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)

Questions will be taken in the order that they are received.

Cabinet members (listed alphabetically)

Cllr T Adams (Leader / Executive Support)

Cllr A Brown – Planning & Enforcement

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

The Chairman invited members to put questions to Portfolio Holders.

Cllr C Cushing said that at the last meeting, himself and several colleagues had asked questions which were ruled out on grounds of the ‘convention’ that any staffing were should not be discussed. On behalf of Cllr Dixon, who was absent due to ill health, he said that no response had been received to Cllr Dixon’s request for more information on this convention and where it was referenced either at NNDC or more widely. He sought clarification on this issue now. Cllr E Seward replied that he was aware that Cllr Dixon had emailed the Leader on this matter and that he had sought guidance from the Monitoring Officer. He confirmed that a response would be provided on Cllr Adams return from paternity leave. He added that the Chief Executive had offered to meet with the Group Leaders to clarify the various issues that had been raised at the last meeting.

Cllr J Rest commented that there was an error in the agenda. He said that the names of the Portfolio Holder was not listed at the top of some of the reports. The Chairman replied that she had advised members of this at the start of the meeting and that the version on the website was corrected and up to date.

Cllr J Toye said that a resident had contacted him regarding concerns with noise issues relating to events. He asked Cllr N Lloyd, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services, what powers could be used to deal with such problems. Cllr Lloyd replied that the Environmental Protection team worked closely with event organisers to ensure that it complied with noise limits. However, if a nuisance did occur, officers did have powers to intervene and stop the source of the noise.

Cllr V FitzPatrick referred to Cllr Gay’s report and the reference to 43,000 visitors to the Council’s leisure facilities during June 2022. He said that this was not the full story and referred to ongoing correspondence from a resident to Cllr Gay which raised concerns about management of the Reef in Sheringham. The resident outlined how they had been asked to leave the swimming pool after just 20 minutes and had received a reply stating that this approach allows the contractor, Everyone Active to run the leisure centre more effectively. Cllr FitzPatrick asked when the Council would run its leisure centres for the benefit of the public rather than the convenience of the contractor. Cllr Gay replied that she had already followed up on this. She explained that after Covid, a booking system was put in place for swimming and this had worked well. She said that she was concerned about someone being asked to leave after 20 minutes and had raised the matter with Everyone Active and they were looking into it.  As a supplementary question, Cllr V FitzPatrick asked when the contractor would start to manage the leisure facilities more effectively. Cllr A Brown raised a point of order. He said that this was a repeat of the initial question.

Cllr P Heinrich asked the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Cllr A Brown, about the current situation with nutrient neutrality. He referred to the recent Ministerial statement on the matter and the detailed briefing for members from the Planning Policy Manager. Despite this guidance, there was very little information on timescales. He asked, given that developers are going to have to fund their own scheme or pay into the national nutrient mitigation scheme, he wondered how this would impact on the viability of schemes – particularly affordable housing. Cllr Brown replied that there was now some constructive movement on nutrient neutrality. Over 100k properties were affected across the UK (one third of the annual target) and it was inevitably impacting on supply and demand and there was no doubt that fewer properties being built would affect viability and it remained a significant obstacle. It was recognised that only 12% of water courses currently met acceptable standards and that there was a lot of work to be done to identify and then purchase suitable land for the required mitigation schemes. This would take considerable time. Cllr Brown said that the Council would work with Royal Haskoning (the consultant appointed by the Norfolk local authorities) to continue to calculate where the most nutrient pressure was so that sites that were not so affected could be released. It was hoped that by September, some schemes could be released. 

Cllr S Penfold said that he welcomed the return of Greenbuild and the progress of the bus terminal / travel hub in North Walsham. Both were important schemes in helping the Council achieve its Net Zero target. He asked Cllr Seward, Portfolio Holder for Finance, whether he agreed that future Government and County plans to deliver on Net Zero, must include a rural transport strategy. Cllr Seward replied that he agreed. He said that main challenge faced by many rural communities across the country was one of isolation. Such communities were highly car dependent and those who did not have access to a car were impacted heavily. He said that the transport hub in North Walsham would become operational on 1^st August and would provide a safe and welcoming place to access buses. He concluded by saying that the scheme was an excellent example of councils at all levels working together.

Cllr E Spagnola said that she wished to ask Cllr V Gay, Portfolio Holder for Wellbeing, about the Carer Friendly Tick award, which the Council was working towards achieving. She asked if Cllr Gay could provide some examples of the benefits that had already been achieved with the Council seeking to embrace the five key standards of the scheme. Cllr Gay replied that the first benefit was that it had raised awareness throughout the Council. Secondly, there was an excellent officer working hard to achieve the standards. Thirdly, there was a draft policy that would be going through Joint Staff Consultative Committee in due course and other members would be welcome to attend this meeting.

Cllr T FitzPatrick asked Cllr Gay, Portfolio Holder for Leisure, about the opening times at the Sports Centre at Fakenham. He said that several residents in his ward had raised concerns with him that the stated opening times were not complied with and that on many occasions, the changing rooms were closed at least half an hour before the centre closed. He asked if Cllr Gay could investigate. She confirmed that she would.

Cllr E Withington asked Cllr L Shires, Portfolio Holder for Organisational Resources, about the Section 106 software and whether there was a planned update. Cllr Shires replied that it was scheduled for 4^th September and she thanked the Planning Team and the IT team for working together on ensuring that there was no slippage.

Cllr G Mancini-Boyle asked Cllr N Lloyd, Portfolio Holder for Environment, about the Council’s Net Zero Strategy and Action Plan and what work had been undertaken to date and approximate cost estimates. Cllr N Lloyd replied that the focus to date had been on ‘easy wins’ and some of these had been big achievements – such as the Reef which was one of the most environmentally friendly pools in the country. Moving forwards, there would be a focus on capital projects such as the solar car port at the Reef car park. He concluded by saying that there would not be a summary of costs but each project would be costed as they came forwards for consideration. He said that it would not be helpful to publish anticipated costs now as there were so many variables that could change – such as materials and energy costs, inflation and supply issues. 

Cllr H Blathwayt asked Cllr A Fitch-Tillett, Portfolio Holder for Coast about the coast between Sea Palling and Winterton and asked whether the Environment Agency about the standard of the concrete blocks that were being used for coastal protection. Cllr A Fitch-Tillett said that she had recently had a conversation with a supplier of environmentally-friendly concrete products and said that she agreed that this was an important avenue to explore further. She said that she would speak to officers involved with Coastal Partnership East (CPE) to see if they could investigate further.