This week, King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council held 3 meetings. There were no meetings scheduled for the weekend of 22 June, and two meetings were postponed or cancelled earlier in the week.

The Audit Committee met on Monday 24 June 2024 to review its effectiveness over the previous year, and to consider a report on the council's use of external consultants. You may recall from previous emails that audit committees are responsible for scrutinising the financial management of the council, and for ensuring that the council is meeting its legal and regulatory obligations. The committee exists independently of the main council chamber in order to provide additional oversight and accountability in the use of public funds.

In the meeting, members of the committee discussed their perception of its effectiveness over the previous year, and whether it had succeeded in its role of scrutinising the council's spending. This is a statutory duty of all Audit Committees in the United Kingdom, under the Local Government Act 1972.

There is evidence that the Committee is working effectively in accordance with the requirements of the CIPFA guidance and that it continues to improve and develop its work.

—Paragraph 4.1, Audit Committee Annual Report 2023/24

CIPFA is the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, the professional body for people working in public finance in the UK. CIPFA provides guidance to local authorities on a range of financial matters, including the role of the audit committee.

The committee also discussed the council's use of consultants, which had increased significantly over the year, to £739,000. This is significantly higher than the amount spent in previous years. The borough treasurer explained that this was due to a number of large projects being commissioned by the council, such as a new IT system, for which the council does not have the internal staff to deliver. You may recall from previous emails that councils are large and complex organisations, often employing thousands of people across a very wide range of professions, and that as such it is common for them to require external expertise for highly technical or specialist projects.

Later that week, the full council met on Thursday 27 June. The meeting began by formally nominating Councillor Brian Long to the King's Lynn Conservancy Board, before hearing a question from a member of the public about the council's environmental policies. You may recall from previous emails that local councils are required to allow some time in each meeting for members of the public to ask questions, and that these questions must relate to the business of the council. You may also recall that the council declared a climate emergency in 2019.

The resident asked how the council reconciled its declaration of a climate emergency with its decision to build a new incinerator in Wisbech. In his response to the question, Councillor Long, the Cabinet Member for the Environment, argued that incineration was the least worst option available to the council, and that the new incinerator would be better for the environment than the older facilities it was replacing.

While I fully appreciate the concerns, we have to look at the bigger picture. In a perfect world, we wouldn't have waste, and we could recycle everything. Sadly, we don't live in that world.

Immediately after this meeting, the council held a meeting of the full council to discuss housing and biodiversity. During this meeting, Councillors voted to adopt a new Housing Strategy. The strategy sets out how the council plans to manage housing in the borough over the next 5 years.

This strategy sets out an ambitious vision for housing in West Norfolk and will guide the Council’s work to both meet the housing needs of residents, and to create a housing market which benefits the wider West Norfolk economy.

The strategy sets out how we plan to prevent homelessness and ensure that everyone at risk of homelessness has access to timely help and advice.

You may recall from previous emails that, as part of its duties, councils are legally obliged to provide housing to people who are homeless through no fault of their own. Councils do this in a number of ways, including by providing temporary accommodation, and by working with housing associations and private landlords to find permanent homes for people.

The Housing Strategy was passed overwhelmingly, with 41 votes in favour, 2 against and 1 abstention. This means that the council will now begin to implement the strategy.

Finally, the meeting heard a presentation from the Norfolk Wildlife Trust about the council's draft biodiversity statement. You may recall from previous emails that Biodiversity is the variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular habitat, a high level of which is usually considered to be important and desirable.

Biodiversity is the variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular habitat, a high level of which is usually considered to be important and desirable.

You may also recall that the Council is required by law to protect biodiversity under the Environment Act 2021. The Act includes a requirement for all local authorities to produce a biodiversity statement, setting out how they plan to protect and enhance biodiversity in their area.

You can read the council's draft biodiversity statement on the council's website.