Please note that the total time allotted for this item is 30 minutes – as set out in the Constitution, Chapter 2, paragraph 3.7(d)
The following item of Opposition Business has been proposed by Cllr C Cushing, seconded by Cllr N Dixon:
On behalf of the residents and businesses of North Norfolk, this District Council notes the financial support provided by the Government over the last two years. Amongst a wide range of support schemes the following are examples of funding and grants that the Government has awarded over this period:
1. COVID Business Support Grants - £126 million paid out to over 3,500 businesses.
2. The COVID Furlough scheme which amounted to many millions.
3. Universal Credit Uplift during the pandemic.
4. The Housing Benefit Subsidy for 2020/21 which totalled £21,085,852.
5. Household Support Fund (HSF) which allocated £115,899 from October 2021 – March 2022 to provide support for 342 vulnerable households most in need of support during last winter.
6. The Council Tax Hardship Fund for 2020/21 where the Government provided £723,834 of funding to NNDC allocate to applicants to help with the payment of their Council Tax during the pandemic. As at 31st March 2021, the council paid out £543,737 of this funding, leaving an underspend of £180,097.
7. This £180,034 was used to create Discretionary Hardship & Support Grant which is currently to help Council Tax payers in need.
8. Norfolk Warm Homes Consortium – NNDC is one of five districts that will receive a share of a £3.85 million grant to provide energy efficiency improvement works for homes occupied by low income households.
9. The Energy Rebate Scheme where the Government has provided funding for NNDC to give households whose primary residence is valued in Council Tax bands A – D a one-off Council Tax energy payment of £150.
10. The Heritage Action Zone grant of £3 million to renovate the centre of North Walsham.
11. The Coastal Transition Accelerator Fund where NNDC will receive an allocation from a £36 million fund to explore innovative approaches to adapting to the impacts of coastal erosion.
This is not an exclusive list but gives a clear indication of the Government’s help and support.
The Conservative Opposition makes the following recommendations for the Liberal Democrat Administration:
· The Leader of the Council writes to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on behalf of the residents of North Norfolk to thank the Government for the considerable support it has given and continues to give the people and businesses of the District.
· A copy of the letter is sent to Duncan Baker, the Member of Parliament for North Norfolk, and Jerome Mayhew, the Member of Parliament for Broadland, so that they understand the gratitude of this Council.
Minutes:
The Leader of the Opposition, Cllr Cushing introduced the motion. He said that it had been brought forward to highlight the financial support provided by the Government to North Norfolk during the pandemic. Examples of some of the grants provided were listed in the motion and he drew members’ attention to the following – £130m of business grants paid out to businesses across the District, the furlough scheme which provided vital support to many residents and the Universal Credit uplift. He then said, that almost as soon as the pandemic began to ease, there was a global surge in fuel costs which was exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine, stoking inflation and creating a cost of living crisis. The Government had responded quickly to help the most financially vulnerable. Again, he highlighted key programmes of support such as the energy rebate scheme, for which so far almost £6m had been paid out to North Norfolk residents. He then spoke about the Council Tax Hardship Fund for 2020/21 where the Government provided £723,834 of funding for NNDC to allocate to applicants to help with the payment of their Council Tax during the pandemic. As at 31st March 2021, the council had paid out £543,737 of this funding, leaving an under-spend of £180,097. He explained that the Government had allowed Councils to retain the under-spend for allocation to residents during 2021/22. NNDC had opted to use the £180,034 to create a Discretionary Hardship & Support Grant which was being used to help Council Tax payers in need.
Cllr Cushing then read out a letter, written by the Leader, Cllr T Adams, that had recently been published on the North Norfolk Liberal Democrat Group’s website. He said that the letter clearly indicated that the Administration of the Council had chosen to provide funding to support vulnerable residents, when in fact it was Government money that had been allocated for that specific purpose. He said that this was not the only example of the Administration trying to claim credit for Government funding – highlighting another leaflet issued earlier in the year relating to Covid grants. He read out the text of the leaflet and said, yet again it was a clear misconception that was being presented.
He concluded by saying that it was disappointing that an item of Opposition Business had to be brought forward to highlight that it was the Government which had provided substantial funding not the Administration.
Cllr T Adams responded by quoting former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher who had said ‘ it is your money, there is no such thing as public money, only taxpayers’ money’. He said that he could therefore not see why the residents of North Norfolk should be grateful to the Government. In fact there had a considerable reduction in funding support to Councils in recent years and, as a rural area, the spend per capita was much lower than in urban areas. Now, with the cost of living crisis escalating fast, the Government was being ineffectual regarding support for fuel and energy costs. He said that the grant funds that were being used to support vulnerable residents were being carved out of limited resources. Many of the grants had to be applied for and the process could be challenging with punishing timescales. He referred to the Heritage Action Zone in North Walsham which the Council had been successful in receiving funding for but it was down to the hard work and dedication of officers that the project was progressing so well. He concluded by saying that hardship funds were created out of acts of necessity not generosity. He would write to the Government but not to thank them, instead he would ask them to do more regarding fuel, food and travel costs. He asked the group leaders to join him in writing to staff to thank them for delivering so well on all of the programmes of support that were needed by residents. It was down to their efforts that the Council had been amongst the fastest in rolling funding and support out and this had been recognised by the Government.
Cllr J Rest, Leader of the Independent Group began by referring to the list of Government support that Cllr Cushing had listed in his motion. He said he wondered why, to achieve a sense of balance, other Government funding streams had not been mentioned such as the overspend of £10bn on PPE, the offer of £10k to MPs to cover staff working from home during the pandemic in addition to the £26k already claimed to cover office costs and the failed ‘track & trace’ scheme which had cost £37bn but did not achieve its goal. He spoke about the £530m spent on the creation of seven Nightingale hospitals, which could not be operated due to insufficient staff. In conclusion, he said that no monetary cost could be put on the lives lost due to the decision to discharge elderly, Covid-infected patients from hospital into care homes.
Cllr E Vardy referred to funding of £7.7m package of hardship support introduced by Norfolk County Council such as the cost of living support fund was offering £3.6m to support families with cost of living vouchers, there was also £1m allocated for the Norfolk Assistance scheme to support families in hardship not eligible for free schools meals and £2.2m to support those aged over 65 by providing vouchers and awards through the voluntary sector. Finally, there was £840k of funding set aside to help other bodies, including district councils, to support those facing housing need. He said, that perhaps the District Council should therefore also consider thanking the County Council in addition to central Government.
Cllr M Taylor said that he wished to add his support to the motion. He said that the least couple of years had been one of the most testing times in recent history and the list of funding and support schemes set out in the motion demonstrated the huge effort that the Government had made to support people. Without these support packages, even more damage and suffering would have been inflicted on North Norfolk residents during the pandemic and it was therefore right that the Leader should write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, thanking the Government for its considerable support, on behalf of the residents of North Norfolk.
Cllr T FitzPatrick said that it was important to bring forward this motion as it highlighted the level of support provided by the Government. He acknowledged Cllr Rest’s comments about Nightingale hospitals but said he was glad that they were put in place but relieved that they didn’t need to be used. He said it was normal practice for councils to bid for funding and it was important to be transparent about how support packages were funded and delivered. He referred to earlier in the meeting when the Leader had declined to answer questions and said that there was no need for confidentiality during this debate and that the Leader could acknowledge the level of Government support during the last two years, even begrudgingly.
Cllr S Penfold said that he disagreed with Cllr Cushing’s statement that no-one could have envisaged the challenges and trials that the Government had had to face in the last two years. He said that this was not true as Brexit was entirely of the Government’s own making. Cllr Penfold concluded by saying if any letter should be written it should be to staff thanking them for their efforts in distributing support and grants to residents so quickly.
Cllr A Fitch-Tillett said that she wanted to acknowledge the allocation of funds from central Government to support the Coastal Transition Acclerator Programme (CTAP). However, a lot of hard work had been done to access this funding via various coastal groups. She said that she could not support the motion otherwise though.
Cllr L Shires said that NNDC was not the only council to get the Household Support Fund but it was important to look at how the money was used to benefit local residents. She referred to the fight at the County Council regarding the provision of free school meals over Easter and the fact that it took 6 weeks to achieve an outcome. She said that she was devastated that the first option that the opposition asked the Council to write about was gratitude. She said that a thank you would not feed the families of North Norfolk or keep them warm. She said that she was appalled on behalf of the residents of North Norfolk.
Cllr V FitzPatrick said that he wanted to express his thanks to staff for the way in which government funds had been distributed. He said it was important to acknowledge the difference that the grants had made, with many lives being saved and local businesses being kept afloat.
Cllr E Withington concurred with the points raised about the hard work of the staff and said that it was due to the persistence of officers that so much funding had been allocated for coastal management. She then read out a news release issued by the Rural Services Network which stated that if England’s rural communities were a distinct region, their need for levelling up would be greater than that of any other part of the country. Pressures faced by small towns and villages were not reflected in the Government’s metrics and as a result 12m people were effectively side-lined. She said that the funding that the Government funding allocated across the country during the Covid pandemic was still not sufficient to ‘level up’ North Norfolk as a rural community and she was therefore did not feel able to send a letter of thanks.
Cllr N Pearce said that the Government had provided funds to help many people during a very difficult time and this should be acknowledged. He said that it wasn’t necessarily gratitude that was needed but a recognition that the Government did something.
Cllr W Fredericks commented on the furlough support scheme. She said that the self-employed had begged the Government to provide financial support and it taken a long time for anything to come through and whilst they waited many community groups had had to step in and assist with the provision of food and basics.
The Chairman invited Cllr N Dixon to speak as seconder of the motion. He began by saying that it was easy to be wise after the event. He said that he wished to present another perspective. The underlying issues of the motion were about openness, accountability, honesty and selflessness and these were four of the seven Nolan Principles which guided everyone holding public office. He referred to a previous motion proposed by the Administration extolling the virtues of the Nolan Principles and calling for more training on them. At the time he had pointed out that training didn’t matter if members didn’t comply with them in every day council and public facing party business, then members would fail them and that was where the training need was greatest. He said that if there had not been deception in the Liberal Democrat statement on their website, there would not be this item of Opposition Business coming forwards. He said it was about compliance with reasonable codes of behaviour and if anyone did not agree with the Nolan Principles then he would not expect them to support the motion.
The Chairman asked Cllr Cushing as proposer of the motion to speak last. Cllr Cushing said that he felt the Leader’s response was churlish. The Administration was happy to take credit for money that had been given by the Government. £400bn had been spent on support for Covid and so far £47bn had been allocated to support the cost of living crisis. This should be acknowledged and the Government should be thanked for their support.
It was proposed by Cllr C Cushing, seconded by Cllr N Dixon
1) That the Leader of the Council writes to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on behalf of the residents of North Norfolk to thank the Government for the considerable support it has given and continues to give the people and businesses of the District.
2) That a copy of the letter is sent to Duncan Baker, the Member of Parliament for North Norfolk, and Jerome Mayhew, the Member of Parliament for Broadland, so that they understand the gratitude of this Council.
When put to the vote, 10 members voted in favour, 19 against and 1 abstained. The motion was therefore not supported.