CABINET
Minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on Monday 16 July 2012 at the Council
Offices, Holt Road, Cromer at 10.00am.
Members Present:
Mrs A Fitch-Tillett
Mr J Lee
Mr T FitzPatrick (Chairman) Mr W Northam
Also attending:
Mrs L Brettle
Mrs A Claussen-Reynolds
Mrs H Eales
Ms V Gay
Mrs P Grove-Jones
Mr P High
Mr G Jones
Mrs A Moore
Mr P W Moore
Officers in
Attendance:
Also in
Attendance:
25.
Ms B Palmer
Mr J Perry-Warnes
Mr R Reynolds
Mr B Smith
Mr N Smith
Mrs H Thompson
Mr G Williams
Mr D Young
The Chief Executive, Corporate Director (N. Baker), Corporate
Director (S. Blatch) the Coastal Engineer (for item 31) the Revenues
and Benefits Manager (for item 32)
The press
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Mr T Ivory and Mr K Johnson
26.
MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting held on 11 June 2012 were confirmed as a correct record
and signed by the Chairman after the following amendments had been agreed:
a) Minute 20 Annual Treasury Management Report for 2011/12 and Strategy
Update for 2012/13, item 3, page 4, to change to: ‘Mr P W Moore asked for
clarification on the figure invested of £105,410’ to ‘Mr P W Moore asked for
clarification on the figure invested of £105,410 million’
b) Minute 23 The Big Society Fund, item e, page 7, to change ‘Mr G Williams said
that as a member of the Big Society Fund Board, he agreed that it was important
to be consistent with applications’ to ‘Mr G Williams said that he agreed that it
was important to be consistent with applications’.
Mr P W Moore referred to Minute 24, North Walsham Sports Centre Joint User
Agreement which explained that the item was deferred to allow further consultation
with local members. He asked for an update regarding progress. Mr J Lee, Portfolio
Holder for Leisure and Cultural Services explained that at a recent meeting of the
school governors there had been agreement to move forward with the proposal. Mr
N Baker, Corporate Director, added that local Members had been copied into a letter
that had been sent out prior to that meeting. It was agreed that they would be kept
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16 July 2012
informed of further developments as they happened. Mr G Jones asked that
Members in adjacent wards should also be included in the consultation process.
The Chief Executive advised Members that the process would be outlined in terms of
key stakeholders and local members. There was a clear direction now and they
would be kept fully informed of progress.
27.
PUBLIC QUESTIONS
None
28.
ITEMS OF URGENT BUSINESS
There were two items of urgent business relating to the Sheringham Skate Park and
the Wells Maltings Trust.:
Sheringham Skate Park
Mr W J Northam, Portfolio Holder for Financial Services explained that the
Sheringham Skate Club had recently been awarded a £10,000 grant from the Big
Society Fund towards phase 2 of the project. Funding from Sport England had been
secured but was dependent on match funding from other sources. There remained a
funding gap of £20,000 and in order to enable the project to come to fruition, it was
recommended that the Council made a capital contribution to the scheme of £20,000,
to be funded from the reserved capital receipts held from the disposal of the
Lockerbie flats. The contribution would be dependent on upon securing match
funding from Sport England.
This item was urgent as it was dependent on securing match funding and the next
scheduled Cabinet meeting would not take place until September 2012.
Members were invited to ask questions:
1. Mr R Oliver spoke on behalf of local members and said that the scheme had the
full support of the Town Council and local residents.
2. Mr G Jones asked what had prompted Cabinet to make the decision to offer
additional funding for the scheme. The Deputy Leader said that the initial
application to the Big Society Fund had been for £30,000 and despite a grant of
£10,000 from the Fund, there was still a considerable shortfall. The level of
support for the scheme within the town had indicated that it was a much needed
local resource.
3. Mr G Williams welcomed the additional funding but said that he felt it could have
been dealt with more efficiently.
RESOLVED
To approve funding of £20,000 for the Sheringham Skate Park from capital receipts
(subject to conditions)
Wells Maltings Trust
The Deputy Leader introduced this item. He explained that at the Cabinet meeting
held on 11th June 2012, it was agreed to defer an application to the Big Society Fund
from the Wells Maltings Trust to allow further discussion with the Trust and to ensure
that any award would take into account the support already provided by the Council
and the future needs of the scheme. An urgent decision regarding funding was now
Cabinet
16 July 2012
required in order for the match funding from other sources to be secured (some of
which required a decision by the end of July 2012).
Ms V Gay said that she supported the additional funding for the scheme but was
concerned that a similar situation could occur in the future. She sought clarification
regarding an appeals process for applications to the Big Society Fund. The Chief
Executive said that there was no appeals process for grants made by the Big Society
Fund. In this particular case, as the award was in excess of £10,000 it was a Cabinet
decision and could be subject to call-in by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
RESOLVED
To approve grant funding of £38,000 to the Wells Maltings Trust from the Big Society
Fund (subject to conditions)
29.
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
None
30.
JOINT STAFF CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE
RESOLVED that
the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Staff Consultative Committee held on 26
March 2012 be received.
31.
CROMER COAST PROTECTION STRATEGY
Mrs A Fitch-Tillett, Portfolio Holder for Coastal issues introduced this item. She
explained that the Cromer Coast Protection Strategy had now reached the stage
where there was a need to appoint a consultant to draw up the scheme and the
appointment process for the main contractors. The appointment would be subject to
securing all statutory consents and the final approval of the Environment Agency.
Once this was in place, the Council would instruct URS Consultants to implement a
procurement process for the main contractor.
RESOLVED
1. To delegate the appointment of URS Consultants to the Chief Executive subject to
a) the approval by the Environment Agency of the Project Appraisal Report;
b) the approval by the Environment Agency of Flood Defence Grant in Aid;
c) securing all statutory consents.
2. Subject to 1 above to instruct URS to implement a procurement process for the
main contractor in accordance with the Council’s Standing Orders and European
tendering procedures
32.
LOCALISATION OF COUNCIL TAX SUPPORT
Mr W Northam, Portfolio Holder for Financial Services, introduced this item. He
explained that the Government required councils to consult on their draft scheme for
council tax support during the summer so that a final scheme could be adopted by
Council by January 2013, and in operation from April 2013.
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16 July 2012
Mr W Northam warned that the scheme would be required to replicate as far as
possible the existing provisions under which pensioner eligibility for council tax
benefit was assessed. Based on current claimant data it was estimated that
approximately 62% of the total benefit entitlement was to those of pension age. He
stressed that it was very important to get the scheme right as a lot of people would
be affected by the changes and there would be an impact on staff and their workload.
It was recommended that a politically balanced working party was established to
consider options for a local scheme.
Members discussed the report:
a) Mr G Jones asked whether alternative sources of funding had been considered.
He was concerned that the most vulnerable residents would be hit. He urged the
Working Party to approach the Government and emphasise that North Norfolk
was being unfairly penalised due to demographics. Mr W Northam replied that the
scheme was intended to incentivise people to find work and that despite being a
government initiative; the council would have to deal with any problems arising
from the scheme. The Deputy Leader added that a briefing paper had been
prepared for local MPs and this indicated the level of concern about the
proposals.
b) Ms V Gay referred to the consultation response from the Norfolk councils. She
said that the objectives appeared to be at odds in that the scheme would remove
people from the economy whilst aiming to incentivise work. She added that the
timescales appeared to be inadequate and asked if the Council still agreed with
this view. The Chief Executive said that the timescales were not ideal and there
were concerns but there was no choice regarding implementation. She added
that there were some changes relating to additional funding and the Working
Party would be allowed some discretion regarding the criteria for council tax
discounts.
c) Mr E Seward asked whether it would be possible for the Working Party to
consider whether the scheme would incentivise work. The Chief Executive replied
that the rationale was that it was no longer a benefit and that it would be classed
as a discount in future and consequently, there was the discretion to set up a
localised scheme. However, this meant that it was possible that the Council could
operate a scheme that was different to those of the other Norfolk councils.
d) Mr G Jones said that he was concerned that government ministers believed that
the introduction of a localised scheme would have a positive impact on North
Norfolk due to second homes income.
e) Ms V Gay informed Members that the Revenues and Benefits Services manager
would provide figures on current claimants for Council tax Benefit for individual
wards.
The Revenues and Benefits Services Manager reiterated that the scheme would
have to be implemented within the proposed timescale. The Council would work with
other local authorities to ensure that the process for modelling was not duplicated.
RESOLVED
1. To establish a politically balanced working party to consider options for a local
scheme and to delegate appointments to the working party to the Group Leaders.
2. That the Chief Financial Officer in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holder
and Leader be given Delegated Authority to determine the consultation process and
draft scheme.
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16 July 2012
3. To publish a draft council tax support scheme for consultation, in order to meet the
statutory timetable to approve a final scheme before the end of January 2013 and to
model the affordability as part of the Councils medium term financial planning.
4. That delegated authority be given to the Chief Financial Officer (as outlined at 4.8)
to release funding from the benefits earmarked reserve up to £30,000 for the
implementation.
33.
POSITION STATEMENT ON THE FORMER RAF COLTISHALL SITE
The Deputy Leader introduced this item. He informed Members that the report
outlined Norfolk County Council’s proposed purchase of the former RAF Coltishall
site and detailed the current position of the District Council regarding the future use
of the asset and the designation of the asset as a conservation area. The report
concluded by welcoming the proposal by the County Council to establish a
Community Liaison Reference Group to support the development of a new
masterplan for the future use of the site.
Members discussed the report:
a) Mr G Williams was concerned that parishes to the north of the site were excluded
from having an input into the Community Liaison Reference Group. When the
County Council had been challenged on this they had refused to explain why. He
requested that the Leader formally write to the County Council to express
concern that these parishes were excluded. The Deputy Leader agreed that the
matter would be pursued.
b) Mr G Jones said that County Council had no business plan in place for the site
and this should be taken into consideration during any discussions.
c) Mr P W Moore commented that he was very concerned about the possibility of
under-representation on the Community Liaison Reference Group.
RESOLVED to
Confirm the current position of the District Council with respect to the asset
in terms of the prevailing planning policies covering the site and outline the
engagement it wishes to have with the County Council in the future
development of plans for the site.
RECOMMENDED to Full Council
That Full Council endorses the nomination of Councillors FitzPatrick and
Ivory as the Council’s representatives on the Former RAF Coltishall
Community Liaison Reference Group
The Meeting closed at 10.48am
_______________
Chairman
Cabinet
16 July 2012