COUNCIL Minutes of a meeting of North Norfolk District Council held on 23 July 2014 at the Council Offices, Holt Road, Cromer at 6.00 pm. Members Present: Mrs S A Arnold Mrs L Brettle Mr B Cabbell Manners Mrs A ClaussenReynolds Mrs H Cox Mr N D Dixon Mrs A M Fitch-Tillett Mr T FitzPatrick Ms V R Gay Mrs A Green Mrs P Grove-Jones Officers in Attendance: Mr P W High Mr T Ivory Mr J Lee Mr N Lloyd Mrs B McGoun Mrs A Moore Mr P W Moore Mr W J Northam Mr J Perry-Warnes Mr R Price Mr R Reynolds Mr E Seward Mr R Shepherd Mr N Smith Mr R Smith Mr R Stevens Mrs A Sweeney Mrs V Uprichard Mrs L Walker Mr S Ward Mr G Williams Mr P Williams Mr R Wright Mr D Young The Chief Executive, The Corporate Directors, the Monitoring Officer, the Head of Finance, the Head of Organisational Development and the Democratic Services Officer 37. PRAYERS The Chairman invited member and lay preacher Mrs B McGoun to lead prayers. 38. CHAIRMAN’S COMMUNICATIONS The Chairman stated his privilege at being able to attend the Big Society Awards at North Walsham, stating that he was very pleased so many members had attended. He commented that it was a very special night and wished to convey his formal congratulations to all winners and finalists. He also gave thanks to the staff who helped to organise the event, and to the EDP editor for his attendance. He explained that the vice-Chairman had recently attended the Lord Mayors procession on his behalf which she had found particularly enjoyable. The Chairman then passed on a number of dates of interest for members. On the 29th July a member briefing on the financial strategy and performance indicators was due to take place, and email about which had been circulated to members. He also mentioned the North Walsham Round Table Beer Festival which was due to take place on the 1st and 2nd of August with all proceeds going to charity. Finally he explained that to raise money for his two Chairman‟s charities, on the August Dress Down Day the Chairman, the Leader and the Chief Executive would be partaking in a charity event which he encouraged all members and staff to get involved in. 39. TO RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST FROM MEMBERS Member(s) Minute Item Interest Review of Discretionary Pension Policy Statements Pecuniary Interest: receives a LGPS pension. No. Mr P Moore Council 1 23 July 2014 40. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Mr M Baker, Mrs H Eales, Mr B Hannah, Mr G Jones, Mr R Oliver, Miss B Palmer, Mr J Punchard, Mr J Savory, Mr B Smith and Mr P Terrington. 41. MINUTES The minutes of the annual meeting of Council held on 24 June 2014 were approved as a correct record. 42. ITEMS OF URGENT BUSINESS None 43. PUBLIC QUESTIONS None 44. APPOINTMENTS It was proposed by Mr T FitzPatrick, seconded by Mr R Reynolds and RESOLVED To appoint Mrs H Cox as a substitute on the Big Society Fund Grants Panel 45. RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE CONSTITUTION WORKING PARTY 14 MAY 2014 MINUTE NO 6: REVIEW OF THE POLICY FRAMEWORK Mrs H Cox, Chairman of the Constitution Working Party introduced this item. She informed members that changes to the policy framework as detailed in the agenda were proposed to keep the constitution viable and up to date. RESOLVED To include the listed plans and strategies within the Policy Framework and that the constitution should be amended to reflect these changes 46. RECOMMENDATIONS FROM CABINET 07 JULY 2014 a) AGENDA ITEM 10: SUPERFAST BROADBAND The Leader introduced this item. He explained that the funding via Better Broadband for Norfolk (BBfN) would provide faster broadband speeds across north Norfolk, whilst the authorities‟ earmarked £1 million would provide faster speeds for the especially hard to reach areas in the district. He further explained the recommendation was an „in principle‟ agreement and funding would only be committed following BBfN‟s survey work and further details being provided to members. He explained that recommendation 3 had been completed following a presentation to the Overview and Scrutiny committee, so therefore proposed recommendations 1 and 2. Mr P Moore commented as Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny committee. He explained the committee had had a wide ranging debate, but one clear point had been that the funding would all be spent in north Norfolk and asked for the leader to guarantee this. Council 2 23 July 2014 Mrs A Moore commented that whilst she was in favour of better and faster broadband for north Norfolk, it would have been better for funding to be sourced from the capital budget as opposed to from revenue spending, as this would result in restricting the authority‟s cash flow. Mr P Williams asked for a guarantee that should the scheme for north Norfolk not work out as hoped that all funding would be returned to the authority. The Leader provided assurances that as written in recommendation number 2, that no funding would be committed until satisfactory analysis had been made of survey results, and no funding would be spent outside of north Norfolk. He explained this had been made clear at the meeting of Cabinet. The Leader proposed and Mr W Northam seconded. The Leader then called for a recorded vote which can be found at Minutes Appendix A and it was RESOLVED 1. That £1million is earmarked (in a reserve) from the current year balance and future year allocations return of the second homes council tax funding and unallocated New Homes Bonus. 2. That no commitment to spend this earmarked fund is made until the BBfN Programme has let the next call-off contract and this has been analysed by the District Council, the detail shared with Members and a recommendation made to Council. 47. RECOMMENDATIONS FROM OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE 16 JULY 2014 The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny committee had no recommendations but spoke to the meeting of Overview and Scrutiny on the 22 July. The meeting had been organised to discuss housing in the district and local housing associations had been invited to attend. He explained that he was very disappointed that Victory housing and Flagship housing had both cancelled their attendance at the last minute and hoped that they would be able to attend committee soon. 48. REVIEW OF DISCRETIONARY PENSION POLICY STATEMENTS The Leader introduced this item. He explained that the introduction of the new Local Government Pension Scheme from 1 April 2014 required all scheme employers to review their current discretionary policy statements and publish new statements. He further explained that the attached pension policy statement summarised the key changes and made a recommendation for the adoption of revised pension policy statements for the authority. He also explained that UNISON had been consulted on the changes and confirmed that they had no objection. The Leader proposed, Mr W Northam seconded and it was RESOLVED to approve The revised Pension Policy Statement. 49. TO RECEIVE THE APPROVED MINUTES OF THE UNDERMENTIONED COMMITTEES The minutes of the meetings below were noted as a correct record. a) b) c) Council Overview & Scrutiny Committee – 20 May 2014 Cabinet – 09 June 2014 Development Committee – 15 May 2014 3 23 July 2014 50. REPORTS FROM THE CABINET OR MEMBERS OF THE CABINET The Chairman invited members of the Cabinet to speak. Mr W Northam discussed a presentation he had attended in the previous week regarding dementia care in the district. He stated himself and the vice-Chairman, who had also been in attendance, had found it very informative and suggested it may be useful for the presentation to be provided to other district members. He commented he would pass the contact details on to the relevant officers. The Leader discussed changes to recycling and waste collection in the district, explaining that they were on target and new arrangements were in place. He explained that the advertising campaign would begin at Greenbuild in September ready for the roll out of the new system in October. Mr J Lee thanked members for their attendance at the Big Society Awards and brought to members‟ attention a card he had received from the parents of Craig Prior, one of the recipients of the “Outstanding Contribution by a Young Person to a Big Society Funded Project” award, thanking the Big Society Fund for recognising their son‟s hard work. Mr J Lee commented that it was humbling to receive the card and thanked officers for their exceptional hard work in their arranging of the evening. The Chairman reiterated Mr J Lee‟s remarks, commenting that following Craig Prior‟s passing in February, the award was a fitting tribute for such a hardworking and engaged young man. Mr W Northam then went on to discuss the Council Tax Support working party which had convened on the 15 July to discuss changes to the scheme. He explained he would keep members up to date with any changes to the scheme. At this point, the Chairman invited Mr R Price to speak. Mr R Price wished to convey his congratulations to Rev Canon David Court, former Vicar of Cromer, for his appointment as Bishop of Grimsby. He explained that as Vicar, Reverend Court had done excellent work in Cromer, encouraging attendance and involvement in the church. The Chairman agreed and members of the council gave their congratulations for his new appointment as Bishop of Grimsby and wished him well for the future. 51. NOTICE(S) OF MOTION None received. The meeting concluded at 6.29 pm. _________________________ Chairman Council 4 23 July 2014 Minutes Appendix A COUNCIL RECORDED VOTE FORM Motion: Superfast Broadband (Agenda Item 10) Date: 23 JULY 2014 For Arnold, Mrs S A Against Abst For X Abst Oliver, R Baker, M Palmer, B Brettle, L X Perry-Warnes, J H X Cabbell Manners, B X Price, R X ClaussenReynolds, A Cox, H X Punchard, J X Reynolds, R Dixon, N X Savory, J D Eales, H X Seward, E X X Fitch-Tillett, A X Shepherd, R FitzPatrick, T X Smith, B Gay, V R X Smith, N X Green, A R X Smith, R X Grove-Jones X Stevens, R X Sweeney, A C X Hannah, B J High, P W X Terrington, P Ivory, T X Uprichard, V X Jarvis, B Walker, L X Jones, G R Ward, S X Lee, J H A X Williams, G X Lloyd, N X Williams, P X McGoun, B M X Wright, R X Moore, A X Wyatt, J A X Moore, P W X Yiasimi, A Northam, W J X Young, D Council Against 1 X 23 July 2014