Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Freeman and Councillor P Carpenter.

Councillor Lawn attended as a substitute for Councillor Freeman.

Councillor Jeal declared a personal interest in item number 4 as he is a member of the GYTABIA Board.

Councillor Thompson declared a personal interest in item number 4 as Filby Parish Council, of which he is a member, received funding from GYTABIA.

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

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 November 2025 were confirmed as a true record.

The Committee received and considered the report from the Information Governance Lead & Data Protection Officer.

The Information Governance Lead & Data Protection Officer gave an update on performance for the second quarter of 2025/26 (July – September) where progress is assessed against Targets which are set at the start of the financial year.

The report also provided an update on the position of key projects that are linked to the corporate priorities from ‘The Plan 2025-2030’. A summary of progress for the suite of key projects and individual highlight reports for each of these key projects are presented in Appendix 1 of the report.

The performance measures, at Appendix 2, gave a comprehensive overview of how the authority, as a whole, was performing and cover most Council functions.

A review of all projects was conducted at the end of the 2023/24 financial year and a new list of key projects was established and included in the Council’s 2024/25 Annual Action Plan, this was approved by Cabinet on 8th April 2024.

The project highlight reports provided a summary of the project, milestones and achievements, alongside open issues, mitigation and a financial summary.

Each report had a current status, which can be green, amber or red. Out of the eight projects, five have a current green status defined as no problems or minor issues and three have an amber status, defined as having problems which have been identified but with a contingency plan in place.

Performance measures covered the full range of services delivered by the Council. The details in this summary report provided quantitative information about the performance of these services and provide useful trend data. A traffic light status easily identified if improvement was required.

There are some areas across the Council where performance is below the target level set (RAG rating) or where no target has been set, performance was moving in the wrong directions (Direction of Travel). These measures were highlighted in the appropriate service committee section of the report.

In total there are 39 targeted and 24 monitored measures reported in the second quarter performance report. Information was not available for one of the targeted measures. The monitored measures were reported for contextual information, this data was important information for the Council, as the actions of the Council might make improvements, however, there was not sufficient control over the outcome to set a target.

There are 9 measures that are within the Red status which are not achieving the target and are below the tolerance level set, an explanation of the performance in these areas is provided below each measure in the report.

The Income Service Manager gave a presentation in respect of the Housing Income Team to explain the red status HNO1b - Great Yarmouth Housing Rent - Number of tenants in arrears (snapshot at end of quarter) and HNO1c - Great Yarmouth Housing Rent - Number of tenants in arrears over £1500 (snapshot at end of quarter).

Councillor Jeal asked what the timescale was for the repayment by the Council for over payment of rent by a tenant as he had been informed that this could take up to three months. The Income Services Manager reported that this process took 2-3 weeks.

The Chair thanked the Income Services Manager for an excellent report but that it was perplexing that in Q2, 97.5% target for rent collection had been met but arrears had increased. The Income Services Manager reported that this was due to the repayment of incorrect direct debit payments and Universal Credit payments which were paid 4 weeks in arrears whereas Housing Benefit was paid weekly. The Housing Income Team supported its customers through this process.

Councillor McMullen thanked the Housing Income Team for all their hard work under difficult circumstances which could also be of an upsetting nature. The Income Services Manager reported that she would take this compliment back to her team.

Councillor Galer asked why direct debit payments had needed to be refunded. The Income Services Manager reported that this was due to an error in the system database during may & June 2025 which had seen been rectified and there had been no more breaches since this one occasion.

Councillor Waters-Bunn reported that issuing a tenancy in one name only was frustrating as she was dealing with a case at the moment where a tenancy had been issued in one name thirteen years ago and due to arrears accrued by the tenant, his partner and children were facing eviction through no fault of their own. The Housing Income Manager asked Councillor Waters-Bunn to email her the details outside of the meeting and that she would do her best to assist in this matter.

Councillor Murray-Smith asked if there would be scope in the future to charge rent on a monthly basis to align with the payment of Universal Credit. The Housing Income Manager reported that Universal Credit was affected as to whether it was a four week or a five week month changes would need to be made to the Tenancy Conditions and all customers would need to be written to. As a result of LGR, changes might need to be made to align processes.

Councillor Murray-Smith asked if automatic arrears letters were generated in all arrears cases. The Housing Income Manager confirmed that this was the case but the letters were sense checked for sensitive information or payment arrangements already in place.

Councillor Wainwright referred to page 33 of the agenda report - PR04 Empty Homes and reiterated the Committees request that the reporting line be differentiated between Council owned properties and privately owned properties. Councillor Wainwright reported that he was aware of a property, 17 Raleigh Avenue, which had been empty since 20/06/2012 as it was suffering from subsidence and which equated to over £50k in lost rent revenue which was unacceptable.

Councillor Hammond reported that there were two vacant properties next door to each other on Raleigh Avenue which had been vacant for a number of years and which she raised on a regular basis to little avail.

The Chair asked that a report be brought to Committee in March detailing the number of properties which had been void for longer than 12 months, the reasons why and the proposals to bring them back into use.

(iii) That a report be brought to Committee in March detailing the number of Council owned properties which had been void for a period of 12 months or longer, the reasons why and the proposals to bring them back into use.

The Committee received a presentation from Asa Morrison, Chief Executive Officer, Visit Great Yarmouth (GYTABIA).

A copy of the presentation slides would be circulated to the Committee for information following the meeting.

The Chair reported that he was impressed by the activity undertaken by Visit Great Yarmouth and the data provided within the report. The Chair asked how Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) would affect the work of Visit Great Yarmouth. Asa Morrison reported that tourism would still operate irrespective of Government structure.

Councillor Jeal informed the Committee that the GYTABIA bid would be in place until  summer 2029 so it would be in place post LGR.

Councillor McMullen reported that it was imperative that our local museums were promoted. Unfortunately, the visitor numbers for the Time & Tide Museum struggled due to its location. Asa Morrison reported that Visit Great Yarmouth maintained an active relationship with all the museums in the town but that musuems were a niche market.

Councillor McMullan suggested that increased signage and wayfinding to the museums might help to increase footfall. Asa Morrison reiterated that the museum offer was a core part of the offer marketed by Visit Great Yarmouth. It would also help if the Toll House & Elizabethan Museums were an all-year attraction and not closed between November and January.

Councillor Hammond reported that she had approached several coach companies in regard to bringing customers to the Time & Tide Museum but they were not interested even with incentives like reduced admission fees.

Councillor Galer, Ward Councillor for Hemsby, asked how much revenue visitors to Hemsby contributed to the total £631m tourism revenue receipt to the borough. Asa Morrison reported that based on the results of the 2019 report commissioned which split the borough into 5 areas, he estimated that the revenue generated by Scratby/Winterton/Hemsby to be worth in the region of £150m today.

Asa Morrison reported that complete Town Walls would help the heritage offer in the Town. The Chair reported that Great Yarmouth had the longest Town Wall in England apart from York.

The Chair reported that the Time & Tide Museum was housed in an ex-Smokehouse which was owned by the GYPT and offered on a peppercorn rent to the Museums Service.

The Chair asked what the total budget of Visit GY was. Asa Morrison reported that it was just over £500k. The Chair reported that it offered excellent value for money.

The Chair thanked Asa for his excellent presentation.

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee note the presentation on the activities of GYTABIA (Visit Great Yarmouth).

The Committee received and considered the report from the Financial Services Manager.

The Executive Director - Resources reported the salient areas of the Period 3 Budget Monitoring Report 2025-2026 to the Committee for both the General Fund & Housing Revenue Account (HRA), including the respective capital programmes and financing.

The Executive Director - Resources gave explanations for significant variances to the budgets currently forecast for the full year.

The Executive Director - Resources reported that the budget at month 3 has been updated from the deficit transfer of £721k from reserves, the current budget is a deficit transfer of £410k. The position has improved following additional Extender Producer Responsibility grant being received of £207k above the level included within the budget at the time the budget was set in February 2025. Further, the Council’s allocation for the Internal Drainage Board levy support grant has now been confirmed and is £106k greater than budgeted for, these have both mitigated the call on reserves in the current year. The updates to the current budget the General Fund Summary at Appendix A shows the high-level forecast budget monitoring position on 30 June 2025 of a deficit position of £462k.

The Executive Director - Resources reported that transfers to and from earmarked reserves resulted in a total variance of £355k reflects the change in the forecast net movement of transfers to and from earmarked reserves. The £355k largely reflects the planned use of earmarked reserves for overspends forecast within net cost of services (included in the £467k variance) that are in line with the intended use of the earmarked reserves.

The Executive Director - Resources reported that Appendix D shows the reserves statement for the General Fund after allowing for budgeted and recommended carry forwards in 2025/26. The recommended level of the general reserve held is £3.5m.

The Executive Director - Resources reported that the budget report as approved in February 2025 recommended a re-allocation of £721k million from earmarked reserves to mitigate the forecast deficit for 2025/26 at that time. Currently, the forecast use of earmarked reserves for the year is now £1,348k. Following the forecast transfer the balance on the general reserve is forecast to be £5.83 million (after the forecast deficit of £462k) and £8.97 million within earmarked reserves on the 31 March 2026.

The Executive Director - Resources reported that the actual spend until the end of June 2025 totals £4.25m as summarised under Appendix E. This is in line with expectations as capital spending tends to occur in the final quarters of the financial year. The 2025/26 budget set the General Fund Capital Programme at £57.040m. Approved budgets totalling £6.595m were rolled forward from 2024/25 and further amendments totalling £3.889m were made as part of the 2024/25 outturn report, approved at Cabinet on 15th July 2025. The revised budget therefore totals £67.524m. 

The Executive Director - Resources reported that the HRA Revenue Programme 2025/26 budget at month 3 remains the same as per the original budget set in February 2025, a budgeted surplus transfer of £110k to reserves. The HRA Summary at Appendix G shows the high-level forecast budget monitoring position on 30 June 2025 of a deficit position of £241k resulting in an adverse movement of £352k in the first quarter. The £352k movement is explained below within repairs and maintenance and supervision and management variances.

The Executive Director - Resources explained that within the supervision and management budget, the Housing Revenue Account budgets every year for Insurance property cover and other associated insurance cover as required. The Insurance property premium for the housing stock was originally budgeted, as per the estimated costs provided by the insurance broker at the time of budget setting, at £411k for 2025/26 financial year. The actual premiums charged, in March 2025 were £816k and are significantly higher than the budget set. Specific risks have vastly increased the insurance premiums, and this has been reflected in the forecast in month 3.

The Executive Director - Resources reported that the HRA Capital Programme. The major capital works budget at month 3 has been updated from the original budget £14.519m set in February 2025, to a current budget £22.171m, which incorporates brought forward budgets agreed in the 2024/25 outturn finance report. Appendix H shows the high- level forecast budget monitoring position on 30 June 2025 of £22.171m.  Appendix H provides details of the full year forecast at month 3 on the HRA capital programme 2025/ 26. Underspent budgets from 2024/25 that had been approved to be carried forward include £4.2m for the affordable homes programme and £3.39m, relating to the energy efficiency programmes (£2.05m for Social Housing Fund Wave 3 and £1.34m for Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund 2.2), housing transformation project (£50.9k) and digital switchover (£8.7k). 2025/26 Capital spend to the end of Period 3 totals £2.383m. The majority of spend, £1.3m has been spent on the Capital Assets programme including decent homes spend, major voids work, and planned improvement works. Affordable housing programme has spent £963k in the first quarter on acquisitions of 5 new homes, increasing the housing revenue stock. Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Grant (SHDF 2.2) programme of works is set to complete in September 2025. The programme has a total projected spend of £2.7m. 

The Executive Director reported that in regard to Right to Buy sales total, there had been 4 sales up to the end of month 3. 70 applications are currently being processed with the Right to Buy team, 11 of which are with NPLAW at conveyancing stage. The Right to Buy capital receipts will support the capital programme in 2025/26 and support the development of Affordable Housing.

The Executive Director - resources reported that, in summary, the Housing Revenue Accounts forecast for the full financial year at month 3 reflects a deficit of £241k, against a budget surplus of £110k, resulting in an adverse variance of £352k. 

The report highlights financial pressures for both the Housing Revenue Account and the General Fund in the year. Work to monitor and mitigate these will be undertaken as the financial year progresses. The current pressures will be considered when setting the budget for 2026/27.

Councillor Jeal asked why the payment to the Internal Drainage Board had increased so dramatically. The Executive Director - Resources reported that the 90% increase in the payment to the IDB is an issue for a number of LA's. An assumption for the IDB payment had been made in the budget but the actual cost would not be known until after the budget was set. In 2023-2024 the cost was £278k across the 2 IDB's which has now risen to £550k.

Councillor Murray-Smith explained that the increase was due to the fact that the fixed-price electricity contract to the Lothingland IDB had expired and a new contract had been entered into at an enormous increased cost. However, if the electric pumps were turned off at Burgh Castle, it would be lost to flooding. The repair and maintenance costs were not paid for by the IDB but by capital grants. 

Councillor Wainwright referred to page 59 of the agenda report, Gorleston & GY Beach huts and asked if they could be split into separate lines so Members are able to see how much the GY Beach huts were costing the Council as they have not been let as expected. Councillor Wainwright noted that the income was lower than budgeted for and the employee and non-employee costs had remained the same at £36340 and £9830 respectfully.

The Executive Director - Resources reported that she would supply a breakdown of the costs of the GY & Gorleston beach huts to the Committee but she could not supply a breakdown of the employee and non-employee costs.

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee note the content of the report and the revised forecast for the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account for 2025/26, use of earmarked reserves and the prudential indicators under Appendix F of the report.

The Committee received and considered the Work Programme 2025-2026.

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee note the Work Programme 2025-2026.