Agenda item

To receive reports from Cabinet Members on their portfolios.

Cllr T Adams - Executive Support & Legal Services

Cllr H Blathwayt – Coast

Cllr J Boyle – Housing and 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 Chair invited members to ask questions:

Cllr A Fitch-Tillett asked Cllr H Blathwayt, Portfolio Holder for Coast why the Coastal Forum was no longer included in the calendar of meetings. Cllr H Blathwayt, Portfolio Holder for Coast, agreed with her concerns.

Cllr L Vickers asked the Leader, Cllr T Adams for an update on 9 Norwich Street, Fakenham. She said that she had campaigned tirelessly to get a resolution to the situation regarding this property and the local community had backed her and presented a petition to Full Council some months ago. At the last meeting, Cllr Punchard had asked for a confidential meeting with local members to discuss concerns but the leader had refused. The MP, Mr J Mayhew had also not received a response. She said that she was concerned that no progress was being made and she sought assurance that the constant rebuttals and citing of confidentiality were not a smoke-screen for ‘kicking the can down the road’.  She asked when the Leader would be in a position to share information with democratically elected members for Fakenham. Cllr Adams said that he had previously met with Jerome Mayhew MP to discuss this matter but as reported at the last meeting of Full Council he was not in a position to share confidential legal information and that remained the case. When there was an announcement, he would share that information but he did not want to jeopardise the process. Cllr Vickers asked when this might happen. Cllr Adams replied that he could not reply at this time.

Cllr V Holliday asked Cllr J Boyle, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Benefits, about preparations made by the Council following a possible increase in homeless households following the introduction of the Renter’s Rights Act. Cllr Boyle replied that there had not been a surge so far but the situation would continue to be monitored.

Cllr K Bayes asked Cllr L Withington about the Town of Culture funding and which towns other than Sheringham and Cromer had been engaged with and what support the Council was offering to assist towns with preparing these applications. Cllr L Withington said there had been considerable interest from North Norfolk and so far Wells, north Walsham and Sheringham and Cromer (combined) had submitted applications. NNDC was the accountable body within the programme, with a deadline of the end of February to agree what this involved. Delivering the programmes was the responsibility of the Partnership scheme of the towns concerned.

Cllr T FitzPatrick asked Cllr A Brown, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Enforcement about the number of enforcement cases. He referred to a case regarding abandoned caravans at Hempton, which neighboured his ward and asked how the Council’s issuing of enforcement notices and achieving results compared with other local authorities. Cllr Brown replied that he was not familiar with the case referred to and was not sure how NNDC compared to other authorities. He said that he would provide a written response.

Cllr C Cushing asked Cllr A Brown, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Enforcement, about the Fakenham urban extension which was a key element of the new Local Plan and a key factor in contributing to housing growth in the district. Phase 1 was for 950 houses but there had been no information at all regarding applications for the site and he asked when they might be forthcoming.   Cllr Brown replied that he did not have any information as to when applications may be forthcoming. He said that there had been a discussion as to whether the site should progress in sections rather than the whole site. Regarding the number of homes to be built annually, Cllr Brown said that NNDC was subject to transitional arrangements for the Local Plan and this meant that the Council could 557 dwellings over the period of the Plan. However, a new Local Plan needed to be commenced almost immediately so this figure was likely to change again. He said that he would respond in writing regarding the site at Fakenham.

Cllr S Butikofer asked Cllr C Ringer, Portfolio Holder for IT, Environment & Waste, about the ‘Duty of Care’ initiative regarding trade waste that had been carried out in March and she wondered how well this had gone. Cllr Ringer replied that he had received an update and that it had been carried out in conjunction with colleagues from the Norfolk Waste Partnership. It had focused on reminding businesses that had a duty of care regarding the collection of trade waste. A few businesses were not currently complying and had been advised on their responsibilities.

Cllr N Dixon asked Cllr J Toye, Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Growth, about the informal discussion that had followed the question he had asked at the previous meeting and asked that a written answer would be provided to all members. Cllr Toye agreed. He went onto say that it was challenging to get to the granular detail for North Norfolk and even the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce was struggling to access this information. Cllr Dixon followed up by asking what evidence there was to support views regarding hospitality sector and youth unemployment and he would like the response to focus on these points.