Agenda, decisions and minutes

None.

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

None received.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 9^th April 2025 and 14^th May 2025.

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 9^th April were approved as a correct record, subject to the following amendments:

Page 3 – paragraph 6 should read ‘hard to quantify’

Page 3 – paragraph 3 should read ‘Norwich/Ipswich area’

Page 7, Minute 291 – change ‘dome’ to ‘some’

The minutes for the meeting held on 14^th May 2025 were approved as a correct record subject to the following amendments:

List of attendees – Cllr Dixon should be listed as present

Page 10, paragraph 3 – should read ‘cash deposits ‘from’ residents

Page 12 – paragraph 4 – should read ‘progress had been made recently’

Page 12 – paragraph 3 – change from ‘during’ to ‘drawing to a close’

Page 14 – paragraph 8 – should read ‘Anglian Water’

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 requires that declarations include the nature of the interest and whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest.

None.

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 consider any petitions received from members of the public.

None received.

To consider any requests made by non-executive Members of the Council, submitted to the Democratic Services Manager with seven clear working days’ notice, to include an item on the agenda of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

There were no matters for consideration referred to the Committee by a member.

To consider any responses of the Council or the Cabinet to the Committee’s reports or recommendations:

There were no responses of the Council or Cabinet to the Committee’s reports or recommendations.

The Chairman explained that this was a statutory report, presented for the committee’s information.

It was RESOLVED

To receive and note the report and the register of decisions taken under delegated powers.

To receive an update from Anglian Water on sewage outflows in the District.

Members were requested to submit questions in advance for this session. Questions were not limited to sewage outflow but should be directly linked to water issues that fell within Anglian Water’s remit.  

Agenda item 10: Anglian Water Briefing - Update on Sewage Outflows in the District

Decision

RESOLVED:

1.     That a letter be prepared on behalf of the Committee and sent to the Secretary of State and Local MPs requesting that the following be considered and addressed:

                         i.         Water companies should be required to review their current business plans and ensure that they reflect the impact of new housing developments on service supply and demand, including the management of surface water drainage and run-off

                        ii.         The possibility of a change in the legislation regarding the status of water companies as statutory consultees in the planning process.

2.     That written responses to the questions raised by the Committee are provided by Anglian Water within 2 weeks and that the following additional information be included:

                         i.         Data for North Norfolk regarding ‘dry day’ spills, including dates, location, rainfall levels and the reasons for the spill.

                        ii.         Data regarding leakages in North Walsham for the last 12 months

                       iii.         Information setting out how Anglian Water consults and engages with landowners regarding nature-based solutions for dealing with overflows and spills – such as reed beds.

3.     That Anglian Water should attend in 6 months’ time to provide an update to the committee.

4.     To support Anglian Water’s campaign on preventing blockages by sharing information with local communities.

The Chairman introduced Mr G Tuffs (Regional Engagement Manager) and Mr A Outram (EDM Regulation Manager) from Anglian Water to speak. They opened the session with a presentation which covered the following:

-        An overview of storm overflows, why they occur, how they are monitored, planned improvements and AW’s annual ‘spills’ performance

-        A summary of proposed investment across the region by Anglian Water between 2025 and 2030.

-        An overview of AW’s ‘Just Bin it’ campaign.

The Chairman thanked them for the presentation.

She reminded members that some questions had been submitted in advance of the meeting and these would be addressed first.

Cllr J Toye had asked a general question about AW’s work programme and planned improvements and these had been covered by the presentation. The Chair said that it would be helpful to understand the percentage of investment in North Norfolk. Mr Tuffs said that £103m was a significant amount considering the size of the district, population and geography and the state of existing assets in the area. All investment was done on a priority basis – such as maintaining water flow and dealing with pollution. 

Cllr C Cushing sought clarification on the size of the region referred to by AW – how large was it and which areas did it cover and he then asked how the schemes for North Norfolk were prioritised. Mr Tuffs replied that AW’s region was the largest by geography in the UK, stretching from North Lincolnshire, across to Oxfordshire and down as far as East London. There were 6 million customers and the landscape was challenging, including bore holes, rivers, coastline and a flat landscape. He added that there was a lot of investment in environmental protection, as mandated by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and consequently, some of the money was already allocated for this purpose. He said that there were two new reservoirs in East Anglia, both of which were huge infrastructure projects. There was also a large desalination project at Bacton and the construction of a 500km strategic pipeline from North Lincolnshire to Cambridgeshire and then Suffolk and Essex.

Cllr N Housden said that investment of £103m over 5 years amounted to effectively £21m a year and the desalination at Bacton would diminish this amount substantially. Mr Tuffs replied that it was a long-term project and he didn’t have the cost figures available but would provide them after the meeting. He confirmed that research and development came out of the overall ‘pot’.

Cllr P Heinrich commented that there was a significant amount of development planned for the next 10 years and he asked how AW’s investment plans had taken population growth into account. Mr Tuffs replied that AW’s business plan had been developed before the current Government’s uplift in housing development and therefore did not reflect the impact this would have on water supply and drainage. He added that in the next 20 years, there would be an additional 700k new homes built and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

To note the upcoming Cabinet Work Programme.

The Democratic Services Manager updated the Committee on changes to the Cabinet Work Programme. Cllr M Hankins sought clarification on the process for sign off of the final version of the Local Plan.  

To receive an update from the Scrutiny Officer on progress made with topics on its agreed work programme and outcomes from previous recommendations and actions.

Agreed the following:

Action Tracker

-        To request that the NZAP report comes to the committee within the next 3-4 months and to be added to the work programme

-        That the Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Growth circulates via email to members, the data collected regarding mobile phone coverage in the District. This will then be reviewed ahead of inviting telecoms providers to attend a meeting to respond to questions.

-        To explore options for a review of substance abuse support services in the District and prepare a scoping report for members to consider and feed into.

-        To contact British Telecom (BT) and request that they provide a presentation to all members on their digitisation programme.

Work Programme:

-        To add the NZAP report to the work programme within the next 3 months

-        To add Anglian Water’s attendance in 6 months’ time

To add attendance by Telecom providers by the end of

The Democratic Services Manager outlined the updated Action Tracker and Work Programme to the Committee. Cllr Cushing requested that the Net Zero Action Plan was reviewed within the next few months rather than waiting until next March. Cllr Hankins asked whether BT could attend a meeting to give a presentation on the digital switchover programme. The Chair added that it would be helpful for telecoms providers to also attend to respond to questions on mobile connectivity. It was agreed that the data recently collated on mobile connectivity should be shared with members initially and then providers should attend a meeting to respond to questions.  It was felt a presentation by BT to all members would be preferable to one just to the committee.

Cllr L Shires raised a concern about access for residents to substance abuse support services and wondered whether this was a topic the committee could look into. Members supported this.

The Committee agreed the following:

Action Tracker

-       To request that the NZAP report comes to the committee within the next 3-4 months and to be added to the work programme

-       That the Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Growth circulates via email to members, the data collected regarding mobile phone coverage in the District. This will then be reviewed ahead of inviting telecoms providers to attend a meeting to respond to questions.

-       To explore options for a review of substance abuse support services in the District and prepare a scoping report for members to consider and feed into.

-       To contact British Telecom (BT) and request that they provide a presentation to all members on their digital switchover programme.

Work Programme:

-       To add the NZAP report to the work programme within the next 3 months

-       To add Anglian Water’s attendance in 6 months’ time

-       To add attendance by Telecom providers by the end of the year.

To pass the following resolution, if necessary:

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