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)

Cllr Bayes asked Cllr Shires, following the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting where it was announced that the Collector’s Cabin in Cromer requires a new thatched roof with an estimated cost of £30,000, that given the Council’s current financial position a far cheaper option should be investigated. This would also help to reduce the insurance costs as thatched roofs are expensive to insure.

Cllr Shires responded that Officer Stankley is currently investigating this, and further information will be provided at the next Council meeting when this item will be discussed further.

Cllr Vickers asked Cllr Withington why the Council has removed the gates on the Lawn’s Children’s play area in Fakenham. Officers have said the gates have been removed as they no longer meet safety standards and replacing them would cost £700.00, however there is no money left in the budget for the replacement of these. How is it therefore possible that £65,000 has been set aside for new play area in Sheringham but the Council can’t provide £700.00 for a gate in Fakenham.

Cllr Withington passed this question to Cllr Shires.

Cllr Shires replied that she wasn’t aware of this matter and asked that Cllr Vickers provided information of her conversations in an email so that this could be addressed.

Cllr Leith requested that Cllr Brown provide an update on the Local Plan consultation progress.

Cllr Brown answered that the next round of the Local Plan journey is a public consultation, which was launched on 7 November and will run until 19 December. The consultation focuses on additional sites and provision for additional small growth sites in villages being included. Online submission system allows submissions via a form, email, letter and in person.

Initially there was a couple of issues with this system, but these have now been resolved. So far 23 submissions have been received online and 7 offline, all of which have been responded to in a timely manner. These will then be submitted to the inspector, and he will revisit in the spring. If the modifications can be agreed it is hoped the Plan can be adopted in May.

Planning training will be held on Friday morning at 9.30am in the Boardroom – every member is invited – this will enable you to be a member or substitute member of Development Committee 9.30am

Cllr Taylor enquired whether Cllr Fredricks felt that bigger ideas were needed in light of the £9 million black hole the Council is facing to address the pressure on temporary accommodation.

Cllr Fredericks thanked Cllr Taylor for highlighting the fact the Council have not been properly funded for the last 14 years. This situation is critical, and we are doing everything we can, we have bought 25 units of temporary accommodation, which is saving the Council a vast amount of money. Currently the Council is looking at a £1.3 million net cost of temporary accommodation in nightly paid accommodation and if we hadn’t bought these 25 properties this would have been double.

This authority is doing incredibly well and the Housing Team are recognised across the country as being leaders in the field. Homelessness figures are falling as we have been trialling a new allocations scheme that seems to be working. The new allocations scheme will be coming to Cabinet following the completion of the consultation. This consultation supports what we are doing is the right thing. If you are worried about homelessness, please approach the Council as early as possible. Teams are here ready and willing to support.

Now looking to the government funding allocation to see how we allocate funding for homelessness prevention and further temporary accommodation properties.

Cllr Taylor queried if the owners of two very large buildings within the Stalham ward, one a former hotel and one a former hospital building with approved planning applications had been approached with a view to the Council acquiring these buildings for temporary accommodation facilities.

Cllr Fredericks responded that yes, these properties have been looked at.  The hotel is not viable – cannot be brought back into use for temporary accommodation as it would cost too much money to bring it up to the required specifications – fire regulations, EPC standards. Catfield property haven’t been able to approach the owner due to a bereavement within the family but would be happy to progress this further if contact details can be provided.

Cllr Fredericks to get Housing Strategy Manager to send the report on the Stalham hotel to Cllr Taylor.

Cllr Fletcher questioned Cllr Toye on how the distribution of grants for local economy projects translates to employment and the flourishing of the local economy generally.

Cllr Toye replied that the graphic was created through GIS mapping. In time everyone should have access to this system and will be able to interrogate. 87% of North Norfolk has a rural context. 88% of businesses are in the micro category of 10 or less employees. Much economic activity goes on in hinterland. 51% of businesses in North Norfolk survive past 5 years whereas this figure is just a third nationally. We have higher than national average occupancy rates high for industrial units and shops, which is growing business rates income. Local economy addressing some green issues, ensuring people do not have to travel. Benefitting the whole economy

Cllr Vardy asked if Cllr Adams could confirm if food waste collection will be mandatory by 2026 and what the Council doing about this.

Cllr Adams answered that in due course there will be reports to Council on this issue. Currently a business plan is being prepared regarding the introduction of food waste and plastic film collection. There will be a cost involved in this as we will be introducing a new round of collections, new vehicles and bio-digestion.

The fact that every Council in the county that is looking towards introduction will be looking to buy new waste caddies means that there may well be some supply and demand issues. 

Officers will keep members informed once more information is known.

Cllr Vardy replied to ask Cllr Adams if when this proposal is being worked up budgetary implications will be forefront of the discussion.

Cllr Adams confirmed that any budgetary implications are being looked at closely before any changes are made.

Cllr Penfold congratulated Cllr Fredericks for the speed of staff in the Benefits team in processing new claims and enquired whether the £1.2million of additional benefits claimed so far this year has improved the wellbeing of families and resulted in fewer families losing their accommodation.

Cllr Fredericks confirmed that it is vital that we keep this team and the work they are doing going. So far they have brought in £1.23 million of additional benefits that people are entitled to but would not otherwise have received. This has paid a fundamental part of preventing people becoming homeless by ensuring people can pay their bills. The team have proved their worth time and time again. The work will get harder for the Benefits team because of the changes to Universal Credit.

Cllr Cushing enquired whether Cllr Adams endorsed the response by Steffan Aquarone MP to the announcement that Viaro Energy the new owners of the Shell terminal at the Bacton Gas site had proposed that the site should accommodate a small nuclear reactor by saying that “nuclear was not a renewable option and goes against the grain of everything we are doing in North Norfolk”.

Cllr Adams stated that he would look to learn about any proposal. The Council is seeking discussions with Viaro. The announcement came without any prior knowledge within the local government sector and the local community. Cllr Adams went on to say that he wasn’t surprised that such proposals are being brought forward, as we are going to need electricity for hydrogen production, electrolysis and desalination. He stated that we needed to learn more about the potential for such developments before the Council comes to any conclusions, or position on Viaro’s proposals, and he would try to keep everyone informed as details emerge.

Cllr Cushing was delighted that Cllr Adams was considerably more open-minded about these developments than perhaps was the local MP. A small nuclear reactor could provide power for 250,000 homes and provide excellent employment opportunities for high level jobs.

Cllr Adams responded that as yet we don’t know if this is a domestic electricity supply, we are still have a lot to learn.

Cllr Toye stated that he is working with the County Council to develop an Energy Plan for Norfolk, to understand and hopefully address constraints in local electricity and water supplies so this is being looked at not only at a local level but also a County level.

Cllr Boyle enquired of Cllr Adams whether the upgrading of septic tanks as part of the mitigation for Nutrient Neutrality that is working to release housing areas, could it be easily rolled out in other areas.

Cllr Adams deferred to Cllr Brown.

Cllr Brown answered that yes the first tranche of grant money from Government has been used by Norfolk Environmental Credits to support schemes to replace failing septic tanks to provide advantages and benefits in the Nutrient Neutrality calculation for the District. This will release credits for developers to buy if they cannot provide onsite mitigation to enable developments to proceed. At the moment there is only one approved contractor, but it is hoped that there will soon be a second contractor that can complete the work. The real game changer will be purchasing land with the grant money that will be used for further mitigation.

Cllr McDonald asked about the changes in law that affect the time in which enforcement action can be taken.

Cllr Brown replied that some people look to develop land without obtaining planning and if four years lapsed, deemed planning permission could be applied for. This would mean that the property owner would not need to apply for planning permission to regularise the development. This 4-year period has now been extended to 10 years. Initially this should relieve some pressure on our enforcement team but may mean we need more resource in the future to undertake reviews.