Quickfire Q&A with North Norfolk’s S151

Karen Sly has been head of finance and Section 151 officer for North Norfolk District Council for a year. She has been with the North Norfolk for the last four years and previously worked in other councils.

Room 151: At £450,000 per year your Big Society fund seems quite big, how is it that the council is able to offer this way of financing community projects?

KS: The fund is financed from the County Council’s share of second homes council tax that is passed back to the district councils. Currently there is an arrangement between the County Council and districts in Norfolk whereby half of the discretionary element of the council tax chargeable on second homes (50% is mandatory and up to a further 50% is discretionary, we currently charge 95% in total) is returned to districts for community support. The Big Society Fund of £450k was set up in 2012/13 to enable community investment in the district, a further £450k for 2013/14 has recently been agreed, funded in the same way.

Room 151: Is £450,000 per year a lot of money to be able to give out for a council such as yours?

KS: Yes, it is quite a large sum of money for a district of our size. Last year a total of 47 grants were awarded totaling £397,537, individually the grants ranged from £750 up to £45k, most are used as funding towards projects, ie not the total cost of the project. The projects varied including for example play equipment, improvements to community buildings, contributions towards multi-use games areas and community wi-fi hot spots. The smaller grant applications are approved by a board of members and the larger one by cabinet.

Room 151: Moving on to the council in general, you have a tiny management structure, how did that come about?

KS: There was a restructure of the senior management team last year which delivered savings of £231,000, ongoing per year. The corporate leadership team was reduced from five to three and the level below from 13 to seven. The senior management team now consists of the chief executive, two directors and seven heads of service.

Room 151: What other cost-saving initiatives has the council done or have in the pipeline?

KS: Over the last two years savings and additional income streams of just over £1 million are being delivered, these include officer restructurings, review of charging including car parking and other rental properties, internal restructuring and not replacing some posts that became vacant, or looking at how services could be provided differently and reviewing contracts.

Room 151: And any shared services?

KS: We have got a shared environmental services manager with a neighbouring authority, we procured a waste contract together and the manager manages the contract for both authorities. The council has also procured a revenues and benefits system with a neighbouring authority and we are exploring further opportunities for sharing services. The council is in an internal audit consortium with five other districts and have a shared management arrangement for this service.

Room 151: What do you feel are the major challenges for your authority going forward in the current environment of cuts?

KS: Being able to respond to the challenge of reducing government support and the many changes that have impacted and continue to influence the funding for local authorities, for example the localisation of council tax support. Also being able to generate growth locally in terms of business growth (and the impact this has on the localisation of business rates that came into operation in April 2013) and housing that will have a positive impact on the local council tax income that is generated and new homes bonus funding that is accessible. Growth remains a local priority, furthermore our location and the vast coastline and the funding for coastal defence still presents a challenge to the authority.