Background
The Hemel Place Board is a partnership of key stakeholders from the public, private and third sectors which have a strong presence in Hemel Hempstead and are key to the future success of the town.
The Board will provide strategic direction for the town’s growth and prosperity activities through the development of a new Place Strategy for Hemel Hempstead. This strategy will set out a new Vision for Hemel Hempstead and will set out proposals for the regeneration and management of the town over the short, medium and longer term.
The Board will also be the strategic partnership to coordinate a wide ranging programme of projects that are due to take place within Hemel Hempstead over the coming years, including future development of the Town Centre, the delivery of the Herts IQ Enterprise Zone, the provision of essential infrastructure, the ambitious plans for the area’s economic development and interventions needed to address key social issues and ensure health and wellbeing. It will also form the interface between the existing communities within Hemel Hempstead and the new Hemel Garden Communities.
Underpinning all this is the need to tackle climate change and achieve a reduction in carbon emissions and to create a high quality environment for Hemel Hempstead which champions sustainable travel and provides excellent digital connectivity.
The Board
The Hemel Place Board is a new board which will consist of representatives from public, private and third sector representatives.
The duties and responsibilities of a Board member are to:
- Attend meetings of the Board and to nominate an appropriate named alternative where attendance is not possible.
- Actively support the role and functions of the Board, including actively promoting the ambitions of Hemel within their organisations and leveraging their respective organisations to delivering the Board objectives.
- Contribute knowledge and expertise to the discussions of the Board and to work to identify and leverage resources and funding to support the delivery of the Board’s objectives.
- To be an effective advocate and ambassador for Hemel Hempstead at local, regional and national level working effectively with partners and individuals.
- To participate in subgroups and task and finish groups of the Board as appropriate.
Board Members
It is proposed that the future Hemel Place Board will be made up of the following:
- An independent chair
- The Leader of Dacorum Borough Council
- The Opposition Leader of Dacorum Borough Council
- The Chief Executive of Dacorum Borough Council
- The Executive Member for Growth, Infrastructure and Planning, Hertfordshire County Council
- The Director of Growth, Infrastructure and Planning, Hertfordshire County Council
- The Director of the Hertfordshire Growth Board
- The Chair of Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership
- The Chief Executive of Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership
- A representative from the Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group
- The Principal of West Herts College
- The Chair of the Hemel Garden Communities Board
- The Director of Hemel Garden Communities
- The Chair of Hemel Hempstead Business Ambassadors
- The Chief Executive of Community Action Dacorum
- Homes England (HE)
Representatives from these Government departments will also be invited to attend the meeting:
- Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)
- Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
- Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)
Other key partners will be invited to attend as follows:
- The Leader of St Albans City and District Council
- The Chief Executive of St Albans City and District Council
- An Environmental representative
- Representatives from large businesses that have a base within Hemel Hempstead and key landowners
Sub-groups and Task and Finish groups will need to be set up for specific projects/opportunities and Board members will need to delegate appropriately to these.
The Role
The role of Chair of the Board is crucial to the success of the Hemel Place Board. The Chair will be the lead figure for the Board, working closely with Board members and Chairs of the Hemel Garden Community Board, Herts Innovation Quarter Board and Hemel Business Improvement District to set and steer the project’s direction and to monitor progress. The Chair will ensure that appropriate resources are in place to deliver against the plan, programme and priorities and will co-ordinate the public-sector, private and third sector contribution to the delivery of key elements of the programme including the use of relevant funding.
The Chair will ensure that consideration is given by the Board to consultations and policy announcements that impact on the effective delivery of the Hemet Place vision and will ensure that Hemel Hempstead as a place is positively represented at existing and/or emerging sub-regional/regional forums.
The chair will help forge and build positive relationships with government and with key stakeholders in business, acting both as an advocate and ambassador. They will also constructively challenge the Board members’ ambition and performance to ensure that the Board and its impact continues to evolve positively.
Other responsibilities will include:
- Chair and develop an effective Board and wider stakeholder group, ensuring that a broad range of challenging perspectives are united towards a common goal and purpose
- Act as an ambassador for Hemel Hempstead the place and lobby effectively for the required funding (both capacity and infrastructure funding) to deliver the programme
- Champion the work of the Board, its objectives, challenges, opportunities, outcomes and results to relevant partners, organisations, networks and the media
- Maintain a clear and informed view of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the programme and initiate positive responses