Agenda and minutes

To receive a presentation from MAP Chief Executive Dan Mobbs about the Charity and the work it undertakes.

Dan Mobbs, The Chief Executive of the Mancroft Advice Project (MAP), one of the Chairman’s nominated charities for her civic year, gave a presentation to members outlining their work. He spoke about the mission of MAP which was to ensure young people had the access to quality information, advice, counselling and support they need for their holistic development.

A short video was then shown, highlighting the ongoing work of MAP and how it had provided support to several young people in Norfolk. Mr Mobbs said that there were a few key trends that MAP was focussing on – including mental health issues and how to access support locally, the cost of living crisis and the isolation of living in a rural area.

He concluded by thanking members for their support and said that it was really appreciated.

Cllr L Shires commented that NNDC had recently launched a recruitment campaign for a steering group for the new Youth Council and MAP’s input would be greatly appreciated.

Cllr A Yiasimi commented on the excellent work of MAP.

To receive apologies for absence, if any.

Apologies had been received from Cllrs T Adams, N Dixon, P Fisher, G Hayman, Dr V Holliday, R Kershaw, N Pearce, J Punchard, M Taylor, E Vardy and Dr C Stockton.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 22^nd June 2022.

The minutes of the meeting of Full Council held on 22^nd June 2022 were approved as a correct record subject to the following amendment on page 4, paragraph 3:

‘Cllr T FitzPatrick said that Cabinet members’ behaviour during portfolio holder reports was unacceptable’

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.

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)

None.

To receive the Chairman’s communications, if any.

The Chairman spoke about the civic events that herself and the Vice-Chairman had attended since the last meeting of Full Council:

29 June 2022 – Platinum Jubilee Reception, Royal Norfolk Showground

01 July 2022 – Royal Anglian Regiment, Reception and Beating of Retreat

02 July 2022 – Cromer Pier Show

22 July 2022 – Cromer Tennis Club Reception, Men’s Summer County Cup

24 July 2022 – Civic Service at Great Yarmouth Minster.

She told members that she had attended 15 civic functions since her inauguration in May.

 Cllr E Seward, Deputy Leader, spoke in the absence of the Leader, Cllr Adams.  

He began by Congratulating Cllr Adams and his partner, Amanda, on the birth of baby Ella on 18^th July. He then thanked Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service colleagues across North Norfolk for their responses over the past week / 10 days in fighting a number of field and wild fires in the District as a result of the hot temperatures and very dry conditions.  Sadly a fire at Ashmanhaugh on 19^th July resulted in two households losing their homes and NNDC staff (Civil Contingencies Manager and Housing Staff) were involved in the multi-agency response both at the time of the incident and in the days which followed.  He said it was important to remind local residents and visitors of the exceptional conditions which prevail at the present time and discourage use of BBQs in open areas, discarding rubbish and cigarette ends.  Consequently, given the ongoing dry and hot temperatures, the Council had introduced a temporary ban on smoking on Cromer Pier to reduce the fire risk associated with discarded cigarette ends as a potential source of ignition on the very dry decking boards.  This was a precautionary measure.

Cllr Sewardreminded members that Monday 25^th July was the second ‘Respect the Water Campaign and World Drowning Prevention Day’ and with 45 miles of coastline, large areas of The Broads and other areas of open water in the District said that he would like to take the opportunity to thank colleagues in the RNLI beach lifeguard service, but also the RNLI and local volunteer lifeboat services for their partnership work with NNDC keeping residents and tourists safe in these environments.

         Cllr Seward went onto say that as it was now peak holiday season, large numbers of visitors to the District were placing demands on many of the Council’s services and facilities.  The Council operated an evening and weekend ‘Out of Hours’ service so that contact could always be made with a Duty Officer outside of core business hours in case of emergency reporting about NNDC facilities, issues of anti-social behaviour, noise nuisance, unsafe structures or critical incidents.  He reminded members to bear in mind that over the next few weeks many members of staff would take periods of leave if local members wanted an early response to an issue it would be best to contact service email addresses rather than trying to contact individual officers by email.

He then updated members on the Nutrient Neutrality issue, which had made some progress recently with a Ministerial announcement made on Wednesday 20^th July, followed by a letter to local planning authorities from the Government’s Chief Planning Officer detailing proposals being developed by Natural England to develop a strategic mitigation strategy to address the issue of water quality through the development of some form of developer credit scheme.  Officers were involved with colleagues across Norfolk in further meetings and conversations to understand how this strategic mitigation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

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

None received.

To receive reports from Cabinet Members on their portfolios.

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)

Questions will be taken in the order that they are received.

Cabinet members (listed alphabetically)

Cllr T Adams (Leader / Executive Support)

Cllr A Brown – Planning & Enforcement

Cllr A Fitch-Tillett – Coast

Cllr W Fredericks – Housing & Benefits

Cllr V Gay – Leisure, Culture & Wellbeing

Cllr R Kershaw – Sustainable Growth

Cllr N Lloyd – Environment

Cllr E Seward – Finance, Assets & Legal

Cllr L Shires – Organisational Resources

The Chairman invited members to put questions to Portfolio Holders.

Cllr C Cushing said that at the last meeting, himself and several colleagues had asked questions which were ruled out on grounds of the ‘convention’ that any staffing were should not be discussed. On behalf of Cllr Dixon, who was absent due to ill health, he said that no response had been received to Cllr Dixon’s request for more information on this convention and where it was referenced either at NNDC or more widely. He sought clarification on this issue now. Cllr E Seward replied that he was aware that Cllr Dixon had emailed the Leader on this matter and that he had sought guidance from the Monitoring Officer. He confirmed that a response would be provided on Cllr Adams return from paternity leave. He added that the Chief Executive had offered to meet with the Group Leaders to clarify the various issues that had been raised at the last meeting.

Cllr J Rest commented that there was an error in the agenda. He said that the names of the Portfolio Holder was not listed at the top of some of the reports. The Chairman replied that she had advised members of this at the start of the meeting and that the version on the website was corrected and up to date.

Cllr J Toye said that a resident had contacted him regarding concerns with noise issues relating to events. He asked Cllr N Lloyd, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services, what powers could be used to deal with such problems. Cllr Lloyd replied that the Environmental Protection team worked closely with event organisers to ensure that it complied with noise limits. However, if a nuisance did occur, officers did have powers to intervene and stop the source of the noise.

Cllr V FitzPatrick referred to Cllr Gay’s report and the reference to 43,000 visitors to the Council’s leisure facilities during June 2022. He said that this was not the full story and referred to ongoing correspondence from a resident to Cllr Gay which raised concerns about management of the Reef in Sheringham. The resident outlined how they had been asked to leave the swimming pool after just 20 minutes and had received a reply stating that this approach allows the contractor, Everyone Active to run the leisure centre more effectively. Cllr FitzPatrick asked when the Council would run its leisure centres for the benefit of the public rather than the convenience of the contractor. Cllr Gay replied that she had already followed up on this. She explained that after Covid, a booking system was put in place for swimming and this had worked well. She said that she was concerned about someone being asked to leave after 20 minutes and had raised the matter with Everyone Active and they were looking into it.  As a supplementary question, Cllr V FitzPatrick asked when the contractor would start to manage the leisure facilities more effectively. Cllr A Brown raised a point of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

No recommendations to Council were made at the meeting.

No recommendations were made to Full Council at the 11^th July meeting of Cabinet.

Recommendations from the June meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee were considered at the Full Council meeting on 22^nd June 2022.

Recommendations from the meeting of Overview & Scrutiny Committee held on 15^th June were considered at the June meeting of Full Council.

At the CWP meeting held on 7^th June 2022, the following recommendations were made, minutes have been included for context:

The Chairman of the Constitution Working Party, Cllr A Varley, introduced this item. He explained that there were two recommendations. The first related to the strengthening of estate matters and the second sought agreement to commence the process for recruitment of two independent persons to support the Standards Committee.

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

RESOLVED

To approve the proposed amendments to the Constitution regarding estate matters (as set out in sections 3 and 4 of the report)

Cllr J Rest asked why the current Independent Person (IP) was being replaced. Cllr Varley replied that the current IP had reached the end of two terms in the role (8 years in total) and it was considered best practice to recruit a replacement to ensure that they were fully independent. It was felt that by appointing two IPs, there would be more resilience and flexibility.

Cllr G Perry-Warnes asked about the recruitment process. Cllr A Varley explained that the recommendation was to initiate the process. It had not yet commenced but would be in line with the process adopted previously and by other local authorities.

Cllr S Penfold asked whether the IP role was remunerated. The Monitoring Officer replied that there were different methods of remuneration and this could be in the form of expenses or a stipend.

It was proposed by Cllr A Varley, seconded by Cllr L Shires

RESOLVED

To approve the commencement of the recruitment process for two Independent Persons.

Group Leaders to make any required changes or consider new appointments to outside bodies.

Cllr E Seward explained that the number of representatives from the District Council appointed to the Internal Rivers Drainage Board had been reduced from 5 members to 4.

RESOLVED

That Cllr Dr P Butikofer would be removed as a representative to the Internal Rivers Drainage Board

Report to follow.

The Deputy Leader, Cllr E Seward, introduced this item. He began by thanking the officers for their hard work in preparing the bids and the two local MPs for their support, which would be crucial to how they were progressed. He said that the Council had to submit applications which met the criteria and that had the best chance of succeeding. The two bids that had been prepared were both very strong and met the criteria.

The Chief Executive apologised for the lateness of the report. A number of the officer team had recently had Covid. He said that there had been a presentation to Cabinet on 11^th July. It had been explained that Cabinet had been advised that there was ongoing work regarding the costs for each project. This work was progressing well. The deadline for submission via the Government portal was midday on 2^nd August. He concluded by saying that both bids reflected the Council’s ambitions as well as the Government’s levelling up agenda. He then invited the Corporate Director for Communities to introduce the Fakenham bid.

The Corporate Director for Communities explained that the bid for Levelling Up funding in Fakenham related to the proposed extension to the existing sports facility at Trap Lane in Fakenham; owned by the Council and operated by Everyone Active as part of the existing Leisure contract.  The current facility comprised a sports hall, fitness suite, multi-use area, dance studio, changing rooms and reception area. The proposal saw an extension, which would include a 25m four-lane swimming pool with moveable floor and relocation of the fitness suite. Additionally, a new 3G all-weather artificial grass pitch was proposed to the north of the existing buildings. He showed members some images of the proposed facilities. He then explained that an allocation of £1,000,000.00 had been made within the cost amount for the provision of carbon reduction measures. The measures would be split between retrofitting the existing building and new provision on the new development. A public consultation process had received over 1000 responses, all overwhelmingly positive. He concluded by saying that FMG had provided a business model, setting out projected membership and usage of the facilities and details of this were set out in the exempt appendix.

The Chairman invited members to speak:

Cllr G Perry-Warnes asked what would happen if the project went over budget and if the Council would be liable for any excess payments or whether a 10% to reflect contribution to reflect the match-funding would be sufficient. The Director for Communities replied that the Council would be liable for funding any increase but everything had been done to mitigate this happening. Including ‘inflating’ the prices to reflect the likely award date, in line with industry standards.

Cllr J Toye asked whether there would be a full tender process later on if the bid was successful. The Director of Communities confirmed that the full process would be followed.

Cllr C Cushing thanked officers for all their hard work in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

None Received.

None.

None Received.

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.”