Agenda and draft minutes

To receive apologies for absence, if any.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors L.Chesterman, A.Chesterman, L.Musk, M.Short, S.Khan, J. Broach, J. Skoczylas, A. Bardett, J. Boulton, L.Crofton  and S.Thusu.

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

Councillors Kingbury and Zukowskyj declared interests as Hertfordshire County Councillors.

To receive a report of the Executive Director (Finance & Transformation) on Council Tax Setting for 2025/26.

Council approved the 2025/26 budget on 3 February 2025 and the purpose of the report was to set the Council Tax for 2025/26. Full Council was asked to agree the increase in average Band D Council Tax (excluding Parish precepts) by £7.11 (2.99%) to £244.71 for 2025/26.  Parish precepts have increased by 7.5% overall to £2.384m.

The report set out the tax base in each of the town and parish areas. It was noted that for the year 2025/26 the major precepting authorities, Hertfordshire County Council and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire have stated the amounts in precepts issued to the Council in accordance with Section 40 of the Local Government Act 1992 and shown in the tables on pages 4 and 5 of the report.

After taking into account the precepts from Parish Councils, Hertfordshire County Council and Police and Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire, the average band D Council Tax for the borough area for 2025/26 is £2,333.46, this is an increase of 4.88%.  However, the band D council tax varies from £2,276.38 to £2,408.18 and the report also shows that the tax change for 2025/26 will range from 4.47% to 5.66%.

It was moved by Councillor Scott and seconded by Councillor Jones.

During the debate the following points were raised:

·           A member queried whether all members needed to declare an interest as they are paid from the Council Tax which Full Council were being asked to agree. The Monitoring Officer confirmed this was not required.

·           A councillor raised concerns regarding parking enforcement, and savings that were planned to be made in the leisure.

·           A Councillor expressed concerns regarding the increase in the charge on garden waste collections of over 9%, well above inflation and it would be interesting to note over the year if this charge has become too high and discouraging take up which will be both environmentally and financially counterproductive.  He also expressed concern on behalf of the public about additional income expected from district enforcement given the many examples fining for small issues the concerns are two-fold. The Member also reiterated the concerns about the changes in the large savings stemming from the service review in Leisure and Culture, a highly valued service, and the significant drawn down from reserves this year and more substantially in future years.

·           Richard Baker and Helen O’Keefe were thanked for their work on the budget.

·           Councillor Broach was thanked for his work on the budget.

RESOLVED

(27 voting for, 0 against and 8 abstentions)

Voting For:  Cllr Birleson, Cllr Bonfante, Cllr Bonkur, Cllr Gardner, Cllr Gilbert, Cllr Goldwater, Cllr Grewal, Cllr Hobbs, Cllr Holloway, Cllr Jones, Cllr Marsh, Cllr Musk, Cllr Nix, Cllr Otumunye, Cllr Panter, Cllr Platt, Cllr Quinton, Cllr Rowse, Cllr Scott, Cllr Shah, Cllr Siewniak, Cllr Skottowe, Cllr Thorpe, Cllr Walsh, Cllr Watson, Cllr Weston, Cllr Zukowskyj.

Abstentions:   Cllr Cragg, Cllr Fitzsimon, Cllr Kingsbury, Cllr Lass, Cllr Michaelides, Cllr Mitchinson, Cllr Sarson, Cllr Trigg.

That it be noted that the 2025/26 General  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.