Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

To approve, as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 7^th September 2020.

The minutes of the meeting held on 7^th September 2020 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to Cllrs Dixon and Toye being added to the attendance list.

To receive questions and statements from the public, if any.

None received.

To determine any other items of business which the Chairman decides should be considered as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972

None.

Members are asked at this stage to declare any interests that they may have in any of the following items on the agenda. The Code of Conduct for Members requries that declarations include the nature of the interest and whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest

None.

To receive oral questions from Members, if any

The Chairman reminded Members that they could ask questions during the meeting as issues arose.

Cllr A Fitch-Tillett, Portfolio Holder for Coast, said that she wished to record her thanks to everyone who had helped clear up the sand at Walcott following the recent storm. The huge effort made by everyone involved was much appreciated.  

To consider recommendations made at the meeting of the Planning Policy and Built Heritage Working Party meeting held on 14^th September 2020.

Decision

RESOLVED

To approve the recommendations from the Planning Policy & Built Heritage Working Party meeting of 14^th September 2020.

The Chairman invited the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Cllr A Brown, to introduce this item. Cllr Brown referred Members to the recommendations which related to a revised policy approach regarding ‘Housing mix’ (Policy HOU 2).

It was proposed by Cllr A Brown, seconded by Cllr V Gay and

RESOLVED

To approve the recommendations from the Planning Policy & Built Heritage Working Party meeting of 14^th September 2020.

To consider any matters referred to the Cabinet by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee for reconsideration by the Cabinet in accordance within the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules

Cllr N Dixon, Chairman of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, said that there were no formal recommendations for Cabinet. However, he referred to the North Walsham Town Centre Public Realm Improvements report that had been considered at the last meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee and said that the Committee felt that there did not appear to be any clear measurable outcomes for this project. The Head of Economic and Community Growth had reassured the committee that he would work with the North Walsham Heritage Action Zone Working Party to develop ‘SMART’ objectives that would sit alongside the project and enable Members to measure it’s progress.

Decision

RESOLVED:

To confirm the revised Delivery Plan priorities as detailed in the report.

Reason for the decision:

To reflect the changed circumstances in which the Council is operating at the present time in seeking to balance its Corporate Plan priorities against the ongoing COVID situation in which the Council is having to operate.

The Leader introduced this item. She explained the work of the Council had been significantly impacted by the response to the pandemic, which was ongoing. Consequently, the Delivery Plan had been revisited and key aims and objectives had been prioritised so it was clear where the Council would be focussing efforts in the coming months.  

Cllr Cushing referred to the Equality & Diversity Policy which was referenced in the report. He said that at the meeting of Full Council in December 2019, it was acknowledged that the current policy was out of date and it was referred to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee for review. He asked what progress had been made on this. The Leader asked Cllr Dixon, Chairman of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee to respond. Cllr Dixon replied that when it came to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee in February 2020, it was agreed to add the matter to its work programme. It was agreed that the policy should be reviewed and revised by Cabinet before coming through to the Committee for scrutiny. He added that the Scrutiny Officer had not been able to establish the current status of this piece of work. The Leader said that she would look into this and provide a response to Cllr Cushing as soon as possible. She referred to a recent query from a member of the public regarding the Council’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-semitism, which had also been agreed at the December meeting of Full Council. Cllr Dixon said that the wording of the full definition should be carried forward and included in the revised Equality & Diversity Policy.

The Chief Executive added that the revision of the Equality & Diversity Policy had not been a priority during the pandemic but it was still a key issue and would be progressed in the coming months.

It was proposed by Cllr S Butikofer, seconded by Cllr R Kershaw and

RESOLVED:

To confirm the revised Delivery Plan priorities as detailed in the report.

Reason for the decision:

To reflect the changed circumstances in which the Council is operating at the present time in seeking to balance its Corporate Plan priorities against the ongoing COVID situation in which the Council is having to operate.

Decision

RESOLVED:

To note the report and endorse the actions being taken by Strategic Leadership Team detailed in Appendix A – Managing Performance.

Reason for the decision:

To ensure the objectives of the Council are achieved.

The Leader introduced this report. She informed Members that there was a new performance management system in place and it was anticipated that this would be beneficial as it was much easier to use than the previous system. She acknowledged that some of the measures were not where they should be due to the pandemic. She added that although some targets had not been achieved, this was due to officers being redeployed into other areas to respond to the impact of the pandemic. It was hoped to make significant progress in the coming weeks to catch up in the areas that had been impacted.

Cllr Cushing referred to the timing of the report. He queried why the quarter 1 report was coming through now and suggested that it should have come through to the August meeting of Cabinet. He added that it was now 17 months since the Administration was elected and queried why it had taken so long for the performance report to be collated. The Leader referred Cllr Cushing to her opening comments regarding the implementation of a new system. She asked the Performance Management Officer to outline the timing of the reports. The Performance Management Officer replied that quarter 3 was just starting and the report on the first quarter was only one month late. She said that a combination of the implementation of a new performance management system, the introduction of the Delivery Plan and then Covid 19 had led to the delay. The Leader confirmed that the reports would be back on schedule going forward.

Cllr J Rest said that the report was much easier to read now. He referred to the two shift working pattern and home working that had been introduced at the end of March 2020 and asked whether this had contributed to the report being later than usual. The Head of IT replied that for a very short period of time, when the pandemic began, there was a need to introduce a two shift working pattern to ensure that the Council’s bandwidth could cope. The network was upgraded as soon as possible and staff reverted to a normal working pattern. The effectiveness of working from home had been very good and it was unlikely to have impacted on the production of performance data.

It was proposed by Cllr S Butikofer, seconded by Cllr A Brown and

RESOLVED:

To note the report and endorse the actions being taken by Strategic Leadership Team detailed in Appendix A – Managing Performance.

Reason for the decision:

To ensure the objectives of the Council are achieved.

To pass the following resolution:

“That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs _ of Part I ofSchedule 12A (as amended) to the Act.”