Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Booth and Anderson. 

Councillor Dawson acted as substitute representative for Councillor Booth.

There were no declarations of interest or dispensations made at the meeting.

To submit the minutes of the Special Overview & Scrutiny Committee, held on 16^th July 2025, for approval as a correct record.

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

The Minutes of the Special Overview & Scrutiny Committee held on 16^th July 2025 were submitted for approval as a correct record.

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

The Chair informed the meeting that the vacant co-optee post had been advertised on social media but there had been no applications received.  As such, she advised that it would be ineffective to try to fill the vacancy at this time as the process of appointment was time consuming and would potentially mean that any appointed co-optee would only be able to attend one further meeting before the period of the post was due to finish, by the end of the municipal year 2025-26. 

To update the Committee on the plan for Neighbourhood funding awarded to Accrington and the work of the Neighbourhood Boards. 

Recommended                     -   That the comments and recommendations of the Committee be noted and actioned, as required.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Munsif Dad, updated the Committee on the Plan for Neighbourhoods funding awarded to Accrington and the work of the Neighbourhoods Board.  He referred to the opportunities that the funding provided for the future, with a 10 year vision and 4 year investment plan. 

He introduced Sami Smithson, the newly appointed Independent Chair of the Board and indicated that the Board was working hard to identify its priorities.  He thanked all involved and indicated that he was looking forward to seeing how the Board developed proposals. 

In addition, he informed the Committee that a further £1.5m had been received by Hyndburn via its new Impact Fund. 

The Head of Policy and Organisational Development referred to previous proposed Government funding under the then Long Term Plan for Towns which had been administered by the Towns Board.  She indicated that this had now been replaced.  She reported that:

·      The ‘Long-Term Plan for Towns fund’ had been replaced by the ‘Plan for Neighbourhoods fund’.  Plans for Neighbourhoods guidance still applied to Accrington.

·      The Pride in Place Strategy and Programme was recently announced by Government and extended this investment to additional areas. 

·      There had been a further allocation of £1.5m to Hyndburn via the Impact Fund.  This was separate from the £20m fund and was not administered by the Neighbourhoods Board.

·      The £20 m funding would be managed through the Council, as the accountable body, working with the Neighbourhood Board and  the local community.

·      Pride in Place Strategy and Programme extends investment to additional areas.  The delivery of payment was due to start in April 2026 and would be split 25% capital and 75% revenue.

·      Capacity funding was available for governance and planning and £50k had been spent in 2024 by the previous Towns Board.  Additional funds were now funding a part time Democratic Services Officer to serve the Board and some senior management advisory input.  She also referred to their intentions to allocate funding to a Project Director role, that would give specialist support to take the project forward.

·         Funding had been received of around £20m over a 10 year period, which would be released from April 2026.  The funding would be used to regenerate communities, strengthen social infrastructure and empower local decision-making.    A regeneration plan would need to be submitted to Government covering the first four years of the programme would need to be approved by Government before funding was redeemed.  She informed the meeting that a masterplan was already in place for Accrington and the Board had identified some indicative project ideas.

·           Board Membership would consist of an independent Chair, and four mandated Board members: the MP, a representative of the Police and Crime Commissioner, a local district Councillor and a LCC Councillor.  There were also a number of other Board members in place or being recruited, with a view to representation from a range of sectors including youth, health and education sectors, community, voluntary and faith sector, environmental and commercial and business.

·           The plan  ...  view the full minutes text for item 180.

To provide Committee with an update on the Council’s Levelling Up funded (LUF) town centre projects.

Recommended                     -   That the comments and recommendations of the Committee be noted and actioned, as required.

The Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Transformation and Town Centres, Councillor Clare Pritchard, submitted a report to provide the Committee with an update on the Council’s Levelling Up funded (LUF) town centre projects.  She provided an overview of the report.

The Chair of the Committee established key dates of the project including the start date and who had been the Cabinet Portfolio holder responsible at the time. 

Members of the Committee submitted the following questions and comments:

-          When were Burton’s Chambers and the Market Hall were due to open.

-          Had there been negotiations with the new operator of the Market Hall to  ensure that all stalls would be filled on the opening day.

-          The market traders would be spending a further winter on stalls outside in the square, were the market traders happy with that?

-          Were there plans to keep the stairs in the Market Hall?

-          Was funding allocated for contingency work, being taken from this year’s Council budget or from next year’s Council budget?

-          What action was the Council taking to reduce the chance of any further shortfalls next year?

-          What communication methods were the Council using to ensure that the public were kept informed of progress with Levelling Up projects?

-          Information was requested about the tender process and the award criteria.

-          What provisions are in place if an Operator went out of business?

-          In respect of traders returning to the Market Hall, had there been an increase in the price of leases and what incentives were there for traders to return to the Market Hall?

-          There was a request to define the extent and influence of the Market Hall Operator in the contract before it was signed and that a market strategy was created. 

The Cabinet Portfolio Holder responded that:

-          Whilst it was unlikely there could be further delays during the Winter, it was anticipated that Burton’s Chambers and the Market Hall would be opening at the same time in late Summer 2026.

-          She reported that the lease for the new operator for the Market Hall had not yet been signed so discussions were ongoing and the Council hoped all market stalls would be filled on the opening day.

-          There had been some changes in the market traders on the town square but most were the same.  She reported that the Market Manager and his team of porters were in constant contact with the traders and pointed out that some traders had enjoyed working outside.

-          The stairs in the Market Hall would be remain in place but the plans allowed for them to be refurbished with new finishes.

-          The contingency fund would be taken out of existing Council reserves but would only be authorised for emergency purposes.

-          Krol Corlett had been appointed through a rigorous tender process and the criteria for selection had included social values.

-          The Committee was referred to the website created specifically to keep the public updated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 181.