Agenda and minutes

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 17^th July 2024 (previously circulated).

The minutes of the meeting held on the 17^th July 2024 were approved as a correct record.

To receive apologies for absence, if any.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors S.Goldwater, H.Goldwater, D.Panter, P.Shah, M.Birelson, J.Boulton and G.Moore.

The Mayor will receive petitions (limited to the first three petitions presented).

No petitions were received.

A period of thirty minutes will be made available for questions to be put by Members of the public to Members of the Cabinet on matters for which the Council has a responsibility or which affect the Borough.

No questions from the public were received.

To note declarations of Members’ disclosable pecuniary interests, non-disclosable pecuniary interests and non-pecuniary interests in respect of items on the Agenda.

Councillors Kingsbury, Zukowskyj and Thusu declared an interest as Hertfordshire County Councillors.

The following members raised a non-disclosable pecuinary interest in Motion 2: Councilor Jones, A.Chesterman, L.Chesterman, Skottowe, Nix, Weston, Mitchinson, Watson, Fitzsimon, Cragg, Trigg, Rowse, Mitchinson and Michaelides.

To receive any announcements from the Mayor, Leader of the Council, Member of the Cabinet or the Head of Paid Service.

Mayor

“Thanks to those who attended my Afternoon Tea in August where we raised just shy of £800 for my chosen charity, Herts Young Homeless.  I sincerely hope you will all be able to come along to my next fundraising event my Italian Night at the Terranova Restaurant on Wednesday 9th October starting at 7pm. Please also note in your diaries my Quiz Night, more details to follow, which will be held at Campus West on Friday 15 November.

Before we start our meeting, on behalf of Cabinet Members, Councillors, the Deputy Mayor and all of us at Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, I would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to local resident, Louise Fiddes, on her outstanding success at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.  Louise, who is a member of Hatfield Swimming Club, won Gold in the women’s 100m breaststroke, one of incredible 49 gold medals won by Team GB.  She also won bronze in the 200m freestyle.  Louise is an example to us all of how hard work and dedication to her sport paid off.  I would also like to extend our congratulations to Jodie Williams who is originally from Welwyn Garden City.  Jodie won a bronze medal as part of the women’s 4x400m relay, playing a crucial role running in the heats.  Finally, many congratulations to all of Team GB who finished second in the Paralympics medal table, winning a whopping 124 medals overall.  Can I ask everyone to please show their appreciation for Louise, Jodie and all of Team GB for everything that they achieved at the 2024 Paralympics.”

Executive Member of Resources

“In advance of the conclusion of the Government's spending Review and the upcoming Autumn Budget Statement, the Leader Deputy Leader, and I have this week written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to highlights to continued financial pressure on local government. 

In the letter we've outlined that substantial level of funding cuts that we've faced under the previous governments which, for this Council is equivalent to over 7 million pounds per annum. We also highlighted the additional burdens that have been placed on local government and the additional financial pressures being caused by previous government policy. We have called on the chancellor to reaffirm the government's commitment to a longer term financial settlements and have asked that consideration is given to the pressures that we face such as committing to the continuation of homelessness funding, which we hope will enable us to support residents facing these challenges.

In the letter we took the opportunity to thank the chancellor for the lifting of the restriction on how we utilise Right to Buy receipts per our Affordable Housing Programme and the commitment that has been made to resolving the audits backlog in local government. Whilst we expect a single year settlement for the upcoming year, I hope to be able to provide a positive updates regarding a multi-year settlement at a later meeting, which will provide the Council with some much-needed certainty in the medium  ...  view the full minutes text for item 116.

For a period of up to thirty minutes, a Member of the Council who has given prior notice in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 15, may ask (a) the Mayor, (b) the Leader of the Council or (c) a Member of the Cabinet a question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties or which affects the Borough.

The questions received for this meeting are attached.  A Member asking a question may ask, without giving notice, one supplementary question of the Member to whom the first question was asked.  The supplementary question must arise directly out of the reply.

To consider recommendations from the meetings of the Cabinet:

The Council considered the following recommendation from Cabinet:

The Cabinet recommended the Licensing Act Policy Review to Council on the 22^nd August 2024.

The report for this item can be found on the below item at Agenda Item 6:

Public reports pack 22082024 1930 Licensing Committee.pdf (welhat.gov.uk)

The Council were asked to consider the recommendation from the Cabinet meeting held on the 3^rd September 2024.

The Council in its capacity as licensing authority for the purposes of the Licensing Act 2003 was obliged by law to have a statement of licensing policy. Originally such a statement had to be reviewed every 3 years, but along with a number of other changes to the Licensing Act 2003 and the statutory guidance this frequency has been increased to 5 years.

The policy had been updated and new sections introduced where appropriate to reflect the current guidance and this revised policy represents an update to previous policies and reflects the current situation and practice in Welwyn Hatfield.

Councillors Thorpe and Weston moved and seconded the proposal.

RESOLVED:

The Licensing Act Policy was approved.

The Council were asked to consider the following recommendation from the Licensing Committee:

The Licensing Committee on the 22^nd August recommended to Full Council the approval of the Pavement Licenses Policy and Fee Approval.

The report can be found at Agenda Item 5 on the following link:

Public reports pack 22082024 1930 Licensing Committee.pdf (welhat.gov.uk)

The Council considered the recommendation of the Licensing Committee held on the 22^nd August 2024 regarding the Pavement Licences Policy and Fee Approval.

The report sought to clarify the changes to the temporary pavement licensing regime under the Business and Planning Act 2020 (which were implemented as a temporary measure during the Covid pandemic) and the impact of the changes to this regime made by the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023.

The Levelling up and Regeneration Act 2023 became law in 2023, but the provisions to make the temporary pavement licence scheme permanent were not immediately commenced but had come into force on 31st March 2024. The provisions have introduced changes including a new capped level fee structure for new and renewal applications. 

It was highlighted during the discussion that a cap on costs could not be considered currently.

Councillor Thorpe and Councillor Weston moved and seconded the proposal.

RESOLVED:

The Council approved the maxima fees of £500 for a new two-year pavement licence and £350 for a renewal pavement licence.

Report of the Executive Director (Finance & Transformation).

The Council considered the proposed amendments to the Council’s Constitution.

The Constitution is a core document in the Council’s governance procedures and sets out how the Council works. There is a legal duty to ensure our constitution remains up to date and appropriate.

This update considered included the key changes required to realign management responsibility and delegations following changes in the management structure this year, along with changes to the external appointments and other minor amendments.

There were proposed updates to the contract procedure rules, which are required to ensure the council meets the requirements of the new Procurement Act. The government announced on 12 September 2024, which as after the publication of these papers, a postponement to the implementation of the Procurement Act, from 28 October 2024 to 24 February 2025.

It was noted that the Welwyn Hatfield Community & Voluntary Service would remain on the Council’s outside bodies list.

These changes have been considered and unanimously agreed by the Constitution Review Group, for recommendation to Council.

RESOLVED

The Council approved the updates to the Constitution , and noted the postponement of the implementation date for the contract procedure rules to align to the date of implementation of the procurement act.

To consider notices of motions submitted under Procedure Rule 16 in such order as the Mayor shall direct.  The motions received for this meeting are attached.

Motion 1

The following motion had been moved by Councillor Siewniak and was seconded by Councillor Musk:

“The Elections Act 2022 was a major piece of national legislation with local implications for the residents of this local authority, including the use of mandatory photographic voter ID at the polling station, changes to overseas voting and voting and candidacy rights of EU citizens.

 The Act adds complexity to voter eligibility in the UK and excludes more residents from democracy. EU citizens who enter the UK from the 1st of January 2021 and are not covered by bilateral voting rights treaties (currently only active with Poland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, and Denmark) will not have voting and candidacy rights in local elections. Over 170,000 EU citizens in England and Northern Ireland will be removed from the electoral register as a consequence of the Elections Act.

According to the 2021 census, one in six usual residents of England and Wales were born outside the UK. However, under this act, over 1 million residents across England and Northern Ireland do not have a right to vote in any election. According to the ONS 2021 Census data for Welwyn Hatfield, a total of 9,701 EU citizens reside in the area and have local voting rights. A further 1,299 residents are from nationalities with no eligibility to vote in any election.

Scotland and Wales introduced residence-based voting rights where all residents with lawful immigration status have the right to vote in local and devolved national elections. Over 50% of people agree that every resident, no matter where they are from, should have the right to vote at least in local elections.

Since many of Welwyn Hatfield residents come from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, regard Welwyn Hatfield as their home and bring significant value to our area, their voices should be heard in our local democracy

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council commits to: 

·         Writing to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government requesting that the franchise for local elections be extended to all qualifying foreign nationals in England and Northern Ireland in line with eligibility criteria in Scotland and Wales.

·         Writing to the Welwyn Hatfield MP, Andrew Lewin asking that he lend his support to the request for local election eligibility to be extended to all qualifying foreign nationals in England and Northern Ireland in line with eligibility criteria in Scotland and Wales.

In addition, Welwyn Hatfield Council will:

·         Continue to work collaboratively with voluntary sector organisations in our local authority to inform residents about their democratic rights

·         Continue to promote Voter registration and photo ID requirements”

RESOLVED

The motion was agreed.

Motion 2

The following motion had been moved by Councillor Kingsbury and was seconded by Councillor Short:

“Council Notes:

·                The Labour Government’s recent decision to restrict the Winter Fuel Payment to only pensioners in receipt of means-tested benefits like Pension Credit, as announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

·                The estimated impact of this decision, which Age UK says will mean 2 million pensioners  ...  view the full minutes text for item 121.

Councillor Thorpe, and Councillor Quinton, moved and seconded the updates to the Non-Executive Committees.

Councillors Kingsbury and Holloway took the opportunity to thank Councillors Gardener and Boulton for their work on the Committees.

RESOLVED

The Council agreed the following changes to the Non-Executive Committees:

1.    Councillor P.Shah to replace Councillor K.Gardner as vice-chair of the Development Management Committee.

2.    Councillor T.Mitchinson to replace Councillor J.Boulton on the Constitution Review Group.

To consider any matters of urgency subject to the agreement of the Mayor in accordance with Procedure Rule 5.1(s).

There were no items of urgent business.