Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence, if any.

Apologies were received from Cllr T Adams, Cllr K Bayes, Cllr H Blathwayt, Cllr M Hankins, Cllr C Heinink, Cllr P Heinrich, Cllr N Housden, Cllr J Punchard and Cllr L Withington.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 24 September 2024

The minutes of the meeting of Full Council held on 24 September 2025 were agreed as a correct record, subject to the correction of a typing error.

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.

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 (see attached guidance and flowchart)

To receive the Chairman’s communications, if any.

The Chair and Vice-Chair had attended the following civic events:

4^th October – 901 Troop Marine Cadets Trafalgar Night Mess Dinner

12^th October – High Sheriff of Norfolk’s Justice Service

16^th October – YMCA Norfolk Annual Celebration

21^st October – Mayor of Kings Lynn Charity Trafalgar Supper

9^th November – Remembrance Day Service at Wells Next the Sea

11^th November – Armistice Day at the Poppy Sculpture , NNDC Council Offices

The Chair then spoke about the recent passing of former councillor, Joyce Trett, who had served as Chair of the Council from 2006 – 2007. He said that she had been dedicated to public service and would be sorely missed.

To consider any questions or statements received from members of the public.

None received.

In the absence of the Leader, the Chairman invited the Deputy Leader, Cllr W Fredericks, to speak. She began by saying that she had recently attended the Christmas Show on Cromer Pier and she encouraged everyone to go.

Cllr Fredericks then said that preparations for the 2026/2027 Budget were underway and the financial settlement from central Government was still awaited. She then spoke about recent requests to support the horse racing industry in the District and said that the Council opposed harmonising betting duty with remote gaming duty as it would harm Fakenham race course and was asking Government to focus on high harm online casino gaming instead.

The public consultation on Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) had been announced. It would run until 11^th January 2026 and the link would be shared on the Council’s website. The Council would be encouraging its partners, including statutory bodies, stakeholders and town and parish councils to respond. 

Cllr Fredericks then asked the Chief Executive to provide a further update on the LGR process. He explained that the statutory consultation had been launched on the six devolution ‘priority areas’. He explained that the Government would be inviting statutory consultees to respond but that town and parish councils and the public were also able to provide comments via the link that was available on the NNDC website. The Council, together with six other District Councils across Norfolk, continued to support the three unitary model based on the principles of ‘people, place and progress’. All the information relating to this proposal could be found online at Future Norfolk - Future Norfolk. He added that NNDC would convene a Special Meeting of Cabinet to agree the Council’s formal response to the consultation at a date to be confirmed.

To receive any changes to apppointments made by the Group Leaders.

Cllr Fredericks said that she was standing down from Cabinet and as Deputy Leader, with immediate effect. Cllr J Boyle would be joining Cabinet and would take on the Housing & People Services Portfolio. She wished her all the best.

Moving onto other appointments, it was proposed by Cllr W Fredericks, seconded by Cllr J Boyle and

RESOLVED to appoint:

Cllr M Gray as Vice-Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

Cllr Fredericks then informed members that Cllr K Leith would replace Cllr J Boyle on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee..

Cllr C Cushing said that he wished to make a couple of changes to substitute appointments to committees and he would notify the Democratic Services & Governance Manager in writing of these. He added that wished Cllr Boyle every success in her new role on Cabinet and commended Cllr Fredericks for her passion and commitment to the Housing Portfolio.

To receive reports from Cabinet Members on their portfolios.

Cllr T Adams – Strategy, Countrywide Working and External Partnerships, Performance, Communications, HR & Legal Services.

Cllr H Blathwayt – Coast

Cllr A Brown – Planning & Enforcement

Cllr W Fredericks – Housing and People Services

Cllr C Ringer – IT, Environmental & Waste Services

Cllr L Shires – Finance, Estates & Assets

Cllr J Toye – Sustainable Growth

Cllr A Varley – Climate Change & Net Zero

Cllr L Withington – Community, Leisure & Outreach (Including Health & Wellbeing)

Members are reminded that they may ask questions of the Cabinet Member on their reports and portfolio areas but should note that it is not a debate.

No member may ask more than one question plus a supplementary question, unless the time taken by members’ questions does not exceed 30 minutes in total, in which case, second questions will be taken in the order that they are received (Constitution, Chapter 2, part 2, section 12.2)

The Chair invited members to ask questions. He reminded them that it was not a debate and the session was limited to 30 minutes.

Cllr G Mancini-Boyle asked Cllr A Varley, Portfolio Holder for Climate Change & Net Zero, if he was willing to admit that the Council would not be able to achieve Net Zero by 2030 – as originally pledged. Cllr Varley replied that the current administration had done a huge amount to achieve Net Zero. He referred to the Conservative-led County Council which had never declared a climate emergency and said that he would urge opposition colleagues to encourage their county council counterparts to do so. He strongly rebutted the assertion that the Administration was ‘virtue signalling’ and gave the examples of millions of pounds of warm homes funding distributed to residents, the installation of solar panels on NNDC buildings, including leisure centres and the provision of astute eco advice to businesses to assist them in reducing their carbon footprint. Cllr Mancini-Boyle replied that he would like a response as to whether Cllr Varley believed that Net Zero would be achieved by 2030. He went onto say that the Council’s waste collection service produced carbon emissions and would continue to do so until they were able to operate with Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (HVO). He believed that the Council was not investing in the right projects to show demonstrate that it was seriously committed to achieving Net Zero. Cllr Varley said that he had already provided an answer.

Cllr R Macdonald asked Cllr C Ringer, Portfolio Holder for IT, Waste and Environmental Services, about the reference to environmental crime in his portfolio report (page 53) and asked for more information on these figures as they indicated that levels had doubled in the last six months. Cllr Ringer replied that an increase in figures was not always a bad thing. In this case it showed that efforts to ensure compliance was working. He added that the recently introduced booking system at recycling centres may have exacerbated fly-tipping.

Cllr V Holliday asked Cllr L Shires, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Estates & Assets, about recent findings from Box Power, a not for profit energy consultancy, NNDC overpaid for electricity by 9 pence per kilowatt hour (KH)compared to the best performing councils. NNDC was paying 31.5p per KH compared to 22.2 pence at the best performing council. She asked how much could have been saved annually, had NNDC obtained a better deal and how soon contracts could be renegotiated. Cllr Shires thanked her for her question and bringing the matter to her attention. She said that she would look into it and provide an answer, adding that she would be like to meet with Cllr Holliday to discuss it further, rather than simply providing a written response.

Cllr M Gray asked Cllr C Ringer if he would join him in thanking the Council’s Civil Contingency Team in keeping the public safe at this time of year, especially with extreme weather events and the ongoing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

The following recommendations have been made by Cabinet to Full Council:

Cabinet 3^rd November 2025:

1.    Cabinet Agenda Item 8 – Budget Monitoring P6 2025 -2026

Recommendation to Full Council:

To increase the 2025/26 capital budget for the Holt Country Park Eco Learning Space to £140,000. This is to reflect the apportionment of £40,000 from external S106 contribution towards the scheme

2.    Cabinet Agenda item 9: Net Zero Strategy Review & Related Climate Reports

Recommendations to Full Council:

a)    To adopt the revisions to the Environmental Charter

b)    To adopt the Decarbonisation Strategy and associated action plan.

Please note that the Overview & Scrutiny Committee considered the above recommendations at the meeting held on 12^th November. The Chair will provide an oral update on the Committee’s recommendations to Full Council on these matters at the meeting.

Cabinet 3^rd November 2025:

1. Cabinet Agenda Item 8 – Budget Monitoring P6 2025 -2026

The Chair invited Cllr L Shires, Portfolio Holder for Finances, Estates & Assets, to introduce this item.

Cllr Shires began by thanking the Overview & Scrutiny Committee for their full discussion at their meeting.

She then provided a brief update on the current budget position. When the outturn report was presented to Council last year, the surplus was put into the General Reserve for future unseen deficits. This year, there was a surplus predicted at Period 6 and in line with this, the additional income from second homes council tax would be put into a reserve to assist with any overspends in the housing and temporary accommodation budget. All of this was to prepare for the next round of Government funding and it was hoped that the settlement announcement would be favourable but it was possible that it would be similar to last year which had proved to be disappointing and very challenging to deal with. She said that the recent publication of the deprivation indexes, which indicated areas of deprivation in the district would influence the Government this time. He second unknown related to Business Rates. To date there had been no indication from central government regarding this, adding to the uncertainty. Finally, there was additional uncertainty around food waste costs and the funding package that would come with it. She asked Cllr Ringer to provide an update on this.

Cllr Ringer said that in March 2025, when Full Council had considered the funding for waste vehicles and caddies, it was apparent that the costs had been underestimated by about a third. New burdens funding was anticipated for the actual operation of the service but there was a good chance that the Government would undervalue this too.

The Chair invited members to speak:

Cllr C Cushing referred to the Fair Funding Review and said that concerns had been raised that central government would take money away from rural areas and give it to metropolitan areas, and he asked if Cllr Shires had any idea of the settlement that the Council was hoping to get and, if was not forthcoming, what contingency plans were there to make up the shortfall.  Cllr Shires replied that it was a real concern across Norfolk and she said that she was hopeful of enough funding to achieve the ambitions of the Council but did not feel comfortable putting a figure on it at this time. She hoped that the Government had heard the concerns of district councils and would act accordingly. She went onto say that there were concerns about contingency plans if the funding was not sufficient. Difficult decisions were taken last year to ensure that a balanced budget was set and some of the reserves that had been established had not been fully utilised and would need to be reviewed, alongside wider savings. She was hoping that there would be some money to set aside this time but her  ...  view the full minutes text for item 69.

To consider recommendations from the Overview & Scrutiny Committee meetings held on 15 October and 12 November 2025.

October 15^th, 2025:

Agenda Item 14: Overview & Scrutiny Committee Annual Report 2023 -2025

The following recommendations were made to Full Council:

To receive the report, affirm the work of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, and consider the following concerns raised within the key issues section of the report:

·         An average of more than 1.5 apologies given every meeting with limited substitutes being sought, needs to be considered and addressed by Members.

·         Training needs should be assessed so that the Scrutiny Officer can best support the members of the Committee in fulfilling their roles. Any training Members need to help them feel more confident in their roles should be encouraged.

·         Monitor the work programme and avoid slippage in key areas such as the Police and Crime Plan to ensure that there is no lengthy gap.

November 12^th, 2025

Please note that this meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee took place after the Full Council agenda was published, The Chair will therefore provide a verbal update at the meeting.

The Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, Cllr V Holliday, introduced this item. She outlined the recommendations from the Committee’s Annual Report 2023-2025 and thanked Cllr N Dixon who had chaired the committee during this period.

She explained that there had been five Scrutiny Officers supporting the committee during the period covered by the report and this was the reason for recommending some additional training. She added that further work was being undertaken to ascertain how many recommendations were made to Cabinet and their response and this information would be shared in due course.

Cllr S Butikofer commented that she was disappointed not to receive an invitation to the meeting which the Police & Crime Commissioner had attended. As the Council’s representative on the Police & Crime Panel, she felt that it would have been useful to have been there.

It was proposed by Cllr V Holliday, seconded by Cllr J Toye and

RESOLVED

To receive the report, affirm the work of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, and acknowledge the concerns highlighted in the ‘key issues’ section of the report.

Agenda item 6: Street Trading Policy 2025 - 2028

Recommendation to Full Council:

(1)  To approve and adopt the revised Street Trading Policy 2025–2028, with effect from 1 April 2026.

Cllr C Ringer, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services (Licensing), introduced this item. He thanked the Licensing team for their hard work and proposed the recommendations.

Cllr D Birch, Chair of the Licensing Committee, said that street trading was very important to the district and a key component of the tourism offer.

It was proposed by Cllr C Ringer, seconded by Cllr D Birch and

RESOLVED

To approve and adopt the revised Street Trading Policy 2025–2028, with effect from 1 April 2026.

None Received.

None Received.

None Received.

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 item(s) of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph(s) _ of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) to the Act.”