Agenda and minutes

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

Contact: Rebecca Parker 01553 616632 

Items
No. Item

EC76:

Apologies for absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Kirk.

EC77:

Minutes pdf icon PDF 102 KB

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

Minutes:

RESOLVED: The Minutes from the previous meeting were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

EC78:

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.

 

Those 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.

EC79:

Urgent Business

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

Minutes:

There was none.

EC80:

Members Present Pursuant to Standing Order 34

Members wishing to speak pursuant to Standing Order 34 should inform the Chair of their intention to do so and what items they wish to be heard before a decision on that item is taken.  

 

Minutes:

Councillor Ryves – all items. 

EC81:

Chair's Correspondence

If any.

Minutes:

There was none.

EC82:

Advice Services Update

Representatives from the Money Advice Hub and Shelter will provide information to the Panel.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed Michael Deakin from Shelter and Sam Nurse from the Money Advice Hub to the meeting.

 

The Partnership and Funding Officer reminded the Panel that they had previously received an update on Advice Services in September 2018.  The Information and Advice Services contract had been re-tendered in 2019 and this was the first update from the new partners.

 

The Panel received an update from Michael Deakin from Shelter, as attached.

 

The Chair thanked Michael Deakin for his presentation and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below.

 

Councillor Kemp stated that she was pleased that the arrangements were working well and asked if there were ways in which Councillors could provide further support to the service, especially in relation to Mental Health issues.  Michael Deakin commented that Councillors could refer individuals to Shelter and assist them by writing letters of support.  Information leaflets were also available that Councillors could pass on to their constituents.

 

The Panel received an update from Sam Nurse from the Money Advice Hub, as attached.

 

The Chair thanked Sam Nurse for her presentation and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below.

 

Councillor Bullen asked about educating individuals around debt and if the Money Advice Hub engaged with schools.  Sam Nurse commented that they were currently sponsoring a competition at the College of West Anglia to assist students with building an app which had financial capability.  The Partnerships and Funding Officer explained that previously the Panel had raised concerns about education and subsequently this was included in the 2019 tender.  She explained that the Money Advice Hub provides this service.

 

Councillor Bambridge provided Sam Nurse with details of a West Norfolk Carers Conference which she thought would be beneficial for her to attend to provide advice.

 

RESOLVED: The updates were noted.

EC83:

West Norfolk Wins Update

To receive a verbal update from officers.

Minutes:

The Partnership and Funding Officer provided the Panel with an update on West Norfolk Wins Lottery.  She explained that the first draw had taken place on 26th May 2018.  Tickets were £1 and purchases needed to be pre-planned as tickets could be purchased in 1, 3 6 or 12 month blocks.  Winners were notified via email and winnings were paid directly back into their account.

 

Players selected a good cause which would receive 50p from every £1 ticket sale.  10p from each sale would also go to the West Norfolk Wins Community Fund.  20p from each sale would go into the prize fund, 17p would go to the lottery provider and 3p was VAT.

 

The Partnership and Funding Officer highlighted the following:

 

·        Good causes had to meet eligibility criteria and pass due diligence checks.

·        £47,000 had been raised so far for good causes

·        £20,277 had gone into the West Norfolk Wins Community Fund which was distributed through the financial assistance scheme.

·        Prizes won so far were; 238 of £25, 20 of £250, 2 of £2,000, over 2000 sets of three free tickets and one jackpot of £25,000.

·        Top performing causes had raised nearly £14,000 between six of them, for very little effort.

·        The Council has to hold a Gambling Commission licence plus a Lotteries Council licence and from 14th April 2020 the Lottery could no longer accept payment by credit card for remote lottery games.

·        The Communications team had worked hard to promote the Lottery.

 

West Norfolk Wins could be accessed at www.westnorfolkwins.co.uk

 

RESOLVED: The update was noted.

EC84:

Climate Change Carbon Audit and Tree Planting pdf icon PDF 114 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Officers presented the report as included in the Agenda and gave a presentation to Members.

 

The Climate Change Officer presented the Carbon Audit data.  He explained that the previous audit had been carried out in 2014/2015 and that the emissions had been categorised into three scopes, all of which had decreased in the current audit. 

 

The Environmental Health Manager outlined the work plan, which included creation of a Climate Change Policy, Strategy and Implementation Plan.  He also highlighted the other work being carried out to deal with Climate Change which was contained in part 2.4 of the report and included looking at working with Norfolk County Council, tree planting and joint projects.

 

The report also provided detail of the internal groups set up by the Borough Council and looked at issues such as housing standards, new builds, technology and the Council’s vehicle fleet.

 

The Environmental Health Manager explained that, with regard to the vehicle fleet, electric vehicles would be looked at however there were presently limited options that had the range available to service the whole of the Borough.

 

The Panel was informed that the Re-fit project was ongoing and all lights at King’s Court had been replaced.  All Council facilities would be looked at to see what could be done to make them more efficient.

 

The Arboricultural Officer provided an update on the recent tree planting project at King’s Reach.  He explained that it was a community event with lots of people attending and good feedback being received.  Options for future projects such as Street Trees for King’s Lynn and community planting were being looked at.

 

The Chair thanked officers for their report and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below.

 

In response to a question from Councillor Bullen, the Arboricultural Officer explained that the trees used for the King’s Reach project were all species that were native to the UK and were suitable for the type of soil.  The trees had been purchased from the Woodland Trust using donations from the Churches Together project.

 

In response to a question from Councillor Bambridge it was explained that approximately 500 trees had been planted at King’s Reach.  The Portfolio Holder for Environment, Councillor Devereux commented that the Ken Hill Estate was looking at a re-wilding project and the Borough Council would also look at other opportunities for re-wilding projects as appropriate.

 

It was also confirmed that parcels of land all over West Norfolk were being considered.

 

Councillor Ryves addressed the Panel under Standing Order 34.  He asked for details of the cost of tree planting and ongoing maintenance costs.  The Arboricultural Officer explained that there would be minimal maintenance costs for the King’s Reach area for the first fifteen to twenty years and then future spend would need to be considered.  The Environmental Health Manager explained that projects would be looked at on a case by case basis and in the future work could be carried out with landowners and Parish Councils who may wish to carry  ...  view the full minutes text for item EC84:

EC85:

Work Programme and Forward Decision List pdf icon PDF 73 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair explained that at the next Panel meeting the Panel would be considering their Work Programme for the 2020/2021 Municipal Year.  Members of the Panel were encouraged to come up with suggestions for items for inclusion in the Work Programme.

 

Councillor Collop asked when the Alive West Norfolk update would be forthcoming and it was explained that this would be scheduled for June/July 2020.

 

RESOLVED: The Panel’s Work Programme was noted.

EC86:

Date of the next meeting

To note that the next meeting of the Environment and Community Panel is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 22nd April 2020 at 6.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall.

Minutes:

The next meeting of the Environment and Community Panel would be held on Wednesday 22nd April 2020 at 6.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall.

EC87:

Reports for Noting Purposes

Minutes:

The Chair thanked those Members who had provided update reports on the work of Outside Bodies which they were appointed to.

 

Councillor Lesley Bambridge referred to her report regarding the Disabilities Champion Update.  She stated that it was a demanding role and she had been in contact with lots of organisations to gain knowledge and come up with networking ideas.