The outgoing Chairman, Councillor Mike Nairn in the Chair.

a)    To elect the Chairman of the Council for the ensuing year.

b)    The newly elected Chairman to sign the required Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

Nominations were invited.

After being duly proposed and seconded and with no other nominations being made, it was RESOLVED that Councillor Peter Wilkinson be elected Chairman of the Council for the ensuing year.

Councillor Wilkinson signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

Councillor Wilkinson in the Chair.

The new Chairman said he felt privileged and was an honour to represent Breckland Council to be nominated.  He then said a few words about the former Chairman, Councillor Nairn and thanked him for his hard work and dedication, and for the thousands of pounds that he had raised for his charities.  Councillor Wilkinson then asked everyone to join him in thanking Mr Nairn for his chairmanship this past year and as a former District Councillor.

a)    To appoint the Vice-Chairman of the Council for the ensuing year.

b)    The newly appointed Vice-Chairman to sign the required Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

After being duly proposed and seconded and with no other nominations being received, it was RESOLVED that Councillor Terry Jermy be appointed Vice-Chairman for the ensuing year.

Councillor Jermy signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

Councillor Jermy thanked everyone for their support and looked forward to supporting the new Chairman.

Councillor Kybird thanked the former Chairman and former Councillor, Mike Nairn and his wife Sue, his consort for their hard work in Breckland and beyond.  He felt that the highlight of the year was the unsung heroes’ awards and he hoped that this would continue.

Councillor Webb echoed the above comments as she knew that it had made a great deal of difference to those individuals who had received those awards.

Councillor Sherwood also thanked Mike for his years of service and for the support he had given to his two chosen charities.  He also thanked him for the work that he had done in the Bedingfeld Ward which he now represented and was now known as the new Mike.

Other Members conveyed their thanks, and all felt that the unsung heroes’ awards had been a superb initiative.

The former Chairman was then presented with his outgoing Chairman’s medal.

To receive apologies for absence. 

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Marion Chapman-Allen, Cowen, Kiddle-Morris, Terry and Thurbon.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 23 March 2023.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 23 March 2023 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the former Chairman.

The duties to register, disclose and not to participate for the entire consideration of the matter, in respect of any matter in which a Member has a disclosable pecuniary interest are set out in Chapter 7 of the Localism Act 2011.  Members are also required to withdraw from the meeting room as stated in the Standing Orders of this Council.

None declared.

None.

To note the following Minutes:

Councillor Gilbert referred to Minute No. 44/23 in respect of the delivery of the Planning & Building Control Services. He was delighted that this service was being brought back in-house.

The Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 13 March 2023 were noted.

The Minutes of the Overview & Scrutiny Commission meeting held on 22 March 2023 were noted.

The Minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 14 March 2023 were noted.

The Minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 18 April 2023 were noted.

The Minutes of the General Purposes Committee meeting held on 22 March 2023 were noted.

The Minutes of the Licensing Committee meeting held on 15 March 2023 were noted.

Report of Rob Walker, Deputy Chief Executive & Monitoring Officer.

Rob Walker, the Deputy Chief Executive & Monitoring Officer presented the report.

In accordance with the Constitution, the report sought Members’ agreement to approve the appointment of the Leader of the Council, the annual appointments of Councillors to Committees, the Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen for the ensuing year, and the appointment of the Council’s Independent Person under the Localism Act 2011 for a period of 4 years until 2027.

As there were several elements to this report each was presented in three consecutive parts.

Appointment of the Leader of the Council

The recommendation was read aloud.

After being duly proposed and seconded and with no other nominations being received, it was unanimously RESOLVED that Councillor Sam Chapman-Allen be re-appointed as the Leader of the Council for a 4-year term until the next Election in 2027.

Annual Appointment of Committees, Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen 2023-24

Rob Walker, the Deputy Chief Executive & Monitoring Officer advised that Councillor Anscombe had been nominated for the vacant seat on the Planning Committee.

The recommendations were read aloud, and it was:

RESOLVED that, subject to the above appointment:

1.    the Council appoints for 2023-2024 the Committee and Panel membership in line with the political group regulations as set out in Appendix A of the report; and

2.    the Council approves the appointment of the Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of those Committees as set out in Appendix A of the report.

No changes were made by the Group Leaders.

Re-Appointment of the Council’s Independent Person for a further 4-year period

It was proposed and seconded that Mr Bob Davis be re-appointed as the Council’s Independent Person.

,

Following a unanimous vote, it was:

RESOLVED that the Council’s Independent Person be re-appointed for a further 4-year period.

To receive a verbal update from the Leader of the Council.

The Leader congratulated Councillor Wilkinson on his appointment as Chairman of the Council.

Firstly, the Leader congratulated every Member on being elected to this council for the forthcoming term. Being chosen by Breckland residents to represent them on this council was an immense honour and a privilege to serve the people of Breckland and he was confident that together all could help this district to go from strength to strength.

Members were urged to ensure that the discussions and debates that would be had over the coming months and years were grounded in mutual respect and understanding and to do what was best for Breckland.

He had been delighted that so many members attended the recent council induction and engaged so fully with the Council’s senior and frontline staff in learning more about the organisation and how Members and Officers could work together to deliver the best possible services for our Breckland residents.

He looked forward to working with all everyone to achieve the shared vision of ensuring that Breckland was a place where people and businesses could thrive.

He also thanked all Members for their ongoing support, as this Council’s Leader. Despite some immense challenges, Breckland Council was doing a tremendous job for local people, and he was delighted that as we entered the next four-year term, this Council was in a position to build on the solid foundation that had been laid during the last political cycle. A period in which this Council:

·         successfully supported people through the unprecedented pressures of the covid pandemic, protecting not just people’s lives, but their livelihoods through the distribution of essential funding, food, and medicines.

·         invested £1.8m in the brand-new Elm House temporary accommodation facility in Thetford to help homeless people– and then took that further with the construction of new move-on homes on the same site.

·         Supported the first social supermarket in the East of England, and followed that up with the innovative food bus, to help some of Breckland’s most isolated and in-need residents to not only access supplies but advice and signposting to other services such as mental health support.

·         This council had overseen the rollout of mental health training to scores of mental health champions across the district to put this care and advice right in the hearts of the communities.

·         Worked with expert charities and partners to tackle domestic abuse and make sure people had the help they needed, when they needed it most.

·         Ensured the completion of the brand new £3.5m electricity substation in Snetterton, which would enable businesses to arrive and grow at Snetterton Heath, protecting and creating jobs on the Cambridge – Norwich Tech Corridor.

·         Transformed disused ground in the heart of Dereham and turned it into the beautiful Ellenor Fenn Garden, which was swiftly followed up by the redevelopment of Queen Mother’s Garden.

·         Continue to make strides towards this Council’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2035 and build on progress to date, which included replacing streetlights across the district with more energy-efficient  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45/23

None received.

Councillor Jermy, the Vice-Chairman of the Council and Leader of the Labour Group directed his question to the Leader.

He was aware that there had been a significant increase in casework relating to housing.  This had been primarily for people in private rented accommodation where landlords were struggling with interest rate rises who unfortunately had to sell their properties or downsize causing a significant increase in demand.  He felt that the Council’s housing service was struggling and asked the Leader if he was aware of this demand and also asked what action this Council was taking to ensure that it had the capacity to deal with these enquiries in a timely manner.

The Leader stated that unfortunately, this problem was still on-going, exacerbated by various challenges in terms of the downturn in housing growth across the whole of the district, encompassed with the challenges around Nutrient Neutrality, the increase in interest rates and increases in the cost of materials for small and medium developers.  Through the Local Plan review, Councillor Suggitt, the Executive Member for Strategic & Operational Planning along with her Team were working with developers to establish what their needs and challenges were, as well as making sure that the Team could cope.  Breckland Council had invested in community support officers who were working in partnership with the NHS and with the Citizens Advice Bureau around debt advice to deal with housing challenges that allowed other Officers within the Council to deal with the more challenging work involved.    This Council was building more emergency accommodation across the district to provide that extra capacity and by working closely with Councillor Bowes, the Executive Member for Housing & Homelessness and Rob Walker, the Deputy Chief Executive, a long-term solution would be found to deal with such housing challenges going forward.

Councillor Atterwill directed his question to Councillor Ashby, the Executive Member for Health & Communities.  He mentioned the report in the news that he had seen about desperate parents across the country who were finding it hard to feed their babies due to the cost-of-living crisis and the massive increase in cost of baby formula.  Some kind people were donating half opened tins, but this posed a contamination risk and possible bacterial infection, and the problem with having an on demand unaffordable product was that people were now looking for alternative ways of finding such products and was aware that a black market in baby formula had sprung up.  Since the report came out, he had been in contact with numerous organisations including Norfolk Young People’s Health Services, Mid Norfolk Food Bank and the Community Fridge   to try and find out what help was available for parents in need, and if there was a joined up multiteam approach at Breckland Council to support these particular struggling families.  Based on what he had found, he did have concerns about such issues in the district, and in Breckland’s capacity as a member of the Breckland Health & Wellbeing Partnership he asked Councillor Ashby, the Executive Member  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47/23

Report of Rob Walker, Deputy Chief Executive & Monitoring Officer.

Rob Walker the Deputy Chief Executive & Monitoring Officer presented the report.

The Chairman asked if there were any changes to be made to the Appendix attached to this report.

Councillor Suggitt, the Deputy Leader of the Council advised that Councillor Richmond be appointed as the substitute on the Norfolk Records Joint Committee and Councillor Ashby, the Executive Member for Health & Communities would replace Councillor Webb on the Breckland Health & Wellbeing Partnership.

The recommendation was proposed and seconded, and it was:

RESOLVED that the most suitable representatives be appointed to serve on the list of Outside Bodies.

None.

NOTE: No other business is permitted unless by reason of special circumstances, which shall be specified in the minutes, the Chairman is of the opinion that the items(s) should be considered as a matter of urgency.

None.

The Chairman conveyed his thanks to the Democratic Services Team and all who were involved in the recent Elections and at the Count. 

The charities that the Chairman would be supporting would be announced at the next Full Council meeting.