Agenda item

At the meeting on 29^th June, Cabinet made the following recommendations to Full Council:

 

Agenda Item 8: Corporate Plan 2023 – 2027

 

Recommendation:

 

That Full Council adopts the Corporate Plan 2023 - 2027

 

Agenda Item 9: 2022/2023 Outturn Report

 

Recommendation:

 

That Full Council approves:

 

a)   The provisional outturn position for the General Fund revenue account for 2022/23;

b)    The transfers to and from reserves as detailed within the report (and appendix C) along with the corresponding updates to the 2023/24budget;

c)   The deficit of £0.261m relating to service overspends be funded from the GeneralReserve;

d)      The deficit of £0.561m relating to retained business rates be funded from the Business RatesReserve;

e)    The financing of the 2022/23 capital programme as detailed within the report   and at Appendix D.

f)      The balance on the General Reserve of£2.649m;

g)    The updated capital programme for 2023/24 to 2025/26 and scheme financing as outlined withinthe report and detailed at Appendix E

h)    The roll-forward requests as outlined in Appendix F

i)      The transfer of £0.5m from the Delivery Plan Reserve to a new reserve – ‘Net Zero Initiatives’ set up specifically to fund projects, initiatives and works to achieve Net Zero.

j)      The provision of a Temporary Accommodation capital budget for 2024/25 and 2025/26 of £0.25m per year be moved into 2023/24 giving a total budget of £0.75m in 2023/24 and that this be funded by temporary borrowing until it can be replaced by preserved right to buy capital receipts.

 

Agenda Item 10 - Treasury Management Annual Report 2022 - 2023

 

Recommendation:

 

That the Treasury Management Annual Report for 2022 – 2023 be approved.

 

Overview & Scrutiny Committee considered the above recommendations at the meeting scheduled for 12^th July. As this meeting was held after the Full Council agenda was published, the Chairman of the Committee will provide a verbal update to Full Council.

 

 

Cabinet Agenda Item 8: Corporate Plan 2023 - 2027

 

The Leader, Cllr Adams, introduced this item. He said that the most significant change was around how the plan would be translated into delivery. There would be an Annual Action Plan (AAP) rather than the four year version produced last time. This would provide more opportunity for the Council to shape actions and respond with agility when required. He said that work was being undertaken to consider appropriate contextual measures, which would be considered and assessed by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

 

He explained that there was continuity in the main themes as many projects were embedded and progressing well as part of the previous corporate plan.

 

He then spoke about the themes which included the Council’s ongoing commitment to the environment and sustainability goals, housing and communities, youth and sport, businesses – ranging from Bacton Gas Terminal to bank hubs, robust governance and responsible use of resources.  

 

Regarding the theme ‘Our Greener Future’ he said that the intention was to realise one ambitious carbon-busting project a year and introduce food waste collection, however, this depended on the outcome of the Government consultation on waste collection. There would also be more focus on supporting villages and towns which were struggling to cope with the impact of visitors. He added that the District had the fastest changing coastline in Western Europe and the proposed coastal schemes would help meet these challenges.

 

The theme ‘Developing our Communities’ would build on the significant level of engagement that had been developed during the previous administration. To this end, the publication of the Council’s magazine, Outlook, would continue as well as engagement across all platforms. Support for the Youth Council would continue and further work would be undertaken on improving public conveniences across the district. In addition, there would be a focus on active environments, with a childrens’ play areas and facilities being improved, alongside the Council’s parks. He added that there was a challenge regarding the provision of sports and leisure amenities, particularly in towns such as Fakenham where there was growing demand due to an increasing population. Cultural activities remained important and investment had been secured for Cromer Pier and Sheringham Little Theatre as well as North Walsham Heritage Action Zone. However, more could be done to support other festivals and events across the District.

 

The Leader then spoke about the theme ‘Meeting our Local Housing Need’. He said that the Council’s portfolio of temporary accommodation would continue to grow. The pressure would continue without a government led strategy on delivering affordable housing. He referred to the impact of second homes and holiday lets and spoke about the anticipated outcome of the Levelling Up Bill. Unless changes were made, however, it was likely that there would need to be a discussion around the retention of council tax income so that it could be targeted at the provision of affordable housing.

 

The theme of ‘Investing in our Local Economy’ would bring increased focus to rural businesses as well as aiming to provide additional support to some of the district’s smaller towns such as Stalham. A new ‘Digital Champion’ role would also be introduced.

 

Finally, the Leader spoke about the theme of ‘A Strong, Responsible and Accountable Council’. He said that the Council had already proved how resilient it was but this must be maintained whilst facing considerable challenges. There may also be a need to invest further in customer service delivery. He added that there was a commitment to reviewing car parking management to ensure that revenue expectations were met. The Estates Team had made significant progress in increasing occupation of council-owned assets and this too would continue. There would also be further exploration around the concept of introducing a tourism tax.

He concluded by recommending the draft Corporate Plan 2023- 2027 to members.

 

The Chairman invited Cllr N Dixon, Chairman of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee to present the outcome of the committee’s consideration of the draft Corporate Plan.

 

Cllr Dixon said that the Committee had made the following three suggestions;

-        Cabinet to consider whether financial sustainability had been adequately addressed and whether it should form a key theme

-        Cabinet to consider whether the headline objectives were ambitions enough

-        Cabinet to consider whether issues of rurality had been adequately addressed

 

Cllr Dixon said that Cabinet had dismissed all three suggestions. He said that it was acknowledged that the Corporate Plan was at an advanced stage, it was not too late to make some amendments and he hoped that Members would consider the Committee’s suggestions.

 

The Leader said that he did not feel that the consensus at the Overview & Scrutiny meeting was as strong as perhaps indicated. However, he did agree that rurality was a significant issue and said that there would be a lot more work on rural sustainability. He said that the Council was in a stable financial position and the Corporate Plan emphasised the importance of maintaining this. In conclusion, the Leader said that he believed the themes were ambitious and would stretch the Council.

 

The Chairman invited members to speak:

 

Cllr A Fitch-Tillett said that she was disappointed that there was no mention of adaptation to coastal change in the Corporate Plan, despite the District having 43 miles of coastline. All coastal communities needed to be reassured of their status. The Leader replied that Coastwise was referenced in the Corporate Plan and it was a key priority for the Council but it must be recognised that the coastal areas were at the forefront of the impact of climate change. Cllr Fitch-Tillett said that there needed to be a recognition that there were some parts of the coast that could not be protected and it was a question of coastal management instead.

 

Cllr L Shires said that she was disappointed to hear Cllr Dixon’s summary of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee’s comments and it should have been acknowledged that they were not formal recommendations. She said that financial sustainability was included in the Corporate Plan, she referred to page 75, where it was listed under every bullet point.

 

Cllr C Cushing said that the Corporate Plan lacked ambition. It should be a strategic plan outlining what the Administration hoped to achieve in 4 years’ time and setting out the success criteria on how this could be judged. He referred the Corporate Plans of neighbouring authorities which clearly set out metrics and success criteria. He said that he also took issue with the language that was used throughout the document, with soft words such as ‘ensuring’, ‘supporting’ and ‘continuing’ being used rather than more ambitious, hard edged words such as ‘deliver’. He went onto say that Financial Sustainability was a theme in the previous corporate plan and he said that he would expect it to front and centre in this one. Removing it as a theme suggested it was no longer a priority. He reminded members that 4 years ago he had looked at financial projections and the forecast deficits for future years and been told that this was always the case but rarely came to fruition. However, this was no longer the case, a predicted deficit was now imminent and more must be done to address this. He said there should be more focus on what the Council could do to help itself remain financially stable. He concluded by reminding Members that the former Conservative administration had created a surplus and added to the Council’s reserves.

 

Cllr L Paterson referred to page 74 and the mention of water scarcity. He said that rural businesses were asking for more water storage reservoirs, he said that trapping excess winter water could help alleviate flooding and could be applied to growing crops in the summer. Irrigation gives better quality crops. He said that Government grants for water reservoirs had been withdrawn due to the excessive time taken by local authorities to approve applications. He asked if this could be addressed. The Leader replied that this was a valuable point and it could be included as an action priority. He said that any concerns regarding the slowness of approving planning applications should be raised with officers.

 

Cllr J Toye commented that the delivery plan was where the detail would sit and where the challenges would be set out. He welcomed that the Corporate Plan had come forward so early unlike many councils. Referring to Cllr Cushing’s comments regarding the financial status of the previous Conservative administration, he said that a comparison could not be made as the Government funding model was now completely different and inflationary pressures were also considerable. He added that rurality was covered throughout the Corporate Plan and he was pleased to see this.

 

Cllr L Shires referred to the criticisms levelled by the Opposition when the previous Corporate Plan was presented for approval and said those same issues were now reflected in the current version and yet criticism was still being levelled. She reminded members that the failure to raise council tax for several years had caused problems that were still being addressed.

 

Cllr A Brown responded to Cllr Paterson’s earlier comment and said that NNDC was not the only planning enabling authority for water storage reservoirs. Many fell within the County Council process.

 

Cllr T FitzPatrick referred to page 65, section 7.1 and said that he believed the Council could be too risk averse and not being bold enough could be limiting.

 

Cllr S Penfold said that he commended Cllr Cushing for trying to demonstrate that the Conservatives were the party of financial responsibility. He reminded members of the former Prime Minister, Ms Truss and the impact her policies had had on the country’s finances.

 

Cllr H Blathwayt referred Cllr A Fitch-Tillett to page 71 and said that it set out the Council’s responsibilities to all coastal communities clearly and succinctly.

 

It was proposed by Cllr T Adams, seconded by Cllr A Brown and

 

RESOLVED

To adopt the Corporate Plan 2023 – 2027.

 

10 members voted against.

 

Agenda Item 9: 2022/2023 Outturn Report

 

Cllr L Shires, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Estates & Assets, introduced this item. She began by saying that members had indicated that these reports could be difficult to read and understand and that there would be additional training provided in the autumn to assist with understanding financial reports. She thanked officers for their hard work to manage budgets during national and global uncertainty. She said this hard work had put the council in a better financial position than previously forecast.

 

Additional significant challenges had been presented by the war in Ukraine which had impacted on production of commodities and supply chains. Again, staff had worked hard to limit the impact and managed to maintain service provision whilst keeping costs down.

 

Cllr L Shires referred to the Period 6 Monitoring Report which had forecast a £909k overspend in revenue services alone. Although by period 10 this had not significantly improved, she was pleased to say that due to the hard work and vigilance of officers, the deficit was now considerably reduced to £261k.

 

Cllr L Shires the drew members attention to the retention of business rates. She said that the monitoring report for period 6 indicated that no variance was expected. The outturn report showed an income shortfall of £516k in returned business rates. The Business Rates Earmarked Reserve was in place to mitigate against such negative impacts.

 

Cllr Shires then spoke about the need to reduce the Council’s carbon footprint and for this reason £0.5m was being transferred from the Delivery Plan reserve to a newly created Net Zero reserve.

 

She then explained that the 2024/25 and 2025/26 budgets for temporary accommodation were being brought forward so that the needs of residents could be met now.

 

She concluded by saying that although many challenges had been overcome to reach the current financial position, the Administration’s eyes were firmly on the year ahead.

 

Cllr A Varley, Portfolio Holder for Climate Change and Net Zero and welcomed the newly created reserve to achieve these ambitions. This demonstrated that the Council was serious about focussing on specific carbon-busting projects.

 

Cllr C Cushing reiterated that for the first time there was a deficit of nearly £800k and this caused him considerable concern. He asked when the forecasts for future years would be available as these had not been shared for some time. He said that a summary page with all the key metrics set out would be really helpful for members and help them understand these reports better.

 

Cllr W Fredericks commented that the Opposition seemed to switch between saying that there was too much information provided and then not enough. She said it would be helpful if they could set out clearly exactly what they wanted. As for forecasting, she said that no one knew what would happen and this could not be provided any more.

 

Cllr N Dixon commented that Cllr Fredericks clearly had some knowledge that many members would like to share. She had indicated that she had a good grasp and understanding of the financial reports, unlike most members, and it would be helpful if she could share her knowledge and insights with everyone else. He added that there would always be occasions when members wanted more information as they wanted to drill down into the detail. At other times, they would be satisfied with less.

Cllr Dixon said that the value of having an executive summary at the start of a report, was so it could include key metrics and important messages contained within the paper. He said that this report was looking backwards rather than forwards and members were interested in the trajectory and give an indication of what the future would look like.

 

Cllr Shires said that she welcomed the additional attention on finance. Cllr Cushing said that Cllr Fredericks tone had not been helpful. The Treasury Management report had a good example of an executive summary and he was just trying to make helpful suggestions that could benefit all members.

 

Cllr J Toye said that he was supportive of finance workshops for members and he encouraged all members to get involved, as well as using the information that was available to them too.

 

Cllr A Brown agreed with the suggestion that the Outturn report was aligned more closely with the presentation and style of the Treasury Management report.

 

It was proposed by Cllr L Shires, seconded by Cllr J Toye and

 

RESOLVED unanimously to approve:

 

 

a)   The provisional outturn position for the General Fund revenue account for 2022/23;

b)    The transfers to and from reserves as detailed within the report (and appendix C) along with the corresponding updates to the 2023/24budget;

c)   The deficit of £0.261m relating to service overspends be funded from the GeneralReserve;

d)      The deficit of £0.561m relating to retained business rates be funded from the Business RatesReserve;

e)    The financing of the 2022/23 capital programme as detailed within the report   and at Appendix D.

f)      The balance on the General Reserve of£2.649m;

g)    The updated capital programme for 2023/24 to 2025/26 and scheme financing as outlined withinthe report and detailed at Appendix E

h)    The roll-forward requests as outlined in Appendix F

i)      The transfer of £0.5m from the Delivery Plan Reserve to a new reserve – ‘Net Zero Initiatives’ set up specifically to fund projects, initiatives and works to achieve Net Zero.

j)      The provision of a Temporary Accommodation capital budget for 2024/25 and

k)     2025/26 of £0.25m per year be moved into 2023/24 giving a total budget of £0.75m in 2023/24 and that this be funded by temporary borrowing until it can be replaced by preserved right to buy capital receipts.

 

Cabinet Agenda Item 10: Treasury Management Annual Report 2022 – 2023

 

Cllr L Shires, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Estates & Assets, introduced this item. She thanked officers for their hard work in preparing the report. She drew members’ attention to page 155 and highlighted that extra money had been earned on the Council’s investments due to an increase in interest rates.

 

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

 

RESOLVED unanimously to approve

 

The Treasury Management Annual Report for 2022 – 2023