Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillor Kimberley Whitehead.

There were no reported declarations of interest or dispensations granted.

To approve the Minutes of the last meeting of Cabinet held on 13^th March 2024.

The minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 13^th March 2024 were submitted for approval as a correct record.

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

Cabinet Portfolios for 2024/25 attached, for noting.

Councillor Munsif Dad BEM JP, Leader of the Council, made the following announcements which outlined how the Council’s new controlling group would start to work for and listen to residents.  The new administration would give early consideration to the following matters:

• Cleanliness of streets (possible introduction of skip days);
• On-going redevelopment of the Market Hall;
• Review of the system of pest control charges; and
• Future of the Civic Theatre, Oswaldtwistle.

The Labour group had committed to serving Hyndburn’s residents to the best of their ability and by making the most of individual councillors’ particular skill sets.  The Cabinet was representative of all of the townships across the Borough.

The Leader was pleased to announce his appointments to the Cabinet for 2024/25.  A summary of the appointees and their Portfolios was as follows

• Councillor Munsif Dad BEM JP – Leader of the Council;
• Councillor Melissa Fisher – Deputy Leader (Designate) and Portfolio Holder for Housing and Communities;
• Councillor Noordad Aziz – Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Transformation, Education and Skills;
• Councillor Vanessa Alexander – Portfolio Holder for Resources and Council Operations;
• Councillor Scott Brerton – Portfolio Holder for Business and Growth;
• Councillor Stewart Eaves – Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services;
• Councillor Kate Walsh – Portfolio Holder for Sustainability and Families; and
• Councillor Kimberley Whitehead – Portfolio Holder for Culture, Heritage and Arts

In respect of Councillor Eaves, the Leader clarified that this portfolio would also include responsibility for health and safety matters and the dog warden service.

Resolved                                    -    To note the Portfolio Responsibilities for 2024/25.

To receive verbal reports from each of the Portfolio Holders, as appropriate.

Councillor Noordad Aziz – Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Transformation, Education and Skills, reported that the controlling group would look carefully at where it wished to make changes and would discuss this with officers over the coming weeks.  It was hoped to be able to make a further announcement about this at the next Cabinet meeting.  It was noted that councillors’ time was currently in high demand due to the General Election in July.

Councillor Walsh added that if the Labour Party were successful in the General Election there would be an opportunity to align Hyndburn Council’s plans with any new national policies.

Councillor Melissa Fisher thanked Councillor Dad for appointing her as his statutory Deputy Leader.  She was confident that residents would be pleased to learn about the controlling group’s pledge, as stated previously.

Report attached.

The Cabinet considered a report of Councillor Munsif Dad BEM JP, the Leader of the Council, regarding the establishment of Cabinet Committees and Cabinet Groups for the 2024/25 Municipal Year and the appointment of members to those Committees and Groups.

The Leader briefly introduced the report and invited councillor Zak Khan, Leader of the Conservative group, to confirm the Opposition’s nominations to the various seats available.  Councillor Khan agreed to bring these names to a future meeting of the Cabinet.

Approval of the report was not considered to be a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

In June 2015, Cabinet had established the Cabinet Committee (Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013).  The Cabinet Committee’s role was to determine whether to grant, renew, revoke or vary scrap metal licences pursuant to the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013, where the applicant or licensee (as the case might be) had informed the Council that they wished to make oral representations.  Meetings took place only as and when required, but this body was needed to enable compliance with statutory requirements.

In December 2017, Cabinet had established the Cabinet Committee (Street Naming).  The Cabinet Committee met from time to time and discharged the Council’s functions in respect of the naming and renaming of streets pursuant to Sections 17 and 18 Public Health Act 1925.

In June 2015, Cabinet had established the Cabinet Waste and Recycling Group.  That body acted in an advisory capacity to Cabinet and did not have any delegated or decision making powers.  This Group continued to meet on a regular basis and provided oversight of certain aspects of the Council’s Waste Services.

On 21 September 2022, Cabinet had established the Net Zero Working Group.  The Working Group’s remit was to support the work of Cabinet in addressing climate change, but it did not have any delegated or decision making powers.  The Group was currently active.

The terms of reference for all of the bodies mentioned above were appended to the report.  It was proposed that these bodies continue into 2024/25, with the membership as shown below.  The formal Committees must only comprise councillors who were Cabinet Members:

Councillor Zak Khan enquired if the controlling group intended to continue to run the Economic Policy Forum.  He explained that, in his experience, businesses liked continuity of support and it was important to continue to reach out to them.  Councillor Dad undertook to look into the continuation of this group.

Alternative Options considered and Reasons for Rejection

None were considered, although the Cabinet could decide to create new, or disestablish existing committees or working  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

Report attached.

Members considered a report of Councillor Stewart Eaves, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services, informing the Cabinet about new regulations relating to the introduction of weekly food waste collections to all domestic properties in Hyndburn by 31^st March 2026.

Councillor Zak Khan enquired if the service would be sustainable in the longer term in the light of uncertainty around the amount of Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) funding.  The Leader of the Council responded that the Council would make representations to Defra regarding any shortfall, as would other local councils.

Approval of the report was not considered to be a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

Section 57 of the Environment Act 2021 had named food waste as a recyclable waste stream for the first time.  It also stated that recyclable household waste which was food waste must be collected at least once per week.

Further guidance from the Government had stated that the provision of food waste collections had to be in place by 31^st March 2026 for each local authority in England.

To help facilitate this Defra had indicated they would provide new burdens funding to help Local Authorities with the cost of introducing and continuing with food waste collections. Defra had indicated that there would be three tranches of funding: capital funding for the procurement of vehicles and containers; transitional funding to roll out food waste containers and information about collections; and revenue funding to pay for the future costs of food waste collections. 

At this stage Defra had only provided guidance on the capital funding element of this new burdens funding.  Each local authority had been pre-allocated capital funding which Defra believed was adequate for local authorities to purchase the correct number of vehicles and food waste containers to successfully deliver a food collection service in their Borough.

Hyndburn had been pre-allocated £665,500 in capital cost for the procurement of vehicles and food waste containers.  Defra broke this down as £77,700 (kitchen caddies plus spares), £178,710 (kerbside caddies plus spares) and £409,200 (vehicles plus spares).  No funding had been allocated by Defra to purchase food waste bags.

Hyndburn’s property count was currently at 37,450.  For waste services to provide a weekly food waste collection to all domestic properties in the Borough it was estimated that there would be a need for five vehicles (four vehicles in use and one spare vehicle available for use during breakdowns, repairs and servicing) each with a crew of two members of staff (consisting of a driver and a loader).

This would equate to two crews in the North and two crews in the South of the Borough operating each week.  In detail, this would require each team to collect from 1,850 properties per day.  However, industry research suggested only approximately 50% of residents would take up this service.  As such, food waste would be collected from approximately 925 properties per day, however the crews would still be required to drive down each street on their round each  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

Report attached.

The Cabinet considered a report of Councillor Noordad Aziz, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Transformation, Education and Skills, updating Cabinet on recent progress with regards to the Council’s Long-Term Plan for Towns Funding (LTPfT).

Councillor Aziz outlined the key elements of the report including the establishment of the requisite Town Board, the need to submit a Long-Term Plan and the Council’s use of consultants Bradshaw Advisory.  He also indicted that the controlling group was prepared to discuss any changes required, if there was a change of Government in July 2024.  However, the regeneration of Hyndburn remained a key priority.

Councillor Khan asked if any changes would be made to the composition of the Town Board and commented that the use of consultants appeared to be a change of policy within the controlling group.  Councillor Aziz commented that the group was happy to work with existing partners on the Town Board.  Policies around the future use of consultants by local authorities would be a matter for the Government of the day.

Approval of the report was not considered to be a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

On the 18^th December 2023, the Government had announced 55 towns, (which included Accrington) who would each receive funding and support as part of a £1.1 billion levelling up investment to enable towns to develop their Long-Term Plan.

Initial guidance at the time had highlighted the LTPfT funding would ensure local people could develop plans that delivered their community priorities and were given the tools to change their town’s long-term future.  The published guidance set out that the 55 towns would:

• receive up to £20 million of endowment-style funding?and support for local people’s priorities, like regenerating local high streets and town centers, or securing public safety, over a 10 year period;

• be required to set up a Town Board by 1^st April 2024, which would bring together community leaders, employers, local authorities and the local MP who would develop and deliver the Long-Term Plan for their town, following consultation with local people and the new Town Board to develop and submit its long term plan by 1^st August 2024 at the latest;

• require the Town Board to be led by an independent chair, who would act as a champion for the town.  The chair could be anyone who held a prominent role in the community, such as heads of charities, education establishments or football clubs and who would provide leadership to ensure the Town Board was community-led and embedded within the local area;

• have to include the relevant local MP, alongside a senior representative from the police.  Other members should be respected local figures with an obvious passion for their area and could be drawn from community partners such as local businesses/property owners, health, cultural, arts, heritage and sporting/leisure organisations.  In order to successfully deliver the funding requirements, a project team with the following skills will be required:

Report attached.

Members considered a joint report ofCouncillor Noordad Aziz, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Transformation, Education and Skills, and Councillor Vanessa Alexander, Portfolio Holder for Resources and Council Operations, updating Cabinet on the Treasury outturn position for 2023/24

Councillor Aziz provided a brief introduction to the report.  Councillor Khan commented that the Council was in a good financial position.

Approval of the report was not considered to be a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

The Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities required the Council to set Prudential Indicators annually for the forthcoming three years to demonstrate that the Council’s capital investment plans were affordable, prudent and sustainable.  The Council had adopted its prudential indicators for 2023/2024 at its meeting in February 2023.

The Prudential Code required the Council, having agreed at least a minimum number of mandatory prudential indicators (including limits and statements), to monitor them in a locally determined format on a quarterly basis. This full-year report complemented the quarterly reports presented to Cabinet throughout the year and a more regular review by the Executive Director (Resources).

The indicators were purely for internal use and not designed to be used as comparators between authorities.  If it should be necessary to revise any of the indicators during the year, the Executive Director of Resources would report and advise the Council further.

‘Treasury Management’ related to the borrowing, investing and cash activities of the authority, and the effective management of any associated risks.  In February 2023, in the same report referred to above, the Council had also set out and then approved its current Treasury Management Strategy.  This had been in accordance with the CIPFA (Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy) code of practice on treasury management in public services, the Council having previously adopted, via Cabinet, the then revised code of practice.  Associated treasury management Prudential Indicators had been included in the February 2023 report.

Prudential Indicators Monitoring

Appendix 1 to the report had set out the monitoring information for each of the prudential indicators and limits.  They related to:

• External debt overall limits;
• Affordability (eg implications for Council Tax);
• Prudence and sustainability (eg implications for external borrowing);
• Capital expenditure; and
• Other indicators for Treasury Management.

Treasury Management Update

The balance sheet outturn position for treasury manage activity was set out in a table included within the report.

The table demonstrated that the Council was performing within the original targets set at the start of the year.  Within the prudential indicators there were a number of key indicators to ensure that the Council operated its activities within well-defined limits.  In general the requirement was that the Capital Financing Requirement exceeded gross debt.  However, in 2023/24 the gross debt had exceeded the Capital Financing Requirement.  This was due to the Council having historical debt with a maturity repayment profile (meaning all principal was paid at the loans maturity date) but the accounting treatment required that the Capital Financing Requirement was reduced each year by the payment  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

Report attached.

The Cabinet considered a joint report of Councillor Noordad Aziz, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Transformation, Education and Skills, and Councillor Vanessa Alexander, Portfolio Holder for Resources and Council Operations, informing Cabinet of the draft financial spending of the Council up to the end of the financial year in March 2024.

Councillor Aziz introduced the report and added that the controlling group would wish to consider priorities regarding the Council’s finances going forward.  Councillor Khan stated that he was pleased to see that the revenue outturn report did not support the view expressed by some that the Council had a ‘black hole’ in its finances.

The Leader highlighted the controlling group’s intentions regarding the setting aside of reserves, including the allocation of £100k to support net zero projects and £0.5m this year to start to address the issue of a waste transfer station.

Approval of the report was not considered to be a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

At the Full Council meeting on 23^rd February 2023, Council had agreed the General Fund Revenue Budget for 2023/24.  This had set a budget for the Council’s total spend in 2023/24 of £14.383M.

The provisional revenue outturn position for the 2023/24 financial year was a total spend for the Council of £14.024M.  This gave a revenue underspend on net expenditure of £0.359M compared to the budget set at the start of the year.

Additional funding of £0.626M had been realised during the year compared to that set out in the budget.  This was mainly due to lower amounts being due back to Central Government in respect of COVID grants that had been expected at the previous year end.

These brought the total underspend for the year against the budget to £0.985M.  Actual Performance against Budgets for each service area and for funding received, was set out in a detailed table in the report.

Forecast total net expenditure of £13.925M had been reported to Cabinet on 24^th January 2024.  The provisional outturn showed an increase in the overall underspend of £0.527M compared to that reported at Quarter 3.

A summary of the changes between the Quarter 3 forecast and the provisional were highlighted in a further table in the report.  Amendments to the Quarter 3 forecast were due to a reallocation of property maintenance costs in line with the accounting in the outturn figures.

Work was ongoing to produce the Final Accounts, and they would subsequently be subject to External Audit.  The underspend of £0.985M was therefore provisional at this stage.

Variance by Service

Details of the variances between the budget and previous quarters’ forecasts had been reported to Cabinet in the in-year monitoring reports.  A narrative was provided in the report with tables for each service area, which provided more detail on the variances from the forecast outturn reported at Quarter 3 and the provisional outturn position.  A summary of the provisional outturn variances by service area was as follows:

Report attached.

Members considered a joint report of Councillor Noordad Aziz, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Transformation, Education and Skills, and Councillor Vanessa Alexander, Portfolio Holder for Resources and Council Operations, updating Cabinet on the Council’s Capital Programme and setting out the outturn position for 2023/24, including variations to the budgets from those reported to Cabinet in January 2024.

Councillor Aziz provided a brief introduction to the main points within the report.

Approval of the report was not considered to be a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

The Council had authorised new additions to the capital programme of £8.374m at its meeting on the 23^rd February 2023.

Since the Council meeting in February 2023 new schemes totalling £9.268m had been approved and added to the programme.  The additional expenditure approved was fully funded by external grants and receipts that had been awarded and / or received.

In addition, the capital spend outturn from 2022/2023 had slipped £37.615m into 2023/2024, of which £35.294m related to the Levelling Up scheme for Accrington Town Centre, the Leisure Estate Investment and Housing Schemes including Disabled Facilities Grants.

The full approved Capital programme totalled £49.757m and is shown in the table set out below:

The full programme of £49.757m was not capable of being delivered in the current financial year and uncompleted elements had now been slipped into the future years in which it was expected to be spent.

Outturn Position

The Actual expenditure to 31^st March 2024 was £9.034m against the latest rephased budget for 2023/2024 of £9.102m.  This equated to 99.25% spend.

A further table was provided in the report which showed that £40.655m of budget had been rephased into 2024/2025, of which £26.024m related to the Levelling Up scheme for Accrington Town Centre, £11.084m to the Leisure Estate Investment, £0.846m to Shared Prosperity Funded schemes, £0.661 to Disabled Facility Grants and the balance to miscellaneous capital schemes.

Following the rephasing of the programme budgets, the outturn showed a small underspend in 2023/24 of £68,329 with all other schemes in line with the budgeted profile and spent in year.

The significant elements of the programme spent in year were outlined in the aforementioned table with a more detailed breakdown shown in Appendix A to the report.

The overall net position was that the Capital Programme at period 9 was forecasting a total spend of £10.908m and the actual outturn of £9.034m was a reduction of £1.874m, which was largely due to additional slippage on the Levelling Up Fund projects which was ongoing into 2024/25.  Also, works on the Leisure Estate Investment Programme had moved faster than had been forecast at period 9.

The £9.034m outturn had been financed largely by the use of external grant monies received and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

Report attached.

Members considered a report of Councillor Stephen Button (Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee); Councillor Jodie Clements (Communities and Wellbeing Overview & Scrutiny Committee) and Councillor Bernard Dawson (Special Overview & Scrutiny Committee), seeking comments on the draft work programmes for Overview and Scrutiny for 2024/25.

In the absence of the overview and scrutiny committee chairs, The Leader of the Council introduced the report.  He indicated that a meeting had taken place last week involving relevant councillors to consider the draft the work programmes, which would set out the committees’ priorities for the next 12 months.

Councillor Khan asked about the selection process for co-optees.  The Leader responded that the previous appointments had been terminated and the overview and scrutiny chairs would establish a process for the recruitment of new co-optees   Councillor Aziz added that the intention was to select persons whose knowledge and experience more closely matched the each committee’s remit.

Approval of the report was not considered to be a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

At the beginning of each municipal year, the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committees each agreed a work programme for the year.

The process for agreeing the work programme was set out in Overview and Scrutiny procedure rule C6(a) as follows;

“The chair and vice chair of each overview and scrutiny committee will meet with the Cabinet within four weeks of each Annual Meeting to discuss the Cabinet’s policy priorities for the coming year.  The chairs and vice chairs will propose a draft work programme for their committee within two weeks of that meeting.  The draft work programmes will be submitted to the next following meeting of the Cabinet for comment and the draft work programme for each overview and scrutiny committee will then be submitted to the next following meeting of that committee (together with any comments or recommendations from the Cabinet) for approval.”

Any comments received from Cabinet would be considered at the next meetings of the Committees.

The work programmes had been developed following consideration of the Council’s guide for selecting items for scrutiny and consultation including:

• Multiple emails to all Councillors;
• Suggestions sought from all service managers;
• Social media coverage for public suggestions; and
• Informal meeting with Cabinet Members and the Chair and Vice-Chairs of the Scrutiny Committees.

Thirty-five requests for items to be considered for Scrutiny had been submitted by service heads, Councillors and members of the public.  There had been several requests of a similar nature so in some cases, requested items had been merged.  These items had been discussed in depth between the Scrutiny Chairs and Cabinet members before producing the work programmes.

Several items, including statutory items and previously agreed standing items had been included in the work programme.  However, not all suggested items were deemed suitable for Scrutiny, in which case these suggestions had not been included in the programme.

Officers had sought to provisionally allocate items to specific meetings.  These might be subject to change during the year.

As in previous years, additional items  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

Recommended            That, in accordance with Regulation 4(2)(b) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, the public be excluded from the meeting during the following items, when it is likely, in view of the nature of the proceedings that there will otherwise be disclosure of exempt information within the Paragraphs of Schedule 12A of the Act specified at the items.

Details of any representations received by the Executive about why the following report should be considered in public – none received.

Statement in response to any representations – not required.

Resolved                                    -    That, in accordance with Regulation 4(2)(b) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, the public be excluded from the meeting during the following item, when it was likely, in view of the nature of the proceedings that there would otherwise be disclosure of exempt information within the Paragraph at Schedule 12A of the Act specified at the item

In accordance with Regulation 5(6)(a) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, approval is being sought from Councillor Steve Button, Chair of the Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to the following decision being made by Cabinet on 11^th June 2024, in private, on the grounds that the decision is urgent and cannot reasonably be deferred.

Paragraph 3 - Relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Report attached

In accordance with Regulation 5(6)(a) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, approval was given by from Councillor Steve Button, Chair of the Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to the following decision being made by Cabinet on 11th June 2024, in private, on the grounds that the decision was urgent and could not reasonably be deferred.

Exempt information by virtue of Paragraph 3 - Relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Councillor Stewart Eaves, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services gave a brief introduction to the report.

Approval of the report was not considered to be a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

The reasons for the decision were set out in the exempt report.

Alternative Options Considered and Reasons for Rejection

The alternative options considered and reasons for rejection were set out in the exempt report.

Resolved                                    -    That the recommendations as set out in the exempt report be approved.

In accordance with Regulation 5(6)(a) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, approval is being sought from Councillor Steve Button, Chair of the Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to the following decision being made by Cabinet on 11^th June 2024, in private, on the grounds that the decision is urgent and cannot reasonably be deferred.

Paragraph 3 - Relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Report attached

In accordance with Regulation 5(6)(a) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, approval was given by from Councillor Steve Button, Chair of the Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to the following decision being made by Cabinet on 11th June 2024, in private, on the grounds that the decision was urgent and could not reasonably be deferred.

Exempt information by virtue of Paragraph 3 - Relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Councillor Stewart Eaves, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services introduced the report.  Councillors Eaves and Fisher both spoke about the importance of this service in the light of their own experiences of losing a pet.

Approval of the report was not considered to be a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

The reasons for the decision were set out in the exempt report.

Alternative Options Considered and Reasons for Rejection

The alternative options considered and reasons for rejection were set out in the exempt report.

Resolved                                    -    That the recommendations as set out in the exempt report be approved.