Apologies for absence had been received from the Chair, Councillor Grimston.  

There were no disclosures of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 13 December 2023 to be submitted and signed.

The minutes of the meeting held on 13 December 2023 were submitted and signed.

The following scrutiny committees and task groups have met since the last meeting of Overview and Scrutiny Committee

·       Finance Scrutiny Committee (10 January 2024)

·       Social Housing Task Group (9 and 24 January 2024)

Councillor Khan provided an update on Finance Scrutiny Committee on 10 January noting that the agenda contained a link to the minutes and there had subsequently been a full debate at Council.

The Housing Task Group had had a productive and positive meeting with Watford Community Housing. The report contained a number of tenant-centric recommendations which focused on damp and mould and complaints processes with a view to the incoming Awaab’s Law. Councillor Devonshire added that complaints had gone down over the last few years and she was pleased with the relationship with social housing providers.

The committee received an update on the Sustainability Strategy Task Group.

The Portfolio Holder for Sustainability and Transport, Councillor Stotesbury, introduced the update. It had been a very positive exercise with good recommendations which were in the process of being implemented. The update was timely as there would be a series of reports on the strategy later in 2024.

Responding to a question around charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs), it was noted that a number of funding bids had been secured and applications were being prepared for the next round of levies. There was no indication that the national political situation was impacting funding that had already been announced. It was important for residents to have access to on-street charging but these were expensive capital investments.

The committee discussed enforcement of EV bays in controlled parking zones, noting that some vehicles were parked in these bays for long periods of time. Some bays were currently only advisory and the approach taken was to prioritise EV infrastructure before moving to enforcement. This would increase confidence in switching to EVs. Enforcement would be introduced in the future, subject to resident consultation through the TRO process.         

RESOLVED –

that all the recommendations be signed off as complete.

The committee to receive presentations from:

·       Kara Mesiano, Watford BID

·       Simon Plumb, Atria

The committee welcomed Kara Mesiano, Watford Business Improvement District (BID), and Simon Plumb, Atria Watford, who made presentations to the committee about the performance of the hight street.

Kara Mesiano made a presentation which introduced the BID, impact of the changes to the levy, footfall and dwell time, vacancy rates, benchmarking, sustainability, recruitment and retention and their response to the cost-of-living crisis.

Simon Plumb, Atria Watford, then presented an update to the committee. This introduced the centre, performance, community focus, cost-of-living initiatives and challenges faced which included recruitment and crime prevention.

The presentations are appended to these minutes.

In the course of the discussion, the following points were made:

·                 The hospitality sector was struggling across the board but businesses were offered support including with marketing and food waste costs. The impact of the closure of Pryzm was not yet clear but the reopening of the Colosseum would provide an opportunity.

·                 The retail market was best-placed to ensure that the range of businesses in the town met the diversity of the community.

·                  The BID had no influence over lettings in the town centre but was looking to recruit a director for the BID board who represented a business that particularly served Watford’s diversity. The team also spoke regularly to lettings agents and were keen to encourage a diverse offer.

·                 The Intu business model had been focused on national brands but the current operators were keen to talk to the community and offered free space to test the viability of new offers within the centre. There was potential for events to mark Black History Month.

·                 Watford Gift Cards were valid for 12 months from the date of purchase.

·                 The BID could not control which suppliers and types of packaging that businesses used but offered a cardboard recycling service to avoid it going to landfill.

·                 Watford Palace Theatre was a BID levy payer and were actively engaged with them. They were also in conversations with Atria about partnering on initiatives.

·                 The idea to develop a ‘BID-lite’ for other areas in the town centre, such as Queen’s Road, was under consideration but would be complex. If the BID’s area were to expand, there was a risk that the BID would not be extended for a further term due to the increase in smaller, independent businesses that would be involved in the ballot. The next ballot was not until 2026 and there were also options for businesses to join as voluntary levy payers.

·                 It was understood that there were copyright issues with the name ‘the Harlequin’ and so the centre could not currently use that name. Any renaming process was costly.

·                 Atria had committed to Purple Tuesday, which focused on accessibility and inclusivity of public spaces. Their approach was for continuous commitment which was likely to include a community-led disability mystery shoppers, who experienced a range of disabilities, who could provide feedback to the centre and businesses.

·                 Vacant units were not identified by their size. For the BID, these covered ground-level units that were vacant  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

The Scrutiny Committee is asked to review the latest edition of the Executive Decision Progress Report and consider whether any further information is required.

The scrutiny committee was invited to review the current Executive Decision Progress Report for 2023-24 and consider whether any further information was required.

RESOLVED –

that the current 2023/24 Executive Decision Progress report be noted.

Councillor Grimston, the Council’s appointed representative to Hertfordshire County Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee to provide an update.

The Chair would provide any relevant updates at the next meeting of Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED –

the update be noted.

The scrutiny committee is asked to review the current version of the work programme and consider any additional areas councillors wish to scrutinise.

Members were invited to review Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s draft work programme for 2023/24.  

Officers were asked to recirculate the work programme for consideration.

RESOLVED –

that the Chair works with officers to incorporate members’ suggestions into the committee’s work programme.

Wednesday 21 February 2024

The next meeting would be on Wednesday 21 February 2024.