Agenda item

To receive verbal updates from the Chairs of the Budget, Social Housing (Communal Area Maintenance) and Youth ASB/Violence Task & Finish Panels.

A Verbal update was received from the Chair of the Budget Task & Finish Panel.

The budget setting task and finish panel convened for its first meeting on Tuesday 19 November following the approval by the cabinet of the medium -term forecasts in October and the budget seminar presented last week.

It gave an overview of the forecast and the anticipated budget gap for the next three years, and it was noted there is a sizable and challenging budget gap ahead of us.

The newer pressures facing the Council were discussed, in particular the pressures on homelessness and benefit subsidy losses. These pressures have arisen rapidly due to a number of factors, including increases in statutory duties, the cost of living crisis, temporary accommodation being held for redevelopment, and the reduction in accommodation available from a strategic partner due to the redevelopment

of their site. This is compounded by the continued freezing of the caps on the level of grant that can be claimed, which for temporary accommodation is still linked to rates set in 2011.

A program has been set up to oversee five key projects aimed at reducing this pressure where possible and officers explained that since September, around £700,000 have been identified to support the reduction of the budget gap.

The budget setting principles that were agreed by cabinet in October were explained.

One of these was a full review of the capital program and capital financing, which has now been completed. Officers explained that the cost of capital, which is made up of interest costs and repayment of borrowing, has now been reduced for 25 -26 and 26 -27.

Taking this update into account, the updated budget gap for 25 -26 now stands at just over £3 million.

Members discussed opportunities for savings, including income production and cost reductions, and will discuss the progress being made on income production for culture and leisure facilities in more detail at the next meeting along with any savings proposals and updates on the settlement of government policy statements.

During the discussion the following points were raised:

• 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.

A Verbal update was received from the Chair of the Social Housing (Communal Area Maintenance) Task & Finish Panel.

The Task & Finish group have met once so far and there is another meeting in November.  The Scope of the Task & Finish Group was to explore:

·        Providing details around the council’s cleaning and maintenance schedules and levels of service.

·        Providing an overview of service charges

·        Providing details of chargeable services to leaseholders, service charges to tenants and leaseholders for such services.

So far the meeting has discussed:

·        What estate services should cover.

·        That we are developing quality standards for estates so that residents know what services are provided and when they take place.

·        Discussion of a scrutiny review undertaken by the resident’s panel.

·        That new communal cleaning and window cleaning contracts will be procured as they do not currently cover all blocks on a scheduled basis.

The next meeting will cover:

·        Service Charges

·        Repairs and Maintenance

·        Tree Maintenance

The Task & Finish Group are due to present the report to Overview and Scrutiny Meeting on 9 January 2025.

During the discussion the following points were raised:

·        For clarification when talking about estate management, it means the management of our estates and not the Estate Management Scheme area within which some people live.

A Verbal update was received from the Chair of the Youth ASB/Violence Task & Finish Panel. 

The first meeting was on Monday 18^th November and we looked at the scope of the Task and Finish Group which included understanding the definition of and the levels of youth violence in the borough, to understand what the community safety partnership is doing towards youth crime and violence, to feed into our partners and make recommendations and to consider whether there are individual activities the

council can do to support the reduction of youth violence.

We had a discussion on an overview of youth ASB in the borough and among the highlights we looked at the trends in youth violence and youth ASB, both of which have decreased in the last year, which is good news, and use in possession of weapons, which unfortunately was a slight increase over the last year.

We looked at the borough's experiences of reporting higher levels of knife carrying, county lines, cuckooing, and the risk of child exploitation higher than unfortunately other councils in Hertfordshire. We looked at the responsibilities of the council and the County Council with regards to dealing with youth, ASB and violence.

We discussed the Community Safety Partnership Action Plan, working with police and others, and saw that it has a priority on tackling serious violence, including preventing and protecting young people from serious violence. We looked at the services available in the borough /county, to support young people involved in crime and ASB and also discussed raising awareness of the diversity of activities provided by the council and other partners to young people.

In future meetings we'll look to have a deeper examination of youth crime statistics with a presentation from the police. We'll look at the work being undertaken by the Herts County Council on youth crime and vulnerable young people. We'll also discuss or involve the Youth Council, which we thought would be very useful, getting an idea from their point of view in this area, and look at what other councils have done as good practice to try and reduce youth crime. We'll have a few more meetings before we're due to present a report to this committee, which will be on the 18th of March next year.

During the discussion the following points were raised:

·        Electric Scooters and what the police are doing about it. There is a plethora of these scooters being ridden on the road and pavement. When stopped and asked the riders don’t appear to realise it is illegal.

·        A member asked if the police could provide statistics on how many they seize and how many people they warn.

·        It was suggested that some comms be sent out before Christmas regarding the Electric Scooters, saying it is illegal and to think twice before buying for someone. Also to include statistics on how many are seized and crushed but also how many deaths and serious injuries have occurred, in particular from the batteries exploding.

·        A Member requested for Councillors to be invited to the police priority setting forums as they don’t appear to be happening in Welwyn Hatfield. The issues raised in the report could then be shared at this meeting and residents could also express their views to Councillors. A member responded that Councillors used to meet with them, but it appears to have gone quiet over the last few years.

·        The Executive Director (Resident Services & Climate Change) looked on the police website where they set priorities for particular areas. The October one mentions E-scooters on one of the lists around the High View area. They focus on specific areas on a 3-month period. It is unclear how they engage with the public and this will be picked up in the Task & Finish Group.