Agenda

To receive apologies for absence, if any.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 19 November 2025.

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 receive the Chairman’s communications, if any.

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

The following petition was submitted to the Council on 2^nd December 2025:

‘Save Sheringham’s Historic Bus Shelter’.

Signatures have not been validated as it is a ‘live’ issue and the petition remains open. At time of publication, the number of signatories stood at 3,780. The threshold for reporting to Full Council is 1500.

The Council’s Petition Scheme can be found here: Microsoft Word - Petitions_ Model_ Scheme.doc - updated.doc

To approve the recommendation from the Overview & Scrutiny Committee to appoint a representative to the Norfolk Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

To receive any other nominations for appointments from the Group Leaders.

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 J Boyle – Housing & People Services

Cllr A Brown – Planning & Enforcement

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 following recommendations have been made by Cabinet to Full Council:

Cabinet 01 December:

1.    Agenda item 9: Car Park Fees & Charges

Recommendation to Council:

To consider the various options discussed within the report and approve the 

Officer recommendations below:

·         Option 1 & Option 6: increase car parking fees and season ticket fees in line with CPI inflation of 3.8%.

·         For the Asset Management Officer in consultation with the s151 Officer to proceed with the Consultation in relation to the Off Street Parking Places Order.

2.    Agenda Item 10: Fees & Charges 2026-2027

The Overview & Scrutiny Committee supported the recommendations at the meeting held on 12^th November – but requested that in future, ‘Cabinet should be mindful of the inconvenience for cash users caused by using small change such as 5 pence coins’

.

Recommendation to Council:

To approve:

• The fees and charges from 1^st April 2026 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).

The Overview & Scrutiny Committee supported the recommendations at the meeting held on 12^th November

3.    Agenda Item 11: Council Tax Discounts & Premiums Determinations 2026 -2-27

Recommendations to Council:

That under Section 11A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Finance Act 2012 and other enabling powers that:

1)    The discounts for the year 2026-27 and beyond are set at the levels indicated in the table at paragraph 3.1.

2)    To continue to award a local discount of 100% in 2026-27 for eligible cases of hardship under Section 13A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended) and that the Revenues Manager has delegated authority to make Discretionary Reductions under the Hardship Policy up to the value of £4k as indicated in the associated policy in Appendix B.

3)    That an exception to the empty property levy charges may continue to be made by the Revenues Manager in the circumstances laid out in section 4.2 of this report.

4)    The long-term empty-property premiums for the year 2026-27 (subject to the empty premium exceptions shown in Appendix C) are set at the levels indicated in the table at paragraph 4.2

5)    To continue to award a local discount of 100% in 2026-27 for eligible cases of care leavers under Section 13A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended).

6)    Those dwellings that are specifically identified under regulation 6 of the Council Tax (Prescribed Classes of Dwellings) (England) Regulations 2003 will retain the 50% discount as set out in paragraph 2.1 of this report.

7)    Those dwellings described or  ...  view the full agenda text for item 11.

The Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting took place after the Full Council agenda was published. The Chair will provide a verbal update at the meeting outlining any recommendations to Full Council.

None Received.

None Received.

None Received.

To pass the following resolution:

“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 information relating to Appendix A involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3, Part 1 of schedule 12A (as amended) to the Local Government Act 1972.

This paragraph relates to: Para 3. Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

The public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure for the following reasons:

The information is commercially sensitive, relating to itemised pricing and lease negotiations. Releasing this information would be likely to prejudice the Council in obtaining best value, in the interests of council tax payers, and would reveal commercially sensitive pricing information of a third party.