Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Hacon.

Councillor Bensly declared a personal interest in item 13 as he is a Ward Councillor.

Councillor P Carpenter declared a personal interest in item 12 as she is a Ward Councillor.

Councillor Fairhead declared a personal interest in item 14 as she is a member of GYPT and that she would leave the meeting during the determination of the item.

Councillor Freeman declared a personal interest in item 14 as he is a member of the GYPT and would leave the meeting during the determination of the item.

Councillor Galer declared a personal interest in item 13 as he is a Ward Councillor.

Councillor Hanton declared a personal interest in item 9 as he is the Chair of GY Community Safety Partnership.

Councillor Price declared a personal interest on item 14 as he is a member of the GYPT and would leave the room during the determination of this item.

Councillor Williamson declared a personal interest in item 14 as he was the Chair of the GYPT and would leave the room during the determination of this item.

Councillor Wells declared a personal interest in item 11 as his step-brother was a former employee of the LTA, item s 14 & 15 as he is a director of GYPT and GYBS and would leave the room during the determination of these items.

However, in accordance with the Council's Constitution are allowed to both speak and vote on the items.

His Worship, The Mayor, wished his thanks to be noted for the Mayor's Reception which had been hosted by the Hirst family in Ormesby and which had been well received by all who had attended.

His Worship, The Mayor, reminded Council that the Remembrance Service would take place on Sunday 11 November 2022 at St. Georges Park.

His Worship, The Mayor, thanked James Goffin, Media & Communications Manager, for all his hard work and commitment to the Council as he was leaving the authority and wished him well for the future.

His Worship, The Mayor, informed Council that there were no urgent items of business to consider this evening.

The minutes of the meeting for the meeting held on 21 July 2022 were confirmed.

Proposer: Councillor Smith

Seconder: Councillor Candon

CARRIED

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 September 2022 were confirmed.

Proposer: Councillor Smith

Seconder: Councillor Candon

CARRIED

Council received and considered the Service Committee Decision List which was presented by the Leader.

Proposer: Councillor Smith

Seconder: Councillor Candon

CARRIED

The Leader presented the treasury management activity for the 2021/22 financial year which included:-

• the overall treasury position,
• the borrowing requirement and debt; and
• the borrowing outturn for the year.

The treasury management strategy for 2021/22 was approved by Council in February 2021 and this report provided the detail of treasury activity for the previous financial year and performance against the indicators set within the TMS.

As at 31 March 2022, the Authority had net borrowing of just over £85m arising from its revenue and capital income and expenditure. This was made up of £135m of loans, which was only slightly increased from the 31 March 2021 and investments stood at just under £50m at the end of 2022, up the previous financial year due to the timing of cash received.

The report also included the performance compared to the indicators set within the TMS set out in section 7, for which one of the limits was exceeded. Although this was due to higher retained cash balances than anticipated from grant monies being received ahead of being paid out and leading to a higher level of funds being placed in the Money Market Funds as the most appropriate course of action.

Proposer: Councillor Smith

Seconder: Councillor Candon

That Council approve the Treasury Management Outturn Report & Indicators for 2021/22.

CARRIED.

The Leader reported that this report had been presented to P & R Committee earlier this month and provided the in-year financial monitoring position as at the end of July.

The detail of the report highlighted the more significant variances and those anticipated to have a full year impact.

Like all LA's, we were facing increased in-year cost pressures from inflationary increases to contracts above the level budgeted, increased utility prices and the impact of changes to the bank base rate, will in turn, have an impact to the current and future budgets.

This was impacting on all areas of the councils spend for day-to-day revenue expenditure as well as the significant programme of capital projects that were underway.

The forecast for the current year, at the end of July, was a projected deficit of £605k for the general fund. We already know that this position had moved on based on the latest forecasts for pay awards and utility costs and officers would be working on updating the position for the current year and what this means for the future budgets over the coming weeks to inform the update to the MTFS.

The report also included an update for the capital programme which was the reason for the recommendation to Council this evening. This was in relation to the market Place and the O & M Campus at South Denes, as detailed in section 4 of the report.

The Council was currently experiencing increased construction and material costs across a number of its capital projects, mainly due to inflationary pressures. Whilst committed capital projects were potentially at less risk (depending on the contract), those projects at the planning development stage were at greater risk as the project budgets were yet to be fully costed.

The contingency within projected budgets remain under regular review, in addition, a £2.5m centralised major capital projects contingency was approved earlier in the year and this will be reviewed in line with the wider capital programme.

The overall position for 2022/23 would continue to be monitored over the coming weeks and would be reported to Members accordingly.

Proposer: Councillor Smith

Seconder: Councillor Candon

That Council note the content of the report and the revised forecast for the General Fund for 2022/23 and approve the updated Capital Programme as outlined in the report at paragraphs 4.4 to 4.6, in relation to the Market Place and Operations & Maintenance project contributions.

CARRIED.

Councillor Flaxman-Taylor presented the period 4 budget monitoring position for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA).

Overall, there was currently expected to be an underspend of just under £2m compared to the budgeted position as set in February this year.

This was largely due to the increase in the number of right to Buy completions in the current year compared to the level budgeted, thereby generation additional receipts to finance the capital programme as opposed to utilising revenue resources.

At the time of reporting, there had been 18 completed compared to the full yarer budgeted figure of 20, a significant increase.

In the same way that the general fund is facing significant inflationary pressures, for example, the yet to be finalised pay award for 2022/23 and also increased utility and materials costs, these same pressures were facing the HRA>

Whilst the position as reported, currently showed an underspend in the current year, this was likely to be reduced by increased material and utility costs for the remainder of the year.

The ongoing impact was continuing to be monitored which would be used to inform the work on the HRA business plan for 2023/24 and beyond.

The overall position would continue to be monitored and used to inform the budget work for 2023/24.

Proposer: Councillor Flaxman-Taylor

Seconder: Councillor Grant

Th at Council note the 2022/23 Housing Revenue & Capital Budget monitoring position as at the end of period 4.

CARRIED.

The Leader reported that the Council had been working with the LTA to refurbish the tennis courts located on Gorleston's cliff top, securing £116,050 investment from the LTA to deliver this project.

The funding delivered the re-surfacing and refurbishment of all six courts, some new fencing, and the installation of a smart-gate system, allowing users to reserve their slot online before arriving to play with an online booking system. The changes were aimed at ensuring maximum court usage, increase of participation and support the sustainable operation and maintenance of courts to a high standard.

The start date for these works have not yet been finalised, but they were likely to start within the next six weeks, with the aim of being fully available for use by Spring next year.

Councillor Flaxman-Taylor reported that she welcomed the much needed investment to refurbishment the tennis courts. Councillor Wells reported that this would be another much needed improvement to the cliff top area.

Proposer ; Councillor Flaxman-Taylor

Seconder: Councillor Wells

That Council note the contents of the report and agree to add to the Council's Capital Programme an allocation of £116,050, to be funded by external funding from the Lawn Tennis Association.

CARRIED

The Leader reported that in July 2022, the Council was notified that it had been selected as an area to receive monies as part of the Government's Levelling-Up Parks Fund. Rather than competing for monies, the Council had been allocated £85k via an opt-in process.

The project outcome was essentially the creation of a new park/green space or the enhancement of an existing one, with the objective of being able to achieve green flag status going forwards.

A suitable site was subsequently identified using work that both property services and strategic planning had undertaken in terms of our open spaces and need, resulting in Diana Way Park, Caister being selected. Proposals for this park had also been developed and included:

• the planting of a new woodland area, planting native semi-mature trees,
• the creation of a wildflower meadow area,
• a new pathway around the site to connect with the existing pathway so that people could easily walk around the whole site, and access all site facilities; and
• part-refurbishment and part-replacement of the equipment in the Children's play areas, installing new accessible and sensory play equipment alongside the refurbishment of the skate park area and the refurbishment of the skate park area and the refurbishment of the MUGA and nearby seating area.

Additional monies totalling £75k have been identified through s106 provisions and therefore the total funding available for this project was £160k. Timescales for works were just being finalised but activity on site should commence by the end of this year.

Councillor Wainwright highlighted that the urban wards were in desperate need of replacement play equipment but did not have access to s106 monies.

Councillor Jeal reiterated Councillor Wainwright's concerns and highlighted that Nelson Ward, one of the most deprived wards, was in urgent need of new play equipment.

Councillor T Wright informed Council that he had raised his concerns at P & R Committee and reiterated his concerns to Council that it was an anomaly that urban wards did not have access to s106 monies to fund much needed improvements to those wards which were in desperate need.

Proposer: Councillor Wells

Seconder: Councillor G Carpenter

That Council notes the content of the report and approves the inclusion of £160,000 in the Council's Capital Programme to be funded from the Parks and Green Spaces Levelling-Up Fund (£85,000) and allocated s106 monies (£75,000).

CARRIED.

Councillor Annison reported that the Hemsby NP had been prepared by the parish council and had recently been submitted to the Council in order for a final consultation to be held prior to examination by an independent examiner.

The plan was published for consultation on 27 September 2022 and runs until 8 November 2022. All comments submitted at this stage would be passed to an appointed Independent Examiner for consideration.

Two earlier opportunities had been used to provide feedback on the plan, most of which had been taken into account and reflected in the plan.

This report sets out a response to the plan from the Council which requested that the Examiner proposed a small number of relatively minor changes to the plan in order to ensure that the plan was consistent with the Local Plan, was justified and could be implemented and used effectively at the planning application stage. 

The proposed response to consultation which had been attached to the report was presented to and endorsed by the Local Plan WP on 27 September 2022.

Councillor Bensly thanked officers for all their hard work, dedication and commitment to help the Hemsby NP come to fruition.

Proposer: Councillor Annison

Seconder: Councillor Freeman

That Council endorse the consultation response as attached to the report for the final Draft Hemsby Neighbourhood Plan.

CARRIED

Councillors Freeman, Fairhead, Price, Williamson & Wells left the meeting during the determination of this item.

The Leader reported that In July 2021, in a report entitled “Governance of Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust and Norfolk Conservation Limited : The Local Authorities (Companies) Order 1995” (for full reference see “Background Papers”) it was recommended to members to take actions which sought to regularise the position with regard to Council appointments to the Trust, in order that the Trust could rectify certain anomalies with its own governance and modernise its company Articles. Members resolved to approve all recommendations. However the Trust did not accept the proposal for the Articles put forward by the Council, which would have retained the status of the company as a local authority controlled company, and it has now made a counter-proposal by putting forward Articles which will make the company a local authority influenced company. Those articles are attached to the agenda report.

At a meeting last year with the Trustees, with the CEO and Leader present, it was explained to the Trust  that if they wished to change the status of the Trust in this way, and did not accept the Council's proposal re board membership; this would lead to a change in the Council's relationship with Trust, and part of that would be in the termination of the existing Partner Agreement.

In tandem with the proposals to clarify and re-define the relationship between the Borough Council and Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust, the Council recognises the ongoing value that the Trust provides across a number of key partnership projects and in fulfilment of the Borough's policies and programmes. As such, it is proposed to mirror existing arrangements in place to support other key cultural assets and providers; Norfolk Museums Service, Out There Arts and St George's Theatre with an ongoing annual payment of £10,000 subject to the national rules on subsidies and to any future re-appraisal of distribution of funding by the council to any local culture partners.

Councillor Wainwright requested that the report for the change of governance of GYPT be withdrawn and highlighted that GYPT was a model of Best Practice and Best Value for culture, heritage & design in the County and he asked that the report be re-submitted at the next Council scheduled for 15 December 2022 with his requested amendments.

The Leader reported that he had discussed the report with Councillor Wainwright prior to Council this evening and that he refuted any claims that the report should be withdrawn.

PROPOSER: Councillor Smith

SECONDER: Councillor Candon

That Council make the following adjustments to its appointments to the Trust:-

(i) The existing Councillor appointments of company members (Councillors Price, Fairhead, Williamson, Freeman and Wells) will remain in place only until the Trust resolves to adopt new company Articles, at which point Councillors Williamson, Freeman and Wells will become both members and Directors of the Trust, while the appointments of Councillors Price and Fairhead will end altogether.

(ii) Sheila Oxtoby, Iain Richardson and Kate Blakemore will cease to be members at the point of adoption by the Trust of its new company Articles.

(iii) Kate Blakemore will not become a Director of the Trust

(iv) Agree the changes to the Trust’s Articles of Association

(v) Note that the implication of changes to the Articles and the related adjustment to the Council’s appointments is that the Trust will become a Local Authority Influenced Company, rather than a Local Authority Controlled Company, which it has been to date

(vi) Agree to terminate the Partner Agreement between the Council and the Trust as of 1 April 2023; and

(vii) To mirror existing arrangements in place to support other key cultural assets and providers with an ongoing annual payment of £10,000 subject to the national rules on subsidies and to any future re-appraisal of distribution of funding by the council to any local culture partners.

CARRIED

Councillor Wells left the meeting during the determination of this item.

The Leader reported that following Council's decision in June to proceed with the establishment of a new company to take over service delivery from GYBS, Great Yarmouth Services Limited, which is a company limited by guarantee and wholly owned by the council, was incorporated on 28 July 2022. The Company is currently dormant, while preparations continue for the transfer or assets and personnel from GYBS, the existing joint venture company partly owned by Norse Commercial Services.

As the date approached for the contract with GYBS to expire, on 31 March 2023, and for the Council to remove itself from the JV, arrangements must now be made to put GYS in a state of readiness to begin delivering services to the Council, both in practical terms and with regard to the governance structure. The actions described in the recommendations would enable preparations to proceed.

Councillor Wainwright reported that it was good news that this had been brought back in house and asked for clarification as to who would have responsibility under the proposed Cabinet system in May 2023. The Leader informed Council that this would come under the portfolio holder for Environment.

Councillor B Walker asked if the employees of the new GYS company would transfer to the LGPS. The CEO reported that the employees would be TUPE'd across to the new company and that the pension provision would be looked at under the terms and conditions.

Proposer: Councillor Smith

Seconder: Councillor Candon

That Council:-

1. approve the Delegations Matrix (Appendix 1) which allocates decisions between the Board of Directors and the Council in its role as sole member of GYS Ltd,

2. approve a sum of £100,000 required as cashflow for the company to fund preliminary items that need to be in place prior to 1 April 2023,

3. appoint Kate Blakemore, the Council’s Strategic Director, as Chair of the Board of Directors of GYS Ltd; and

4. delegate the Council’s role as sole member of GYS Ltd to Policy & Resources Committee, and adjust the Terms of Reference of that Committee to include the
wording set out in paragraph 3 of this report.

CARRIED

The Leader reported that the new DLUHC Secretary of State, Simon Clarke, had confirmed that the current policy of County Deals was to progress. County remained as one of the front runners to conclude a deal.

Discussions had been ongoing around the text of the deal. Deals already published, especially the North Yorks & York, give an indication of the nature of the text. It is very much a policy document reflecting policy discussion rather than a deal in the sense of a formal contract.

It looked as though the draft text would be with the Secretary of State for consideration soon, which would then lead to wider approvals within Whitehall, known as the write-around. When that process was concluded, we would have the text of a deal. This would confirm the scope of, for example, the long-term investment fund and other investment in Norfolk that would flow from the deal.

Assuming that all goes smoothly, the timing of any announcement of the deal would be in the hands of the Government. After which, it will move on to the implementation planning stage, including formal wider public engagement and consultation, most likely in Spring 2023.

County would have the ultimate final say through a resolution to move towards a directly elected Leader in jus over 12 months time.

The Leader had meet with Deheena Davidson, Levelling-Up Minister yesterday at the Norfolk District Leaders meeting. We have sent a list of questions to her and have agreed that Councillor Smith to have sight of the deal text as the District Leaders representative.

Councillor Wainwright asked for an assurance that the Leader would keep all Members updated.

Councillor Myers reported that he appreciated that this deal was a sensitive issue but that as it would affect hundreds of thousands of residents that a public statement should be issued to keep the public informed.

Councillor A Wright reported that £20m was on the table for the whole of Norfolk which did not seem enough and he was worried that County would swallow up all of the budget. The Leader reported that the deal was worked out on the population of Norfolk and the £20m involved a revenue and capital split. The CEO informed Council that the deal was £20m circa per annum for 30 years and borrowing could be made against the revenue funding scheme leading to 3175m of borrowing capacity, however, this was not index-linked.

Councillor B Walker reported that he was concerned that this deal would result in the demise of our Mayor.

The Leader reported that the Government envisages that Investment Zones would be one or more specific sites within a MCA or Upper Tier authority area where a variety of tax, regulatory innovations and flexibilities and planning simplications would apply within those site's boundaries. The intended outcome would be speeded up and development and incentives for investment which would lead to economic growth.

The Secretary of State wrote to leaders of Upper Tier Authorities on 2 October 2022 inviting them to submit a formal EOI by 14 October 2022 which was a tight deadline. The Leader thanked all officers for pulling together the EOI. A press release would be issued tomorrow and Members would also be informed.

Councillor Wainwright reported that he hoped that Members would be informed before the press release was issued and that he was concerned that this bid was being kept a secret from Members.

The CEO assured members that they would be contacted via email tomorrow to share what the Council had submitted in their EOI.

Councillor Candon thanked officers for all their hard work in pulling together the EOI within such a tight timescale and that he welcomed the opportunity to bid for two Investment Zones within the Borough.

Councillor C Walker questioned the transparency of this bid and if officers were aware of the identified sites, why this information had to be kept from Members.

Councillor Williamson reported that he welcomed the potential investment but was concerned regarding the criteria relating to the Investment Zones which could result in the dissimilation of poor planning regulations and affect ecological habitats.

Councillor Wells assured Members that environmental protections would be retained.

(i) Motion for Full Council on 13 October 2022 from Councillors Jeal, Robinson-Payne, A Wright, Wainwright & Martin.

Councillor Jeal presented the following motion to Council.

That this Council is opposed to holding a fair on St George's Park. We believe the most suitable place to be the Market place or Fullers Hill Car Park, Brewers Plain Car Park and Beach Couch Station Car Park. Which is well established in hosting the fair and has a suitable all weather surface. Given that there was substantial damage caused to the park after last year's fair all three of the Ward councillors are opposed to St George's being the correct location.

Other factors to take into consideration are:-

(1) With the horrendous cost of living and the energy cap rising at the alarming rate it is, families who visit the free play area situated in the park will be confronted with costs that they can ill afford and disappointed children.

(2) The town's main war memorial is situated within the park and it feels extremely disrespectful to hold this fair so close by after all it is not only once a year we remember those who gave their lives for us to enjoy the freedoms we do today.

(3) The inconvenience and disruption caused to residents who live around St George’s Park area.

Councillor Jeal informed Council that the 3 ward councillors were opposed to this and there were better places to site the Fair, such as Fullers Hill, Brewery Plain and the Beaconsfield.

The fair would be situated in the Nelson Ward, which was a deprived ward, and would put unfair pressure on hard-up families to afford rides for their children during the present cost-of-living crisis. 

Councillor A Wright endorsed Councillor Jeal's sentiments as he was concerned for the residents and for the surface of the park which would need to be rectified and he hoped that the Council would not have to fund this.

Councillor C Walker reported that the British Legion were disappointed as they felt that this would be disrespectful to our fallen as there were 3 war memorials in the park.

Councillor Myers was concerned who would pick up the cost of damage caused to the grassed areas by the rides.

Councillor Wainwright asked that the decision not to be party political and informed Council that if Labour took control in 2023, that they would never allow this to happen again.

Councillor Robinson-Payne reported that she had received complaint after complaint following the fair being held on the park last year. Ward Members were not kill-joys but were not being listened too whilst presenting the concerns of the residents they represented.

Councillor Candon spoke in favour of the fair and the economic benefits which it would bring to the town.

The Leader reported that he would not support this motion and that he would be happy to have a recorded vote on the matter.

Councillor Talbot reported that as a daughter of an ex-serviceman she was disappointed at the lack of respect shown to the war memorials in the park and that she would support the motion.

Councillor Martin reported that she fully supported the motion and that the Out There Festival was spread across the town centre to protect the park. She urged common sense to be used when voting on the motion.

Councillor Waters-Bunn asked if the fair would be accessible to wheelchair users and that the previous costs of rides of £4 per child was not affordable for parents. At the Christmas fair which had been held in the park last year, the area was a mud-slide due to heavy rain and many wheelchair users had become stuck in the mud.

Councillor Smith-Clare  asked why a cherished and much used park would be used to site the fair when other more suitable locations were located close by.

Councillor Jeal asked for a recorded vote and summed up the motion and urged all Councillors to support it.

The CEO reported that a GY Member Events Group had been set up which had clearly not worked and she would investigate and improve the process. Councillor Robinson-Payne informed the CEO that the meetings had been cancelled several times and the autumn fair had not been on the agenda for ward members to have an input. Councillor Flaxman-Taylor confirmed that only two meetings had been held and the fair had not been discussed.

Following a recorded vote:-

For:-

Councillors Smith-Clare, Martin, Talbot, Borg, Williamson, Thompson, Myers, Jeal, Robinson-Payne, A wright, Fairhead, B Wright, Cordiner-Achenbach, Waters-Bunn, B Walker, C Walker & Wainwright.

Against:-

Councillors Candon, Plant, Smith, Stenhouse, Annison, G Carpenter, P Carpenter, Bird, Lawn, Price, Freeman, Hanton, D Hammond, P Hammond, Flaxman-Taylor, Wells, Cameron, Bensly, Galer, Grant & Mogford.

MOTION LOST.

(ii) Councillor A Wright proposed that the suspension of standing orders be applied for this item. This was seconded by Councillor Jeal.

Following a vote, this motion was lost.

The Leader informed Council that the motion had been withdrawn.

Proposer: Councillor Smith

Seconder: Councillor Candon

MOTION WITHDRAWN.

(i) The Leader reported that an additional P & R Committee would be held on 8 November 2022 at 6pm at the request of the S151 Officer.

(ii) The Monitoring Officer reported that the Leader had asked her to update Council on some legal advice received since the June Council meeting in regard to the proposal for certain committees intended to remain in place under the cabinet system. A question was raised at the June Council meeting by Cllr Wainwright in relation to the Leader's original proposal for a Shareholder Committee, which would take over the role of Shareholder of GYS and the Council's other companies, which was currently delegated to P & R Committee.

To clarify the legal advice now received in relation to the Shareholder Committee and Major Projects Committee, these cannot be constituted as politically-balanced, decision-making committees, as their roles are legally classified as Executive Functions i.e. for the Leader & Cabinet. As a matter of Law, Executive Functions cannot be delegated to Council or its Committees. The previous advice did not reflect this.