Agenda Item
7
FULL COUNCIL
Minutes of a meeting of North Norfolk District Council held on 18 April 2012 at the Council
Offices, Holt Road, Cromer at 6.00 pm.
Members Present:
Mrs S A Arnold
Mr M Baker
Mrs L Brettle
Mr B Cabbell Manners
Mrs A ClaussenReynolds
Mr N D Dixon
Mrs H Eales
Mrs A M Fitch-Tillett
Mr T FitzPatrick
Ms V Gay
Mrs A Green
Mrs P Grove-Jones
Mr B Hannah
Officers in
Attendance:
Also in
Attendance:
129.
Mr P W High
Mr B Jarvis
Mr K E Johnson
Mr G R Jones
Mr J H A Lee
Mrs A Moore
Mr P W Moore
Mr W J Northam
Mr R Oliver
Miss B Palmer
Mr J Perry-Warnes
Mr R Reynolds
Mr J D Savory
Mr E Seward
Mr R Shepherd
Mr B Smith
Mr N Smith
Mr R Smith
Mr R Stevens
Mrs A Sweeney
Mr P Terrington
Mrs H Thompson
Mrs V Uprichard
Mr S Ward
Mr G Williams
Mr R Wright
Mr J A Wyatt
The Chief Executive, the Corporate Directors, the Monitoring Officer, the
Organisational Development Manager, the Head of Planning & Building
Control, the Policy & Performance Management Officer, the Legal &
Democratic Services Manager, the Democratic Services Team Leader and
the Democratic Services Officer (ED)
The press – for minutes 129 - 146
MOTION WITHOUT NOTICE
Mr T FitzPatrick, Portfolio Holder for ICT and Democratic Services proposed the following
resolution: ‘that under Procedure Rule 14.1(n) of the Constitution, Rule 20.3 regarding the
switching off of mobile telephones and electronic equipment is suspended for the duration of
the meeting to allow Members to continue to use their tablets’.
RESOLVED
To accept the Motion
130.
CHAIRMAN’S COMMUNICATIONS
The Chairman welcomed Councillor N Smith back after his recent illness.
The Chairman explained that during his year of office he had been particularly frugal with the
budget available to him for fulfilling the duties associated with the role. He intended that any
residual funds in the Chairman’s Budget at the end of the year should be donated to charity.
He asked Members to endorse his request to donate the remaining money within his budget
for 2011/12 to the following nominated charities:
• Norfolk Air Ambulance
Full Council
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18 April 2012
CHAIRMAN’S COMMUNICATIONS
•
•
•
•
(Continued)
Magpas Air Ambulance
Norfolk Churches Trust
Royal Agricultural Benevolent Fund
BREAK
RESOLVED
To endorse the Chairman’s request to donate the money within the Chairman’s Budget for
2011/12, subject to any over/underspend to the nominated charities, as set out above.
131.
132.
TO RECEIVE DECLARATION OF INTERESTS FROM MEMBERS
Member(s)
Minute
No.
Item
Interest
Mr P W Moore
136
Introduction of fees for preapplication advice and ‘Do I
need planning permission?’
enquiries
Personal and nonprejudicial – as a
practising planner
Mrs A Moore
136
Introduction of fees for preapplication advice and ‘Do I
need planning permission?’
enquiries
Personal and nonprejudicial – as a
practising planner
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Mr T Ivory, Mr N Lloyd, Mrs B McGoun, Mr J
Punchard, Mrs L Walker and Mr D Young.
133.
MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting of Full Council held on 22 February 2012 were approved as a
correct record. Mr M J M Baker said that he had not received a response from the Leader
regarding the amount of Council Tax arrears and the plans for recovery of these arrears, as
recorded in Minute 119.
134.
ITEMS OF URGENT BUSINESS
None received.
135.
PUBLIC QUESTIONS
None received
136.
APPOINTMENTS
a) MR S WARD TO REPLACE MR J PUNCHARD ON THE AUDIT COMMITTEE
RESOLVED
To appoint Mr S Ward to replace Mr J Punchard on the Audit Committee.
Full Council
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18 April 2012
APPOINTMENTS
(Continued)
b) APPOINTMENT OF MS B PALMER AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE REVENUES AND
BENEFITS PARTNERSHIP COMMITTEE
RESOLVED
To appoint Ms B Palmer as a substitute for the Revenues and Benefits Partnership
Committee
136.
RECOMMENDATIONS FROM CABINET 12 MARCH 2012
The Chairman informed Members that Minute 104 and Item 12 would be taken together.
Mr K Johnson, Portfolio Holder for Planning said that since this item had been reported to the
Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 28 March 2012, further responses to the consultation
had been received from developers. All the consultation responses supported the principle of
pre-application discussions; however, there were divergent views as to the most appropriate
means of pre-application engagement. Taking the responses into consideration, together with
the input of officers, it was proposed that in order to mitigate the impact on the delivery of
major schemes and to encourage developers to progress their schemes to formal application
stage, that for major applications half of the pre-application fee be used to offset the statutory
fee payable at application stage.
Mr E Seward, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee said that the Committee
supported the recommendations but wanted to ensure that there were sufficient resources
within the planning department to deliver them effectively. The Overview and Scrutiny
Committee would therefore review the scheme in January 2013.
Mr M J M Baker was concerned that the Council saw developers as a source of revenue and
that was short-sighted as they generated wealth and jobs for the district. He believed that the
level of fees to developers would soon rise and that in the long term more staff would be
required.
MINUTE 104: INTRODUCTION OF FEES FOR PRE-APPLICATION ADVICE AND ‘DO I
NEED PLANNING PERMISSION?’ ENQUIRIES?
RESOLVED
To adopt the proposals as outlined in the report with effect from 1 May 2012, subject, in the
case of major applications, to half of the fees paid at pre-application stage being used to offset
the formal application fee.
Mr M J M Baker voted against the proposal
Mr P W Moore and Mrs A Moore abstained.
MINUTE 105: NORTH NORFOLK DISTRICT COUNCIL TENANCY STRATEGY
Mr E Seward, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee said that the Committee
endorsed the Tenancy Strategy. They had sought assurances that no tenant would be forced
to move as a result of the Strategy. He asked the Portfolio Holder for Strategic Housing to
notify Members when Victory Housing Trust had reached a decision on introducing fixed-term
tenancies.
RESOLVED
To adopt the North Norfolk District Council Tenancy Strategy
Full Council
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18 April 2012
137.
RECOMMENDATION FROM CABINET 16 APRIL 2012
FIRST ANNUAL ACTION PLAN
The Chairman advised Members that this item would be taken together with Agenda items 10
and 11:
1. RECOMMENDATION FROM AN EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF THE OVERVIEW
AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE 17 APRIL 2012 - FIRST ANNUAL ACTION PLAN
2. ANNUAL ACTION PLAN 2012-13
The Leader introduced the Annual Action Plan. She said that it had been through a period of
consultation with parish and town councils and other local bodies and changes had been
made to reflect their input. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee had also responded to the
Annual Action Plan and proposed several amendments. The Cabinet’s response to these
amendments is attached at Minutes Appendix A.
The Leader explained that the Annual Action Plan would be delivered by the Performance
Management Framework. It was intended that as the first Plan was implemented lessons
would be learnt on the most effective way to take forward the next Annual Action Plan.
A Member asked for clarification regarding the targets that would be applied to the Annual
Action Plan. The Leader said that they would be included within the Performance
Management Framework.
Mr G Williams acknowledged that Cabinet had adjusted the Plan to incorporate the
amendments suggested by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee but said that his party did
not support the Corporate Plan and would therefore not support the implementation of the
Annual Action Plan.
RESOLVED
to adopt the Annual Action Plan 2012-13
138.
A POLICY POSITION ON SECTION 106 FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS ASSOCIATED
WITH RETAIL DEVELOPMENTS
Mr K Johnson, Portfolio Holder for Planning introduced this item. He explained that the Council
had no policy regarding Section106 contributions from new retail developments in the District.
Recently there had been an increase in the number of applications for new retail
developments and the Council therefore needed to agree an interim policy position in respect
of such proposals as a matter of priority.
Mr P. Terrington, Local Member for Priory Ward asked whether there would be scope in the
future for extending the policy to include other commercial developments. The Portfolio Holder
replied that this was a possibility and would be the subject of future debate.
Ms V Gay, Local Member for North Walsham West, welcomed the proposal and emphasised
the importance for residents of North Walsham that the right approach was taken as there
were two new applications for large retail developments within the town.
RESOLVED
To request the Cabinet to explore the policy options available to the Council in seeking to
secure Section 106 contributions from new retail proposals at its meeting of 14 May 2012 and
draft an interim policy for debate and endorsement by Full Council at its meeting of 30 May
2012.
Full Council
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18 April 2012
139.
CONSTITUTION WORKING PARTY
Mrs Hilary Thompson, Chairman of the Constitution Working Party introduced this item.
She outlined the proposed amendments to the current Constitution and advised Members that
some of the changes would need to be reviewed after the Senior Management restructure had
been completed. There were also some provisions that were deferred pending the publication
of relevant regulations and guidance.
Mr P Moore referred to the amendment to Paragraph 20.3 regarding the use of telephones
and electronic equipment. He said that he supported the use of electronic tablets and laptops
during committee meetings but sought reassurance that Members could not communicate via
email to each other during a meeting.
Mr R Smith also supported that amendment to Paragraph 20.3 but felt that there was not a
sufficient use of plain English and there was still the likelihood that members would
misunderstand this provision.
RESOLVED to
(i) approve the Constitution amendments and actions proposed in Appendix C;
(ii) note the provisions within the Constitution that will be reviewed after the management
restructure is completed, to be reported to the Council for approval at a later meeting
(Appendix D);
(iii) note those provisions within the Constitution where amendments or updates stand
deferred pending publication of relevant regulations and guidance (Appendix D);
note those provisions within the Constitution that are to be referred for review by the
relevant committees and/ or officers before amendments or updates are considered by the
Constitution Working Party (Appendix D).
140.
SENIOR MANAGEMENT RESTRUCTURE
The Chief Executive presented this item. She explained that this was the second phase of the
Senior Management Team review, following the restructure of the Corporate Management
Team in January 2012. The report updated Members on this second phase and presented a
revised senior management structure for the Council together with new working arrangements.
The second phase of the management restructure had been undertaken by the Corporate
Leadership Team (CLT) after consultation with the Cabinet. The Corporate Leadership team
had reflected on the responses received during the consultation period with the managers
directly affected and shaped the final proposed structure accordingly. CLT had also taken
external HR advice from the Head of Employers Services at the East of England Local
Government Association on the proposed selection and recruitment process. It was hoped that
compulsory redundancies would be avoided.
Members discussed the report:
1. Mr G Jones asked whether there would be any voluntary redundancies as a result of the
Senior Management restructure. The Chief Executive said that requests for voluntary
redundancy would be considered as part of the selection process but that a business case
would need to be made.
2. There was a concern that skilled staff could be lost and the quality of service could be
adversely affected by the restructure. The Chief Executive said that CLT was very clear
about the competencies they were seeking. The proposed structure would give the new
Heads of Service more flexibility and provide a more cohesive way of working. In response
Full Council
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18 April 2012
SENIOR MANAGEMENT RESTRUCTURE
(Continued)
to a further question regarding the cost implications, she said that she could not be certain
as there may be further change within the individual teams once the new Heads of Service
were appointed. She did confirm that the changes would deliver in excess of £150,000 of
savings.
3. Mr E Seward was concerned that the proposal to create a team combining economic
development with arts did not seem to include sufficient focus on regeneration – a key aim
of the Corporate Plan. The Chief Executive replied that this was the area that was subject
to the most change and that succession planning was very important. She acknowledged
that there may be a need for additional resources or training and reminded Members that
£70,000 had been allocated to support jobs and the local economy. She added that the
restructure was not about making savings but about directing resources to priority areas.
4. Mr P W Moore asked why community planning had been separated from development
management. The Chief Executive explained that the intention was to bring housing and
economic development into the same service area. She added that development
management was subsidised by the taxpayer and was more of a trading unit than
community planning.
5. Mr G Williams commented that Localism would have a significant impact on the Council
and its work in the future and there would need to be greater support to outside bodies and
to local Members. The Chief Executive said that this was reflected by grouping community
planning, economic development and the community fund into one service area.
RESOLVED to
endorse the revised management structure as proposed along with the newly defined senior
management roles and note the process to be followed in respect of recruitment and retention.
141.
TO RECEIVE THE MINUTES OF THE UNDERMENTIONED COMMITTEES
RESOLVED
To receive the approved minutes of the undermentioned committees:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
142.
Licensing and Appeals Committee – 14 November 2011
Audit Committee – 6 December 2011
Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 25 January 2012
Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 31 January 2012
Cabinet – 6 February 2012
Development Committee – 9 February 2012
Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 15 February 2012
Development Committee – 8 March 2012
REPORTS FROM THE CABINET OR MEMBERS OF THE CABINET
Mr T FitzPatrick, Portfolio Holder for Customer Services informed Members of the success of
English Tourism week in March 2012. The Cromer Tourist Information Centre had held a
series of events and they had all been very successful and there had been a lot of positive
feedback. He thanked Jane Wisson, Customer Services Team Leader and her staff for their
commitment and hard work.
Full Council
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18 April 2012
143.
QUESTIONS RECEIVED FROM MEMBERS
Three questions had been submitted by Members, one from Mr E Seward and two from Mr G
Jones. The questions are attached at Minutes Appendix B.
In response to Mr E Seward’s question regarding the recent disruption to the Garden Bin
collection service, Mr J Lee, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services, said that the decision
to suspend the service had been necessary to ensure that the waste and recycling collection
services were not affected. He apologised to customers for the inconvenience caused and
explained that residents had been kept informed. The Council was working with Kier to
improve the resilience of fuel supply in the future including the possibility of siting storage
tanks at the depot. Mr E Seward welcomed the review of the service. He said his main
concern was the number of bins left outside properties. In future it might be preferable to
leaflet the properties that were likely to be affected.
The Leader responded to the two questions from Mr G Jones. Regarding the publication of the
Council’s magazine, Outlook, she said that the Cabinet had discussed the issues raised with
the Chief Executive and they had received legal advice which indicated that the Code of
Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity had not been breached. She added that
the Cabinet had agreed some changes to the future publication of the magazine and they
would ensure that the Code was upheld at all times. Mr G Jones said that he intended to make
a complaint to the Standards Committee regarding this issue.
In response to the second question from Mr G Jones, regarding the provision of media
training, the Leader said that she accepted points 1 to 4 of the question submitted and that she
would ask the Chief Executive to assist with responding to point 5 on the cost of the training
provided. The Chief Executive confirmed that there was a separate staff training budget and
that it covered two areas – corporate training and continual professional development (CPD).
In response to a further question from the Leader as to whether staff salaries were added on
to the cost of the training, the Chief Executive said that when budgeting for staff training, only
the cost of the training provision was taken into account and overheads including salaries were
not included.
The Chairman reminded Members that there was no opportunity to debate the issue.
Mr P W Moore raised a point of order regarding Mr G Jones’ stated intention to make a
complaint to the Standards Committee. He felt that the issue should not have been raised
during an open meeting and that District Members of the Standards Committee were now
compromised. The Monitoring Officer said that he would need to see the complaint before
deciding whether the Standards Committee would be able to consider it.
144.
OPPOSITION BUSINESS
None received.
145.
NOTICE(S) OF MOTION
None received.
146.
LIST OF SEALED DOCUMENTS
RESOLVED that
the list of sealed documents be received.
Full Council
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18 April 2012
147.
EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC
RESOLVED
“That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be
excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that they
involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 4 of Part 1 of
Schedule 12A (as amended) to the Act.”
148.
PAY AND GRADING
The Chairman advised representatives from UNISON that they could stay for this item but they
could not take part in the debate or comment on any of the points raised.
Mr K Johnson, Portfolio Holder for Organisational Development introduced this item. He
reminded Members that a report was submitted to the Council on 19th October
2012recommending that a revised process for implementation be approved. Council approved
a statutory 90 day consultation with employees on the option to dismiss and re-engage the
workforce to implement the proposed pay and grading model. The consultation was also
opened up again on the model itself.
The consultation did not result in the identification of an alternative to dismissal and reengagement but did result in changes to the model. Following a request from UNISON to
check that the market data underpinning Model A was still current, an alternative updated
Model (B) was put forward. More staff would be positively impacted by Model B but there
would be 16 people who would be adversely impacted, 14 of which were already adversely
impacted under Model A. The Portfolio Holder explained that the draft report had been
discussed at Joint Staff Consultative Committee and UNISON had requested that some
comments made at that meeting should be brought to the attention of Members. UNISON had
also submitted additional comments prior to the meeting of Full Council.
The Portfolio Holder concluded by informing Members that National / Regional UNISON had
not agreed to the proposed Model A or the updated market adjusted Model B and that the
Council needed to undertake a process to seek agreement to vary contracts of employment or
in the event that employees did not agree, to undertake a dismissal and re-engagement
exercise to implement a new pay model. He advised Members that the recommendations were
as follows:
1. That in the view of the up to date market testing the recommendation is that the Council
adopts Model B as the new pay model
2. That Council confirm that the pay protection period is not extended further given that no
staff will receive a reduction in salary until October 2012. Pay protection commenced in
April 2009 and ran until March 2012. The period until October 2012 is to allow for
additional contractual protection arising from the method of implementing the pay review.
3. To approve a review to the pay policy statement to reflect any changes agreed in the new
pay model.
4. That the Chief Executive is given delegated powers to review and respond to any element
of pay inequity which may arise from implementation of Model B
5. That the Council agrees to embark on a process of dismissal and re-engagement to
implement the Council’s pay and grading review including giving employees the
opportunity to individually vary their employment contracts during the 4 week period set out
in Appendix C.
The Portfolio thanked the Members of the Pay and Grading group and local UNISON
representatives and extended particular gratitude to the Organisational Development Manager
and the Chief Executive.
Full Council
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18 April 2012
PAY AND GRADING
(Continued)
Members discussed the report:
a) A concern was expressed that several members of staff would suffer considerably and
clarification was sought regarding the number of staff losing pay. The Organisational
Development Manager confirmed that 7 staff would lose up to £1000 a year, 42 would lose
between £1000 to £3000, 23 would lose between £3000 and £5000 and 5 members of
staff would lose in excess of £5000 a year. This was based on pay alone and did not
include car allowances or other benefits.
a) Mr P High proposed an amendment to the recommendation on the pay protection period.
He said that staff had not received a letter informing them of the decision regarding their
new pay grade until 1st November 2010 and therefore this date should be taken as the
start of the three year pay protection period. Mr P W Moore seconded the amendment,
adding that it would allow the staff adversely affected by the Pay and Grading review to
reassess their future. Mr M J M Baker said that the letter had been sent to staff prior to the
economic downturn and that the Council’s financial situation had changed considerably.
He added that the private sector was also suffering.
The amendment was put to the vote but was declared lost.
RESOLVED
1. To adopt Model B as the new pay model
2. That Council confirm that the pay protection period is not extended further given that no
staff will receive a reduction in salary until October 2012. Pay protection commenced in
April 2009 and ran until March 2012. The period until October 2012 is to allow for
additional contractual protection arising from the method of implementing the pay review.
3. To approve a review to the pay policy statement to reflect any changes agreed in the new
pay model.
4. That the Chief Executive is given delegated powers to review and respond to any element
of pay inequity which may arise from implementation of Model B
5. That the Council agrees to embark on a process of dismissal and re-engagement to
implement the Council’s pay and grading review including giving employees the
opportunity to individually vary their employment contracts during the 4 week period set out
in Appendix C.
The meeting concluded at 7.06 pm.
____
Chairman
Full Council
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18 April 2012