Agenda

Following the recent passing of former District Councillor Peter Terrington and former Leader and Chairman of the Council, John Lee, members are invited to pay tribute and show their respect by observing a minute’s silence.

There will be a short presentation by representatives from ‘Sir Norman Lamb’s Coalition of Young People’, which is the Chairman’s nominated charity for the civic year.

To receive apologies for absence, if any.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 19 July 2023.

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 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.

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

Mr Musson has requested to ask a question on behalf of the Coltishall & Horstead B1150 Special Interest Group

To receive the Chairman’s communications, if any.

To receive any announcements from the Leader.

The Group Leaders will inform Council of any changes to appointments on committees, sub-committees, working parties, panels and outside bodies.

To receive reports from Cabinet Members on their portfolios:

Cllr T Adams - Executive Support & Legal Services

Cllr H Blathwayt – Coast

Cllr A Brown – Planning & Enforcement

Cllr W Fredericks – Housing and People Services

Cllr P Heinrich – Sustainable Growth

Cllr C Ringer – IT, Environmental & Waste Services

Cllr L Shires – Finance, Estates & Assets

Cllr A Varley – Climate Change & Net Zero

Cllr L Withington – Community, Leisure & Outreach

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)

At the Cabinet meeting held on 4^th September, the following recommendations were made to Full Council:

Agenda item 9: Budget Monitoring Period 4 2023-2024

To recommend to Full Council:

1)    That a new capital budget of £0.050m is added to the capital programme to fund repair works to the Marrams Footpath, with funding coming from the Council’s Capital Receipts.

2)    That a new capital budget of £0.370m is added to the capital programme to demolish and rebuild the Public Conveniences at Albert Street, Holt with £0.120m to be funded from an insurance claim and £0.250m to be funded from the Council’s Capital Receipts.

3)    That a new capital budget of £1.040m is added to the capital programme in respect of the Local Authority Housing Fund.

4)    That the current Provision of Temporary Accommodation Budget is increased by £0.178m to £0.983m for 2023/24 following receipt of the Local Authority Housing Fund grant.

5)    That a capital budget of £1.458m be added to the capital programme for the Rural England Prosperity Fund expenditure and £0.266m be added to the capital programme for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund expenditure as shown in paragraph 4.7 and note that this will be funded by external funding.

6)    That a capital budget of £14.610m be added to the capital programme as shown in paragraph 4.8 and note that the project will be funded by external funding. 

The Overview & Scrutiny Committee considered the recommendations at their meeting on 13^th September. As this meeting took place after the Full Council agenda was published, the Chairman of the Committee will provide a verbal update on the Committee’s recommendations and comments at the meeting.

Agenda item 10: Debt Recovery Report 2022-2023

1. To approve the annual report giving details of the Council’s write-offs in accordance with the Council’s Debt Write-Off Policy and performance in relation to revenues collection.
2. To approve the suggested changes to the delegated authority as shown in appendix 2 for write offs.

The Overview & Scrutiny Committee considered the recommendations at their meeting on 13^th September. As this meeting took place after the Full Council agenda was published, the Chairman of the Committee will provide a verbal update on the Committee’s recommendations and comments at the meeting.

Agenda Item 11 - Cromer Phase 2 and Mundesley Coastal management Schemes

To recommend that Full Council:

1)    Confirm its continued support for the approach being taken in the delivery of the Mundesley and Cromer Phase 2 Coastal Management Schemes.

2)    Delegate the authority to Director of Place and Climate Change, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder, to approve quotations, tenders, funding applications, access agreements and contractual appointments/variations. This is so the schemes can continue to progress in a timely manner.

3)    Approve increases in the delegated financial authority for the Director of Place and Climate Change (up to £1 million), for the Assistant Director of Place and Climate Change (up to £500,000) and for the Project Manager (up to £100,000) for these two schemes only.

4)    Approve  ...  view the full agenda text for item 12.

The following recommendations were made to Full Council by the Governance, Risk & Audit Committee (GRAC) at the meeting held on 12 September 2023:

Agenda Item 9: GRAC Annual Report 2022- 2023

It was recommended that Council notes the report, affirms the work of the Governance, Risk & Audit Committee, and considers any concerns raised within the key issues section of the report.

Agenda item 12: Audit Committees and Independent Co-opted members

1.    To recommend to Full Council that 1 co-opted independent Member be appointed to the Governance Risk and Audit Committee [“GRAC”], for a 4 year period, subject any further, emerging advice

2.    Delegated authority be given to the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Chairman of GRAC, to undertake recruitment arrangements.

Please note that the report that was presented to the Committee is attached for context but that the Committee amended the original recommendations and the resolution above reflects these amendments.  

The Committee made the following recommendation to Full Council at the meeting held on 13^th September:

Agenda Item 15: Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual Report 2022 – 2023

That Full Council notes the report, affirms the work of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee and considers the following concerns raised within the key issues section of the report:

·         A high number of apologies and limited substitute availability needs to be addressed by Group Leaders.

·         Some requested information has not been provided in a timely or satisfactory manner and needs to be addressed by officers.

·         Delayed finance reports have had an ongoing impact on the work programme that needs to be addressed by officers.

·         Non-attendance of the PCC at short notice impacted the Committee’s crime and disorder update, and substitutes will therefore be requested in future.

As the meeting took place after the Full Council agenda was published, the Chairman will provide a verbal update outlining any further recommendations made at the meeting.

None Received.

Please note that the time allotted for Opposition Business is 30 minutes (Constitution Chapter 2, Section 3.7(d))

The following item of Opposition Business has been proposed by Cllr Dr V Holliday, seconded by Cllr E Vardy:

Closure of Blakeney Surgery

Blakeney Surgery, which is a branch surgery of Holt Medical Practice, serves the parishes of Blakeney, Cley, Kelling, Langham, Morston, Wiveton, Salthouse, Stiffkey & Cockthorpe, in all a population of 1954.

Holt Medical Practice proposes to close this surgery. Currently, it serves as a reception hub and a prescription drop off and medication pick up. Face to face appointments were withdrawn prior to Covid and never reinstated despite requests from parishioners. 

The local and wider community strongly objects to the proposed closure. For example, a public meeting with the practice was hugely oversubscribed, almost 900 have signed a petition at time of writing, and an online survey by Duncan Baker MP had 434 responses of which 99% were opposed to the closure, The major reason for objection is the difficulty patients will face in accessing health care.

If the Surgery closes, for residents of Blakeney and surrounding villages the nearest health care is at High Kelling (a 14 mile round trip), or Melton Constable (a 20 mile round trip). Those without a car, 20% in Blakeney from 2011 census data, face a 3 ½ hour round trip by bus to High Kelling (including a half mile walk) or a 5 ½ hour round trip to Melton. The local volunteer car service is at capacity and there is no local taxi firm.

Over 40% of Blakeney residents are over 65 and over a quarter of these live alone. Over a tenth of residents say their day-to-day activities are limited a lot, and 6% say they are in bad health (all from 2011 census data). How will these residents cope with a three, four- or five-hour bus journey with multiple changes? It is not just older residents. How could a young mother manage with two children in a pushchair?

Travel is similar or worse for residents in nearby villages. For Morston, which is 3 minutes by bus from Blakeney, it would be more than a 2 ½ hr round trip with four changes to High Kelling and it is not even possible to get to Melton. 

Closure will have an impact on health inequalities. Section 149 (Public Sector Equality Duty) of the Equality Act 2010 states that a public authority must, in the exercise of its functions, have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, remove or minimise disadvantages and take steps to meet the needs of persons who share a relevant protected characteristic, such as age and disability.

The National Health Service Act of 2006 states in Section 13G that “The Board must, in the exercise of its functions, have regard to the need to reduce inequalities between patients with respect to their ability to access health services.”

Closure of Blakeney Surgery would also go  ...  view the full agenda text for item 18.

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.”