Councillors M Coleman, Jeal and Williamson declared a non-pecuniary interest in Item 6, The Wintergardens, as they were members of the Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust.

Councillor Jeal declared a non-pecuniary interest in Item 5, Town Centre Partnership & Report as he was a member of the Great Yarmouth Tourism & Business Improvement Area Board. 

However, in accordance with the Council's Constitution, they were allowed to both speak and vote on the matter.

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillors Collins and Fox.

The minutes of the meeting held on 25 February 2016 were confirmed.

Councillor Sutton asked for a response in relation to his previous question at the last meeting as to whether the Council's Transparency Code & Publication scheme was fully compliant.

The Interim CEO reported that she had requested that a gap analysis of the Transparency Code & Publication Scheme be undertaken by the Information Manager. The Chairman requested that this item be placed on the agenda of the new Policy & Resources Committee.

Councillor T Wainwright requested an update regarding Town Hall Events. The Director of Customer Services reported that three tender documents had been received but two were deemed to be unacceptable. Discussions were being held with one in the hope that a resolution could be found as soon as possible.The Director of Customer Services reported that an update report would be given to Policy & Resources Committee.

RESOLVED:

That a report on the Council's position in regard to full compliance with the Transparency Code/Publicity Scheme be included on the agenda for the inaugural meeting of the Policy & Resource Committee.

The Town Centre Manager gave a presentation on the Great Yarmouth Business Improvement Annual Report and gyBID Renewal.

A Member reported that Norfolk Constabulary were the main users of CCTV footage in the Town Centre but did not contribute to its funding. The Town Centre Manager reported that Norfolk Constabulary had withdrawn financial support for CCTV over a period of time but gave support in kind to the Retail Security Scheme in the Town Centre by assigning two full-time Police Officers, one Special Constable and one PCSO to patrol the Town Centre.

The Town Centre Manager reported that a bid for £5k from the Great Yarmouth Tourism & Business Improvement Area (GYTBIA) had been successful to fund the cost of CCTV provision in the Town Centre. The Chairman reported that he was concerned that the GYTBIA  did not contribute a proportionate cost of the funding towards the provision of CCTV in the Town Centre. The Chairman suggested that the Great Yarmouth BID and the GYTBIA should amalgamate.

The Interim CEO asked for a further breakdown of the TCP Income & Expenditure. The Town Centre Manager reported that he would provide a full set of accounts.

A Member reported that part of his ward encompassed the Town Centre and it was a difficult area to represent. His perception was that GYBC/TCP/GY Market & Events Team worked in isolation and if they worked more effectively as a partnership that more could be achieved.The Town Centre Manager assured the Committee that the TCP was not working in isolation.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee note the report.

The Principal Conservation Officer gave an update on the Wintergardens. 

The Principal Conservation Officer reported that he had been tasked to seek advice from Heritage England regarding demolition or moth-balling of the Wintergardens. He had met with a Senior Historic England Officer who indicated that they would not support the moth-balling or demolition of the premises as it did not meet the set criteria. Historic England did not consider the cost of repairs or the aesthetics and any such application would send a negative message to potential funders. However, he did indicate that the Council could remove any dangerous elements i.e. the glass.

The Interim CEO reported that the Group Leaders would be meeting with Heritage Lottery Fund representatives to discuss the securement of funding and were mindful that an End User with a Sustainable Business Plan was required. The Principal Conservation Manager reported that the Heritage Lottery Fund bid would not be submitted in June but had been put back to August 2016 to enable a more robust application to be submitted in Round 1. This was the first stage of a two stage application and it was hoped that work would commence on site at the end of 2017.

The Chairman reported that this issue should be the responsibility of the Policy & Resources Committee.

RESOLVED:

(i) That the Committee note the Principal Conservation Officer's report;

(ii) That, in future, the Wintergardens be considered by the Policy & Resources Committee.

The Committee received the Quarter 3 Performance Report.

The report highlighted performance measures with a detailed summary of planning performance and sickness absence measures. The report gave an update as to the position of key projects which were linked to the corporate priorities from "The Plan 2015 - 2020".

RESOLVED:

That the Committee note the report.

The Chief Executive Officer gave an update on the Transformation Programme.

The Chairman was concerned how Members could obtain details of all reports which under the present Cabinet Structure were considered through the Transformation Board which would be deleted once the new Committee System was in operation. He suggested that Transformation reports could be combined together and made available to Members via a hyperlink.

The Interim CEO reported that this detail had been reported in a Business Strategy report which had been submitted to the Transformation Board at its meeting on 23 March 2016 and a copy would be made available to all Members. In the future, the Transformation programme would report to the Policy & Resources Committee.

The Chairman reported that this was the last Scrutiny Committee meeting as the Committee would be deleted when the new Committee System was introduced in and he thanked Members for all of their hard work.

A Member asked whether, under the new Committee System, it would be possible to request the attendance of an outside body or a third party partner, for example, the Clinical Commissioning Group, to report to the Council. The Interim CEO reported that the Council would retain the right to call in a third party partner to report.