, including: -
Hertsmere
Borough Council (HBC) had collected a total of around £9M of Community
Infrastructure Levy payments as at 31 March 2019. The Council was required to
pass on 15% of CIL collected in parished areas directly to the relevant Town
& Parish Councils (T&PCs). -
HBC was
the only Local Authority in Hertfordshire to have started spending Community
Infrastructure Funds (CIF). CIF bids were considered by the Council’s Community
Infrastructure Levy and Investment Panel (CILIP), whose recommendations were
then referred to Executive for the final decision on the allocation of CIF. -
An
internal review was being carried out to consider the spending process and
whether improvements could be made. HBC had participated in a CIL Pilot
Project, commissioned by the Government through the Planning Advisory Service
(PAS). The report from the PAS would be circulated to Members shortly. -
Members
discussed the possibilities and challenges of match funding. There was little
national guidance available regarding match funding and it was an area which
required further clarification. -
Crowd-funding
was discussed and Members agreed that it was an area worth further
consideration. It would potentially be a good platform to engage with the local
community and could be useful for spending smaller portions of CIF. -
Members
discussed whether current available CIL money should be used for larger
infrastructure projects rather than several small ones. They also discussed the
possibility of smaller level funding being directed to T&PCs. -
Members
discussed the 5% admin charge paid by T&PCs. Officers explained that the
charge covered software expenditure, the cost of Officer time and the costs of
running the bid process. -
New CIL
regulations were due to come into effect on 1 September 2019. They were
expected to give more flexibility on how CIL monies were spent. RESOLVED that at the Policy Review meeting of 17 December 2019, the Committee
would consider:
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FOLLOW ON DISCUSSION OF REPORT ON THE PHYSICAL ACCESS SECURITY SCRUTINY REVIEW To discuss whether further work is required following the ATTACHED response of the Executive to the Scrutiny Review’s recommendations. Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee discussed the response of the Executive to the recommendations and the implementation of those recommendations. RESOLVED that no further work on the Physical Access Security Policy was required at present.
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MENTAL HEALTH BRIEFING To consider whether further work is required from 7 March 2019 briefing report. Minutes: In response to the
recommendations arising from the Briefing on Mental Health at the last meeting,
the Committee was informed that: -
Managers
in Customer Services, Environmental Health, Housing, Revenues and Benefits and
Parking Services had been advised that it was mandatory for all relevant
customer-facing staff to complete online Mental Health Awareness training via
the Learning Zone. Staff had until 30 September 2019 to complete this training.
All relevant new starters would have this training added as mandatory to their
induction training requirements. -
The
majority of teams throughout the Council had at least one person trained as a
Mental Health First Aider. -
The
Member Development Panel had not met since the last Committee meeting, so the
Committee’s recommendations would be passed to the Panel at their next meeting. The Committee
welcomed the training initiatives organised by Human Resources and discussed if
further work was required regarding the motion on Neurodiversity and Mental
Health submitted to Full Council in November 2018. RESOLVED that at the next meeting, the Committee would request:
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AREAS FOR FUTURE SCRUTINY To agree what areas should be scrutinised in the next 12 – 18 months. Minutes: Areas for future
scrutiny were discussed. The main areas of interest were:
-
How
Scrutiny was working for this Local Authority? -
If the
changes to the scrutiny structure, implemented in 2015 following a review, had
been effective? -
What
areas had not been effective? -
What
could be done to make scrutiny more effective? The Mapping of Partnerships Review currently
taking place by Operations Review Committee would be considered as part of this
review. The recommendations from the Mapping of Partnerships Review were due to
come to Policy Review Committee in March 2020.
The Review Group would be comprised of three or four Members, with
Councillor Newmark as Lead Member and two or three Members who were not Members
of the Committee. Councillor Newmark would email the Chair a Scoping Briefing
advance of the Policy Review Committee meeting in October.
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The Data
Management processes of this Council. -
How
security risks had been mitigated now that data was stored on the Cloud? -
Was data
security sufficiently robust to give residents assurance that their data was
secure? The Review Group would be comprised of three
Members, with Councillor Briski as Lead Member and two Members who were not
Members of the Committee. Councillor Briski would email the Chair with a
Scoping Brief in advance of the Policy Review Committee Meeting in October.
Following the Modern Slavery Review Motion in
Full Council and further to the setting up of the Herts Modern Slavery
Partnership, staff in the Procurement Department received training on slavery
within supply chains. The Committee agreed a review on anti-slavery policy
within Procurement as well as an update on Hertsmere Borough Council’s
Procurement and Modern Slavery Statement. RESOLVED that: (i)
A Task and Finish Scrutiny Review on Scrutiny Functions be set up, as follows: -
Review
membership to comprise Members would be Councillor Newmark (as Lead Member)
plus two or three non-Policy Review Committee Members. -
Councillor
Newmark to email the Scoping Brief to the Chair before the next Committee
meeting. (ii) A Task &
Finish Scrutiny Review on the Data Security Policy be set up, as follows: - Review
membership to comprise Councillor Briski (as Lead Member) plus two non-Policy
Review Committee Members. -
Councillor
Briski to email the Scoping Brief to the Chair before the next Committee
meeting. (iii) a report on
Procurement and Modern Slavery be presented to the 3 October 2019 Committee
meeting. |
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Forward Planning Programme and Committee Workprogramme To consider
the ATTACHED Forward Planning Programme and identify possible issues for
scrutiny. To consider the Committee’s ATTACHED Workprogramme and requirements for Officer and/or Portfolio Holder attendance. Additional documents: Minutes: The Forward Planning Programme was NOTED. AGREED following changes to the Work Programme: -
add an item on Procurement and Modern-Slavery to
October 2019 meeting. |
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Any other business which the Chair considers urgent In accordance with S100B(4) of the Local
Government Act 1972, amended by the Access to Information Act of 1985, no
urgent business may be raised unless it has been approved by the Chair. The
item and reason for urgency must be announced at the start of the meeting. Minutes: There was none. |
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Dates of future meetings The next meeting will be at 7.30pm at Hertsmere Civic Offices on: - 03 October 2019 - 17 December 2019 - 28 January 2020 Minutes: The next meeting was scheduled for 3 October 2019. |