Agenda item

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.

1.    Question to the Executive Member for Housing

“Child poverty is an issue that should concern us all. A number of key groups and organisations have identified the ‘two child cap’ as one of the key drivers for the increase in child poverty seen in the UK in the last few years. Will the leader of Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council write to our MP and to Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP as chancellor to ask them to remove the two child cap?”

Answer

“The two-child cap, which was introduced in 2017 by the Conservative government  restricts child tax credit and universal credit to the first two children in most household. One in 10 UK children now live in families affected by the two-child limit and the number continues to rise each year. This benefit cap was supposed to incentivise parents into work. However, recent research published by the London School of Economics found there was no impact at all on employment rates or on work hours.

the research noticed the two thirds of affected families are already doing some paid work. The effected families could not simply increase their working hours as a number of constraints, including health problems of that child and childcare was also a significant barrier. The research concluded that the two-child limit had limited or no effects on the government's stated objective for the policy. What it has meant instead is a sharp increase in poverty and hardship.

Nearly half of UK children with two or more siblings now live in poverty, and this number is projected to rise sharply in coming years. Inevitably such policies impact on Council's finances through rent arrears, as well as current cost of living crisis. It is imperative for the government to remove the two-child cap, and I, along with Councillor Zukowskyj, would be happy to write to our MP and the chancellor of the exchequer to this effect. We would also invite the Leader of the opposition to sign the letter as well.

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2.    Question to the Executive Member for Governance

“Would the portfolio holder like to explain why there has been not a meeting of the Licensing Committee since June 2022?”

Answer

“It is a statutory requirement for this Council to have a full Licensing Committee Business is reserved for matters such as approvals of policies, licencing conditions and more strategic matters.

The more recent meetings of the Licensing Committee have had no business to discuss, they were cancelled by the agreement of the Chair. I'm sure Councillor Thusu and other Members are aware the Licensing Sub-Committee deals with the more day-to-day operational business relating to licences. It determines applications which are not taken by officers under delegated powers. It meets more frequently than the full Licensing Committee. In fact, it's met five times since June 2022, with a further meeting which was cancelled after the applicants withdrew the particular event notice they were applying for. The Licensing Sub-Committee has determined matters such as premises, licence, temporary event notices and other matters where there have been concerns, primarily as we saw in the video, for example, with how pubs operate their licence.

The next full Licensing Committee is due on the 26th of February, I understand it does have business to discuss and it will therefore meet.”

Supplementary Question

“Would it be considered that, since it hasn't met for such a long time and bearing in mind we may discuss this further in Agenda Item 11, that the Chair costs of that does not necessarily need to be applied if there doesn't meet for over a year and hence if the administration are going to create other committees which you have done, you could spread the costs and make it more cost neutral rather than increase the number of committees and hence paying more for the chairs?”

Answer

“As I mentioned in my previous reply, we were in a position where the full Licensing Committee is a statutory committee of this Council. We must have one. That committee must have a chair and the allowance given to that chair is determined through the Independent Remuneration Panel. Indeed, for the vast majority at the time outlined in the original question, it was a member of your group that was in that chair. So if it is an issue and if you have concerns about the salaries given to that chair I am more than happy for you to raise it through the relevant panels for recommendations of the independent remuneration panel when they next meet for consideration”

3.    Question to the Leader of the Council

“The Household Support Fund is a lifeline for many, a lifeline that the current Conservative Government has said will be removed in March.  In Welwyn Hatfield alone, this Fund has helped us fund referrals to local food banks, directly support residents with energy and fuel payments and other targeted cost of living related support.”  Can the Leader confirm what actions this Joint Administration, and Council, are taking to try and make the current Conservative Government see sense?

Answer

“The Household Support Fund and councils across the country are united in their support for the contribution and the continuation of the household support fund. It is seen as a really critical mechanism for helping people through the cost of living crisis and the challenges that that poses, so the LGA (Local Government Association) are campaigning for the fund to be urgently extended for at least a year.

I can confirm that I've already signed a joint letter with leaders across the country produced by the Local Government Association lobbying the government to reconsider their position and reinstate this vital funding stream. It really is a critical aspect for many people in really significant need, so it does need to continue.”

4.    Question to the Executive Member for Environment 

“I note that the Council’s Environment team took what I must say was a bold (some might say risky) move and introduced a trial of kerbside cardboard collections during the Christmas period.  This is always the busiest time for cardboard and is also the period with the most disruption and public confusion regarding refuse collection services. Can the leader or portfolio holder please give members an update on:  a) Whether the council and operatives consider the trial to be successful. b) What additional delays to collections the trial caused.   c) What the additional costs were to WHBC (and ultimately residents) for the trial, and what costs would be incurred were the collections to become a permanent service.”

Answer

“We took the important step to introduce the excess collection of cardboard waste that is presented flattened beside the blue recycling bin. Due to changing shopping habits, we recognised that cardboard waste constitutes a significant volume and is not always possible to place all inside the recycling bin.

The trial which commenced on Monday 11^th December was recommended by the Street Scene Task and Finish Group and approved by myself.  While beginning this trial during the Christmas period could be seen as a baptism of fire, I believe this has been a consistent theme of our administration, so it seemed appropriate. I do consider this trial to be successful and I am proud to announce that I’ll be making this a permanent change to our waste collection strategy.

The trial has not caused any delays to our waste collections and I am also happy to say that the trial has been at no additional cost to the Council or residents. Nor would it’s continued operation affect contract costs.  This service falls within the existing contracts signed by a Conservative administration this would not be possible without the hard work of council officers and a streetscene task and finish group and I would love to thank them.”

Supplementary Question

“I'm not sure how long the contract has been in place, but if there is no additional cost, I wonder why this hasn't been done before.  If it's in the contracts already this should have been a service that was introduced a long time ago?” 

Answer

“That is a thought-provoking question Councillor Platt. As far as I am aware, it was entirely possible to implement during previous years with no additional cost. The main thing that has changed is the Council's priorities and its intentions. We are a Council that really prioritises recycling. I have the pleasure to talk to many of my equivalents on other Hertfordshire district councils and we have a friendly competition on who could be the best for recycling in the country. Currently, my good friend from St Albans is championing the charge, but he should watch out for Welwyn Hatfield. If you want a more detailed explanation of the mindset of my predecessor, I'm sure we'd be happy to tell himself perhaps over lunch?”

5.    Question to the Executive Member for Planning

“Could the relevant portfolio holder update us on what progress is being made formulating the Gosling Sports Park Masterplan?”

Answer

“Council officers have been working hard to review the options for this proposed scheme. In light of surveys which were carried out at the site and changes to market conditions since the scheme was originally discussed, this work is currently ongoing, but I hope to be able to provide a more detailed update to my fellow Councillors later in the year.”

6.    Question to the Leader of the Council

“At the recent Cross Party Housing Maintenance Procurement Board members were informed that the number of voids (empty Council properties) has increased significantly in recent months, and that void repair targets are not being met and are well below target.  Under the new Lib Dem/Labour administration, performance on void numbers and void turnaround times is now significantly lower than during our Conservative administration.  Please can the Leader update the Council on the current number of residents on the Council’s Housing Needs Register waiting for a Council property; how many Council properties are currently empty (which Welwyn Hatfield residents could be living in); and what is the cost to the Council in rent lost?”

Answer

“You will recall at Cabinet Housing Panel last week, officers provided an explanation on the current void performance and I will repeat it here for everyone's benefit.

As part of our commitment towards high quality homes, we've reviewed our processes for voids and the lettable standards which is a quality standard to which we require voids to be refurbished and repaired to before they are re-let to another tenant. This has meant that it has taken longer, in many cases, for the works to be completed in order to meet our standard. In addition, when the property is void, we seek to take the opportunity to undertake any other works needed, such as structural works, rewires, replacement of components, bathrooms, kitchens and other more expensive repairs, including for damp and mould. All of these factors contribute towards the increased period for which properties are void, but it reflects the fact that is less disrupted to the tenants after they move in as the property is being handed over at a higher standard than in the past. We've seen many cases before the joint administration took over where there were known issues with the property at the time when the tenants signed up and the major repairs had to be carried out soon after they moved in.

Our joint administration is committed to ensuring that our Council tenants have safe and high quality homes to live in. The void turnaround is to ensure that the property is of a suitable quality for the next tenant to move in, rather than rushing our tenants to move to enter the property in order to get the rent income at the earliest opportunity.

Turning specifically to the data requested, there are currently around 3,500 residents on the Council's housing needs register. Action taken by the joint administration to adopt the Local Plan, and that work is underway to work on the new one should make a positive difference. There are currently 139 void properties that require work to be carried out by Morgan Sindall. In the past, some of these properties would probably have been let to tenants with known issues but, as I said earlier, our tenants deserve to move into a safe and high quality home.

There are also just over 70 properties that are deliberately kept vacant at Queensway House and Howard house these were the policy directions carried over from the previous administration. In terms of the rent loss, if the previous administration believed that all these 209 properties are suitable for tenants to live in then I'm sure they could work it out by applying the average weekly rent to get an estimate. However, as a responsible landlord we should not focus purely on commercial grounds and to move the next set of tenants in as quickly as possible.

We have a duty of care to ensure that our tenants have a high quality home to live in. As we've seen in the past some of the tenants have had to decant their properties soon after they moved in because major repairs had to be carried out. The council ended up paying more for the cost of decant than the rent lost.”

Supplementary Question

“You're absolutely right the distress and worry of not having a place to call home is incredibly important and obviously many of our residents are facing that. However, the poor performance that you've outlined cannot just be laid at the feet of the previous administration and given the numbers that we've heard are on the housing needs register; 3,500 increase and over 209 properties vacant. Can the Executive Member for Housing provide a guarantee to Council and to our residents, those tenants who could otherwise be accommodated, that you will have the situation turned round and that deserving residents will be housed and provide a date by when this will happen?”

Answer

“I think you know by the fact that previous contractors that were appointed by the administration were not at the standard that you could have been given that sort of answer. So I suppose all I can say is that we are doing our best, we think we have a better standard and we will do as fast as we can because our priority is to get people into good homes but I'm not putting that at risk by giving out a number and plucking numbers out of thin air that's not the way our work”