Agenda, decisions and minutes

To approve, as a correct record, the minutes of the meetings of the Cabinet held on 20^th January 2025 and 3^rd February 2025.

The minutes of the meetings of the Cabinet held on 20^th January 2025 and 3^rd February 2025 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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 (see attached guidance and flowchart)

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 received.

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

The following question had been received from Mr John Martin. He was not able to attend the meeting, so the Chairman read it out on his behalf:

"What meetings and/or discussions have been held with Norfolk County Council in relation to the proposed content of the local government re-organisation plan for Norfolk, which has to be submitted to the Ministry of Housing Communities & Local Government on or before 21 March 2025 by Norfolk County Council, and with what (if any) result?"

The Chairman replied that Norfolk County Council (NCC) had their own focus regarding Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), whilst North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) was primarily concerned with the impact on discretionary services such as coastal adaptation and the local economy. It was likely that NCC would have their own vision. Consequently, discussions with NCC had been limited although it had been agreed to share data and it was hoped that NCC would do the same in return.

The Chief Executive added that a written response would be provided as Mr Martin could not attend the Cabinet meeting. He said that a report would be going to Full Council on 19^th March which would outline the Council’s response to the Government’s invitation to submit interim proposals around unitarisation, for the deadline of 21^st March. The same report would be considered by all the District, Borough and City councils during the week commencing 17^th March.

To receive oral questions from Members, if any

The Chairman advised members that they could ask questions as matters arose.

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

The following recommendations to Cabinet were made at the meeting of Overview & Scrutiny Committee on 12^th February:

Homelessness Task & Finish Group

RESOLVED that the:

1. the Portfolio Holder for Housing & People Services writes to central government, setting out the situation in North Norfolk regarding the private rental sector reducing housing stock levels and the key reasons for the withdrawals and asks central government for action to address the progressive stock loss and help this Council retain and even grow private sector stock levels; and

2. Committee should receive a further report on this subject in July 2025 to coincide with the pre scrutiny of the homeless strategy.

Corporate Plan 23-27 Action Plan 24-25

Resolved

1. to note that Corporate Plan 2023-27 Action Plan 2024-2025; and
2. that the Cabinet undertakes a review of the available options to:

1. analyse the reasons why mobile phone mast applications fail.
2. develop a map of signal "not spots" from data gathered by the current surveying program.
3. support providers to improve mobile signals strength.

    iv.         evaluate how it communicates its actions regarding this issue to both residents and businesses.

Homelessness Task & Finish Group

Decision

RESOLVED

That the:

1. the Portfolio Holder for Housing & People Services writes to central government, setting out the situation in North Norfolk regarding the private rental sector reducing housing stock levels and the key reasons for the withdrawals and asks central government for action to address the progressive stock loss and help this Council retain and even grow private sector stock levels; and

2. Committee should receive a further report on this subject in July 2025 to coincide with the pre scrutiny of the homeless strategy.

The Chairman, Cllr N Dixon, said that there were two matters to report on.

a)    Homelessness Task & Finish Group - the following recommendations were made to Cabinet:

That the:

1. the Portfolio Holder for Housing & People Services writes to central government, setting out the situation in North Norfolk regarding the private rental sector reducing housing stock levels and the key reasons for the withdrawals and asks central government for action to address the progressive stock loss and help this Council retain and even grow private sector stock levels; and
2. Committee should receive a further report on this subject in July 2025 to coincide with the pre scrutiny of the homeless strategy.

The Chairman said that there were three key points:

-        To incorporate any benefits from the council tax second homes premium such as investing in the prevention of homelessness, forming partnerships, refurbishing homes etc.

-        Working more proactively with partnership organisations

-        Need to incorporate, where possible, timelines to the streams of work that were in progress.

b)    Corporate Plan Action Plan 2024/2025 – the following recommendations were made:

Mobile Phone coverage:

-        analyse the reasons why mobile phone applications fail,

-        produce a map of mobile phone ‘not spots’ and support providers to improve mobile signal strength

-        evaluate how the Council communicates its actions regarding the above to residents and businesses.

Cllr J Boyle said that, on looking at the second recommendation, she believed that it should read ‘the Portfolio Holder and relevant Director to review options to improve mobile signal hot spots. Not spots and the reasons why mobile mast applications fail and communicate actions to residents and businesses’.

Cllr Dixon said that the Overview & Scrutiny Committee had not confirmed the recommendations yet as the minutes for this meeting had not been approved and he proposed that the second item should be deferred until the Committee had reviewed it.

The Chairman thanked Cllr Dixon and said that the first item would be taken forward and the second one deferred.

Cllr W Fredericks, Portfolio Holder for Housing, responded to the recommendations from Homelessness Task and Finish Group. She said that she was happy to accept them and any other actions agreed by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee. She went onto say that she had attended the Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting and responded to all the matters raised and that the Housing Team was working hard to do everything that they could to reduce homelessness.

Cllr J Toye, Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Growth, said that he was happy to support the recommendations regarding mobile phone coverage, but would suggest that if the Overview & Scrutiny Committee was supportive, that the Council looked at the wider picture and considered all of the relevant factors that could support improvement in this area.

RESOLVED that the:

1. the Portfolio Holder for Housing & People Services writes to central government, setting out the situation in North Norfolk regarding the private rental sector reducing housing stock levels and the key reasons for the withdrawals and asks central  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

Decision

RESOLVED

That the Cabinet approves the Corporate Plan Annual Action Plan for 2025/26.

Reason for the decision:

Sound management of the authority’s staff, property and financial resources to deliver projects and initiatives which support improved service delivery and positive outcomes aligned to the previously agreed Corporate Plan themes and seeks to position North Norfolk’s residents, communities and businesses strongly in the context of any proposals to establish a Norfolk and Suffolk Combined Authority through the English Devolution proposals and any related programme of local government reorganisation in Norfolk which seeks to replace the existing two-tier County and District structure of local government with unitary councils.

The Leader explained that the actions detailed in the Action Plan had been developed in support of the five themes in the adopted Corporate Plan recognising the increasing pressure on the Council’s budget, the moves towards establishing a Combined Authority for Norfolk and Suffolk under the Government’s English Devolution programme and proposed Local Government Reorganisation which would change the context in which the District Council operated and worked over the next three years, alongside continuing with ‘Business As Usual’ and maintaining service delivery for the district’s residents until any proposals for new unitary councils in Norfolk were agreed.

The actions proposed therefore sought to balance the capacity of the organisation to deliver, taking into account the staff and financial resources available to the Council, the need to focus on supporting the transition of services into any new unitary council(s) and the potential to access external funding or partnership resources, with the aspirations laid out in the Corporate Plan. He said that it was therefore recognised that there was some degree of choice and prioritisation as to the actions proposed for delivery in the period April 2025 – March 2026.

He set out the key actions that would be focussed on going forward and explained that the number of targets had been reduced and the focus would be on strategic project delivery rather than policy development.

Cllr J Toye, Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Growth, referred to ‘Investing in our Local Economy and Infrastructure’, item 2, and the reference to Stalham and the High Street Task Force. He encouraged all communities to develop a vision, such as a neighbourhood plan, which would help them focus on opportunities and funding and help the Council assist them with their vision for the future.

Cllr A Brown, Portfolio Holder for Planning, said that following on from a question asked at Full Council by the Local Members for Stalham, arrangements had been made to meet with them and progress some of the matters raised.

Cllr L Shires, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Estates and Property Services, referred to Action 5, and proposals to safeguard the Council’s tourism infrastructure assets in the face of local government reorganisation. She encouraged any local communities which had an asset which they wanted to safeguard going forward, to contact the Council. The Chairman agreed, adding that several communities had already been in touch. He acknowledged that it was a real concern, particularly those that were discretionary assets. North Norfolk had a particularly rich tourism related asset portfolio and it was imperative that this was protected for the future.

Cllr L Withington, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture, commented on how well engagement with the parish and town councils had been received. She highlighted three forthcoming events focussed on business engagement.

It was proposed by Cllr T Adams, seconded by Cllr W Fredericks and

RESOLVED

To approve the Corporate Plan Annual Action Plan for 2025/26.

Reason for the decision:

Sound management of the authority’s staff, property and financial resources to deliver projects and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

Decision

RESOLVED to recommend that

Full Council approves the changes to the Capital Programme as laid out in paragraph 5.5 of the report.

Reason for the decision:

To ensure robust ongoing monitoring of the Council’s budget and expenditure.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Estates and Property Services, introduced this item. She said that the latest budget monitoring report, set out where the Council was at year end rather than ‘in the moment’ and this had enabled officers to see where changes could be made to improve the financial position and this was now demonstrated by a more positive update in the period 10 report. She thanked the Finance team for their hard work and the Overview & Scrutiny Committee for their engagement and input. She drew members’ attention to the changes to the Capital Programme (page 45 onwards) and this was mainly due to additional grant funding.

Cllr Shires concluded by reminding Cabinet members that there was a forecast deficit for the following year and work would be starting soon on the budget setting process for 2026/2027.

It was proposed by Cllr L Shires, seconded by Cllr T Adams and

RESOLVED to

1.              Note the contents of the report and the current forecast year end position.

2.              Continue the work to minimise the risk of a General Fund revenue deficit for 2024/25.

3.              Seek approval from full Council to make all the changes to the Capital Programme as laid out in paragraph 5.5 of the report.

Reason for the decision:

To ensure robust ongoing monitoring of the Council’s budget and expenditure.

Decision

RESOLVED

• That Cabinet authorises the Chief Executive, in consultation with Coastal Portfolio Holder and Head of Finance, to undertake the appointment the of Happisburgh Car park construction contractor, following tender appraisal.
• That Cabinet authorises the Chief Executive, in consultation with Coastal Portfolio Holder, Estates Manager and Head of Finance, to agree to the surrender of Happisburgh Parish Councils current lease for the Beach Road car park and enter into a new lease for the relocated car park off Lighthouse Lane.

Reasons for the Decision:

• To enable transition of current car park away from erosion risk.
• To build community resilience to coastal erosion.
• To support the viability of the community through the continued revenue generated by the car park.
• To provide examples of coastal transition and generate learning to support national coastal adaptation.
• To contribute to the delivery of the Coastwise programme

The Chairman said that there was an exempt appendix for this item and if any member wished to discuss anything within that document, the meeting would have to go into closed session.

Cllr H Blathwayt, Portfolio Holder for Coast, was invited to introduce the report. He said that the project had been in the planning phase for some time now and whilst the weather was clement, it was hoped to progress it as soon as possible. The Chairman said that it was an important scheme for Happisburgh and he welcomed the commencement of the work.

The Coastal Transition Manager said that it was a good opportunity to continue working with the parish of Happisburgh and the support of the local community was greatly appreciated.

Cllr L Shires said that this project had started when she was local member for Happisburgh and she welcomed it reaching this stage. She thanked the Coastal Transition Manager for his hard work in progressing this, sometimes in the face of considerable challenge, and said that his continued engagement and focus had resulted in a strong relationship with the parish.

Cllr A Varley referred member to section 9 of the report which set out the Net Zero aspects of the project and he was very pleased to see the amount of work that had gone into mitigating the carbon impact of the scheme.

It was proposed by Cllr H Blathwayt, seconded by Cllr A Varley and

RESOLVED

• That Cabinet authorises the Chief Executive, in consultation with Coastal Portfolio Holder and Head of Finance, to undertake the appointment the of Happisburgh Car park construction contractor, following tender appraisal.
• That Cabinet authorises the Chief Executive, in consultation with Coastal Portfolio Holder, Estates Manager and Head of Finance, to agree to the surrender of Happisburgh Parish Councils current lease for the Beach Road car park and enter into a new lease for the relocated car park off Lighthouse Lane.

Reasons for the Decision:

• To enable transition of current car park away from erosion risk.
• To build community resilience to coastal erosion.
• To support the viability of the community through the continued revenue generated by the car park.
• To provide examples of coastal transition and generate learning to support national coastal adaptation.
• To contribute to the delivery of the Coastwise programme

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 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A (as amended) to the Act.”

Information in this appendix involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3, Part 1 of schedule 12A (as amended) to the Local Government Act 1972.

This paragraph relates to:

Para 3.  Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

The public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure for the following reasons:

The information is commercially sensitive, relating to commercial options being considered by the authority. Releasing this information would be likely to have a prejudicial impact upon third parties as well as the Council in obtaining best value.

Exempt Appendix – Lighthouse car park, Happisburgh