Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King's Lynn PE30 5DQ. View directions

Contact: Kathy Wagg 

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors J Collop and T Smith.

2.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 116 KB

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 September 2017 were agreed as a correct record.

3.

Declarations of Interest

Please indicate if there are any interests which should be declared.  A declaration of an interest should indicate the nature of the interest (if not already declared on the Register of Interests) and the agenda item to which it relates.  If a disclosable pecuniary interest is declared, the Member should withdraw from the room whilst the matter is discussed.

 

These declarations apply to all Members present, whether the Member is part of the meeting, attending to speak as a local Member on an item or simply observing the meeting from the public seating area.

 

 

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

4.

Urgent Business

To consider any business which, by reason of special circumstances, the Chairman proposes to accept as urgent under Section 100(b)(4)(b) of the Local Government Act, 1972.

 

 

Minutes:

There was no urgent business under Standing Order 7.

5.

Members Present Pursuant to Standing Order 34

Members wishing to speak pursuant to Standing Order 34 should inform the Chairman of their intention to do so and on what items they wish to be heard before the meeting commences.  Any Member attending the meeting under Standing Order 34 will only be permitted to speak on those items which have been previously notified to the Chairman.

 

 

Minutes:

There were no members present under Standing Order 34.

6.

Chairman's Correspondence (if any)

Minutes:

There was no Chairman’s correspondence to report.

7.

Parish Partnership Scheme pdf icon PDF 121 KB

The Committee is asked to consider the attached report and to make any appropriate recommendations to Cabinet.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive Director – Commercialisation introduced the report and explained that the Committee’s Terms of Reference had been amended to allow it to consider small scale highway improvement schemes within the unparished areas of King’s Lynn and West Lynn, under the County Council’s Parish Partnership Programme (PPP).  The PPP allowed Parish Councils to bid for match funding for small scale highway improvement schemes in their area.  In the unparished area of King’s Lynn and West Lynn, KLACC would now consider any scheme put forward.  If KLACC decided to support a particular scheme, the recommendation would be passed to Cabinet for their consideration.

 

It was explained that one scheme had been put forward for 2018/19.  This was a scheme for two Speed Awareness Messaging (SAM) signs to be located on either Vancouver Avenue, Goodwins Road, or Tennyson Road.  The proposed signs showed the speed of vehicles if they exceeded the limit, with the legend ‘slow down’ as part of the unit.  There were 5 locations on Vancouver Avenue, Goodwins Road and Tennyson Road which could accommodate the signs, which were moveable, and should only be at each location once every 3 months.  Further locations would be agreed with Highways as required.  Arrangements were being put in place with local residents to charge the signs and move them as required.

 

In relation to the financial implications of the proposal, it was reported that the costs of the scheme would be:

 

2 SAM signs @ £3,500 each               =          £7,000

 

KLWNBC Match finding required        =          £3,500

 

It was explained that in the same way that Parishes would fund highway works in their areas through precepts, funding for the signs would need to come out of King’s Lynn Special Expenses.

 

The Chairman suggested that if the Committee decided to support the proposal then recommendation 2 be deferred and considered with the Special Expenses item on the agenda.

 

The Chairman introduced Andy Wallace from Norfolk County Council to answer any technical questions that the Committee might have.

 

In response to queries, Andy Wallace explained that the signs would be battery powered.  Local volunteers would charge the batteries and change the location of signs.

 

Councillor Middleton explained that each County Councillor had been allocated a highway budget of £6,000 which they could spend within their division.  Councillors Kemp and Smith had pledged to put their budget towards reinstating the 7.5 tonne limit on the B1144.  Therefore there would not be any funds available to put towards the SAM signs.  It was explained that the budget for County Councillors would be reviewed year on year.                                                                                                    

 

Councillor Mrs Wilkinson expressed concern that if the County Councillor had allocated their budget to one area, what happened to the other areas.

 

Councillor Middleton outlined how he had gone about allocating his budget but added that it was up to the individual Councillor to prioritise.

 

The Leader advised that a Legal Order in respect of weight restrictions was expensive to impose, but it was down to the choice of the County Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

King's Lynn Special Expenses 2018/2019 - Report to follow pdf icon PDF 128 KB

Minutes:

The Committee was reminded that one of its Terms of Reference was “to act as a consultative forum on the funding raised by, and utilisation of the King’s Lynn Special Expenses, and to offer input on priorities for this expenditure and if appropriate the level of funds to be raised”.

 

The Committee was informed that the Local Government Finance Act 1992 defined a Local Authority’s Special Expenses.  It stated that Special Expenses were any expenses incurred by the authority in performing in a part of its area, a function performed elsewhere by a Parish Council.

 

The Committee noted that Special Expenses were currently charged for:

 

·        Footway lighting

·        Play areas

·        Community centres

·        Closed churchyards

·        Allotments

·        Pavilions

·        Dog bins

·        Open spaces; and

·        Bus shelters.

 

It was explained that the total cost of Special Expenses was met by the Council tax payers of King’s Lynn.  The annual charge to residents was made through an addition to the Council tax bill.

 

It was reported that during 2017, the Committee reviewed elements of the special expenses charge and a summary of recommendations were outlined in the report.

 

The Committee’s attention was drawn to Section 1.4 of the report and it was explained that £46.59 was currently being charged for Band D for 2017/18.

 

The Executive Director – Finance explained that during 2017, the Committee had reviewed elements of the Special Expenses charge and a summary of the recommendations made on the topics was reported.

 

It was explained that the special expenses charged in 2017/2018 would be used as the basis for the calculation for 218/2019.   The estimates had been reviewed and updated to reflect current costs and there was an estimated reduction in costs of £1,040.

 

The Executive Director – Finance highlighted the main movements as set out in the report in relation to:

 

·        Footway lighting

 

Councillor Joyce stated that he was surprised to see a 30% increase in electricity costs.  He asked for assurance that going forward on-going electricity costs should be balanced out by the Refit programme.

 

The Leader explained that the Refit programme would look at other alternative technologies when they became available. 

 

The Chairman asked whether the Refit programme would look at what lights were actually needed or not.

 

The Executive Director – Commercial Services advised that a member of staff would be assessing all the street lights.  It was explained that as the light levels would be higher it might be possible for there to be less lights in certain locations. 

 

The Executive Director asked that if any member had any areas where street lights could be reduced or needed to be increased then to let him know.

 

·        Community Centre costs

 

The Executive Director – Finance explained that a business rates valuation specialist had been appointed by the Council to review the valuation of all the council assets following the business rates revaluation from 1 April 2017 and this would include community centres and pavilions.

 

Councillor Joyce referred to the business rates of the Dutton Pavilion at £21,000 as opposed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Committee's Work Programme and Cabinet's Forward Decision List pdf icon PDF 63 KB

The Committee is asked to consider items for a future Work Programme for

 

The Committee is also asked to consider the Cabinet’s Forward Decision List.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee noted the Work Programme and Cabinet’s Forward Decision List.

10.

Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Committee is scheduled for Monday 15 January 2018 at 6pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.

Minutes:

The next meeting of the Committee would be held on Monday, 15 January 2017 at 6.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.