Welcome to the first Hertfordshire Brief.

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August is quiet by design. Committees are in recess and the diaries are thin until September. That turns out to be a good moment to read the paperwork nobody reads in a busy month, so this issue does exactly that: three planning items from Broxbourne's 29 July meeting, the first published account of the developer contributions position of one of the four new authorities, and a devolution timetable that is now running against Hertfordshire's own.

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The Government confirmed on 16 July that Hertfordshire's eleven councils will be replaced by four unitary authorities, with shadow elections in May 2027 and vesting day on 1 April 2028.

Broxbourne officers have recommended cutting developer contributions at one Goffs Oak site from £2,274,461 to £1,084,370 on viability grounds.

Where it stands: Four unitary councils confirmed by written ministerial statement on 16 July 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. The model adopted is the four unitary proposal submitted by Broxbourne, Dacorum, Hertsmere, North Hertfordshire, Stevenage and Welwyn Hatfield. The county council had backed a two unitary option.

Next formal step: The structural changes order to be laid before Parliament.

Date: Not yet published.

Mayoral authority: Hertfordshire has no strategic authority and no mayor, and the eleven councils have stated they are seeking a Strategic Mayoral Authority. Under proposals announced on 30 July, strategic authorities would retain a share of business rates from spring 2027 and a share of income tax from 2028, replacing some ring-fenced grants. The shares have not been set and a roadmap is due at the Autumn Budget. Hertfordshire's shadow elections fall in May 2027 and vesting day on 1 April 2028.

The four authorities are West Hertfordshire (Dacorum, St Albans), South West Hertfordshire (Hertsmere, Three Rivers, Watford), Central Hertfordshire (North Herts less five wards, Stevenage, Welwyn Hatfield less Northaw & Cuffley) and East Hertfordshire and Broxbourne (Broxbourne, East Herts, plus Northaw & Cuffley and six North Herts wards including Royston, Ermine, Weston and Sandon).

Written ministerial statement HCWS286 · Confirmed boundaries · Commons Library briefing CBP-10937 on mayoral tax retention · Announcement, 30 July

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Broxbourne's Planning and Regulatory Committee took three developer contribution items on Wednesday 29 July. Minutes are not yet published. Officer recommendations are set out below; the Brief will report the resolutions in issue 2.Agenda pack

Broxbourne Officers recommended varying the section 106 agreement at Cross Nursery, Newgatestreet Road, Goffs Oak, 07/26/0076/MOD106, reducing contributions from £162,461.50 to £77,455 per dwelling across 14 self-build plots. That takes the obligation completed in December 2023 from £2,274,461 to £1,084,370. Affordable housing accounted for £1,848,000, or 81.25%, of the original sum. The applicant had sought £50,000 per dwelling; the June committee deferred the item and directed officers to negotiate the figure up. Update report

The same report records at paragraph 1.2 that the June report's reference to a developer return of c.19% should read 15.8%. Planning Practice Guidance cites 15 to 20% of gross development value as a suitable return. No financial viability appraisal accompanied the 2022 outline application.

Broxbourne Officers recommended granting permission for 44 flats at 133-137 High Street, Waltham Cross, 07/24/0152/O, using a planning condition in place of a completed section 106. The bank holding the mortgage declined in writing to sign the agreement, and legal advice was that an obligation without all owners' signatures is not secure. A £265,000 town centre contribution and an overage clause would instead be secured by a Deed of Adherence condition, a mechanism officers say was used at Bury Green and Brookfield Garden Village. Update report

Broxbourne Officers recommended approval of a 142-room reconfiguration of the Delta Marriott Hotel, Halfhide Lane, Cheshunt, 07/26/0319/F, against an objection from the county council as highway authority, and declined a £22,102 county request for a fire and rescue contribution towards the new station at Brookfield Garden Village. Officers concluded the requested obligations did not meet the Regulation 122 tests. Committee report

Decision registers for East Herts and Three Rivers record no decisions in this window. Committee cycles resume in September.

Broxbourne spent £1,400,000 of section 106 receipts on the purchase of 78 Great Cambridge Road, funded from the Maxwell's Farm agreement, 07/18/1181/O. IFS 2024/25, section 6

Broxbourne allocated £559,458 to A10 Major Road Network works from the Britannia Nurseries agreement, transferring £489,881 to the county council. £69,577 was unspent at year end. IFS 2024/25, sections 5 and 6

East Herts applied £622,011.33 from four indoor sports contributions to repay capital borrowing on the Grange Paddocks leisure centre, Bishop's Stortford. IFS 2024/25, page 14

Broxbourne entered obligations at Brookfield Riverside, 07/22/0989/O, carrying £2,499,999 for railways, £1,460,000 for highways and £1,147,420 for bus services. These are covenant potential, not yet triggered, and draw down past vesting day. IFS 2024/25, section 3

This issue: the Infrastructure Funding Statements of Broxbourne and East Herts, 2024/25. Read together, these are the first published picture of the developer contributions position of East Hertfordshire and Broxbourne, one of the four new authorities.

The two councils entered new obligations worth £23,807,712 in 2024/25, £19,594,723 at Broxbourne and £4,212,989.11 at East Herts across eleven agreements. They received £9,160,302 and spent £4,925,850. Neither figure includes sums payable directly to the county council.

The councils report the balance on incompatible bases. East Herts states £7,764,378.18 unspent at 31 March 2025, of which £54,865.19 is unallocated, at pages 9 and 10. Broxbourne reports £0 unallocated from before the reported year and £1,851,184 unspent at year end against 2024/25 allocations only, at sections 2 and 5. There is no published statement of Broxbourne's cumulative unspent balance. The two positions cannot be added.

Broxbourne's statement is internally inconsistent. Section 3 describes itself as a breakdown of £29,922,213.24. Row A of the statutory summary table, and the table's own total, both give £19,594,723.

East Herts recorded 2,534 affordable housing units within agreements signed in the year, at page 7, of which 2,300 sit in the two Gilston permissions. Those agreements carry £1,166,150 in bespoke Gilston monitoring contributions, against £1,183,850 in monitoring fees for the year in total, at page 8.

These balances, and obligations under signed agreements, transfer to the new authority on 1 April 2028. The transfer mechanism has not been published.

East Herts IFS 2024/25, PDF · Broxbourne IFS 2024/25, PDF

Thursday 31 December, statutory deadline under regulation 121A for all eleven Hertfordshire contribution receiving authorities to publish Infrastructure Funding Statements for 2025/26. The last full year picture before shadow authority elections. Regulation 121A, Annex A

Financial year 2026/27, repayment date for £26,238.90 of unallocated East Herts contributions at Highcross, Ware. A further £28,626.29 at Terlings Park has a repayment date of 2028/29, after vesting day. East Herts IFS 2024/25, page 10

Autumn Budget, date not yet announced. The devolution roadmap setting the business rates and income tax shares for strategic authorities is due to be published alongside it. The Treasury has not yet stated what proportion of income tax would be retained. Commons Library briefing CBP-10937

Thin for issue 1. From late 2026 this section carries statutory officer appointments for the four shadow authorities: head of paid service, section 151 officer, monitoring officer.

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The Hertfordshire Brief is a new fortnightly publication from Hertstown Media covering decisions, documents and money across Hertfordshire's councils. It carries no events, jobs, weather or community listings. Readers who subscribed for local news can unsubscribe below.

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The Hertfordshire Brief is published fortnightly by Hertstown Media Ltd. It covers decisions, documents and money across Hertfordshire's eleven councils and the four unitary authorities being created on 1 April 2028.

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