There were no apologies for absence given at the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest given at the meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 November 2019 were confirmed.

There were no matters arising from the above minutes.

The Committee received and considered the Forward Plan.

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee note & agree the Forward Plan.

The Head of Customer Services reported the salient areas of her report which detailed the project to implement a number of electric vehicle charge points across Council owned car parks in the Borough.

The Chairman asked for clarification as to whether the charging points would be installed in King Street or Greyfriars staff  car park. The Head of Customer Services confirmed that Greyfriars staff car park formed part of Phase 1, and that if further funding was secured, King Street car park would feature in Phase 2.

Councillor Candon asked whether it was free to park whilst using the electric charging point at Fullers Hill.  The Head of Customer Services reported that it was free to park whilst using the charging point, after 4 pm and overnight. However, this parking area would need appropriate signage and be "spot checked" regularly throughout the day to ensure that this was not misused.

Councillor Freeman asked how visitors would be able to locate the electric charging points in the Town Centre. The Head of Customer Services reported that an app was available called "Zap Maps" which listed this information.

Councillor Wainwright reported that he thought it was too ambitious for the Government to legislate that all new cars built from 2035 would need to be electric as this would require 4000 charging points a day to be installed across the country in the intervening period which was not feasible.

RESOLVED:-

(i) That the Committee note the progress and success of the Council's application to the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV),

(ii) That the Committee endorse the planned implementation of Electric Vehicle Charge Points within the identified Council owned car parks; and 

(iii) That the Committee approve the next steps as outlined in section 6 of the report.

The Head of Inward Investment presented the salient points of the Economic Growth Strategy (2020-2025) and supplementary Action Plan to the Committee.

The Strategy & Action Plan had been developed through a review of exisitng documents, policies and commissioned studies, together with drawing upon the Council's Corporate Plan & Annual Action Plan.

The Head of Inward Investment reported that the strategy identified and addressed key economic opportunities and challenged and set out a range of priority actions that were being, or would be, delivered under the "strong & growing economy" strategic priority area of the Corporate Plan.

Councillor Wainwright reiterated the need for the Council to intervene to convert greater numbers of planning permissions into developed out areas. The Chief Executive Officer reported that the Housing Director was preparing a report on this issue for the Housing & Neighbourhoods Committee to bring options forward to assist in unlocking some of these sites.

Councillor Wainwright reported that it was difficult for agencies to get into schools to inform pupils about what career opportunities were available to them in the Borough, for example, in the offshore wind industry, as schools were geared to achieving academic excellence above all else. The Chief Executive Officer agreed that this was a difficult area and work was being undertaken with partners, for example, East Coast College and UEA, to identify the complete picture to ensure inclusive growth and an inclusive economy for all ages within the Borough.

The Chairman reported that he was pleased that KPI's and outcomes would be reported to the Committee on a quarterly basis.

Councillor A Wright reported his concerns regarding the lack of "local content in contracts". The Chief Executive Officer reported that this had highlighted a missing action from the action plan, that of procurement policy & social value. This inclusion could influence the Tier 1 Policy - Supply Chain opportunities.

Councillor Wainwright asked for clarification regarding the Economic Reference Group and whether there would be any Member involvement . The Head of Inward Investment reported that this body had not been set up yet. Councillor Wainwright also requested that the new Marketing & Business Development Manager attend a future Committee meeting to be introduced to members.

Councillor Wainwright asked whether there had been any positive outcomes from the conference held with Peel Ports in October 2019. The Regeneration & Funding Manager reported that he was aware that conversations between parties brought together at that event had been ongoing but that these would be commercially sensitive in nature.

The Chairman reported that the dualling of the Acle Straight had been reported as missing from the current RIS 2 programme. County officers had updated the business case and the refreshed document had been presented back to Government.

RESOLVED:-

(i) That the Committee received and approved the Economic Growth Strategy and supplementary Action Plan,

(ii) That the Committee agreed that the Action Plan was a "living document" and was refreshed and reported against on a quarterly basis to the Economic Development Committee; and

(iii) That an additional action for procurement and local content/social value be included in the Action Plan.

The Chairman reported that there was no other business being of sufficient urgency to warrant consideration at the meeting.

RESOLVED:-

That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part I of Schedule 12(A) of the said Act.