To receive reports and any announcements from the Leader and members of the Cabinet on matters falling within their area of responsibility:
(a) Report of the Leader;
(b) Report of the Community and Regulatory Services Portfolio Holder (attached);
(c) Report of the Corporate ServicesPortfolio Holder (attached);
(d) Report of the Customer and Partnerships Portfolio Holder (attached);
(e) Report of the Environmental and Technical Services Portfolio Holder (attached);
(f) Report of the Finance, Qualis Client and Economic Development Portfolio Holder (attached);
(g) Report of the Housing Services Portfolio Holder (attached); and
(h) Report of the Planning and Sustainability Portfolio Holder (attached).
Minutes:
The Council received written reports from Portfolio Holders. The Chairman invited the Leader of Council to provide an oral report and the opportunity for other members of the Cabinet to give updates on matters concerning their relevant portfolios.
(a) Leader of Council
The Leader stated that he would like to make a short announcement regarding a change of committee placements for the Conservative Group, he advised that he had checked this out with Democratic Services before the change was made.
Councillor T Matthews was the Vice-Chairman of the Stronger Council Select Committee and was also a member of the Audit and Governance Committee, therefore he would remain as Vice-Chairman of the Stronger Council Select Committee and stand down from the Audit and Governance Committee. He advised that he was pleased to announce that Councillor R Morgan would be replacing Councillor T Matthews on the Audit and Governance Committee.
The Leader reported that he had numerous meetings in recent weeks including those with the Harlow & Gilston Garden Town Board, the new Leader of Harlow Council, Councillor Andrew Johnson and the Leader of the East Herts District Council and reported that good progress was being made with the plans for this area.
Boundary Commission Review
He advised that he had recently met with the Boundary Commission who advised that Epping Forest District were overdue a review as the last review was carried out in 1998. The review will commence in the Autumn, along with five other Districts across Essex, the process is a review of council size and warding pattern and not a review of boundaries. The process will culminate with all elections in May 2024. Information will be distributed shortly to all members and there will be a briefing for all members by the Boundary Commission in September 2021. He stated he would instigate a Portfolio Holder Group and look for representation from all parties and independent members to be on that group to progress with the Boundary Commissions work.
Flash Flooding
On Sunday 25 July 2021 the rain was exceptionally heavy, an Amber Weather Warning was issued for the area, there was cause for concern as parts of the District were affected by flooding to which I am sure members will raise during the meeting.
Civic Offices
Officers have been working hard to get the Civic Offices open again as the Covid-19 restrictions had now been lifted. Precautions should still be adhered to and it was advisable to take a lateral flow test before coming into the Civic Offices as we have a duty to keep each other safe. The Covid-19 numbers are increasing so encourage people to have their vaccines and stay safe over the summer, the last thing anyone of us would want was another lockdown.
(b) Commercial and Regulatory Services Portfolio Holder
Councillor A Patel advised that the Community Resilience Team recently took part in the UK’s first ever anti-social behaviour awareness week. The theme was making communities safer and Epping Forest Districts Community Partnership co-ordinated a week of engaging with residents, providing information and action from Council services and partner agencies to highlight the issues of anti-social behaviour and how to report and deal with them. Three multi-agency events were held that week at Hillhouse, Waltham Abbey, Bricklamps Path, The Broadway, Loughton and Blenheim Square in North Weald. Police Officers were in attendance to listen to any concerns, to provide policing updates and to give crime prevention advice. Activities included proactive anti-social behaviour and noise patrols by the Community Resilience team, doorstop visits by the Neighbourhoods team offering advice on how to report anti-social behaviour, proactive visits to housing estates by the Land and Estates team engaging with residents’ associations and the community, getting them involved in reporting any concerns they had to the officers attending.
The Community, Culture and Wellbeing team promoted their work in bringing communities together whilst the Highway Rangers proactively cleared graffiti and litter.
(c) Corporate Services Portfolio Holder
Councillor D Sunger advised that a pilot scheme the Council and other local authorities had been involved in would be rolled out in October/November 2021. The scheme was to do with local authority searches, training had been given by the HM Land Registry and local authority searches would now be reduced to 5 days online.
He also advised that the Council may be entitled to an award up to the value of £75,000 and although not confirmed he hoped that the Council would secure some of this sum.
(d) Finance, Qualis Client and Economic Development Portfolio Holder
Councillor J Philip referred to his report, page 82 of the agenda and advised where he had highlighted the Civic Offices accommodation, for members that did not attend Cabinet or watch the webcast and haven’t yet seen the decision. The decision notice had been published and a decision was made to lease out the second floor of the building excluding the public gallery of the Council chamber to a franchisee named Regis for a 10-year lease. This was a very good deal for the Council covering both rental and service charges and was a significant income coming into the Council. He reminded members that the second floor of the Civic Offices was never intended to be a money-making exercise when the refurbishment was planned and started but due to the increased flexibility in working, a significant contribution could now go towards the Council’s accounts.
(e) Housing Services Portfolio Holder
Councillor H Whitbread stated that there were four big policy consultations which the Housing department are currently undergoing:
She advised that this was included in her report but that there was a simple online survey and she asked if all members could encourage their residents to take part in this really important piece of policy and strategy survey.
Following the last Stronger Council meeting and the subject around temporary accommodation a discussion arose around one of the KPI’s about a future change of temporary accommodation provision in the district. She clarified that this was a very long-term strategic view that the Council were looking at in providing temporary accommodation and there were no plans at present but were obviously always looking at the most modern and best approach possible. She stated that at present there were no people in bed and breakfast accommodation therefore there was no pressure on the general fund and it was better to have people in Council accommodation which EFDC owned and was in the HRA. Special thanks to Jennifer Gould and the Homelessness team for the work they have done around the prevention of homelessness.
Supporting documents: