The Bromsgrove District Council Overview and Scrutiny Board met on 9 September 2025 to discuss council tax recovery, planning enforcement, and the Windsor Street site, among other items. The board was also scheduled to discuss updates from the Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the Finance and Budget Working Group, and the Cabinet Work Programme. The meeting was scheduled to include discussion of both exempt and public information.

Windsor Street Site Delivery Options

The board was scheduled to consider options for the delivery of housing on the Windsor Street site.

The report pack noted that the Windsor Street site is a key redevelopment site in the heart of Bromsgrove Town Centre. It had been vacant since 2014, and faced challenges with vandalism and anti-social behaviour. Bromsgrove District Council made a successful application to the Levelling Up Fund (LUF) for £14.5m, with £3,490,000 of that total budget attributed to the Windsor Street site.

The report pack stated that Thomas Lister Surveyors were commissioned to review potential future uses of the site, and concluded that the redevelopment of the site for retail purposes is not likely to be commercially attractive and that office demand would be met by the Nailers Yard development. The report pack noted that, combined with the fact that Brownfield Land Release Fund (BLRF) funding must be used to accelerate the release of housing sites, the project team have only considered residential use on the site.

The report pack outlined three potential delivery options that had been considered:

• Option A: Secure outline planning permission and dispose of the site on the open market.
• Option B: Develop through Spadesbourne Homes Ltd, the council-owned housing company, and retain market value properties while disposing of affordable units to a Registered Social Landlord (RSL).
• Option C: Form a partnership with either a private developer or RSL to deliver housing on the site.

The report pack stated that each of the options were summarised in a table, and that board members should consider what level of risk they are willing to accept and weigh that up with the level of control that they would like to retain over the site. Consideration should be given to how the scheme would be financed for each option and the timescale for delivery.

Council Tax Debt Recovery

The board was scheduled to discuss a report detailing the procedures for council tax recovery and the use of enforcement agents. The report was requested at a meeting on 11 February 2025, following an article attributed to Martin Lewis¹.

The report pack noted that the In the public interest? report argues that the legislation governing council tax collection requires reform and highlights that practices adopted by local authorities can cause harm to individuals in debt, particularly those people with mental health conditions. The report identifies four areas for improvement:

• Communication: Council correspondence is primarily sent by postal letter. It is often formal and legalistic which may deter individuals with mental health or financial difficulties from taking action to resolve their debt.
• Rapid escalation: The speed at which council tax debt escalates referred to by MMHPI as the council tax trap – can prevent people from being able to take action to manage their debt.
• Automation and flexibility: The reliance on automated procedures and strict procedures can result in a lack of flexibility, leaving people feeling unheard and unsupported.
• Enforcement Action: The report suggests that certain enforcement actions may exacerbate financial hardship and that they can be counterproductive and may worsen a person's financial situation.

Council Tax Report

The report pack also summarised the legislative framework for council tax recovery, Bromsgrove Council's recovery procedures, and the recommendations of the MMHPI report. It also identified actions and barriers to improvement, including implementing a revised debt recovery strategy, introducing a pre-action protocol, trialling a pre-enforcement intervention team, implementing the Single Financial Statement (SFS)[^3], reviewing website and communication materials, engaging with Citizens Advice and the debt advice sector, and allocating a budget for discretionary council tax reductions.

Update on Planning Enforcement

The board was scheduled to discuss an information report reviewing the approach taken by Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) in assisting with planning enforcement work since March 2021.

The report pack noted that restrictions during COVID lockdowns, staff shortages, lack of enforcement experience and increased demand with planning applications had caused a back log of planning enforcement cases. It was recognised that WRS staff had experience of compiling evidence and preparing enforcement files for prosecution, and that these skills could be applied to assist in reducing the backlog of cases.

The report pack stated that during the latter part of 2023 and into the first part of 2024, the Council decided to bring the enforcement functions of planning, Fly-Tipping, littering and dog fouling together under their shared regulatory service (WRS) to sit alongside the existing Environmental Health and Licensing functions. The council also decided to invest temporarily in additional resource, for a period of two years, to assist with clearing of the backlog of planning enforcement cases.

The report pack included two case studies:

• A long running issue concerning a business, where WRS officers addressed new breaches as they arose by serving new notices.
• Long running complaints of vehicles being left on major road bridges to advertise commercial services, where WRS Officers have engaged in partnership working with the relevant Highways authority to secure Traffic Regulation Orders which will instigate double yellow lines on the bridge.

Finance and Budget Working Group

The board was scheduled to formalise the membership of the Finance and Budget Working Group for 2025-26.

The report pack noted that the Finance and Budget Scrutiny Working Group was set up by the Overview and Scrutiny Board to carry out detailed scrutiny of a number of Financial Reports and to assist in scrutiny of the Council's budget setting.

The report pack stated that the Chairman of the Working Group has historically been the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board, and that Councillor P. McDonald had been appointed as the Chairman of the Finance and Budget Working Group for the ensuing municipal year 2025/26.

The report pack also noted that the Working Group should be composed of the Chairman of the Audit, Standards and Governance Committee and 6 Members of the Board with a quorum of 3, and that Scrutiny Working Groups are not required to be politically balanced, although it would be good practice to have each political group represented.

Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Update

Councillor B. Kumar was scheduled provide an update from the Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC). The report pack included a report from the HOSC meeting on 30th July 2025.

One item on the agenda was routine immunisation. The report pack noted that Worcestershire has a high level of population protection against vaccine preventable diseases, and it is important that uptake is maintained or improved. The committee were told that Worcestershire's vaccination uptake in the selected vaccination programme was consistently higher than for Midlands and England.

The report pack stated that members asked what happens when residents of Worcestershire go into Birmingham to work and catch these diseases and how NHSE is going to prevent this cross infection.

Cabinet Work Programme

The board was scheduled to review the Cabinet Work Programme, which gives details of items on which key decisions are likely to be taken in the coming four months by the Council's Cabinet.

The Cabinet Work Programme listed the following upcoming decisions:

• Bereavement Services – Burial Strategy
• Expansion of Septic Tank Emptying Service
• Homelessness Prevention Grant and Domestic Abuse Grant
• Medium Term Financial Plan Tranche 1 Budget Report 2026/2027
• Quarter 2 2025/26 Finance Monitoring Report
• Quarter 2 2025/26 Performance Monitoring Report
• Treasury Management half Yearly Report 2024/2025
• Windsor Street Site
• Biodiversity First Consideration Report
• Climate Change Strategy 2026 to 2031
• Council Tax Base Report 2026/27
• Council Tax - Empty Homes Discounts and Premiums 2026/27
• Council Tax Support Scheme 2026/27
• Discretionary Council Tax Reduction Policy 2026/27
• Medium Term Financial Plan Tranche 1 Budget Report 2026/27
• Non Domestic Rates - Discretionary Rates Relief Policy 2026/27
• Medium Term Financial Plan Tranche 2 Budget Report 2026/27
• Council Tax Resolutions 2026/27
• Quarter 3 2025/26 Finance Monitoring Report
• Quarter 3 2025/26 Performance Monitoring Report

Overview and Scrutiny Board Work Programme

The board was scheduled to review the Overview and Scrutiny Board Work Programme for 2025-2026.

The work programme listed the following items for future meetings:

• Citizens Advice (Uses of grant funding)
• Housing Task Group – Final Report
• Local Heritage Action List (Quarterly Update)
• Levelling Up Fund Programme (Quarterly Update)
• Windsor Street Site (Pre-Scrutiny)
• Homelessness Prevention Grant and Domestic Abuse Grant (Pre-Scrutiny)
• Capacity of the Minor Works Team
• BDHT (Services provided)
• Update on Heatwaves Preparedness
• Anti-Social Behaviour (Tools and Powers)

Overview and Scrutiny Action Sheet

The board was scheduled to consider the Overview and Scrutiny Action Sheet.

The action sheet included updates on the following actions:

• Contaminated Land Strategy - To engage with Councillor K. May to provide a review of surveys carried out at Chadwick Lane and Beoley.
• Installation of EV Chargers - To enquire if Zest Eco Ltd can provide assurances that disabled access will be a priority for EVCI.
• Installation of EV Chargers - To provide profit share totals since installation from Equans.
• Installation of EV Chargers - To discuss Terms and Conditions arrangements with Zest regarding possible immediate revenue share arrangements.
• Local Heritage Action Lists - To include Councillor Kumar into any relevant communications (including future communications) regarding Lickey and Blackwell Heritage.
• Officers to consider an elected Member to be part of the Town Centre Steering Group for the Bromsgrove Town Centre Strategic Framework.
• A promotional video to be produced to communicate the 'vision' of the Bromsgrove Town Centre Strategic Framework to the public.
• Finance and Budget Working Group - Membership - Sent follow up email to all members of overview and scrutiny 'pool' asking for further expressions of interest in joining FBWG to fill the remaining 3 vacancies.
• Levelling Up Fund Programme - Next update to be provided at the October meeting.