Agenda and minutes

The Chairman opened the meeting with the sad news of the death of former councillor, Peter Moore. He had been a Planning Officer at the Council and had worked on the proposals for the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). He was also a passionate Union representative. He was an elected member for North Norfolk District Council from 2003 to 2019 and was also a member of the County Council. In addition to serving on Cabinet, Peter was Chairman of the Council for six months, taking over from John Perry-Warnes.

The Chairman asked all members to observe one minutes silence in memory of Peter.

To receive apologies for absence, if any.

Apologies were received from Cllrs D Birch, P Bailey, W Fredericks, N Housden, L Paterson and E Spagnola.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 20 December 2023.

The minutes of the meeting held on 20 December 2023 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. Five members abstained.

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 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.

To receive the Chairman’s communications, if any.

The Chairman spoke about recent civic events she had attended:

-       25 January – A Royal Patron visit by HRH The Princess Royal to the National Coastwatch, Cromer

-       26 January – Holocaust Memorial Day Service

-       14 February – the opening of Kings Lynn Mart Fair

To receive announcements from the Leader.

The Leader, Cllr Adams, began by thanking officers and members for their work in preparing the Budget for 2024/2025.

He then spoke about the new banking hub in Holt, which would be the first in Norfolk and thanked the Council’s Data Analyst for the research they had undertaken which had provided the evidence in support of having a hub in Holt. He said that he was hopeful more hubs would come forward in the future.

He spoke about the Coastwise drop-in events which had been a huge success. Moving onto empty homes, the Leader said that £100k of income had been generated by bringing properties back into use, including two long term empty properties.

He reminded members that it was the 50^th anniversary of North Norfolk District Council and the sector as a whole was seeing some of the most significant challenges for a generation, including the impact of the housing crisis. It was heartening to see the sector come together to address some of these issues, adding that he hoped that as a general election approached, the local government sector could see a reset of relation with central government.

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

The Chairman invited Susan Parry to speak. Mrs Parry said that she was a resident of Fakenham and owned a rental property in Newman’s Court which was behind 9 Norwich Street. On the hoarding which was now in front of the dilapidated building of 9 Norwich Street, it stated ‘NNDC working for Fakenham’. She questioned whether this was the case. In September 2019, the already crumbling property developed a serious crack across its frontage. In October 2021, NNDC served an urgent works notice. In May 2022, full height scaffolding was erected and in early 2023, a wrap was put around the building with pictures of historic Fakenham on the front. Then, in the autumn of 2023, NNDC said that a decision would be reached on the way forward by the end of the year. She said that the carbuncle remained in the centre of the town and although it was not of the Council’s making, its solution lay entirely in NNDC’s hands. She said that from where she stood, NNDC was not currently working for Fakenham. She thanked Cllr Vickers for her support.

The Chairman then invited Ms V Strangways-Booth to speak. She began by saying that she owned Venetia’s Yarn Shop which was directly opposite the derelict site of 9 Norwich Street, Fakenham. She urged the Council to try and resolve the situation as soon as possible. The scaffolding filled the view from her shop and it looked terrible. In addition, it was dangerous as people had to step into the road to walk past it. She said that behind the hoarding there was a huge amount of rubbish which attracted rats and pigeons. Ms Strangways-Booth went onto say that the centre of Fakenham was slowly dying shop by shop and no business would come to a dying town centre. It no longer looked economically viable. She also thanked Cllr Vickers for her support.

Cllr A Brown said that he wanted to speak as someone who was most affected by the structural damage that occurred in 2019. Personally, he said that he would also wish to see a resolution but agreed that it was a complex situation.

Cllr T FitzPatrick sought clarification on Cllr Brown’s interest and whether it was pecuniary. He said if it was, then he would be disqualified from speaking. 

The Leader, Cllr Adams, said that Cllr Brown had an interest as he was a leaseholder for 9 Norwich Street and had been impacted by the situation. Cllr Brown declared that he had a pecuniary interest.

Cllr Adams said that it was not a budgetary consideration yet. The Council had very limited powers to secure the re-use or sale of a property and consent needed to be sought to any work undertaken to the site. He confirmed that the Council was intending to do more work on the front of the site to clean it up, with the freeholder’s consent. He felt a solution was closer, adding that the building had been made structurally safe and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 117.

The Leader, Cllr Adams, introduced this item. He explained that it was a statutory document and set out extensive details of the pay arrangements for senior officers.

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

RESOLVED

To adopt the attached Pay Policy Statement and to publish the statement for 2024/2025 on the Council’s website.

Cllr L Shires, Portfolio Holder for Finance, introduced this item. She drew members’ Cllr L Shires, Portfolio Holder for Finance, introduced this item. She drew members’ attention to page 43 of the agenda which referenced the Discretionary Non Domestic Rates Relief Panel and said that it would be meeting on 18 March.

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

RESOLVED

1. That the Revenues Manager continues to have delegated authority to make decisions up to the NNDC cost value of £4k as indicated in Appendix A.

2. That the Revenues Manager has delegated authority to make Hardship Relief decisions up to the NNDC cost value of £4k as indicated in Appendix C.

3. That the Rate Relief Policy is revised as indicated in Appendix A, B and C.

Rates Relief Panel and said that it would be meeting on 18 March.

1.    Cabinet – 08 January 2024

Agenda item 11 – Fees & Charges 2024 -2025

Resolved to recommend to Full Council:

• The fees and charges from 1^st April 2024 as included in Appendix A.
• That delegated authority be given to the Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance and relevant Directors/Assistant Director to agree the fees and charges not included within Appendix A as required (outlined within the report).

2.    Cabinet 05 February 2024

Agenda Item 10 – Treasury Management Strategy 2024 -2025

To recommend to Full Council that the Treasury Management Strategy 2024/25 is approved.

Recommendations from Cabinet 08 January 2024

Fees & Charges 2024 – 2025

Cllr L Shires introduced this item. She thanked Overview & Scrutiny Committee for their input and said that there would be a review of car parking charges in the next few months.

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

RESOLVED to approve

• The fees and charges from 1^st April 2024 as included in Appendix A.
• That delegated authority be given to the Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance and relevant Directors/Assistant Director to agree the fees and charges not included within Appendix A as required (outlined within the report).

Recommendations from Cabinet 05 February 2024

Treasury Management Strategy 2024 – 2025

Cllr L Shires introduced this item. She said that it had been to Overview & Scrutiny Committee twice as they requested training to ensure that members understood the strategy fully.

Cllr G Mancini-Boyle asked about the Council’s investments and whether consideration was given to the human rights record of some of the regimes invested in – such as Hong Kong or Abu Dhabi, adding that he was aware of other councils that had taken this approach. Cllr Shires replied that her understanding was that the Government had instructed ‘no boycotting’ and that a Bill was currently progressing through Parliament to enshrine this in law.

It was proposed by Cllr L Shires, seconded by Cllr P Heinrich and

RESOLVED

That the Treasury Management Strategy 2024/25 is approved.

Two members voted against.

To consider any recommendations from the Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 14^th February.

Please note the Full Council agenda was published before the Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting took place. The Chairman will provide an oral update at the meeting.

The Chairman of the Committee, Cllr N Dixon, said that the committee had considered the Budget 2024 – 2025 and he would speak about the recommendations when that item was debated.

The Chairman outlined the process to Members, explaining that there would be a number of recorded votes. She then invited the Chief Financial Officer to explain the robustness of the estimates and the adequacy of the reserves, as required to do by statute.

The Chief Financial Officer (Director for Resources and Section 151 Officer) began by referring members to pages 147, section 3 of the agenda, which provided details of the process which had been carried out in preparing the Budget for presentation to Full Council. She explained that in formulating her opinion, she had considered the 2022/2023 Outturn position, the current forecast outturn position for 2023/2024 and the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) and funding available and the budgets required for future years. She had also looked at the cashflow which had been monitored throughout the year. The details in Appendix G listed all the considerations and the assessments taken into account to maintain the optimum level of reserves. In conclusion, she said that she was satisfied that that the proposed Budget for 2024/2025 was robust and that the level of reserves were adequate.

The Chairman then invited the Portfolio Holder for Finance & Assets, Cllr L Shires to introduce the Budget for 2024/2025. Cllr Shires began by saying that the main priority when setting the budget had been to maintain key services to residents and she was pleased to present a balanced budget for working families. She then drew members’ attention to the investments that the Council had made for its residents, including £12.7m in the Reef Leisure Centre, £2m on public conveniences, £4.9m on new refuse collection vehicles, £2.5m on providing temporary accommodation and £560k on a solar car port. Cllr Shires said that there had been many external factors which had a significant impact on the Council’s finances in the last year such as the ongoing legacy of the Covid pandemic, labour shortages, rising inflation and a surge in demand for council services which had caused a £600K shortfall in the temporary accommodation budget.

Cllr Shires spoke about the new Corporate Plan and said that all members had been invited to attend workshops to ensure that there was cross-party engagement and input. She then thanked the Overview & Scrutiny Committee for their work in shaping the budget. There had been a £1.8m gap when the budget was first presented to the committee in December 2023. The delay in the progress of the Levelling Up Bill through Parliament had added to this as it meant that the 100% premium on second homes council tax could not be introduced until April 2025, instead of the expected date of April 2024, effectively increasing the deficit by £550k for the forthcoming year.

Cllr Shires thanked officers for their support in rising to the challenges presented to them in achieving considerable savings to ensure that the Council could present a balanced budget. Many of the income generating proposals that had been proposed were now being brought forward, together with savings suggestions which together totalled  ...  view the full minutes text for item 122.

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)

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 (Including Health & Wellbeing)

Cllr M Taylor asked Cllr A Brown, Portfolio Holder for Planning, to confirm whether the Council collected fees for giving out pre-application advice. Cllr Brown confirmed that it did.

Cllr J Boyle asked Cllr C Ringer, Portfolio Holder for Environmental and Waste Services for an update on the introduction of a food waste collection service. Cllr Ringer said that the Council was still waiting for confirmation of funding from central Government. To date, only about half of the required funding had been offered. No funding had been allocated for communal waste collection bins or for depots required for the vehicles for possible transfer stations. He added that the Council was having ongoing discussions with DEFRA regarding the provision of evidence that more funding was required. He said that he hoped that progress could be made soon as the Council would like to proceed with food waste collection as soon as possible.

Cllr G Mancini-Boyle asked Cllr A Varley, Portfolio Holder for Climate Change & Net Zero, about the level of reserves set aside to achieve Net Zero by 2030. He said that the Reserves Statement for 2024/25 showed that £500k had been allocated to Net Zero initiatives but given that it had cost £92k to upgrade the lights in the Council Offices, he queried whether this would be enough and also asked if there were business cases for these projects. Cllr Varley replied that the Council remained fully committed to its Net Zero target and confirmed that there would be business cases going forward. Cllr Varley said that although he welcomed the progress already made, substantial projects would be needed to ensure that the ambitious target of achieving Net Zero by 2030 was reached. Projects such as the solar panels at the swimming pool in North Walsham were a good example of this. He added that there was the possibility of leveraging external funding too.  Cllr Mancini-Boyle replied that he felt the Administration’s approach was unrealistic and not achievable. He said it was not possible that £500k a year would cover the cost of de-carbonising the district.

Cllr L Vickers asked Cllr T Adams, Leader, for an update on 9 Norwich Street, Fakenham. She asked when the Administration would stop procrastinating and if they would commit to taking a decision regarding the site by the end of the financial year. Cllr Adams replied that a position had been taken but that the Council did not own the property and it needed to work with the freeholder to secure the site. He added that it was intended that work would be carried out to the front of the building shortly. However, for the reasons just set out, he could not commit to a timescale, adding that it was a very complex case with additional obligations due to its listed status.

Cllr M Batey asked Cllr T Adams, the Leader, for an update on the Banking Hub in Holt. Cllr Adams replied that he was delighted that Holt had been successful in its  ...  view the full minutes text for item 123.

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.”