This meeting was the second Cabinet meeting of the 2024-25 municipal year, and was scheduled to discuss a variety of topics including a review of the council's tenancy agreement, a mid-year treasury management report, participation in the Solar Together Hertfordshire scheme, a proposal for a Mayor's Future Fund, and an update on the Strategic Risk Register. Please remember that we only know what was scheduled to be discussed during this meeting, not what was actually discussed or decided.

Strategic Risk Register

The Strategic Risk Register (SRR) is a document that identifies and assesses the risks that the council faces in delivering its corporate plan objectives. The report pack contains an update of the SRR for the second quarter of the 2024-25 municipal year. No change to the current risk score for any of the risks in the SRR was reported.

The risk identified as most significant is the Inability to manage and deliver safe and good quality affordable homes . This is unsurprising given the high profile challenges currently being faced by social housing providers nationally. It has a target risk score of 8, meaning that even with mitigating activities the council believes that this is a significant risk. The report notes that:

The HRA is impacted significantly by inflationary cost pressures and increased demand relating to repairs and maintenance.

The council has a regulatory obligation to manage its Housing Revenue Account in a sustainable way.

Tenancy Agreement Review

The report pack contains a proposed new Tenancy Agreement that is scheduled to be discussed at the meeting.

The stated purpose of the review is to assess whether the current tenancy agreement, which has not been updated since 2012, remains fit for purpose .

A full breakdown of the changes proposed in the new Tenancy Agreement is provided in the report pack. These include changes intended to improve clarity and communication, ensure legal compliance, and enhance tenant and landlord rights and responsibilities.

The report pack also contains a Community Impact Assessment that has been prepared for the proposed changes. This assessment identifies predominantly neutral to positive impacts arising from the review, and notes that the updates aim to enhance clarity, accessibility, and inclusivity .

The next step in the review process is a formal consultation period, during which tenants will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed new Tenancy Agreement.

Mayor's Future Fund

A report included in the report pack sets out a proposal to establish a Mayor's Future Fund . This is intended to allow smaller local charities who may not be able to commit to a year-long partnership with the Mayor to be usefully involved in sharing the organising burden of event support by participating in a calendar of events. It is proposed that the Mayor's Future Fund will be administered in partnership with Community Action Dacorum, a local charity that supports the voluntary and community sector.

The report argues that the establishment of the fund will:

build community spirit and provide the opportunity for devolved voluntary fundraising.

It also proposes that surplus funds from the Mayor's Civic Dinner, which is one of the events in the council's annual events programme, will be donated to the fund.

Solar Together Hertfordshire

The report pack includes a report on the Solar Together Hertfordshire scheme. This is a bulk buying scheme that allows residents to buy solar panels at a discounted rate. Dacorum is the lead authority for the scheme, which is delivered in partnership with iChoosr and all ten district and borough councils in Hertfordshire.

The report describes the second round of the scheme, which took place in 2023/24, as a success , but notes that the number of installations was lower than in the first round. It attributes this to a national trend of reduced demand for solar panels.

Approximately 60% of those progressing to installation heard about the scheme via the direct mail system, which uses MOSAIC data to target residents most likely to sign up.

MOSAIC is a consumer classification system that is widely used to segment audiences for direct mail campaigns.

The report recommends that the council participate in the third and final round of the scheme, which is scheduled to take place in the first quarter of 2025.

Treasury Management Mid-Year Performance

A mid-year performance report on treasury management is included in the pack.

Treasury management involves managing the authority's borrowing, investments and cash flows .

The report details the performance of the treasury management function for the first six months of the 2024/25 municipal year.

The report pack contains an appendix that gives details of the council's investment portfolio as at 30th September 2024. This shows that £81,971,000 of investments were held, with an average investment return for the first six months of the year of 5.14%. The report notes that:

This favourable return is unlikely to continue in the long-term if interest rates fall as predicted.

The council's Capital Financing Requirement, which represents its underlying need to borrow for capital purposes is forecast to be £379,715,000 at the end of the financial year. This includes fixed rate borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) for the Housing Revenue Account and the General Fund. The report notes that:

If required, the Council can utilise existing cash balances to fund its future capital programme instead of undertaking new external borrowing.