At a meeting of Barnsley Council's cabinet, held on 3 September 2025, councillors adopted a new rail strategy, approved investment in the Smithies Lane Depot, and agreed to fund memberships for young people at Base71, the new Barnsley Youth Zone. Councillors also reviewed the performance of Berneslai Homes and approved waiting restrictions for Clarel Street in Penistone.

Berneslai Homes Annual Business Plan 2024/25

Cabinet reviewed Berneslai Homes' performance for 2024/25, progress against its annual business action plan, and its annual review, noting achievements and areas for improvement.

Berneslai Homes manages and maintains the council's 18,000 homes. The council receives quarterly performance reports against an agreed suite of key performance indicators (KPIs). These KPIs and the annual business action plan link to Berneslai Homes' strategic plan for 2021-2031, which aligns with Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council's corporate plan and the Barnsley 2030 vision.

According to the Public Reports Pack, 32 KPIs were set for 2024/25. At year end:

• 10 KPIs were reported as green (met or exceeded target)
• 5 KPIs were rated as amber (narrowly missed the annual target)
• 13 KPIs were rated as red (target not achieved).
• 4 targets were set in line with the peer median

Areas of strong performance included building safety, complaints response times, maximising Housing Revenue Account (HRA) income, and local spending. Actions agreed for 2024/25 in response to the 2023/24 year-end performance included addressing the backlog of repairs, improving communication with tenants, and improving complaints handling.

The Annual Review provided wider context, highlighting work undertaken by Berneslai Homes and tenants to improve housing services. Key points included:

• Supporting tenants with the cost of living through the Tenants First team.
• Helping tenants with housing support grants.
• The Ambition programme helped 182 tenants to access education, training and employment.
• A rent collection rate of over 100.52%.
• Barnsley Homes works were completed to 593 homes, investing £5.8 million.
• 912 major adaptations were completed.

The report also identified areas for improvement during 2025/26, including voids processes, rent loss, and the backlog of major voids.

Capital Investment Programme at Smithies Lane Depot

Cabinet supported a capital investment of £2.432 million in the Smithies Lane Depot programme and delegated authority to the Executive Director of Growth and Sustainability to approve funding requirements for individual projects through the Property Board.

The Public Reports Pack stated that the investment was needed to maintain health and safety compliance, secure the safety of staff and assets, and improve the flow of staff and traffic around the depot. Proposed schemes of development included:

• Canteen and shower block heating upgrade
• Depot gate house, access and egress
• Relocation of the night garage
• Purchase and installation of two new staff cabins
• Site resurfacing
• Site perimeter fencing
• Six new vehicle lifts for the workshops
• Salt dome repairs
• Transport workshop rebuild
• Replacement brake rollers in Smithies workshop

Great Childhoods Ambition Investment Programme - Base71 Membership

Cabinet agreed to invest up to £150,000 to provide all eligible young people in Barnsley access to their first year of membership for free at Base71, the new Barnsley Youth Zone.

The Public Reports Pack stated that the proposal aligns with the council's Healthy, Learning and Growing Barnsley priorities and supports the Great Childhoods Ambition, helping children and young people access enrichment experiences and opportunities to learn new skills.

Base71, run by OnSide, is scheduled for a soft opening in autumn 2025, with a full range of activities available from January 2026. To be eligible for free membership, young people must live within the Barnsley local authority area and be aged 8-18 years old. The investment covers the first-year annual membership fee only (£5) and does not cover the 50p per session admission fees.

Clarel Street, Penistone - Proposed Waiting Restrictions

Cabinet agreed to introduce waiting restrictions on Clarel Street in Penistone, despite concerns raised during public consultation. The Head of Highways and Engineering and the Head of Legal Services were authorised to make and implement the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to introduce waiting restrictions as per the advertised layout.

The Public Reports Pack stated that the advertised layout mitigates the issue of obstruction on Clarel Street, both of the road and the footway. The proposal was to introduce No Waiting At Any Time restrictions on the southern side of Clarel Street to augment existing waiting restrictions on High Street and Chapel Field Lane.

During the public consultation period, eight objections were received from four households. Concerns included the impact on on-street parking and potential congestion. However, the council considered that the restrictions were the most appropriate solution to address the issues, despite concerns raised by a small number of residents.

New Rail Strategy for Barnsley

Cabinet welcomed and adopted the new Rail Strategy for Barnsley, supporting its strategic aims and future priorities. The cabinet agreed that the new strategy should be used as a framework to support local economic and spatial development decisions and to lobby SYMCA¹, the government, the rail industry and others to assist in the delivery of the strategic aims. The cabinet also agreed to the development of a future work programme setting out the council’s involvement in the interventions identified in the new strategy, led by the Executive Director for Growth & Sustainability, with the objective of creating an implementation plan integrated with the emerging SYMCA Rail Strategy and the emerging SYMCA Local Transport Plan.