The Loughborough Area Committee of Charnwood Borough Council met on 11 December 2024. The meeting was scheduled to discuss a range of issues relating to the town of Loughborough, Leicestershire. These included the approval of minutes from previous meetings, disclosures of interest from Councillors, the Loughborough Special Expenses budget for 2025/26, and questions submitted by Councillors.

Loughborough Special Expenses Draft Budget 2025/26

A report submitted by the Head of Finance for Charnwood Borough Council proposed a 1.99% increase in the Loughborough Special Rate, which would increase the rate paid by a Band D property from £82.72 in 2024/25 to £84.37 in 2025/26. The Special Rate is a levy paid by residents of Loughborough in addition to Council Tax, to cover the cost of services provided by Charnwood Borough Council in Loughborough, but not in other parts of the borough. This was presented alongside the draft Loughborough Special Expenses budget for 2025/26.

The report identifies the following significant year-on-year changes to the Loughborough Special Expenses budget:

• An increase of £10,600 in funding allocated to Loughborough CCTV to cover the additional costs of the CCTV maintenance contract with Open View Security Solutions .
• An increase of £30,900 in funding for Loughborough Cemetery. The report explains that the sub-contractors budget has reduced by £31k, the 2024/25 budget included a one-off service pressure for memorial testing offset by a £20k service pressure in 2025/26 to cover the additional contract costs for the provision of the bereavement service provided by NWLDC .
• An increase of £26,400 for the maintenance of parks in Loughborough, including Loughborough in Bloom .
• An increase of £13,500 for Festive Decorations and Illuminations . The report states that this is to cover the additional costs for the installation and maintenance of the festive lights at Derby Square & Biggin Street.

Questions Under Committee Procedure 12.8

Leicestershire County Councillor Max Hunt submitted five questions to the committee under Standing Order 12.8 of Charnwood Borough Council's constitution, which allows County Councillors to submit questions to Borough and Parish Councils. These questions were:

1. Open Spaces S106 Agreements
2. Loughborough Community Hub and Community Centre Grants
3. Designated Priority Neighbourhoods
4. Financial Statements and Audit Accounts for Grant Funding
5. Community Grants and Facilities Grants

Minutes of Previous Meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting, held on 9 October 2024, were scheduled to be approved.

Disclosures of Pecuniary Interests and Other Registrable and Non-Registrable Interests

Councillors were scheduled to make any disclosures of pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests.

Apologies

Apologies for absence were scheduled to be received.