Agenda item

To receive reports from Cabinet Members on their portfolios.

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 question for the Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Cllr Gay, has been submitted in advance by Cllr J Rest:

‘Can we be advised on the predicted running costs that will be incurred at the REEF Leisure centre, due to excessive rising fuel costs - as reported on Sky news 10/04/22 by Jane Nickerson of Swim England’s governing body, Jane Nickerson.

In addition, please can the following information be provided:

·         Details of any terms stated in the contract to cover this.

·         Details of any subsidy that NNDC will be required pay to cover this increase in costs.

·         Details of any provisions that ‘Everyone Active’ has in place for such an eventuality.

Cabinet members (listed alphabetically)

Cllr T Adams (Leader / Executive Support)

Cllr A Fitch-Tillett – Coast

Cllr W Fredericks – Housing & Benefits

Cllr V Gay – Leisure, Culture & Wellbeing

Cllr R Kershaw – Sustainable Growth

Cllr N Lloyd – Environment

Cllr E Seward – Finance, Assets & Legal

Cllr L Shires – Organisational Resources

Cllr J Toye – Planning & Enforcement

The Chairman invited members to put questions to Portfolio Holders.

Cllr C Cushing asked the Leader, Cllr T Adams, about the impact of the recent nutrient neutrality ruling from Natural England. He said that it was having an immediate effect on his ward of Fakenham, with a large housing development there now on hold. He asked the Leader if there was any information on the next steps to address such issues. Cllr Adams replied that it was an example of where a national issue was affecting normal people as well as having a wider impact on builders and suppliers. He said that the Council was trying to progress applications as far as it could until the issue was resolved. He said that he would he would follow up on Cllr Cushing’s query regarding the Fakenham development and come back to him.

Cllr A Brown asked the Leader if there were any targets regarding the homing of Ukrainian refugees in the County and the District specifically. The Leader replied that currently only small numbers were coming through. He said that dialogue with neighbouring councils had been good and over 70 people were due to come to North Norfolk soon.

Cllr G Hayman asked the Leader what he was doing personally to support Ukrainian refugees and whether he wished to thank the local MP for taking in a refugee. The Leader replied that he would like to thank everyone who was involved in supporting Ukrainian refugees. He added that it was not possible for everyone to take a refugee into their home but he also worked with charities outside of his role as a councillor which were providing support.

Cllr R Kershaw said that he had offered two double rooms for refugees at the start of the crisis but had not received a response from the Government so far, despite chasing it several times.

Before taking questions on her portfolio, Cllr A Fitch-Tillett drew members’ attention to a couple of key points. She said that one set of beach access steps at Overstrand had been shut. At Happisburgh there was an issue with sand martins nesting so the cutting of the access ramp was being delayed until the nesting season was over. She finished by welcoming the additional coastal funding that the Leader had announced earlier. Cllr J Stenton asked for further detail on how the funding would be released. Cllr Fitch-Tillett replied that it was hoped that this initial tranche could be used to leverage in further funding in the future. She added they had only been notified of the funding a month ago so it was still early in the process.

The Chairman then advised members that the following written question had been submitted in advance by Cllr J Rest for Cllr V Gay, Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Culture & Wellbeing:

‘Can we be advised on the predicted running costs that will be incurred

at the REEF Leisure centre, due to excessive rising fuel costs - as

reported on Sky news 10/04/22 by Jane Nickerson of Swim England’s

governing body, Jane Nickerson.

In addition, please can the following information be provided:

· Details of any terms stated in the contract to cover this.

· Details of any subsidy that NNDC will be required pay to cover

this increase in costs.

· Details of any provisions that ‘Everyone Active’ has in place for

such an eventuality.

Cllr Gay said that at the current time, the leisure contractor, Everyone Active, paid for the energy used rather than a price per unit. This would be reviewed after two years. She said that the Council had not been asked to provide a subsidy and as yet there was not sufficient evidence to base such a request on. The Reef was programmed to use energy as efficiently as possible and Everyone Active felt they could find further efficiencies and like all of the Council’s contractors, they were committed to delivering the Net Zero Strategy targets. Cllr N Lloyd, Portfolio Holder for Environment, added that the question underlined the importance of the Council’s climate change agenda. He said that all options were being explored including the installation of solar ports over car parks.

Cllr M Taylor asked Cllr R Kershaw, Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Growth, about the impact of the North Walsham Heritage Action Zone project on local businesses in the short term. He said he was aware that one business was close to folding and wondered what the Council was doing to support them. Cllr Kershaw replied that all local businesses had been involved in the consultation process and timings of the works had been shared in advance. Visitors were happy with the changes so far. He added that the Market Place works were being undertaken in sections to minimise the impact and he said that in the long term footfall to the town would increase. He concluded by saying that officers regularly visited local businesses to talk through any issues that they were having. In conclusion, he said that two of the empty shops in the town centre had recently been filled.

Cllr T FitzPatrick said that Cllr Kershaw’s report was commendably short. He said that he had recently attended a presentation in Great Yarmouth about the real changes that the Council had brought to the town – including the new leisure centre, including the third river crossing, the new covered market and the energy campus. He said that Equinor had moved from North Norfolk to the new energy campus and this had resulted in the loss of 140 jobs. He asked what was being done to find replacement quality jobs in the west of the District. Cllr Kershaw replied that regarding Equinor, the servicing of the wind farms had moved to Great Yarmouth and this was beyond the control of the District Council. He added that officers were meeting with Walsingham Estates on 13^th May to try and help fill the property. He added that the hospitality sector continued to do well, with the Chestnut Group investing in 5 pubs across North Norfolk. Cllr FitzPatrick replied that 140 quality jobs had been lost in the west of the District and he felt this had not been answered. Cllr Kershaw referred to the film studio at West Raynham which was generating a lot of jobs in neighbouring areas, including Fakenham.

Cllr N Pearce asked Cllr L Shires, Portfolio Holder for Organisational Resources, about the arrangements in place to look after people coming into the reception area at the Council offices. He said that on three separate occasions he had witnessed elderly people seeking planning advice and they had been turned away because they did not have an appointment. Cllr Shires replied that she was not aware of the specific incidents mentioned but that they should have been offered a way to make an appointment. Cllr Pearce replied that they were not and he did not feel that the service was good enough. Cllr Shires offered to discuss the matter with Cllr Pearce after the meeting.

Cllr G Mancini-Boyle held up an agenda for a recent meeting of the Planning Policy & Built Heritage Working Party. He commented on its size and asked how much it had cost to print and post out. He said that he would like to remind members that the Council had declared a climate emergency and the provision of paper copies was unacceptable. The Chairman replied that members of the working party had requested hard copies due to the complex technical content of the documents. The Vice-Chairman added that any member could contact Democratic Services and ask not to receive printed copies. As the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Cllr Toye, was not in attendance, he suggested that Cllr Mancini-Boyle put his question in writing to him.

Cllr C Heinink asked Cllr E Seward, Portfolio Holder for Finance, about the £150 energy rebate and when residents should expect to receive it. Cllr Seward replied that officers were working on it and payments would start in May. The first rollout would be for customers that pay by direct debit as the Council already had bank account details for them. For those that did not pay this way, requests could be submitted via the grant approval application portal and following checks, payment would be dispatched by BACS.