Agenda item

To consider the recommendations from the meeting of the Cabinet held on 18^th June 2025.

Council considered the recommendations arising from the meeting of Cabinet held on 18^th June 2025.

Contaminated Land Strategy

The Cabinet Member for Planning, Licensing and Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) presented the Contaminated Land Strategy report for Members’ consideration. In doing so, it was noted that there was no contaminated land in Bromsgrove. However, it was important to understand what had been situated on land within the District previously to ascertain whether sites were suitable for development or not.

Following the presentation of the report, there was a detailed discussion regarding the proposed Contaminated Land Strategy. Several areas were raised by Members, including whether it was accurate to state that there was no contaminated land within the District. Members commented that recently there had been a significant amount of work carried out at the Windsor Street site in order to remediate the contamination found at this location.

Members were informed that if there was no liable party for contaminated land, the responsibility for clearing the site would fall to Bromsgrove District Council and ultimately the taxpayer. This would result in a reactive approach being taken on any area identified as contaminated, which might not be the most appropriate way to deal with this type of land in the future.  Clarification was provided that there would be environmental tests carried out prior to any building within a specific site in the District, to see if the land was contaminated and what the costs of remediation of such sites would be.

The report had been considered previously at the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting that took place on 17^th June 2025. There was a suggestion that this report could be referred back to the Board in order to provide further clarity. Some Members explained that the pre-scrutiny of the report had been detailed during the meeting of the Board and did not feel that this would be necessary and that the Strategy had been devised using a prioritisation methodology. Members commented that it was likely there was contaminated land across the District, however, it was suggested that there was not the resource within the Council to clear these areas. The remediation of these sites would be picked up through the Planning process as and when any contamination was identified.

The recommendation was proposed by Councillor K. Taylor and seconded by Councillor K. May.

RESOLVED that

The Council adopt the revised Contaminated Land Strategy to be published on the Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) website.

Warm Homes Local Grants Funding and Resources

The Cabinet Member for Leisure and Climate Change presented the Warm Homes Local Grants Funding and Resources for the consideration of Council.

It was noted that the funding awarded by Central Government for this project had not been a significant amount. The funding would cover the cost of works being carried out on approximately nineteen to twenty private homes at the average cost of fifteen thousand pounds. There would be further funding available for social housing properties at a later date.

The Council would work alongside Act on Energy to allocate the funding to appropriate homeowners based on the specific criteria for the funding.

During consideration of the report, it was noted that fuel poverty continued to be an issue for residents across the District and although this was not a significant sum of money to carry out the proposed work, it was important for residents to be able to access this type of funding.

Members raised concerns in terms of risks identified within the report. It was noted that one of the risks was that the project would be undersubscribed. Members questioned what measures would be put in place to ensure that this was not the case? It was explained that it was unlikely that this would happen and no real problems were anticipated in this area. Another potential risk was oversubscription to the projects and that there needed to be a delicate balance when allocating the funding. It was explained that, by working with Act on Energy to identify homeowners who met the specific criteria for the funding, the risk would be mitigated. The matter of signposting was raised by Members and whether there was the opportunity for agencies such as the Citizens’ Advice Bureau or Age UK to signpost homeowners to Act on Energy to access the funding. It was reported that Act on Energy worked alongside various other organisations that would provide information to those households that met the criteria, whilst continuing to be mindful of the limitations of the funding. It was also questioned whether Act on Energy had sufficient resources to facilitate the allocation of the funding. 

Clarification was provided that there was the potential opportunity, as a result of the Local Government Reorganisation, that some Capital funding could be allocated to cover further works such as this in the future. It was suggested that residents who lived in park homes could be approached as potential recipients of this funding, as they had not been included in a previous round of similar funding.

Concerns had been raised regarding the scale of the proposed works and the lack of ambition in the associated timelines.  It was explained that the phasing of the funding was prescriptive and there was no ability to change the way the funding was allocated within the project timeframe.

Members welcomed the news that the Council’s targets for net zero were still being met. However, it was requested that the Council continue to lobby the Government in respect of these matters in the future.

Councillor B. McEldowney proposed the recommendation, and it was seconded by Councillor S. Baxter.

RESOLVED that Authority be delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer to reflect in the Capital Programme the grant funding in 2025/26 and to include the 2026/27 and 2027/28 funding into the Medium-Term Financial Plan for the Warm Homes Local Grant (WHLG) (as shown below).

Appointments to the Shareholders Committee

The Leader presented the Appointments to the Shareholders Committee for Spadesbourne Homes Limited, a sub-committee of the Cabinet. The proposed membership required for four Members of the Cabinet to sit on the Shareholders Committee, rather than the five Members who had been appointed in 2024/25.  This excluded the Cabinet Member for Planning and Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing and Strategic Housing. All Group Leaders would continue to be invited to attend meetings, and relevant training had been provided for Members of the committee. It was reported that a Shareholders Committee Annual Report would be presented to Council on a yearly basis in the future.

The recommendation was proposed by Councillor K. May and seconded by Councillor S. Baxter.

RESOLVED that the updated Terms of Reference for the Shareholders Committee be approved.