Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

However, it was noted that Councillor P. J. Whittaker had been delayed due to the traffic.

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.

The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 23^rd July were submitted for Members’ consideration.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 23^rd July 2025 be approved and signed as a true and accurate record.

(a)      To receive and note the public minutes

(b)      To consider any recommendations contained within the public minutes

A recommendation was made by the Overview and Scrutiny Board at its meeting held on 22^nd July 2025 in respect of Bromsgrove Town Centre Recycling Bins.

Cabinet is asked to note that the recommendation was informed by a report considered by the Board on 22^nd July 2025 which has been published in Background Papers to this agenda pack.

The Leader invited Councillor S. T. Nock in his capacity as Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board to address Members on the recommendation within the minutes.

Councillor S. T. Nock further drew Members’ attention to the recommendation in respect of the Bromsgrove Town Centre Recycling Bins.

It was agreed by the Cabinet that Officers would proceed with preparing a budget bid to Cabinet to invest in new (recycling) bins for installation in Bromsgrove Town Centre.

Cabinet were in agreement with this recommendation.

RESOLVED that

1)    Officers proceed with preparing a budget bid to Cabinet to invest in new (recycling) bins for installation in Bromsgrove Town Cente; and

2)     the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting held on 22^nd July 2025 be noted.

With regards to the consideration of urgent business it was recorded that at the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Board held on 9^th September 2025, the Board had voted to agree that the Chairman of the Board should submit a request on behalf of the Board that Cabinet consider, as an item of urgent business, whether to extend the current public consultation period for the Local Plan.  This item had been considered necessary to raise as urgent business because the consultation period was due to end on 22^nd September 2025 and there were not due to be any further meetings of either the Cabinet or Council prior to the end of the consultation period nor was there sufficient time to schedule any further meetings prior to the end of this consultation period.    

The Leader stated, that as detailed in the Supplementary Documentation 2 -   “Consideration of whether to make a recommendation that Council extend the period of consultation for the Local Plan. The Assistant Director of Legal, Democratic and Procurement Services had agreed that this could be added as an urgent item of business for consideration at the meeting, following receipt of a form from the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board on behalf of the Board requesting that Cabinet discuss this matter as an item of urgent business. This request had been approved by the Leader, as Chairman of the Cabinet.

The item has been added in accordance with requirements set out in paragraph 5.2 of the Access to Information Rules, at Part 9 of the Council’s constitution”.

It had not been possible to include this item in the Cabinet agenda when that was published because the request had only been received from the Overview and Scrutiny Board after the agenda for the Cabinet meeting had been published.

The Assistant Director of Legal, Democratic and Procurement Services has agreed that this can be added as an urgent item of business for consideration at the meeting, following receipt of a form from the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board on behalf of the Board requesting that Cabinet discuss this matter as an item of urgent business.  This request has been approved by the Leader, as Chairman of the Cabinet.

The item has been added in accordance with requirements set out in paragraph 5.2 of the Access to Information Rules, at Part 9 of the Council’s constitution.

The Leader made the following announcement –

“As Members will be aware the consultation process provides several ways for our residents to engage with the local planning consultation process.

Members of the public can;

• Write in
• Email in
• Use the commonplace platform
• There is a phone number manned between 10 and 4 Monday to Friday to support any local planning queries

Members will appreciate that some councils indeed our council did not historically use a platform. This is an additional step that we have introduced to promote greater accessibility and engagement and is proving to be our residents preferred form of engagement.

Recognising that this is a hugely important topic and the tremendous response that we have received to date. I think we should respond to our residents requests to extend the time by 4 weeks to maximise public engagement”

Clarification was provided that should Members be in agreement then additional communications would commence in order to inform residents that the consultation period was being extended by 4 weeks.

In response Councillors S. J. Baxter and P. J. Whittaker both commented that they were also in attendance at the Overview and Scrutiny meeting and were in agreement with extending the consultation period by 4 weeks.

Members subsequently discussed the consultation and commented that they had found the commonplace platform easy to use but it was very cumbersome. Some had therefore submitted a response to the consultation via email.

Members questioned if there would be any concerns or response from the Government should Members agree to extending the consultation period.

In response the Assistant Director for Planning, Leisure and Culture Services informed Members that the Government was extensively promoting Local Plan making, seeking significant building developments. The Government might not comment on an extension to the consultation period by 4 weeks. However, going forward, each time the Council changed the Local Development Plan (LDP), the Council could be challenged.

The Assistant Director for Planning, Leisure and Culture Services further stated that there were two elements to consider, the Council’s Website and the commonplace platform. Officers could change the information on the Council’s website, but not on the commonplace platform. The Council’s website included a section on ‘Frequently asked questions’ and could more prominently place and promote the  phone number that was manned between 10:00am and 4:00pm, Monday to Friday.

Members added that there had been mixed reviews from residents. Some had found the commonplace platform ‘clunky’ whilst others had not. Residents in one ward area had produced a ‘user’ video to assist other residents.

Members suggested that having a ‘step by step’ guide on the Council’s website would be helpful.

The Leader commented that she would welcome anything that helped to make the commonplace platform easy to use and encouraged residents to respond.

Members questioned if an extension to the consultation period would affect the confidence of developers.

In response the Assistant Director for Planning, Leisure and Culture Services commented that a 4 week extension could be viewed differently by different  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38/25

The Principal Officer (Planning & Enviro- Crime Enforcement), Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS), presented the report for Members’ consideration.

As detailed in the report, in June 2024 responsibility for enforcement of Planning Enforcement, such as fly-tipping, littering, duty of care of waste offences and dog fouling had been passed onto WRS.  One of the tools for dealing with some of these issues was a Community Protection Notice (CPN) under Part 4 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

Whilst WRS had a remit to undertake enforcement of Planning Enforcement related matters, CPNs could be used to tackle a wider range on anti-social behaviours by the Police or other Council departments.

In accordance with the Council’s enforcement policy, there were alternatives to prosecution which should also be considered for use where appropriate.  Section 52 of the Act provided that an authorised person may issue a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) as an alternative to prosecution for breach of a CPN. 

Payment of the FPN within 14 days from the date of issue had the effect of discharging any liability to convict for the offence but allowed for action to be taken for any subsequent offences.

A fixed penalty could not be more than £100.

The use of FPNs would be an additional enforcement tool for WRS Officers to use.

In response to questions from Members, the Principal Officer (Planning & Enviro- Crime Enforcement), explained that the use of a CPN or FPN would be determined on a case by case basis.  An FPN might not be appropriate.  If there was a total disregard of a CPN or part compliance, this would be considered by Officers as to how best to proceed.  It would also show the Courts, should it go for prosecution, that Officers had followed a process. The use of FPNs would provide Officers with an alternative option if necessary.

The Leader took the opportunity to thank the WRS Officers.

RECOMMENDED that Council adopt a Fixed Penalty Notice Charge of £100 for failure to comply with a Community Protection Notice.

The Deputy Chief Executive and Finance Officer presented the Quarter One Revenue and Performance Report 2025/26 for Members’ consideration.

It was noted that this report had been pre-scrutinised by the Finance and Budget Working Group (FBWG) at the meeting held on 5^th September 2025.

During consideration of this report, Members were informed of the following:

·       As of the end of Quarter 1, the Council was forecasting a £0.173 million revenue overspend for the full financial year.

·       The Council had delivered £0.398 million of its £0.913 million savings target.

·       Treasury Management Position – the Council had no long term debt and had complied with all prudential indicators.

·       Ward Budget Spending Quarter 1, which was running under 10%.

Members' attention was drawn to recommendation 3. There was some concern that the Council may not achieve all of the savings by the year-end.  However, this would be closely monitored by Officers.

Members were further informed that the Quarter 2 Finance and Performance Report 2025/26 would be more detailed separate reports for further transparency.

Members referred to paragraph 4.4.8 of the report, which detailed ‘…. as a result of the introduction of the 2-hour free parking’, which was incorrect.  Officers agreed to amend the report prior to consideration at Council, as the free parking was for 30 minutes. 

In response to Members, the Deputy Chief Executive and Finance Officer briefly explained external debt / borrowing compared to internal borrowing, using Capital expenditure.

The Policy Manager subsequently presented the performance monitoring information.

The Policy Manager stated that with regards to performance monitoring it was the responsibility of service areas to take ownership of their measures and to liaise with her.

The report had evolved further with more targets and more RAG rating.  A lot of hard work was being carried out in order to achieve this.  There were one or two measures that could be beneficial to Portfolio Holders.  Work was also being carried out with Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) in respect of fly-tipping, and Economic Development to improve and include further context.

Freedom of Information (FOI) measures would be included in Quarter two and future reports.  Going forward each Assistant Director would look at including data from any Corporate surveys for Members consideration.

The Leader took the opportunity to thank Officers. 

RESOLVED Cabinet note  

1)    the current Revenue position of £0.173 million unfavourable variance.

2)    the current Capital spending of £3.326 million against a revised budget of £21.876 million.

3)    the current savings delivery was £0.398 million against an annual target of £1.733 million for 2025/26.  This was included in the above Revenue position

4)    the Earmarked Reserves balances of £11.266 million.

5)    the Ward Budget allocation position to date with 6 approved allocations at £5,450, leaving a balance of £56,550 to be allocated before year end.

6)    there was an updated procurements position set out in Appendix D, with any new items over £200,000 to be included on the forward plan.

7)    the position on Council Tax and Business Rates.

8)    the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40/25

The Deputy Chief Executive and Finance Officer presented the Budget Setting proposal for Members’ consideration.

It was noted that there was a typographical error on page 69 of the main agenda pack, as follows:-

·       Final budget approved by CWG

It was agreed that this be amended to:

·       Final budget reviewed by CWG

The Deputy Chief Executive and Finance Officer stated that he would like to clarify some points with Members, in that the Finance and Budget Working Group (FBWG) had expressed the view that, as previously, a two staged approach should be re-introduced. Members were reassured that for transparency that a two staged approach would be used in December 2025.

The FBWG had also suggested that an all Member budget briefing be held in January 2026. This suggestion was well received by the Cabinet.

Members were informed that with the Governments budget being announced late, that this would have a knock on effect on local Government Grants.  It was anticipated that the Government Grants settlement would be announced in December.

Members were referred to the Government’s fairer funding review; which would be in time for the provisional financial settlement in December.

Also, whilst considering the Fairer Funding review, the Government had indicated that it was considering reviewing how council tax was assessed and determined.

Included in the base assumptions to be used in developing the budget were:

·       Pay Award for next year to be budgeted at 2% in line with the HMT inflationary targets.

·       There would also be an additional 1% cost of living increment built in as contingency in the case of a higher than budgeted pay settlement.

The Deputy Chief Executive and Finance Officer commented that there was a good level of transparency and an opportunity for everyone to be involved in the budget setting process.

RESOLVED that the budget process outlined in the report, and as amended in the preamble above, be followed for the 2026/27 annual budget and for the Medium Term Financial Plan up to 2028/29.

(During consideration of this item, Councillor K. Taylor returned to the meeting.)

The Assistant Director of Environmental and Housing Property Services presented the Expansion of Commercial Waste Collection Service report for Members’ consideration.

The report detailed the requirements of the Environment Act 2021 which required businesses with more than 10 employees to separate food waste. This would expand to micro-businesses (with fewer than 10 employees) by 2027.

As detailed in the report, during 2021 and 2024 the Commercial Waste Service had delivered a surplus each year but had seen increased costs in 2023/24 as a result of wider fleet and maintenance issues that had impacted on the resilience of the service and the need for the increased use of hire vehicles.

Having recently successfully recruited into vacant positions within the workshop, and delivery of a new Domestic Waste Fleet in late 2025,these expenses were expected to reduce considerably and see a return to the Council’s previous financial performance levels. The Council was also now compliant with the Environment Act 2021.

With the unexpected exit of Dudley Metropolitan Council from the commercial waste market, this had created an immediate opportunity as well as a pressure on the Council’s service. Businesses were keen to work with a Local Authority, and a number of the authority’s peers had actively sought the Council’s support as a nearby waste provider.

This was seen as a potential to further increase the Council’s customer base in this area to maximise the efficiency of operating the service in a high-density area for businesses. With over £135,000 of new enquiries and 50+ new customers signed by April 2025, this had left the existing service with little to no capacity to take on additional customers.

The Assistant Director of Environmental and Housing Property Services highlighted that service failures could quickly result in complaints or lost contracts, and compliance failures could result in significant penalties or even the loss of the authority to operate a vehicle fleet, which would impact on all services.

By appointing a new Commercial Waste Coordinator this would address these daily risks ensuring that services were delivered to schedule and any issues were identified quickly and acted upon.

Members briefly discussed the recent communications on the Council’s social media with regards to leaving bins out until 5pm and the letters that had been sent to all residents on the ‘Changes to your wheeled bins’.

The Assistant Director of Environmental and Housing Property Services reassured Members that Officers were working with the Council’s Communications Team in order to get the message out and to make everyone aware of the new wheeled bins and the collection days / times in specific roads.

The Leader took the opportunity to thank the Assistant Director of Environmental and Housing Property Services.

RECOMMENDED that

1)     Capital Funding of £489,760 be added to the Capital Programme for 2026/27 to purchase two Refuse Collection Vehicles (RCV’s)

2)     the Council allocate Capital funding of £35,000 annually in the Medium-Term Financial Plan from the 2025/26 financial year to fund wheeled bins for Commercial Services.

3)     the Council allocate  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42/25

The Leader explained that the confidential minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting held on 22^nd July 2025 had been included for consideration at the end of the meeting and notice had been provided that the Cabinet might have needed to go into exempt session to consider the content of those minutes. 

However, Members agreed to stay in public session for this item, as there were no recommendations to consider, the confidential minutes were for noting only.

RESOLVED that the confidential minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Board held on 22^nd July 2025 be noted.