Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillor Paul Cox and Josh Allen and from Co-optees Tim O’Kane and Richard Downie. 

There were no substitutions, interests or dispensations declared at the meeting.

The Minutes of the last meeting of the Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee held on 10^th December 2024, were submitted for approval as a correct record.

Resolved                               -   That the Minutes be received and approved as a correct record.

The Minutes of the last meeting of the Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee, held on 10^th December 2025, were submitted for approval as a correct record.

Resolved                               -   That the Minutes be received and approved as a correct record.

The Chair provides an update on:

-        Houses in Multiple Occupancy and the proposed Article 4 Direction and related documents, reported on at the last meeting.

-        An update on a report submitted to Full Council recommending the appointment of two additional Co-optees.

The Chair updated the meeting on the following items:

Houses in Multi-Occupation (HMOs)

This item had been discussed at the Committee meeting held on 10^th December at which Committee Members had requested further information from the Council’s Housing Standards Officer in respect of extending licensing to all HMOs regardless of size.  Members were informed that this would not be possible due to the mandatory HMO Licensing Scheme being a national scheme set in statute which only applied to HMO’s with five or more occupants.  Additional licensing would also need to meet legislative demands.

Co-optee Appointment

Members were informed that Full Council, held on 16^th January 2025, had approved the appointment of Christine Heys to the Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee until the end of the municipal year 2025-26.  The final co-optee place would be reserved for a young person (18-25 years).

Christine Heys was in attendance at the meeting.

The Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee are requested to consider and comment on updates on progress made against the outcomes outlined in the 2023 to 2028 Corporate Strategy and performance against the Council’s latest Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Recommended                 (1)  That the Committee note the report;

                                            (2)  That progress against the Corporate Strategy outcomes be reviewed;

                                            (3)  That the priorities and objectives of the Council’s Corporate Strategy aligning to the Council’s vision be reviewed; and

                                           (4)  That the performance of the Council’s KPIs (Tier 1 – 3) be monitored.

The Policy Manager submitted a report to update the Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee on progress made against the outcomes outlined in the 2023 to 2028 Corporate Strategy.  He also provided a performance update against the Council’s latest key performance indicators (KPIs).  He requested that Committee noted the report, commented on progress made against the Corporate Strategy outcomes and on the priorities and objectives of the Corporate Strategy aligning to the Council’s vision and to consider the performance of the Council’s key performance indicators.

The Policy Manager referred to progress made against the outcomes outlined in the 2023 to 2028 Corporate Strategy.  He explained that the Strategy was focused on the priority themes of Sustainable growth, Environment & Climate Change and Community & Collaborative Working and this included a set of high-level goals called outcomes which were needed to measure and monitor how well the Council was achieving and delivering against the planning objectives.  The Council’s priorities are:

-       Town Centre Regeneration

-       Housing development – Huncoat Garden Village

-       Adoption of the Local Plan

-       A focus on culture, heritage and arts

-       Delivery of the Leisure transformation

There were 26 Corporate Strategy outcomes and which were listed in Appendix 1 of the report.  He reported that, of these, 23 were in progress, 2 had been completed and 1 had not yet started.  The 2 that had been completed were the Adopt an Active Environment Strategy and 11^th Green Flag Park.  The 1 that had not started was to deliver a Domestic Energy Transformation Programme to help to transition from fossil fuels.  All three were under the Environment and Climate Change theme. 

Discussions were held with regards to the Council’s Climate Pledge and plans to meet net zero in 2030.  Members referred to the challenges of decarbonising Hyndburn’s housing stock due to over 50% of the housing stock being terraced pre 1919 and difficult to insulate. The Committee recognised that, as much of the housing stock were terraced properties, it would be unreasonable to expect mass adaptations in order to decarbonise, due to the cost and resources that would be required to achieve this.  It was therefore, suggested that a more feasible option would be to use solar power by fixing solar panels to rows of terraced properties generating solar power.

Members also referred to the Town Centre and its challenges.  They acknowledged that, although, the Arndale Centre required improvement, it was privately owned so options were limited.  They also referred to the current investment in the town centre and the changes this would make.  Reference was made to growth figures and data showing consistent increases in footfall in Accrington Town Centre.  Member suggested that although this was positive, and acknowledged the events that had taken place in Accrington Town Centre to increase footfall, the night time economy was still lacking and that this could be an area of focus.  Members suggested that the town centre would benefit from a live entertainment venue providing music/poetry/plays to increase footfall in the evenings.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 302.