Leader's Monthly Update – December 2024

19 December 2024

Welcome to this new monthly update from the Leader chair, which I hope will usefully summarise on some of the important work taking place in our borough and highlight our services, activities and milestones from the last few months.

As you may be aware, the English Devolution White Paper was published this week. It is a detailed document that sets out the Government’s intention to reset the relationship between local and regional government. At the present time, there has been no consultation with district and borough councils, no specific proposals on how this will affect Hertfordshire and no timescale on when further details are expected. We will continue with business as usual and remain focused on delivering the important services that make a real difference to our communities.

Reflecting on 2024, I feel very privileged to serve as Leader of the Council. It has been an incredibly challenging year, but extremely rewarding working with our communities, and to meet so many residents, businesses and organisations who contribute to making our borough such a wonderful place to live and work.

It was a joy to participate in recent key community events, including the 50th anniversary of the borough at 50 Fest and Remembrance events. The Remembrance Sunday parade and services were deeply meaningful, bringing our community together to honour those who made the ultimate sacrifice and reflect on the freedoms they fought to protect.

We have recently adopted our new Corporate Plan ( Our Plan for Dacorum: 2024-2028), which sets out our new direction for the borough. Despite the constraints of Local Government funding and traditional expectations of local councils, we have a renewed and ambitious plan. Our mission is to put our residents at the heart of everything we do and empower local communities to have a real say on Council services and the borough.

The plan launches seven new priorities, which we will focus on delivering over the next four years. Each month I will highlight work taking place under these priorities, demonstrating our progress and performance and being honest about the challenges we face.

To stay up to date with all the news and information from the Council, please sign up to our weekly newsletter Dacorum Life.

Priority spotlight this month: Community Engagement

Engagement with our residents and local communities is important to help shape our services and influence the work we do across the borough.

We have a number of consultations open now, including our Budget 2025-2026 proposals, Adventure Playground Service Review and many more. We have a dedicated community engagement platform (Let's Talk Dacorum) where you can find all our consultations and engagement opportunities.

We need your input into the main spending priorities for the Council’s budget 2025-2026. We need to save £2.6 million over the next four years while maintaining essential services. To ensure we can continue to support our residents, including the most vulnerable, we have to make difficult decisions around money and how we provide our services in the future. We will continue to drive value for money for our residents, with the average household (band D) paying around £5 a week for Dacorum Borough Council services (bin collections, maintenance of 62 play areas and 5 Green Flag parks, street cleaning, planning, housing, environmental health and food inspections and so on). We provide more than 100 different services to the community.

I’d also like to thank everyone who has contributed to the Draft Local Plan Regulation 19 consultation, which closed on 17 December. This follows extensive public input gathered from three previous Local Plan Regulation 18 consultations held in 2017, 2020 and 2023.

The draft Local Plan outlines proposals for housing, employment, infrastructure, and environmental protection within the borough for the period up to 2041.

The Regulation 19 consultation provided an opportunity to feedback on the plan's legal compliance and alignment with national planning policies.

This work is timely following the Government's update on the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) reforms last week. It confirms that Dacorum, due to its current progress towards Regulation 22, will be able to follow the existing targets allowed in transition before implementation of the new NPPF.

It is important to note that Dacorum is therefore looking to pass its plan under the old NPPF, with its lower run-rate of 1,016 homes per year. Under the new NPPF reforms, the target would have increased to 1,350 per year. As things stand, the Dacorum Liberal Democrat administration has taken the Draft Local Plan to Regulation 19 consultation stage and can reach Regulation 22 by the deadline, protecting Dacorum from the high new targets for several more years.

As we approach the festive season, I would like to take a moment to send my heartfelt wishes to all residents of Dacorum.

As we celebrate this special time of year, let us remember the acts of kindness and generosity that bring us together as a community. May this Christmas bring peace, joy and happiness to you and your loved ones, and may 2025 be a year of prosperity and good health for all.

Warm wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Councillor Adrian England
Leader of the Council