Agenda and draft minutes

To note any substitution of Members made in accordance with Council Procedure Rules.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Panter for whom Councillor Zukowskyj attended as a substitute.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on XX (previously circulated).

It was proposed that the minutes of the meeting held on 20 November 2024 were amended so that the final bullet point under the section of item 18 relating to the verbal update from the Chair of the Budget Task and Finish Group read: ‘A Member raised the issue of Council Tax support: not everyone in receipt of the Personal Independence Payment or the Disability Living Allowance was necessarily poor and yet anyone in receipt of either of these benefits was currently exempt from paying Council Tax.’ The minutes were agreed subject to this amendment. 

There were no items of urgent business.

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

Councillor Zukowskyj declared an interest as a Member of Hertfordshire County Council (HCC).

Councillor Nix declared she is a Council tenant.

To receive a report of the Executive Director (Finance and Transformation) and recommendations from the Budget Task and Finish Panel.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) was being asked to make recommendations to Special Cabinet to consider at its meeting on 21 January 2025 before the budget was put to Council on 3 February 2025.

The Chair of the Budget Task and Finish Group, Councillor Michaelides, provided an update as follows:

‘The Budget Setting Task and Finish Panel met three times between November 2024 and January 2025.

In the first session, we were given an overview of the initial medium-term forecasts and the anticipated budget gap for the next three years. We discussed some of the newer pressures facing the Council, in particular the pressures on homelessness and benefit subsidy losses.

At the second session in December, we had a presentation from officers on the financial position of our leisure services and in particular, a focus on the income generation activities and how the teams are driving a change and expansion in activities to increase income. It was noted at the third meeting that the subsidy for Campus West is again forecast to reduce, to around £270k for 2025/26.

We were presented with the majority of the proposed budget savings during the second session, along with a handful of areas of unavoidable growth. We also had an update on the progress of the benefits subsidy losses work, and information on the provisional settlement. 

In the final session that was held last night, we discussed the impact of the settlement on the proposed budget, and the final savings items. We were presented with the updates to the Capital Programme and the Housing Revenue Account, before being provided with the medium term forecasts. 

Throughout all sessions, members of the panel were engaged and asked questions of officers on a range of items. Some fees and charges were discussed in more detail, and the panel noted they were pleased that there were no substantial increases in fees and charges.

One area that the panel explored with officers was around the fees and charges that had not been increased and where the Council is limited in what it can charge. In particular, a discussion was held around gambling licences. Officers explained there is a consultation on the settlement and future financing of councils which the Council would respond to, and one of the areas the Government was seeking views on was councils’ discretion over fees and charges.  It was recommended by the panel, that when the council respond to the consultation, it has a particular focus on this area. The Council should respond asking the Government to devolve fee setting wherever possible, to provide councils with the ability to set fees and charges appropriately.

It should also ask that for any charges that continue to be set nationally, legislation be updated to include provision for annual inflationary increases, which is not currently the case for all nationally set charges.’

During the discussion a Member commented that he was keen to see something done about smaller Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) and that officers had recommended  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

Presentation by Assistant Director (Leisure, Community and Cultural Services)

OSC received a presentation from the Assistant Director (Leisure, Community and Cultural Services) which is attached to these minutes. Members’ comments included the following:

• A particular practice (Peartree) did not seem to be making referrals to Healthwise. Officers advised that the surgery was aware of the programme and would remind them about it.
• A member asked whether vaccinations, particularly flu vaccinations, were being pushed given there was a decline in people being vaccinated. Officers said they received leaflets and posters from Hertfordshire County Council which were displayed in Campus West and leisure centres, and Welwyn Hatfield’s communications team shared appropriate public health messages.  
• It would be helpful for councillors to have Healthwise posters and officers agreed to provide them.   
• A member wondered if consideration was being given to provide more comprehensive provision during the Big Summer events, eg longer hours. Officers explained they had obtained free funding for HAPpy camps for children receiving free school meals; providing childcare would require Ofsted registration and significantly more staff, so the costs to parents would be prohibitive. When officers started planning for this year’s Big Summer they would see if some activities could have longer hours.
• A member commended the efficiency and enthusiasm of the team.

The Committee noted the presentation.

To receive verbal updates from the Chair of the Youth ASB / Violence Task & Finish Panel (T&P).

asOSC received a verbal update from the Chair of the Youth Violence Task and Finish Group, Councillor Mitchinson, as follows:

‘The Task and Finish Group held its second meeting yesterday.  

The scope of the Task and Finish Group was:

•       To explore and understand the definition for and levels of youth violence and antisocial behaviour (ASB) in the borough

•       To understand what the community safety partnership are doing towards youth crime and violence and ASB

•       To feed into partners and make recommendations

•       To consider whether there are additional activities the Council can do to support the reduction of youth violence and ASB.

Yesterday we heard from two of our partners: the Inspector in charge of the Neighbourhood Teams, and the Service Manager of Hertfordshire County Council’s Services for Young People (SfYP).

• The Inspector raised a number of issues and highlighted the work they did working with the community, councils and schools.

•       Because the borough has two town centres and a university, there is a likelihood we would have more victims of crime and ASB than some other areas.

•       There has been a drop in ASB and youth ASB across all wards in Welwyn Hatfield. The Inspector says this is because of the close partnership working of the Community Safety Partnerships.

•       The police emphasised that the achievements were due to the teamwork of all agencies, and it was noted throughout the presentations the importance of us all working together.

•       The police can access the right support for each young person, whether prevention, diversion, or criminal justice orders.

•       The Home Office project Operation Hotspot identified Welwyn Garden City Town Centre. Additional funding has been provided for additional patrols of the town center to cover the Safer Neighbourhood Team’s rest days. 

•       Using intelligence, the police used their powers to target specific young people committing the majority of ASB, using orders and enforcement to serve them with the appropriate order, stop them from associating with bad influences, and hopefully prevent further reports of ASB.

•       All reports of knife crime are recorded, but on further investigation the Inspector told us that sometimes a blade was not seen but assumed by the victim, meaning the reported figure would be higher than the reality. 

•       Cuckooing is down to zero.

•       One of the interesting things that was highlighted was a high number of missing children reported in Welwyn Hatfield; it would appear this was down to the number of unregulated pop-up children's homes, which other local authority councils are using to place young people in. It would appear the missing children that are being reported are not actually local children which is very surprising.

•       SfYP is a preventive and diversionary service that helps young people in Hertfordshire succeed in education, employment, and wellbeing. 

•       Many of the young people SfYP work with are SEND (special education needs and disabilities), have special educational needs, have undiagnosed needs like ADHD or ADD and /or have disengaged with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.