Agenda item

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 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 Chairman reminded members that there was 30 minutes allocated for this item. She invited members to speak:

Cllr J Boyle asked Cllr W Fredericks, Portfolio Holder for Housing & Benefits, about the welfare benefits referred to in her report and if more detail could be provided on them. Cllr Fredericks replied that the Financial Inclusion Team had been set up to advise and support low income families in the district. During the period 1^st April to 29 August 2024, almost £1m in missed benefits and income had been identified and awarded to low-income families. This included carer’s allowance, council tax support, disability living allowance, discretionary housing payments, job seekers allowance, energy bank vouchers and pension credit. Regarding the latter, she said there had been an extensive push to get as many eligible pensioners as possible to complete the forms within the required timeframe.

Cllr A Fletcher asked Cllr A Varley, Portfolio Holder for Climate Change & Net Zero about the next steps for decarbonisation of the Council Offices. Cllr Varley replied that surveys had been undertaken on the Cromer building. The report would go to Cabinet for consideration. The options included heating systems and fabric measures. It also focused on behaviour changes such as hot-desking. Ultimately the focus was on energy efficiency and on reducing running costs. He added that external funding options were being looked into to minimise the cost of introducing any energy efficient measures.

Cllr G Mancini-Boyle asked Cllr A Varley for an update on the Net Zero Communities project. He asked for more information on the businesses that had been contacted across the district. Cllr Varley replied that the Stalham Communities Project was going well and several events had been hosted jointly with the Town Council. He said that he would provide a further, more detailed update shortly. Regarding, the businesses that had been contacted, he said that he would find out and provide a written response.

Cllr C Cushing asked the Leader, Cllr T Adams, about the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and the Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF). He asked for information on the outcomes that these funding streams were delivering and whether the Leader was confident that the Council was getting value for money. The Leader replied that there were a lot of recipients of this funding, so he suggested that a detailed written response was provided on this. More generally, the Council wanted to maximise the potential for any funding provisions and he felt that this was a good example of this. Cllr Cushing suggested that Overview & Scrutiny could consider looking at this in detail.

Cllr A Fitch-Tillett asked Cllr L Shires, Portfolio Holder for Finance & Assets, about the request for the installation of a defibrillator on the railings on the slipway down to the beach. She said that the Council was insisting on levying a charge for this. Cllr Shires said that she would go back to the Property Services team and the Parish Council and see if a different solution could be found.

Cllr M Gray asked the Leader, Cllr T Adams, for an update on the Devolution deal for Norfolk and the impact on North Norfolk. Cllr Adams replied that he had no new update on the situation. He said that it was the Council’s wish to see a cross-county consensus on the basis for a devolution arrangement and NNDC needed to set out its stall as soon as possible to the Government. He said he had confidence in neighbouring authorities and believed a consensus could be reached. He added that he believed the prize for North Norfolk would be around the development of rural transport and this was linked to economic inactivity in some locations. There would be a lot of discussions at a political level on whether it would be a Norfolk / Suffolk arrangement or Norfolk only. He was hopeful that the discussions would remain constructive and that an agreed position could be presented to the Government as soon as possible.

Cllr M Batey asked Cllr A Brown, Portfolio Holder for Planning & Enforcement, about the Government’s increased housing target and how that would impact on the district number-wise. Cllr Brown replied that when the Local Plan was submitted which confirmed the number of approximately 480 homes being delivered per year, the Council was confident that the figure was accurate. The Planning Inspector’s examination in March pointed out that the methodology used to ascertain the figure should have referenced the 2014 population statistics. This was challenged as later census figures showed that the population was falling compared to 2014. The Inspector’s response suggested that using the 2014 statistics would increase the housing target to 557. However, the change of Government, meant that a further increase was required and the Inspector now advised that the annual target for North Norfolk should now be 943. It was accepted that the Inspector’s approach was correct given the Government’s new target. A report would come to Planning Policy & Built Heritage Working Party on 10 October 2024 as to how the Council would address the substantial increase in the housing target.

Cllr M Taylor asked Cllr L Withington, Portfolio Holder for Tourism & Leisure why she had not mentioned the very successful Stalham & Smallburgh Beer Festival in her update.  He mentioned several annual events taking place in the town and said that it was clear that Stalham was now the ‘undisputed champion’ of North Norfolk events and asked Cllr Withington to join him in thanking Stalham residents for their work in supporting these community events. Cllr Withington congratulated Stalham for their very successful event. She said there were a lot of very well attended events across the district that should also be highlighted and praised. She asked members to let officers know of upcoming events so that they could ensure they were highlighted and promoted as much as possible.

Cllr Penfold asked Cllr Withington about the three Green Flag spaces managed by the Council. He asked what was being done to ensure that young people engaged with these, to be more active in them. Cllr Withington replied that she was proud to have retained the Green Flag spaces this year. A lot of additional work had been done to build on the previous offer and this included events such as mini beast collecting, orienteering and challenge days. The team was now getting ready for Halloween and all of these events encouraged children to engage with nature as well as bringing in revenue. She went onto say that the Countryside team had started to work with the Youth Advisory Board (YAB) which would bring additional support and engagement opportunities. There were also volunteering opportunities via the Muddy Boots scheme.

Cllr K Bayes asked Cllr L Shires about the capital programme and referenced the high amount of funding allocated to Cromer, totalling £2.56m. He said that he could not see anything for parishes east of North Walsham and said that Cromer appeared to be favoured over other areas. Cllr Shires replied that no member would want to have the Rocket House in their ward, with all the problems and costs that it presented. Regarding capital bids for Cromer, she said that there was a large number of assets there. In the east of the district there were very few assets. However, if there were any proposals for other areas she would be keen to consider them.

Cllr K Toye asked Cllr Fredericks about the number of people in temporary accommodation. Her report indicated that this had gone down and she asked for more information on this. Cllr Fredericks replied that the hard work of the Council’s Prevention Team, together with Customer Services, Housing Options and the Social Prescribing team in supporting residents to stay either where they were – by providing support and advice on how to manage rent increases. She said that the Council’s Housing Allocation policy had also been reviewed and was currently out for consultation. The Council continued to work with its partners to fill any empty homes. She concluded by saying that the ending of Section 21 could cause some issues as some landlords may not want to continue in the residential lettings business.