Meetings

Meeting Details

Policy and Resources Committee
6 Dec 2022 - 18:00 to 19:40
Scheduled
  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Standard Items
1 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
To receive any apologies for absence. 


01

 

There were no apologies for absence received at the meeting.

 

 

2 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

You have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in a matter to be discussed if it relates to something on your Register of Interests form. You must declare the interest and leave the room while the matter is dealt with.

You have a Personal Interest in a matter to be discussed if it affects
•    your well being or financial position
•    that of your family or close friends
•    that of a club or society in which you have a management role
•    that of another public body of which you are a member to a greater extent than others in your ward.
You must declare a personal interest but can speak and vote on the matter.

Whenever you declare an interest you must say why the interest arises, so that it can be included in the minutes. 

02

 

Councillor Wells declared an interest in Item 7 and in his capacity as Director of GYB Services would not partake in discussion nor vote on the matter.

 

Councillor Candon declared a personal interest in Item 13 in his capacity as Chairman of Bradwell Parish Council.

 

Councillor Wainwright declared a personal interest in Item 13 in his capacity as a Member of Bradwell Parish Council.

 

 

 

3 pdf MINUTES (195Kb)

 

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on the 8 November 2022.

 

 

03

 

The minutes of the meeting held on the 8 November 2022 were confirmed.

 

 

4 pdf FORWARD PLAN (54Kb)

 

Report attached.

 

 

04

 

The Committee received and considered the Forward Plan.

 

 

 

Report attached.

 

 

05

 

Members received and considered the Principal Strategic Planners report which presented the final Masterplan for Gorleston Seafront.

 

Councillor Wright commented on page 28 which referred to the Bandstand and commented that the bandstand had already been erected.

 

Councillor Candon commented that he felt this Masterplan was ambitious and would enhance the Economic calender for Gorleston. Councillor Candon asked whether the plan would be proof read before being published  as he had noticed some areas which required amending such as the date the lighthouse had been built and also referred to the E-Scooter scheme which had recently been extended. It was confirmed that this would be looked into and proof reading would be undertaken.

 

RESOLVED :

 

That Policy and Resources Committee adopt the Gorleston Seafront Masterplan included in Appendix 1 of the Principal Strategic Planner's report.

 

 

 

Report attached.

 

 

06

 

Members received and considered the Environmental Protection and Waste Manager's report.

 

The Environmental Protection and Waste Manager reported that the Public Protection Order No.2 was introduced in 2017 to assist in addressing vehicle related anti – social behaviour along the seafront in Great Yarmouth. The Order was extended in 2020 and was due to expire on 1st February 2023.

 

Members were advised that the report sought approval to extend the order by a further three years. It was advised that the Police had also signified that they would like an amendment to the PSPO to address unnecessary or excessive revving of engines by vehicle owners.

 

Councillor Jeal raised concern with regard to car enthusiasts and their speeding he commented that he had even seen enthusiasts using the landau lanes. Councillor Jeal commented that he had been a Councillor for a number of years and had never seemed to have these issues addressed.

 

Councillor P Carpenter commented that she was pleased to see the PSPO being brought back to the Committee, she further commented on the newly installed ANPR cameras on the seafront which would record noise and send across to the relevant authorities.

 

Councillor Myers asked how much evidence was required to issue a fixed penalty notice, it was advised that this had to be witnessed and some notices could be issued via images on CCTV. Councillor Myers further further asked what interaction the police had on the seafront, it was reported that the police were using an educational approach to enforcement.

 

Councillor Myers asked if prosecutions could be given for dangerous driving, it was confirmed that this would be in the power of the police.

 

The Leader commented that enthusiasts who were using the parking bays in the evening were potentially causing a loss to revenue for the council. He commented that more enforcement was needed.

 

Councillor Wainwright commented that due to police services being stretched to the limit in the area it would be difficult to enforce.

 

RESOLVED :

 

That the Policy and Resources recommend to Council :-

  •  That Members agree to the Order being extended by a further three years
  •  That Members agree to an amendment to the Order to help address unnecessary revving of engines

 

 

 

Report attached.

 

 

07

 

Councillor Wells hereby left the meeting.

 

Members received and considered the Great Yarmouth Services Ltd Business Plan report from the Director of Operational Services.

 

Members were advised that on establishing GYS the new company has worked hard to develop its Business Plan for 2023/24. This had included working with Officers within GYBS and the wider Council in the development of the activities and costs required to deliver the services outlined within this Business Plan.

 

It was reported that alongside the Business Plan which provided an overview of the services that GYS would deliver, five Operational Plans had also been developed, these Plans outline how the GYS business units will operate and work to achieve the overall aim of GYS, which is to deliver an excellent standard of service across the borough in line with Council’s Corporate Plan.

 

The five business units are:

 

• Open Spaces Services - Grounds maintenance, Leisure maintenance, HRA Grounds
maintenance, Grave Digging, Arboricultural services & Tree Management;

• Waste Collection Services – domestic refuse and recycling collections, Garden waste
collections, Commercial waste collections;

• Street Scene Services - Street cleansing, building cleaning, HRA Cleansing
maintenance, Public Toilet cleaning, Bulky collections & Bin deliveries;

• Support Services - Car Clear, Pest Control, Customer Services, Health & Safety,
internal training, project management, business management;

• Fleet Management – Transport compliance, HGV & LCV servicing and maintenance,
Plant & Machinery maintenance, depot management.

 

Councillor Grant asked with regard to Grass cutting and sought clarification as to how this would be undertaken it was advised that this would remain as currently undertaken.

 

Councillor Myers commented that he was pleased to see that the Monday refuse collections were being moved which would avoid changes when bank holidays occurred, Councillor Myers asked whether staff would be required to work Mondays, it was advised that 4 day working weeks were being considered but this had not yet been confirmed.

 

Councillor T Wright asked with regard to the budget increase in flytip removal and asked whether this had just been due to the increase in fuel costs or whether there had been a noticeable increase in flytipping, it was confirmed that this had largely been caused by the increase in fuel.

 

Councillor P Carpenter asked with regard to events cleaning budget and whether these were rechargeable if the events were out of our control, it was confirmed that these would be recharged to the organisers of the event.

 

RESOLVED :

 

That Committee :-

 

(1) Agree Great Yarmouth Services Ltd (GYS) Business Plan for 2023/24 alongside GYS Operational Plans, as provided for under the scheme of Delegation in relation to acting as the Member for GYS.

 

(2) Note the budget for the delivery of these services as included in the business plan reflects the forecasted current year position and an allowance for an uplift.

 

(3) Note that the budget will still need to be approved by Full Council in February, and therefore could be subject to some adjustments prior to this final approval.

 

 

 

Report attached.

 

 

 

 

08

 

Members received and considered the Principal Strategic Planner's which advised of a public consultation on the draft Coastal Adaptation Supplementary Planning Document.

 

The Leader commented that this was an important document especially in light of coastal erosion.

 

Councillor Jeal referred to dredging off the coastline and commented that Dutch authorities do not allow dredging within 12 miles of the coastline.

 

RESOLVED :

 

That the Committee :

 

 

(1) Endorse the Draft Coastal Adaptation SPD, included as Appendix 1 in this report for
consultation

 

(2) Delegates authority to the Director of Planning & Growth to make minor amendments to the  consultation documents prior to consultation.

 

 

 

Report attached.

 

 

 

 

09

 

Members received and considered the Strategic Planning Manager's report which sought approval from Members to conduct a consultation on the new Local Plan for the Borough.

 

Councillor Williamson raised some concern with regard to the number of housing being proposed as he felt this could cause a shortage of housing, the Strategic Planning Manager advised that this would be the council's decision whether to commit to a higher or lower number of housing, he advised that the proposed plan would give the council more control.

 

Councillor Wells commented that in changing the five year land supply this would make it less easy for developers to say that the Council had not met their five year land supply and therefore mitigate some of the current issues.

 

RESOLVED :

 

That the Committee approve the consultation document on the new Local Plan appended to the Strategic Planning Manager's report.

 

 

 

Report attached.

 

 

10

 

Members received and considered the Strategic Planning Manager's report which asked the Committee to agree to the process for spending developer contributions on open space provision.

 

Councillor Wells asked how Officers would deal with development border categories to ensure section 106 monies reflected the area. The Strategic Planning Manager advised that the recently presented open space SPD advised on how the spending catchments would be but advised that these would be spent on an area of benefit to each development area.

 

Councillor T Wright asked if this would be a new system for pooling of resource system and it was advised with regard to pooling that these would be advised to the appropriate people to allow them to bid for the monies. The Strategic Planning Manager advised further to a question regarding budget from Councillor Wright that there was in the region of £941,000 for the Borough.

 

Action : The strategic Planning Manager to circulate the catchment area list.

 

Councillor Grant welcomed the report and commented that he understood the need for a bureaucratic approach however asked for some assurance that the process would not see lengthy forms being produced that were difficult to complete, it was advised that form had not yet been designed but comments would be taken on board. 

 

Councillor Grant asked who would be responsible for the decision making and it was advised that this would be the responsibility of a Strategic Director.

 

Councillor Flaxman-Taylor asked with regard to developers being able to claim back unused contributions and it was advised that there has to be a process included whereby developers can claim back monies if not spent within a 5 year period.

 

Councillor Wainwright welcomed the report and hoped that the monies would be able to be used and accessed.

 

The Leader also welcomed the report from the Strategic Planning Manager.

 

RESOLVED :

 

That Committee approve the approach set out in the report to spending developer contributions towards open space.

 

 

 

Report attached.

 

 

11

 

Members received and considered the Head of Property and Asset Management's report which asked Members to review and approve the 2022-20256 General Fund Asset Management strategy.

 

Councillor Grant asked whether the issue with ground rents had been resolved, it was confirmed that this was an ongoing piece of work. Councillor Grant asked whether the condition of some of the rented garages were to be looked at as part of the review, it was advised that this was matter was being looked at. Action : The Head of Property and Asset Management to circulate the operating costs.

 

Councillor T Wright sought clarification on some of the Assets listed for disposal.

 

Councillor Jeal asked if Councillors would be informed of any asset disposals and it was advised that asset disposals have to go to Council to be agreed as part of the Constitution.

 

RESOLVED :

 

That Committee review and approve the 2022-2023 General Fund Asset Management Strategy.

 

 

11a CONFIDENTIAL APPENDIX - ASSET MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

 

Report attached.

 

 

12

 

The Committee received and considered the Finance Manager's report which provided the actual position of treasury management for the financial year 2022-23 to date compared to the strategy set in February 2022.

 

It was reported that net borrowing within Section 2 was shown to have reduced by £8m by using available funds in year largely as a result of government COVID grants that are awaiting repayment instruction from BEIS.

 

It was advised that section 7 covered the performance against the compliance requirements of the Treasury Management Strategy. The debt limits had been compiled with, however the investment limit was breached once in the first half of the year following a processing error but no bank charges were incurred and the funds were returned the following day.

 

Section 8 of the report covered the treasury management indicators which had all been compiled with.

 

The report also included within Section 9, national and economic commentary including the Council's treasury advisors forecast that by the end of the financial year interest rates will rise to 5% and stay at that level until the end of 2024 when it will start to reduce. Current advice is that cost of carry would still outweigh trying to secure lower interest rates but this position would continue to be monitored.

 

Councillor Wainwright raised some concern with regard to the National and Economic Commentary at 9.3 within the report which referred to the likelihood of recessions.

 

RESOLVED :

 

That Committee approve the treasury management half yearly report for 2022/23.

 

 

 

Report attached.

 

 

13

 

Members received and considered the Finance Director's report which set out the current levels of parish grants provided by the Council and made recommendation for the level of grants for the 2023/24 financial year.

 

Members were advised that the recommendation 4 would be the establishment of a small Officer Working Group.

 

Councillor Candon commented that he felt it was only fair that the Council pushed down to the parishes to fund schemes such as the local tax support scheme and burial grounds and he advised that he fully supported all recommendations within the report.

 

Councillor Wainwright commented that he was pleased to see the report had now been brought to the Committee and hoped that a further review in 2023/24 would see further savings made.

 

Councillor Hammond raised concern with regard to the removal of the concurrent function grant for Bus Shelters if the Council were maintaining these, however, it was advised that the Council did not maintain any bus shelters.

 

Councillor Myers sought clarification as to how much each Parish received for Council Tax support and how this would be split and it was advised that this was contained with the appendix to the report.

 

Councillor Grant commented that he also fully supported the report.

 

RESOLVED :

 

That Committee:

 

(1) Note the level of financial support provided to parish councils;

 

(2) Approve the removal of the Local Council Tax Support Grant of £25,003 for 2023/24;

 

(3) Approve the removal of the concurrent function grants for bus shelters in 2023/24 of £8,714;

 

(4) Agree to establishment of a small Officer working group to review the Burial Grounds and Parks and Open Spaces element of the Concurrent Function Grants with no changes to these elements proposed for 2023/24, but to review in line with the criteria of grants as outlined in section 2.1 and 2.2 of the report for concurrent function grants.

 

 

14 ANY OTHER BUSINESS
To consider any other business as may be determined by the Chairman of the meeting as being of sufficient urgency to warrant consideration.

14

 

There was no other business discussed at the meeting.

 

 

15 EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC
In the event of the Committee wishing to exclude the public from the meeting, the following resolution will be moved:-

"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."

16 CONFIDENTIAL MINUTES

Attendance

Name
No other member attendance information has been recorded for the meeting.
NameReason for Sending ApologySubstituted By
No apology information has been recorded for the meeting.
NameReason for AbsenceSubstituted By
No absentee information has been recorded for the meeting.

Declarations of Interests

Member NameItem Ref.DetailsNature of DeclarationAction
No declarations of interest have been entered for this meeting.

Visitors

PRESENT:-

Councillor Smith (in the Chair); Councillors P Carpenter, Candon, Flaxman-Taylor, Grant, P Hammond, Jeal, Myers, Wainwright, Wells, Williamson, B Walker & A Wright

Ms S Oxtoby (Chief Executive Officer); Ms K Sly (Finance Director), Ms C Whatling (Monitoring Officer), Mrs P Boyce (Strategic Director), Mr I Robertson (Major Projects & Development Director), Mrs J Beck (Head of Property and Asset Management); Mr S Hubbard (Strategic Planning Manager), Mr J Wilson (Head of Environment & Sustainability), Mr C Silverwood (Director of Operational Services), Mr K Balls (Principal Strategic Planner) and Mrs S Wintle (Corporate Services Manager).

 

 

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