Apologies were received from Councillor Mark Watkin.

There were no disclosures of interest.       

The minutes of the meeting held on 13 July 2015 to be submitted and signed.

Copies of the minutes of this meeting are usually available seven working days following the meeting.

(All minutes are available on the Council’s website.)

The minutes of the meeting held on 13 July 2015 were submitted and signed.

The Cabinet may wish to consider whether there are any items on which there is general agreement which could be considered now, to enable discussion to focus on those items where the Cabinet sees a need for further debate.

Councillor Bell spoke on behalf of the Labour Group and Councillor Mehta spoke on behalf of the Conservative Group at this meeting.  Councillor Khan was invited to speak at item 5 on the agenda.

A report of the Environmental Services Client Manager (Parks and Streets)

A petition in the following terms has also been received:

“Petition calling for weekendburials in Watford Cemeteries

We the undersigned call upon Watford Council make it possible for burials to occur in Watford cemeteries on weekendsand bank holidays. This is to ensure that the service meets the needs of all residents of Watford and in a distressful timeis not made worse by a delay in burials. We further call on the council to ensure that there is suitable cemetery provision as a matter of urgency as space within the existing cemetery is running out.”

At the time of publication of the agenda, the petition contained over 2000 signatures.  This includes the requisite 30 signatures from Watford residents.

A report was received from the Environmental Services Client Manager (Parks and Streets).  A review of Watford’s cemetery service had been carried out in order to understand the present service, highlight current challenges and provide direction on future potential changes.  The review was supported by the Institute of Crematorium and Cemetery Management (ICCM).  Engagement had also taken place with a range of stakeholders to provide them with an opportunity to feedback on the current service and share their views on future provision.  As a result of the review further work was required to develop a Cemetery Strategy and action plan to address the areas identified.

The Mayor highlighted that a petition had been received for this item and a full debate had taken place at the Council meeting on 24 June 2015.  During the debate at Council the cemetery review was referred to and now Cabinet had the result of the review at the meeting.  The Mayor invited Councillor Khan as the lead petitioner and councillor who had moved the motion at the Council meeting to come to the table to be part of the discussion of the item.

The Mayor continued that the issue of the cemetery service had been a concern for a while and it was important not just to address one aspect of the service but to consider all the issues which were identified.  The review should establish the service for the next decade.

Councillor Scudder commented that the review had begun some time ago and had been influenced by a report from the ICCM on the service.  A number of issues had been identified: provision of a weekend and bank holiday service; limited space at the cemeteries; reviewing the opening hours and staffing; and regulations relating to memorials.  As a result there were a number of recommendations in the report before Cabinet.

In relation to weekend and bank holiday services Councillor Scudder explained that there was a recommendation for the council to pursue working with the Garden of Peace organisation who currently carried out this service for St Albans City and District Council.  With regards to the decreasing amount of burial space, Councillor Scudder pointed out that provision of this service was not a statutory requirement but something that the council had chosen to provide.  There was a proposal in the report to look at possibly restricting burials to Watford residents only, however, there needed to be some flexibility around this.

Councillor Scudder continued that there would be a review of opening hours and the resilience of the service and how this could be addressed.  Finally the regularisation of memorials with regards to size limits and specifications including how they could be placed in the ground had been brought in following accidents due to unstable memorials in other areas of the country.

Councillor Bell thought it was a positive report and thanked officers.  Councillor Khan expressed that the direction of the council was very positive and offered his time to officers to work on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

A report of the Head of Corporate Strategy and Client Services

This report asks Cabinet to confirm

1) the commissioning priorities from 2016 and

2) key areas of focus within the stated priorities.

A report was received from the Head of Corporate Strategy and Client Services regarding the council’s commissioning framework.  The framework was a mechanism that set out priorities for a range of leisure and community services to be delivered by commissioned voluntary and third sector organisations between 2016-2019 on behalf of the council.   The current commissioning framework was due to expire on 31 March 2016.

Councillor Scudder introduced the report and commented that the voluntary sector was very key and that it was important to get the framework right.  The review of the framework was on a three-year cycle and the current review had been informed by the Community Centres Scrutiny Task Group along with consultation with groups across the town.  There would be continuation of the current situation regarding supporting community centres though some timeframes had changed.  The council continued to work with and support major partners within the town such as the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) and Watford and Three Rivers Trust.  The small grants programme was also continuing and at present there was no reason to reduce the budget.

The Mayor commented that in the past the council had had difficult issues to resolve on historic funding of some groups.  There had been a change in priorities for the council and a decrease in budget available which meant some difficult decisions were taken.  However, of all the groups that the council had stopped funding there was only one who had not continued.  The others were surviving and thriving and at a recent meeting with the Chief Executive of Watford and Three Rivers Trust it was reported that charities had become more inventive and autonomous in the current climate.

Councillor Bell drew attention to the section of the report on the Meriden Community Centre and noted that Watford FC Trust had been asked to submit a business plan regarding becoming self sustaining from 2019.  Councillor Bell was concerned there was no deadline given for the business plan and questioned the level of commitment from the Watford FC Trust.

The Head of Corporate Strategy and Client Services responded that Watford FC Trust had been successful in securing some funding from Sport England, the Football Association, Watford Community Housing Trust, Watford Borough Council and some smaller charities.  However, there still remained a gap between the cost of refurbishment and the funds raised so far.  Also Sport England had insisted that their £500,000 funding would only be released if the Trust was successful in obtaining funding for the complete project from other streams.  The Trust would hear about another funding bid in November.  The council’s legal service was progressing the actions required in support of the Sport England and Football Association bids.  Once the funding streams had been resolved and they were able to bring back staff and focus on new service delivery at the community centre then the Trust would be asked to provide a business plan on how it would become self sustaining.  In order to give them stability in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

A report of the Head of Regeneration and Development

This report includes a review of the performance of the Strategy (2010-2015), the new Economic Development Strategy 2015-2020 and a supporting Action Plan to 2018.

The Cabinet received a report on the Economic Development Strategy.  The Strategy had been revised and contained an Action Plan to 2018.  The objective of the Economic Development Strategy was to maintain, develop and grow the town’s economic development activity.  The strategy was developed using evidence from the council and also third party stakeholders.  It was also informed by a companion document, the Watford Economic Growth and Delivery Assessment. 

Councillor Sharpe introduced the report and commented on the amount of work which had been put in by officers.  Looking back at the strategy for 2010-2015 demonstrated why it was important that local authorities did not leave economic development to the private sector.  Local authorities had a role in driving forwards and making things happen.  It made a difference to whether a town attracted jobs or stagnated.  It was better for the council to be in a position where it was managing success rather than decline.

Councillor Sharpe continued that there were five different strands to the report but a key focus was on sustainable development.  The transport theme within the strategy had been branded as transport and digital connectivity.  A big success for the area had been to get the funding for the Metropolitan line extension.  This had involved a commitment from the district council by lobbying government and putting in the council’s own resources which may have influenced the final outcome.  The Town Centre wi-fi and refurbishment of the car parks made the town attractive to businesses.  The Economic Development Strategy made sure all the sections of the community would benefit and going forward the Business Improvement District if successful would be the product of hard work to bring the business community together.

The Mayor thanked officers and commented on the issue of employability and skills and the challenge of identifying where further skills were needed.  She wanted the focus to be on jobs to be a skilled employable town in order to attract people.

The Economic Development Manager outlined that consultation had taken place with stakeholders.  He described how Watford had an enviable position and had been able to grow to the benefit of its residents.  However, the town was running out of space and a key theme of ‘balance’ ran throughout the strategy.  With regards to skills, as the national economy improved employers were experiencing difficulties in getting the right skills to meet demand.  A future aim was to improve Watford’s standing as an education hub by working with West Herts College.  European Union funding had been delegated to Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) level and Hertfordshire had received €60m.  Watford had been working closely with the LEP and would use a skills board to harness some of the funding.

Councillor Bell thanked officers for the report and commented on business start ups and why although the number of start ups was above average the number which survived for more than five years was below average and whether there was anything that could be done about this.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.