Agenda and minutes

The Chair informed the Panel that the meeting was being broadcast live on You Tube.  The recording of the meeting is available at WestNorfolkBC on You Tube.

The Democratic Services Officer conducted a roll call to confirm attendees.

RESOLVED:  Councillor C Manning be appointed Vice-Chair for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors P Beal and J Collop.

To approve the minutes from the Corporate Performance Panel held on 3 June 2020.

The minutes of the meeting held on 3 June 2020 were agreed as a correct record.

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 any item or simply observing the meeting from the public seating area.

There were no declarations of interest.

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

There was no urgent business.

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.

Councillor C J Crofts – Item 9.

Councillor M de Whalley – Items 8 to 15.

Councillor A Holmes – for items 8 to 12.

Councillor C Morley – items 9 and 10.

Councillor J Rust – items 10 and 15.

The Chair advised that he had sent out a letter to a number of Parish Councils inviting comments on the operation of the Planning Sifting Panel.

The Chair had forwarded copies of responses received to the Assistant Director, Environment and Planning and asked him to prepare a summary of responses which had been published with the Agenda on Mod Gov.  The Panel was advised that two additional letters had been received which had not been included in the summary of responses.

There were no call-ins.

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The Panel received a presentation (copy attached) from the Managing Director, Alive West Norfolk which updated Members on progress with the Re-fit energy performance contract. 

The Managing Director, Alive West Norfolk responded to questions and comments in relation to:

·         Quick wins to achieve annual savings.

·         Lifetime of capital parts within council facilities and cost in the future.

·         Some installations would extend anticipated lifetime.

·         Environmental, more efficient, cost reductions.

·         All Council facilities on a water meter – water management system in place.

·         Areas of savings – water, electricity, gas, LED lighting, PRI systems.

·         Carbon savings.

Councillor Dark thanked the Management Director, Alive West Norfolk for the detailed presentation and for the hard work which had been undertaken by the team and added that he was fully supportive of the work.

At the invitation of the Chair, the Leader addressed the Panel and explained that any CO2 reductions that the Council made would be a benefit.  Councillors and the public were keen to see this work happen, in order to achieve efficiencies, carbon reduction and financial savings going forward.  The Leader confirmed that  in his office there was LED lighting and a PRI system.  In conclusion, the Leader added that this was  a superb initiative.  At the end of the 10 year period it may well worth consideration of investing further as technology may well have moved on.

The Chair commented that the Panel would look forward to a further update in a few years’ time to see how progress was moving on.

The Chair thanked the Management Director, Alive West Norfolk for the presentation and providing Members with an update.

RESOLVED:  That the update be noted.

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The Assistant Director – Environment and Planning presented the report which provided an update of the operation of the Planning Sifting Panel, following the review by the Corporate Performance Panel at its 19 February 2019 meeting.

The Panel’s attention was specifically drawn to Sections 3.2, 3.3, 3.6, 3.7.

The Assistant Director – Environment and Planning, the Portfolio for Development and Chair of the Planning Committee responded to questions in relation to:

·         National Planning targets, the Council had to adhere to (section 2.2).

·         Process for determining and reporting delegated decisions to Members.

·         Scheme of Delegation and examples given how other councils operated without Member involvement.  The Council determined the sifting panel would be the best option and it involved Members in the process. 

·         Reasons for setting up the Planning Sifting Panel.

·         Operation, role and membership of the sifting panel. A schedule of decisions is published on the Council’s website.

·         Correspondence/feedback from Parish Councils in response to the letter sent by the Chair and how those comments will be taken forward.

·         Parish Councils have 21 days to comment on planning applications.

·         Parish Councils being informed of decision of Planning Sifting Panel.

·         Five-year land supply and impact on planning applications submitted.

·         Borough Councillor right to call in application to the Planning Committee.

·         Number of applications previously considered by the Planning Committee prior to the introduction of the sifting panel.

·         Number of applications (maximum 10) currently being considered by the Planning Committee by zoom to enable the Committee to make good decisions.

The Chair commented that he had taken on board the comments made regarding the Letter he had sent to Parish Councils, but added that it was a shame it was not a letter from the Council and outlined the reasons why he had done so.

Under Standing Order 34, Councillor C Morley and Holmes addressed the Panel and responses were given to the questions asked/comments made.

At the invitation of the Chair, Councillor C J Crofts Chair of the Planning Committee addressed the Panel and explained that he had concern when the sifting panel was initially set up.  However, the Chair explained that he now fully supported the operation of the sifting panel.  . Members of the Planning Committee were invited to sit on the sifting panel on a rota basis.  Assurance was given that Parish Council’s comments were taken into consideration before a decision was made.  If strong planning reasons were given against Officer recommendation it would automatically go to the Planning Committee for determination.  Delegated decisions were always the last item on each Planning Agenda and Members had the opportunity to comment on any decision at the Planning Committee meeting.

At the invitation of the Chair, the Portfolio Holder – Development addressed the Panel, a summary of which is set out below.

I was amazed to see the copy of the letter to the parish councils headed “Consulting Parish Councils on Planning Applications”.  I do not believe that  ...  view the full minutes text for item CP121

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In presenting the report, the Senior Policy and Performance Officer reminded Members that the corporate performance monitoring report was in place to monitor progress against agreed performance indicators for the year.  The report contained information on the corporate performance monitoring undertaken for 2019/20.

The Senior Policy and Performance Officer and Assistant Director, Central and Services responded to questions and comments relating to:

·         CS3 – reduction in the percentage of telephone calls.  It was confirmed that the figures included the numbers of online forms and online chat in the range of digital services not just telephony.

·         EV4 - Number of Brown Bins used for composting detailed in the action report.

·         DV1 to DV4 targets.  It was undertaken to include that these were national targets in the commentary in future reports.

·         CH1 - % of residents who take part in sport and physical activity as measure by the Sport England Active Lives Survey.

·         Sickness Absence/reasons for absence.

·         Impact of COVID on staff.

·         Metrics/financial details for new Corporate Monitoring reports.

Under Standing Order 34, Councillor Holmes, Morley and Rust asked questions relating to the corporate performance report and the action report.

The Leader explained that with regard to the supply of brown bins, there was an issue in terms of staff, but added that numbers had now increased and really strong sales had been driven during lockdown and the Leader congratulated staff on delivering brown bins. 

Responses to the questions raised in relation to the indicators below would be , circulated to the Panel:

·         Indicators PD1 to PD5 – relating to housing sales.

·         Disabled Facilities Grants – first point of contact.

·         Freedom of Information Requests CS1– final response within the deadline.

The Chair thanked the Senior Policy and Performance Officer for attending and presenting the report.

RESOLVED:  The Panel:

1)            Reviewed the performance monitoring report.

2)            Agreed the actions outlined in the action report.

The Panel adjourned at 5.00 pm and reconvened at 5.10 pm.

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The Senior Policy and Performance Officer presented the report and explained that following the adoption of the 2015-20 Corporate Business Plan in January 2016, quarterly monitoring of the plan had been reported to Management Team and the Corporate Performance Panel to demonstrate progress against corporate priorities.

It was highlighted that the summary report was the final update on the previous corporate business plan.  The corporate recovery strategy would be replacing the new Corporate Business Plan for one year whilst the council moved out of the global COVID-19 pandemic and progress on this would be provided at each Corporate Performance Panel meeting during 2020/21.

The key issues were outlined as set out in the report.

There were no questions from the Panel or Councillors attending under Standing Order 34.

The Chair thanked the Senior Policy and Performance Officer for presenting the report.

RESOLVED:  The Panel noted the progress in the delivery of the Corporate Business Plan 2015-20.

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The Panel noted the Cabinet Forward Decisions List.

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The Chair advised that in consultation with officers, the following item would be scheduled for consideration at a future Panel meeting.:

·         LILY – the role in general and specifically in relation to COVID.

·         Knights Hill.

The Chair invited those present to forward any items to be considered for the work programme.

To note that the date of the next meeting of the Corporate Performance Panel will take place on 2 September 2020 at 3 pm on Zoom.

The next meeting of the Corporate Performance Panel will take place on 2 September 2020 at 3 pm on Zoom.

To consider passing the following resolution:

“That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act”.

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RESOLVED:  That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

The Assistant Director, Regeneration and Projects gave a verbal report and responded to questions from the Panel and those Members attending under Standing Order 34.