Dacorum Lib Dems secure prudent delay to progress of controversial Local Plan, and more scrutiny, but Conservatives block efforts to consider another public consultation

Over the winter, Dacorum ran a public consultation (known as a Regulation 18) on its draft Local Plan, provoking considerable opposition. It was very controversial, due not only to the content of the Plan, but also to the fact that the consultation was being conducted during a lockdown - when many people were unaware of it. The Lib Dems in Hemel, along with Residents Associations, Town and Parish Councils, local environmental groups, and most of Berkhamsted and Tring (set to increase in size by 55% according to the Plan!) objected strenuously to the draft plan.

At today's meeting of Hertfordshire County Council, the Conservatives turned down a proposal from the Liberal Democrats to top up - by £31 per child - the Government's £50 part-funding of vital support over the summer holiday for each of the 34,400 children receiving free school meals.

County Councillor Mark Watkin, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Children's Services and proposer of the top-up motion, commented;

At the Resources and Performance Cabinet Panel meeting on 5 July 2021, it was revealed that Hertfordshire County Council failed to deliver £102m of budgeted improvements to residents during the last financial year 2020/2021. Hardest hit were children and young people, with £27.8m of the schools' expansion program and a further £12.5m of schools' repairs and maintenance being reprogrammed. Capital projects valued at nearly £2m (£1.7m) for Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) children and young people were reprogrammed, despite investment in this area being widely acknowledged as essential.

Herts County Conservatives voted at a recent meeting to charge double the amount they require for providing education if a home is built as a council house compared to one for sale on the open market.

At the Growth, Infrastructure and Planning Panel on Tuesday 22^nd June, a proposal to change the 'planning obligations' required from housebuilders was tabled. Part of that proposal was to charge more than double for any home built as a council house compared to one expecting to be sold on the open market. A 3 bed house for market would expect to see an education provision payment of £17,719, whereas if it was a council house, the County would expect £34,630.