Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence received for this meeting.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

Prior to consideration of the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 7^th January 2026, the Leader announced that following the meeting it was confirmed that the number of Cabinet Members on the Shareholders Committee was four. Therefore, of the two nominations made at the previous meeting only one appointment was required. It was confirmed that Councillor S. Webb be appointed to the Shareholders Committee for the remainder of the municipal year.

RESOLVED that subject to the amendment, as detailed in the preamble above, that the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 7^th January 2026 be approved.

There are no outstanding recommendations contained in the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Board included in this agenda pack.

Members considered the contents of the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting held on 6^th January 2026.

It was confirmed that there were no outstanding recommendations contained within the minutes.

However, as a result of discussions held at this meeting regarding the Local Heritage report, Members were keen to understand who made the decision as to what assets appeared on the Local Heritage List. It was noted that there had been engagement with local communities including Parish Councils on this matter where assets to be included were discussed. Cabinet was informed that recruitment was underway for a full time Conservation Officer who would provide support for an increasingly development management workload.

Although there had been no recommendations made by the Board at the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting held on 10^th February 2026, Members were keen that a regular update be provided to the Board from the Member representative on the West Mercia Police and Crime Panel. It was suggested, however that it would be more appropriate for Chief Inspector Dave King, to provide an in-depth update on these matters. It was confirmed that this would be investigated further and future arrangements made accordingly.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board explained that just prior to this Cabinet meeting, there had been two meetings of the Finance and Budget Working Group, with Board Members in attendance at one of the meetings. Both meetings had pre-scrutinised the Medium-Term Financial Plan Stage Two Budget Report 2026/2027 to 2028/2029 (including Capital Strategy, Investment Strategy and Treasury Management Strategy) report which was due to be considered at this Cabinet meeting.

It was reported that there were no recommendations made as a result of this pre-scrutiny. Members were largely in agreement with the proposals contained within the Medium-Term Financial Plan Stage Two Budget Report 2026/2027 to 2028/2029 (including Capital Strategy, Investment Strategy and Treasury Management Strategy) report. This included the proposed increase in Council Tax of 2.99 per cent for the 2026/2027 financial year. It was requested, that should Members have any technical queries in respect of the report prior to the Council meeting, that these be sent in writing to the Interim Director of Finance and Section 151 Officer and Cabinet Member for Finance in order to provide as much detail as possible for questions at the Council meeting due to take place on 25^th February 2026.

RESOLVED that subject to the preamble above, the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting held on 6^th January 2026 be noted.

The Medium-Term Financial Plan Stage 2 Budget Report 2026/2027 to 2028/2029 (including Capital Strategy, Investment Strategy and Treasury Management Strategy) will be published in a supplementary papers pack.

It is anticipated there will be exempt information contained in one of the appendices to this report which may need to be considered in exempt session.

The Interim Director of Finance and Section 151 Officer presented the Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) Stage 2 Budget Report 2026/2027 to 2028/2029 (including Capital Strategy, Investment Strategy and Treasury Management Strategy) for the consideration of Cabinet.

In doing so, the following was noted:

·       The report provided transparency on the Council’s Budget Setting process. A significant amount of work had been carried out by the Finance team in order to provide the report. All Members had been engaged in this process which had been welcomed. Assistant Directors and budget holders had also been consulted with during this process and had provided detailed information, in order to ensure that information was accurate and clear. It was reported to Cabinet that the Council’s Budget was balanced with no reliance on Reserves to fund recurring costs.

·       It was proposed that there be an increase in Council Tax of 2.99 per cent for the 2026/2027 financial year.

·       Following a comprehensive review process, there were new allocations proposed in respect of the Earmarked reserves. These new allocations were detailed as follows:

1)    A new Financial Resilience Reserve of £2.5million – this was to provide stability for the future and in order to mitigate any future risks to the Council.

2)    A Local Government Reorganisation Reserve of £1million – this allocation was to provide any areas of funding required as a result of the LGR process currently underway (at this current early stage).

3)    A Community Investment Fund of £1.250million - This would provide funding for any emerging needs for local communities and for which Members wished to provide funding. Members were keen to note that any funding distributed from this earmarked reserve needed to be in line with the Council’s Strategic Priorities and subject to strict criteria and allocated accordingly. The governance of this funding would be robust in order to provide the best outcomes for local communities. It was noted that all Members should be made aware that this must be the approach taken in respect of this funding. It was noted that if this reserve allocation was approved by Members at the full Council meeting on 25^th February 2026, a formal report would be provided to ensure Members were aware of the strategic nature of this funding and the clear criteria under which it would be allocated. Officers stated that similar funding had been made at other Councils and Officers agreed to provide Members with further information following the meeting. Lessons could also be learnt from the successful allocations and projects funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) previously. This, it was noted, had been a successful initiative for the Council.

·       The Council was in a sound position in terms of Reserves with General Fund Balances of £13.38million and Earmarked Reserves of £11.27million.

·       There was a small clarification to the Pay Policy and Members confirmed their commitment to the real living wage for the coming budget year.

A typographical error was highlighted within the report at paragraph 3.46. This would be amended  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77/25

The Acting Principal Officer (Technical Pollution) presented the Particulate Monitoring (PM) report.

Members were reminded that a report on this matter had previously been considered by Cabinet at its meeting on 7^th January 2026. The report proposed options for additional PM Monitoring within Bromsgrove District Council (BDC) area. Five options were presented and Members agreed to Option E within the paper,which had proposed maintaining current sensors and extended monitoring life for a further period of time, and a source apportionment study with University of Birmingham – mobile supersite. This would provide a unique insight into PM profile in Worcestershire utilising state of the art air quality monitoring equipment and supported by academic expertise alongside the University of Birmingham. A further report had been requested in order to ascertain more detailed funding information to be included in the Medium-Term Financial Plan 2026/2027 including Treasury Management Strategy, Capital Strategy and Investment Strategy report considered earlier during the course of the meeting.

Members were informed that these costings had been investigated and a one-off amount of £145,234.04 was needed to support Option E. However, following a request from Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) on behalf of the Council, the Director of Public Health committed to contributing £40,000 towards this project should approval by the Council be given. Thus, the recommendation was for £105,234.04 which equated to the cost of the project minus the contribution from the Director of Public Health.

Members welcomed this proposal and the funding provided by Public Health. The Overview and Scrutiny Board was thanked for their detailed scrutiny of this report when considered at the Board meeting held on 6^th January 2026.

In discussing the funding allocation within the Budget, it was noted that £145,234.04 had been originally allocated within the Budget. However, this would be adjusted to reflect the updated amount of £105,234.04.

Members queried where the sensors were located and it was reported that they were situated in Rubery, Hagley and within the Air Quality Management area (AQMA) on the Worcester Road.

RECOMMENDED that

1)    Additional funding of £105,234.04 be added to the revenue budget for 2026/2027

RESOLVED to NOTE that

2)    subject to agreement of recommendation 1 as detailed above, that the recommendations arising from the Particulate Matter report considered by Cabinet on 7^th January 2026 to be presented for Council’s consideration alongside this recommendation at the meeting to be held in February 2026.

The Executive Director presented the Inclusive Play Policy report for Cabinet’s consideration.

In doing so, the following was highlighted for Members consideration:

·       The Inclusive Play Policy had been developed to deliver better outcomes for accessible and inclusive outdoor equipped play areas across Bromsgrove District. It included specific recommendations for Strategic Parks and a design checklist to improve other play spaces.

·       Definitions of ‘Accessible’ and ‘Inclusive Play’ were included in the Policy. It was explained that inclusive play went beyond accessible play to support more equitable provision allowing disabled and non-disabled children to enjoy high play value.

·       Good practice guidance from the Fields in Trust, Sensory Trust, Scope UK and Play England had been reviewed. However, there was a lack of national standards for inclusive play provision (for outdoor equipped play).

·       Plan Inclusive Play Areas (PiPA) was the UK's only independent accreditation system for evaluating accessible and inclusive play area design. It was reported that this was an exceptionally high standard to achieve with only one site in the West Midlands, at Cannock Chase being a recipient of PiPA accreditation. It was proposed that an audit / assessment of Sanders Park play provision be carried out against the PiPA standard and then implement improvements within twelve months. Achieving the PiPA standard for Sanders Park would clearly demonstrate the Council’s commitment to inclusive play, providing a centrally located destination play space with good car parking and accessible toilet provision, which was important for many disabled visitors (both children and carers).The learning from Sanders Park would then be applied to other strategic parks in Bromsgrove e.g. St Chad’s Recreation Ground, King George V Playing Field and Lickey End Recreation Ground. However, only St Chad’s Recreation Ground had accessible toilet provision. It was further noted that future development at Perryfields may create opportunities for inclusive play and supporting facilities at King George V Playing Field.

·       Other BDC play spaces in receipt of investment through the Play Investment Strategy, as approved by Cabinet in December 2024 would be assessed to consider how the investment could be used to improve the accessibility and inclusiveness of the play offer. A Design Checklist had been developed to assist officers and play companies to audit existing provision and consider opportunities. This had a numerical scoring system (with the scoring system based on similar criteria to PiPA) to allow change to be recorded and monitored.

·       The proposed approaches in the policy were considered to be a good balance between the ambition to deliver more inclusive play and the challenges of investing in and improving existing play provision. Consideration needed to also be given to high levels of use, anti-social behaviour, vandalism and limited maintenance budgets for outdoor equipped play provided in public open space.

·       The proposed approach had been reviewed by Members at Cabinet Working Group in December 2025 and at a Cabinet Advisory Group meeting in January 2026. The Policy had been revised based on comments from Members.

·       The costs of the project to support the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79/25

The Policy Manager presented the Council Plan Update report. Members were informed that the report highlighted the work and projects currently being undertaken in line with the Council’s Priorities as detailed in the Council Plan. Several areas were highlighted including:

·       Vision including - Community Safety

·       Organisational Priorities including Financial Stability

·       Economic Development including the UK Shared Prosperity Funding (UKSPF)

·       The impact of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)

·       Innovation & Technology

·       Key development projects

Contained within the report was a Red, Amber and Green table for each Council Priority and reflected the RAG status for all the key areas within the Priority. All projects were at either Green or Amber status. One of the projects had a Red status.

Members thanked the Policy Manager for the report. It was requested that further data be provided to Cabinet Members prior to the Council meeting to answer any specific questions that might arise during consideration of this report at the Council meeting.

A further request was made that the RAG document be provided to Members in colour on this occasion for consideration at the Council meeting. This would be arranged and circulated with any supplementary papers.

RECOMMENDED that

1)    The Council Plan report and update table be noted.

There was no Urgent Business on this occasion.