Agenda and minutes

A nomination was received on behalf of Councillor J. Robinson to be elected as Chairman of the Council for the 2026/27 municipal year.  The nomination was proposed by Councillor R. Hunter and seconded by Councillor S. Ammar.

A further nomination was received on behalf of Councillor R. Bailes to be elected as Chairman of the Council for the 2026/27 municipal year.  The nomination was proposed by Councillor C. Hotham and seconded by Councillor S. Colella.

On being put to the vote, Councillor J. Robinson’s appointment as Chairman of the Council for the 2026/27 municipal year was carried.

RESOLVED that Councillor J. Robinson be elected as Chairman of the Council for the ensuing municipal year.

Councillor J. Robinson signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office, thanked Members of the Council and stated that it was an honour to be elected to the Office of Chairman for the 2026/27 municipal year.

A nomination was received for Councillor B. Kumar to be elected as Vice Chairman of the Council for the 2026/27 municipal year.  The nomination was proposed by Councillor K. May and seconded by Councillor S. Baxter.

A further nomination was received for Councillor R. Bailes to be elected as Vice Chairman of the Council for the 2026/27 municipal year.  The nomination was proposed by Councillor C. Hotham and seconded by Councillor S. Coella.

On being put to the vote, Councillor B. Kumar’s appointment as Vice Chairman of the Council for the 2026/27 municipal year was carried.

RESOLVED that Councillor B. Kumar be elected Vice Chairman of the Council for the ensuing municipal year.

Councillor Kumar signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office and thanked Members of the Council for electing him to the office of Vice Chairman.

The Chairman proposed a vote of thanks to Councillor S. Evans for his time serving as Chairman of Bromsgrove District Council.  This was seconded by Councillor S. Baxter.

RESOLVED that the thanks of the Council be tendered to Councillor S. Evans for services rendered as Chairman of the Council in 2025/26.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors A. Bailes, R. Bailes, J. Clarke, J. Elledge, D. Forsythe and H. Jones.

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.

Councillor C. Hotham declared an other disclosable interest in Minute Item No. 15/26 – Cabinet Recommendations in respect of the Empty Homes Strategy.  Members were advised that a relative of Councillor Hotham was renovating a property located in the District and whilst this work was taking place the building was empty.  He remained present for the debate in respect of this item and voted thereon.

During consideration of Minute Item 15/26 – Cabinet Recommendations in respect of the Renters Rights Act 2025, Councillor S. Ammar declared an other disclosable interest in her capacity as a landlord of a property located outside the District.  She remained present for the debate in respect of this matter and voted thereon.

The minutes of the meeting of Council held on 21^st January 2026 were submitted.

During consideration of this item, a Member suggested that previous minutes had stated the location of the meeting and a request was made for this to be included in future iterations of the minutes.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of Council held on 21^st January 2026 be approved as a true and correct record.

The Chairman advised that his consort for the year would be his wife, Councillor S. Robinson.  Council was informed that the Chairman intended to confirm the chairty(ies) he would be supporting at the following meeting of Council.

The Head of Paid Service confirmed that he had no announcements to make on this occasion.

The Leader confirmed the following appointments to Cabinet and Portfolios that had been allocated to each Cabinet Member:

·             Councillor K. May – Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Strategic Partnerships, Economic Development and Enabling

·             Councillor S. Baxter – Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Planning and Strategic Housing

·             Councillor S. Nock – Cabinet Member for Finance

·             Councillor K. Taylor – Cabinet Member for Local Government Reorganisation, WRS and Climate Change

·             Councillor S. Webb – Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, Leisure and Culture

·             Councillor P. Whittaker – Cabinet Member for Environmental Services and Community Safety

A period of up to 15 minutes is allowed for members of the public to make a comment, ask questions or present petitions.  Each member of the public has up to 3 minutes to do this.  A councillor may also present a petition on behalf of a member of the public.

The Chairman confirmed that no questions, comments or petitions had been submitted in time for consideration at the meeting.

There have been two urgent decisions since the previous Council meeting on the Council Tax Resolutions and the appointment of the Section 151 Officer.

The Chairman advised that two urgent decisions had been taken since the previous meeting of Council on the following matters:

·             Council Tax Resolutions

·             Appointment of a Section 151 Officer

As these decisions had already been taken, they were not due to be debated at the meeting.

During consideration of this item, Members welcomed reference to the names of the Councillors who had been consulted on the urgent decisions although it was noted that a spelling error had occurred in the recording of Councillor P. McDonald’s surname.

The Leader presented a report detailing proposed changes to the Council’s constitution, including the Scheme of Delegations, for Members’ consideration.

Council was informed that there was a requirement, detailed in the constitution, for Members to review the Scheme of Delegations at the Annual Council meeting.  This included proposed updates to the Scheme of Delegations to reflect changes to job titles and legislation since the last Annual Council meeting.  There were some additional delegations proposed for Community Services, in relation to CCTV and Lifeline, climate change and the operation of BURT and Shopmobility services. Many of the changes had been considered and proposed at a meeting of the Constitution Review Working Group held on 28^th April 2026.

The report also detailed proposed changes to the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules.  The Council’s existing Contract Procedure Rules had been adopted in 2016 and were set in EU procurement law, (based on the Public Contract Regulations 2015).  Things had moved on since then, with the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023 into UK law in 2025.  The Council’s Contract Procedure Rules were being updated as a consequence of this.  The report set out the key changes that had been made to the rules. These changes were all to ensure compliance with the Procurement Act. The updated rules had already been signed off by the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and the Constitution Review Working Group.

The report contained information about Members’ eligibility to join the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).  This eligibility for Members was reintroduced by the Government in May 2026.  Participation in the LGPS was on an opt in basis, so any Members who were interested in joining the LGPS were advised to contact the Financial Services team.  The Government’s announcement on Members’ eligibility to join the LGPS and the start date for joining had been issued after the Council had approved the Scheme of Members’ Allowances 2026/27 and the Council therefore needed to update the scheme to reflect this entitlement.

Council was asked to note that there was a proposal for the size of the Shareholders Committee to increase from 4 to 5 members.  This would make it easier to convene meetings of the Committee during the year.

Finally, Members were asked to note that an additional recommendation had been proposed since the publication of the main agenda pack.  This requested changes to the Committee Terms of Reference and Procedure Rules for the Audit, Standards and Governance Committee to reflect the role of the Committee in consideration of the Statement of Accounts and Treasury Management Strategy.

After the report had been presented, Members discussed the titles that had been used in the Scheme of Delegations and Finance Procedure Rules to refer to the Section 151 Officer and Chief Finance Officer and the reason why both titles had been used in addition to the job title of Director of Finance.  Members were informed that Director of Finance was the Officer’s official job title at the Council but he was the Council’s Section  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11\26

Members were advised that the first Motion on Notice that had been submitted for consideration at this meeting would be debated at this stage.  This would ensure that, should the Motion be approved, the action that would be required as a consequence could be implemented at the Annual Council meeting during consideration of the Appointments to Committees 2026/27 (Including Political Balance) report.

The following Motion on Notice was presented by Councillor D. Nicholl for Council’s consideration:

“Council resolves to amend the constitution with immediate effect so that Chairs and Vice Chairs of the Council’s formal committees for each municipal year are elected at the Annual Meeting of the Council.”

The Motion was proposed by Councillor Nicholl and seconded by Councillor S. Robinson.

In proposing the Motion, Councillor Nicholl explained that other Councils in Worcestershire appointed the Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of their Committees at their Annual Council meetings.  He expressed the view that this approach could be considered more transparent than appointments made at the first meeting of a Committee in the municipal year, which was the current arrangement at Bromsgrove District Council.  He also expressed the opinion that this approach might ensure that the number of chairing roles allocated per political group at the authority reflected a balanced position.

In seconding the Motion, Councillor S. Robinson commented that contrary to concerns expressed by some Members, she did not feel that the Motion was proposing a top-down approach to appointments of Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of Committees.  The political balance would continue to apply to relevant Committees and only Members nominated to sit on those Committees by their group leaders, in accordance with the political balance figures, would be eligible to be nominated to be the Chairmen or Vice Chairmen of those Committees.  Members were also asked to note that the approach proposed in the Motion would help to ensure that all or at least a majority of Members would be in support of the appointments agreed at the Annual Council meeting.

Members discussed the proposed Motion in detail and in doing so commented on the following:

·             The need for clarity as to whether every Member of Council would be provided with an opportunity to vote on the appointments of Chairmen and Vice Chairmen to Committees or just the members of those Committees.  Members were informed that the intention was to provide all Members with an opportunity to vote at the Annual Council meeting on these appointments.

·             The arrangement whereby Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of Committees were currently appointed by their colleagues at the first meeting of the Committee in the municipal year.  The suggestion was made that this helped to demonstrate that the Councillors appointed to these positions had the confidence of their colleagues on the relevant Committee.

·             The historic arrangements for appointing Chairmen and Vice Chairmen to Committees, which had reflected the approach proposed in the Motion.  It was suggested that a decision had been made to change this arrangement some years ago due to concerns  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12\26

The covering report and Appendix 2 to the report, detailing the Committee Terms of Reference, are attached to this agenda.  Appendix 1 to the report, relating to the political balance figures, will follow in a supplementary pack for this meeting.

The Leader presented a report concerning appointments to Committees for 2026/27, which included reference to the authority’s political balance.

Council was informed that there was a legal and constitutional requirement for the political balance at the Council to be reviewed at the Annual Council meeting as well as each time there was a change to the political balance.  The report detailed the political balance of the Council as of May 2026.  The terms of reference for each of the Committees had also been provided for Members’ consideration.

Prior to the Annual Council meeting, group leaders had been consulted on the political balance figures in order to achieve a proposed balanced position.  Group leaders had also been consulted about their group’s nominations to the Committees that formed part of the political balance and the Council’s website would be updated accordingly after the meeting.

The recommendations were proposed by Councillor K. May and seconded by Councillor S. Baxter.

RESOLVED that

1)         for the ensuring Municipal Year, the Committees be appointed and that the representation of the different political groups on the Council on those Committees be as set out in Appendix 1 until the next Annual Meeting of the Council, or until the next review of political representation under Section 15 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, whichever is the earlier.

2)         Members be appointed to the Committees and as substitute members in accordance with nominations made by Group Leaders.

3)         the terms of reference for the Boards and Committees be confirmed.

The covering report and an appendix listing the outside bodies requiring Council appointments have been attached to this agenda.  The list of nominations will follow in a supplementary pack for the meeting.

The Leader presented a report detailing proposed Council appointments to outside bodies for the 2026/27 municipal year.

Members were informed that the Council considered appointments to a number of outside bodies each year.  Some of these appointments were made by full Council.  Other appointments were made in an ex officio capacity, which meant that specific Cabinet members or other Councillors needed to be appointed.  Council was advised that the Cabinet appointments would be considered at the June meeting of the Cabinet.

Group leaders had been consulted in advance of the Annual Council meeting regarding their nominations to the list of outside bodies.  The Leader thanked all group leaders for confirming their nominations in advance of the meeting. 

Following the presentation of the report, reference was made to the potential for Members appointed to outside bodies to update Council on the work of these external Committees, organisations and groups.  Concerns were raised that updates were received from Members infrequently and the suggestion was made that, due to the importance of some of these groups, particularly the West Mercia Police and Crime Panel and the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Partnership, reporting arrangements should be formalised. 

In response to these concerns, the following points were raised:

·             Amphlett Hall Management Committee met regularly and reference had been made to the Committee’s work in the previous Portfolio Holder Annual Report to Council received from the then Portfolio Holder for Strategic Housing and Health and Well-Being.

·             Two Members had been appointed to serve on the Bromsgrove and Redditch branch of the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) and updates on the CAB’s work had been received during the year.

·             The suggestion was made that the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Partnership might be in the process of reviewing arrangements.

·             The Midlands Joint Council for Environmental Protection had not held any meetings and therefore no updates were available to provide to Members.

·             The Overview and Scrutiny Board had already requested the attendance of the Council’s representative on the West Mercia Police and Crime Panel to provide updates during the year on the work of the Panel.

·             The Council’s representative on the Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) was required to provide updates on the work of the Committee at every meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Board and did so. 

·             The work of the Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) Board had been and would continue to be addressed in the Portfolio Holder Annual Reports from the relevant lead Cabinet Member for WRS.

·             The WMTemps Partnership Board had not held a meeting and therefore no updates were available.

·             The work of Worcestershire County Council’s Corporate Parenting Board was very complex.  The minutes of meetings of the Board were in the public domain and could be accessed on Worcestershire County Council’s website.  Members were asked to note that the Council’s representative had been liaising with Bromsgrove District Council’s HR department about the potential to ensure that young people seeking employment could secure an interview, subject to compliance with employment law  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14\26

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Strategic Housing presented the Bromsgrove District Local Plan – Notice of Intention to Commence Local Plan Preparation, Local Plan Timetable and Scoping Consultation report.

Members were advised that the aim of the plan was to streamline and speed up the Local Plan setting process.  The first stage of the process would be to publish notification to commence Local Plan preparation, in line with legislative requirements.  The Council had secured Government funding which was linked to meeting deadlines for the Local Plan process.

Subject to Members’ approval at the meeting, the intention was to publish the notice on 29^th June 2026.  A scoping consultation would commence thereafter, in summer 2026, which would follow a further report to the Council meeting due to take place in July.  This report would not include a spatial strategy, policy or site options.  Members were asked to note that people would not need to resubmit comments that had been made in response to the Council’s previous consultation on this subject.

At a later date, the draft Local Plan would take on board the draft infrastructure plan and comments received through consultation.  The draft Local Plan would be considered by the Planning Inspectorate.  It was anticipated that the final Local Plan would be implemented from spring 2028 onwards. 

The Planning Policy team would continue to work on the Local Plan process moving forward.  Three further employees were due to be recruited to assist with this work.

Following the presentation of the report, Members discussed a range of points in detail:

·             The number of speculative planning applications that had been submitted to the Council in recent months by developers and the need for action to be taken on the Local Plan process to address this situation.

·             The greater control available to local authorities to manage the planning process when a Local Plan was in place.

·             The need for the Council to work on the Local Plan and to respond to national changes to planning policies.

·             The responses that had been received from the public during the previous consultation exercise and the implications for the content of the Local Plan.

·             The potential for data relating to consultation feedback to be provided at a ward level and for this to be made available to the public.  Officers explained that some data could be shared at a ward level, however, Members were asked to note that some respondents did not share an address so this would not be possible for all responses.

·             The lack of a 5-year land supply in the District.  It was noted that the Council had been working on this.

·             The number of new houses that the Council was required by the Government to approve for development each year and the fact that this number had increased when the local authority had attempted to challenge the Government on this figure.

·             The speed with which decisions had historically been taken on the Local Plan process and the extent to which this had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15\26

To consider recommendations from the meeting of Cabinet held on 20^th April 2026.

Members are asked to note that the recommendations arising from the meeting of Cabinet held on 6^th March were considered at the Council meeting held on 6^th March 2026.  In addition, Members are asked to note that there were no recommendations arising from the meeting of Cabinet held on 25^th March 2026.

The Chairman opened the item by explaining that there were no recommendations from the meeting of Cabinet held on 6^th March 2026 requiring consideration.  This was because the recommendations arising from that meeting had subsequently been considered at the Council meeting held on the same date.

Members were asked to note that no recommendations had been made for Council’s consideration at the meeting of Cabinet held on 25^th March 2026.  Therefore, Council was only due to consider recommendations arising from the meeting of the Cabinet held on 20^th April 2026.

Recommendations on the following subjects were discussed during the meeting:

Revision of the Environmental Crime Enforcement Policy

The Cabinet Member for Environmental Services and Community Safety presented proposed revisions to the Environmental Crime Enforcement Policy.  Members were advised that the updates to the policy were designed to protect the local environment.  This policy did not extend to addressing problems with abandoned vehicles or graffiti.

In considering the report, Members commented on the following points:

·             The powers available to the Council to remove abandoned vehicles and which team dealt with this.  Members were advised that a response would be provided to this query after the meeting.

·             The wider equality impact assessment that was proposed for the policy update, who would be consulted when undertaking the assessment and the timescales for this consultation.  Council was advised that further information would be provided in response to this query after the meeting.

·             The responsibilities that everybody had in terms of disposing of waste appropriately and the value arising from Members notifying their residents of the need to check the licences of organisations that offered to dispose of waste on their behalf.

·             The fines that could be issued against dog owners when their pets fouled in public places and they did not have access to an appropriate receptacle in which to dispose of the faeces.

The recommendation was proposed by Councillor P. Whittaker and seconded by Councillor K. May.

RESOLVED that the Bromsgrove and Redditch Enforcement Policy be adopted and replace the previous Joint Environmental Enforcement Policy.

Introduction of Enforcement of Littering from Vehicles

The Cabinet Member for Environmental Services and Community Safety presented a report that proposed the introduction of the enforcement of littering from vehicles. 

The proposals detailed in the report would enable the Civil Enforcement Officers working in the District to issue Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) when people in vehicles were observed to be engaged in littering behaviour.  Previously, this had been treated as a criminal offence and the burden of proof was onerous for this.  By contrast, under the proposals before Members, Civil Enforcement Officers would have the power to act when littering was observed.

Members discussed the proposals and in doing so noted that the power to issue PCNs to people observed to be littering from vehicles was likely to be welcomed by many local residents.  However, it was noted that often littering occurred from vehicles without this being observed.  The suggestion was made that it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16\26

The minutes of the meetings of Cabinet held on 6^th March, 25^th March and 20^th April 2026 were submitted.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings of Cabinet held on 6^th March, 25^th March and 20^th April 2026 be noted.

To deal with any questions on notice from Members of the Council, in the order in which they have been received.

A period of up to 15 minutes is allocated for the asking and answering of questions.  This may be extended at the discretion of the Chairman with the agreement of the majority of those present.

Members were advised that there were no Questions on Notice for consideration at this meeting.

Any Motions on Notice for consideration at this meeting will follow in a supplementary pack.

A period of up to one hour is allocated to consider the motions on notice.  This may only be extended with the agreement of the Council.

The following Motion on Notice was submitted by Councillor S. Evans for Members’ consideration:

“Council resolves to establish a cross-party working group, comprised of members of the Electoral Matters Committee together with any other interested Members, to undertake preparatory work to determine, in the context of Local Government reorganisation, future local governance arrangements within Bromsgrove District. The working group will consider the most appropriate arrangements for future local governance within Bromsgrove District, including the option to undertake a Community Governance Review and will report back to Council within six months with its findings and recommendations.”

The Motion was proposed by Councillor Evans and seconded by Councillor R. Hunter.

In proposing the Motion, Councillor Evans commented that his District Council ward was completely unparished, so he had had limited involvement with Parish Councils in his District Councillor capacity.  However, as a County Councillor, he represented a division containing a number of Parish Councils and he had therefore learned over the last year about how effective and valuable they could be.

There was the potential for the Electoral Matters Committee to consider whether there was a need for a Community Governance Review in Bromsgrove District.  Many other Councils had undertaken Community Governance Reviews in the build up to Local Government Reorganisation and Councillor Evans expressed the view that this had been a useful exercise.  However, the Motion would not commit the Council to setting up new Parish Councils.  Instead, the Motion committed the Council to undertaking a review of the available options.

Members subsequently discussed the Motion and in doing so commented on the following:

·             The benefits of an inclusive approach.

·             The valuable contributions made by Parish Councils.

·             The potential for more clarity to be provided in the Motion about what the Council was seeking to achieve.

·             The time required from officers to work on a review of whether to launch a Community Governance Review and whether this represented best use of resources given the ongoing work required on Local Government Reorganisation.

·             The aim of the Government for each Unitary Authority to have Neighbourhood Area Committees to bring decisions about services closer to residents and the extent to which confusion could arise if both these Committees and Parish Councils were introduced in currently unparished areas.

·             The extent to which it was appropriate for Bromsgrove District Council to make decisions about new Parish Councils rather than the new Unitary Authority.

·             The other duties of Councillors who would be appointed to Neighbourhood Area Committees and whether they would be able to dedicate the same level of support to the work of these Committees as Parish Councillors elected to serve on a Parish Council.

·             The value of making decisions based on the available evidence.

·             The fact that Bromsgrove town was one of the few locations in Worcestershire that was not represented by a Parish or Town Council.

·             The potential for residents to be consulted about whether to introduce Parish Councils in unparished areas.  Members noted that residents in these areas would need to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19\26

There was no urgent business for consideration on this occasion.