Agenda and minutes

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 13^th November 2024 (previously circulated).

The minutes of the meeting held on 13^th November 2024 were approved as a correct record.

To receive apologies for absence, if any.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Musk, Walsh, Boulton, Khan, S.Goldwater, Crofton, Gardener and Broach

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 and Zukowskyj declared interests as Hertfordshire County Councillors.

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

The Mayor made the following announcement:

“Thanks to those of you who attended my Civic Service on 26^th January. A collection was made for my chosen charity, Herts Young Homeless. Thank you to everyone involved and for your generous donations.

I attended the Holocaust Memorial Day service on the Campus on 27^th January, with the local Jewish community, residents, councillors and staff.  It was a very moving service remembering the 6 million Jews who had been murdered together with at least 5 million from non-Jewish backgrounds, people from the Polish, Slavic, black people Jehovah's witnesses, LGBT communities, Romany Gypsies, disabled people and political opponents, Soviet Prisoners of war. We also remembered the genocides in Bosnia (30th anniversary), Cambodia, Rwanda, Sudan and many others around the World since WW2.

I would also like to mention a great historical event for our borough, the signing of the Faith Covenant by me on behalf of the council and 15 Faith leaders on 28th January, following the council’s agreement last year under Pankit, then Mayor. It was fantastic to see so many different faiths coming together with all the hard work carried out preparing for the event by Valerie Skottowe, Chair of the Interfaith group of Welwyn Hatfield with the assistance of her Vice Chair Reynold Rosenberg and our councillors, Pankit Shah and Michal Siewniak, together with myself.  It was a tremendous event and great success.  Now the work begins with all faiths working together in understanding and peace.  It is also important that this message is delivered to young people in schools and universities to make society a better place.

Due to being oversubscribed at my previous quiz and due to popular demand, I am having a second quiz, this time at St Mary Magdalene Anglican Church at Hollybush WGC on Saturday 15th February at 7pm, the cost of which is £16.50 and includes fish and chip supper (alternatives being chicken or vegan / gluten free sausage).  There will be a raffle, so please bring cash. Please contact me directly if you would like to attend.

I am pleased to announce that I will be holding a Vintage Dinner and Dance on the evening of 7^th March at The Club at Mill Green.  Entertainment will be provided by Jive Swing who will also have a live band. The night will be one to remember so please book your tickets through the Mayor’s Office by Thursday this week to avoid disappointment.

I have also taken the opportunity this evening to say on behalf of the Council our thoughts are Councillor Fitzsimon and her family after the sad passing of her husband, Norman. Norman was the mayor’s consort twice over the years. We wish her well at this difficult time

I would like to wish Councillor Broach a speedy recovery on behalf of the Council.”

The Chief Executive made the following announcement:

“Thank you, Mayor. Our staff continue to work hard to deliver many of the vital services to our community. The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 140.

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 Leader of the Council from Councillor Kingsbury

“At the last Council meeting in November, I raised concerns about the excessive fines issued to businesses by District Enforcement and highlighted that their officers are incentivised to issue fines as this was their means of income. Since then, further concerns have emerged about fines being issued to residents for minor issues, such as papers dropped during refuse collection or items removed from communal bins, with fines reportedly reaching up to £500. These practices appear disproportionate and have caused significant distress in the community. Notably, the local Labour MP has now also raised concerns about these fines.

Does the Leader of the Council share the concerns of his party’s MP, and will he take action to address these practices to ensure fairness for residents and businesses?”

Answer:

“Thank you, Councillor Kingsbury, both for your question tonight and your vigilance on this particular contract.

As you will recall, back in November, my colleague Councillor Bonfante explained to you that those businesses that do not have appropriate waste disposal arrangements in place can expect to receive a fixed penalty notice. These are legal duties on businesses and have been in existence for a very long time. It is not the fault of this administration that successive administrations before have allowed these breeches to continue with little oversight.

You will be aware that Cabinet agreed to appoint District Enforcement Limited for a 12-month pilot scheme to enforce and reduce the scourge that dumped rubbish and littering has on our Borough, and to help further foster a sense of civic pride amongst everyone that lives, works and visits Welwyn Hatfield. Rightly, this is an issue that we know our residents, and the majority of members in this room, care deeply about.

Since the start of the contract in September, there has been a marked reduction in fly tipping and illegal dumping in the borough, and an improvement in our overall environment. I think that we can all agree that this is a good thing.

We’re aware that some residents have shared their concerns about some of the penalties that have been issued by District Enforcement Officers. Indeed, the Cabinet met last week with District Enforcement’s Managing Director and questioned him on their processes for issuing, and also on reviewing disputed penalties. District Enforcement have put additional measures in place, there has been a robust review of disputed penalties, as well as retraining of all new staff to make sure that penalties are being issued correctly and in accordance with environmental protection legislation and Council policy.

We’re also aware of and working proactively with our new MP on cases that he has raised in this area. Do I agree that our MP has every right to raise a concern on behalf of his residents when he thinks there may be just cause to do so? Absolutely Councillor Kingsbury - just as I acknowledge your right to do so here tonight.

We will continue to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 141.

To consider recommendations from the meetings of the Cabinet:

The following items were considered following recommendation from Cabinet:

Report of the Executive Director (Finance & Transformation).

Council received a report of the Executive Director (Finance & Transformation) on the Budget Proposals and Medium-Term Forecasts 2025/26.

Councillor Scott and Councillor Jones moved and seconded the Budget report.

Councillor Kingsbury and Councillor Mitchinson moved and seconded the amendment to the budget as follows:

“Enforcement can often be a concern of residents when development happens without consent, and when plans are not adhered to. Planning enforcement continues to be stretched in dealing with the complexity and number of enforcements requested. Staff turnover in recent years has impacted some enforcement cases. With a larger team there would also be more resilience if temporary vacancies occur. Therefore, we propose to allocate £127k out of the Strategic Initiative Earmarked Reserve to fund the recruitment of one full time senior enforcement officer for a fixed term of 2 years to increase the pace of resolution of enforcement, number of enforcement cases undertaken, reduction in outstanding cases and provide resilience to the team, thereby supporting residents in their valid concerns.”

On being put to the vote, Full Council voted as follows for the amendment:

(FOR: 10

Councillors: Kingsbury, Mitchinson, Sarson, Bardett, Cragg, Fitzsimon, Lass, Michaelides, Short and Trigg)

AGAINST: 29

Councillors: Holloway, Quinton, Bonfante, Scott, Grewal, Moore, Thorpe, Hobbs, Skoczlyas, Asare, Rowse, Platt, Jones, A.Chesterman, Bonkur, H.Goldwater, Birleson, Skottowe, Nix, Zukowskyj, Gilbert, Siewnak, Shah, Watson, Otumunye, Weston, Panter, L.Chesterman and Marsh)

The amendment to the budget report was declared lost.

The recommendations in the report were put to the meeting and it was: 

RESOLVED:

(FOR: Councillors: Holloway, Quinton, Bonfante, Scott, Grewal, Moore, Thorpe, Hobbs, Skoczlyas, Asare, Rowse, Platt, Jones, A.Chesterman, Bonkur, H.Goldwater, Birleson, Skottowe, Nix, Zukowskyj, Gilbert, Siewnak, Shah, Watson, Otumunye, Weston, Panter, L.Chesterman and Marsh)

(AGAINST:

Councillors: Kingsbury, Mitchinson, Sarson, Bardett, Cragg, Fitzsimon, Lass, Michaelides, Short and Trigg)

The Budget and Medium-Term Forecasts 2025/26 were approved.

The report for this item can be found on the following link at agenda item 7b.

https://democracy.welhat.gov.uk/documents/g1729/Public%20reports%20pack%2007th-Jan-2025%2018.30%20Cabinet.pdf?T=10

An updated Business Plan is included in the agenda pack.

Full Council received a report of the Executive Director (Finance and Transformation) on the Council’s Business Plan 2025/26.

Councillor Holloway and Councillor Quinton moved and seconded the report.

RESOLVED:

The Council agreed the Business Plan for 2025/26.

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.

No motions were received.

Report of the Executive Director (Finance & Transformation).

Full Council received the report of the Executive Director (Finance and Transformation). The Council’s Annual Pay Statement is an annual requirement as set out in the Localism Act 2011.

Councillor Thorpe and Councillor Panter moved and seconded the report.

RESOLVED:

(unanimous)

The Pay Statement for 2025/26 was agreed.

Report of the Monitoring Officer.

Full Council received a report of the Council’s Monitoring Officer.

Councillor Holloway and Councillor Quinton moved and seconded the report.

Members took the opportunity to thank Councillor Broach for his work and welcomed Councillor Scott to the Cabinet.

The review of political proportionality and Cabinet portfolio update report were noted.

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.