The Charnwood Borough Council meeting scheduled for 8 September 2025 included a position statement on local government reorganisation, a discussion on a motion regarding migrant accommodation, and the presentation of a new capital plan. Councillors were also expected to discuss community governance reviews for the unparished areas of Loughborough and the Broadnook Village area, as well as consider a report from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Local Government Reorganisation

The Leader of the Council was expected to present a position statement regarding local government reorganisation. Charnwood Borough Council has been working with other district and borough councils in Leicestershire and Rutland County Council to develop a proposal for the future structure of local government across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

The proposal is for a 'North, City, South' model, which the council believes would offer the greatest benefit to communities. According to the position statement, the council submitted an interim plan to the government in March, and is preparing a final submission for November.

The position statement noted a theme that arose from member engagement sessions, which was a concern among many councillors regarding the expansion of Leicester City Council into Charnwood and other parts of Leicestershire.

The Leader's position statement said that their final proposal should not propose an expansion to the City council boundary.

The position statement said that the North City South Proposal would:

• Create three equally balanced councils, each serving round 400,000
• Keep councils connected and accountable to local communities
• Use existing boundaries to avoid complex, costly and disruptive changes
• Protect and support the vulnerable and focuses on prevention
• Deliver devolution and economic growth
• Boost efficiency, saving nearly £43 million a year
• Meet the Government criteria for local government reorganisation and devolution
• Be a less complex and costly boundary change proposal while meeting the governments ambition for the future of Local Government

Migrant Accommodation

A motion on notice submitted by the Conservative Group included the following points:

• Noting a recent High Court judgement secured by Epping Forest District Council, preventing the Bell Hotel from being used to accommodate migrants under the Home Office contract.
• Noting that 2025 has been the worst year ever for small boat crossings, with over 50,000 people having crossed the Channel since July 2024.
• Expressing concern about increasing pressures faced by local communities where hotels are designated for use as migrant accommodation without proper consultation or local input.

The motion stated that local communities must be properly consulted before decisions are made that impact local services, housing and community cohesion, and that the use of local hotels as long-term accommodation for migrants is not a sustainable solution.

The motion requested that the Chief Executive assess the merits of seeking an injunction to prevent the use of local hotels for migrant accommodation, and to write to the Home Office expressing the council's concerns and requesting full consultation on any future decisions. It also called on the government to develop a sustainable approach to housing migrants, and to adopt the Conservative Party's draft Deportation Bill.

Capital Plan 2025-2028

The council was scheduled to consider recommendations from the cabinet regarding a new Capital Plan for 2025-2028. The new Capital Plan, as set out in Enc 1 for Capital Plan 2025 - 2028, was to be approved by the council, and the pre-existing Capital Plan was to be deleted as of 30 September 2025.

The recommendations from the cabinet report of 3 July 2025 included:

• Approval of a new Capital Plan covering the period 1 October 2025 to 31 March 2028.
• Deletion of the pre-existing Capital Plan as at 30 September 2025.
• Delegation is given to the Director of Finance, Governance and Contracts, in conjunction with the Cabinet Lead Member for Finance, Property and Assets, Revenues and Benefits, Councillor Ian Ashcroft, to review the profile of pre-existing and new capital schemes and otherwise make minor amendments as may be required.
• Delegated authority be given to the Director of Housing and Wellbeing in consultation with the Cabinet Lead Member for Housing, Economic Development, Regeneration and Town Centres, Councillor Jenni Tillotson and the Council's Section 151 Officer¹ or Head of Finance to draw down from the HRA Financing Fund an additional £500k in 2025/26 to fund initiatives to meet the challenges arising from a complex operating environment and improve services provided to tenants.

Community Governance Reviews

The council was asked to approve the terms of reference for Community Governance Reviews (CGRs) relating to the Broadnook Village area, and the unparished area of Loughborough.

According to the Community Governance Reviews report, the Borough Council has responsibility under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007² for periodically reviewing the electoral arrangements for parish and town councils within its area by means of a CGR.

A CGR of the whole Borough area was last undertaken in 2017. However, since then the Government's Devolution White Paper was issued with wide ranging implications for local government and its reorganisation. As a consequence, there is a desire to review local arrangements – specifically the current unparished area of Loughborough.

The Broadnook Village area is already parished, and the creation of a new Civil Parish and associated Parish Council will require the amendment of existing civil parishes, their external boundaries, and their parish councils and meetings, a CGR is required to determine the appetite for, and merits of, the new parish and the pushing back of the existing boundaries in the area if this matter progresses.

The proposed timetable suggests that a report be submitted to an Extraordinary Council meeting on 23 March 2026 setting out the results of the initial consultation stage and seeking approval to consult on any draft proposals for the creation of a parish council for Loughborough and amendments to parish council boundaries and electoral arrangements in the Broadnook Village area.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) Review Letter 2024/25 and Housing Ombudsman Scheme

The Monitoring Officer was scheduled to present a report to make members aware of the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman's (LGSCO) review letter for 2024/25. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman LGSCO Review Letter 202425 and Housing Ombudsman Schem report noted that one complaint case was upheld by the LGSCO during the year, and summarised the five complaints that were upheld by the Housing Ombudsman Scheme during 2024/25.

The LGSCO's guidance is that the Monitoring Officer should report details of complaints to Members periodically.

The LGSCO review letter for Charnwood Borough Council for 2024/25 is appended to the report, and it is noted that there was one upheld complaint during the year. The letter also confirms that there was a 100% compliance rate and the LGSCO were satisfied the Council had successfully implemented their recommendations.

The report also included a summary of five complaints relating to the council that the Housing Ombudsman upheld during 2024/25.

Appointment of Parish Representative - Member Conduct Committee

The council was asked to make an appointment of a co-opted parish member of the Member Conduct Committee to fill a vacancy and to align the appointment duration of the two existing parish members with the newly made appointment.

The Appointment of Parish Representative - Member Conduct Committee report recommended that Councillor Carolyn Thornborow, a member of Quorn Parish Council, be appointed as a non-voting co-opted parish member of the Member Conduct Committee until 25th June 2027, or until she ceases to be a parish councillor, whichever is sooner.

It also recommended that Councillor Victoria (Vicky) Ball, a member of Anstey Parish Council and Councillor Julie Jones, a member of Sileby Parish Council be confirmed as nonvoting co-opted members of the Member Conduct Committee until 25th June 2027 or until they cease to be parish councillors, whichever is sooner.

Support for Clean Air Bill

A motion on notice submitted by the Green Group included the following points:

• The bill is being called Ella's Law in memory of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, who had air pollution acknowledged as the cause of her death.
• The 2025 Annual Status Report (ASR) showed Charnwood is compliant with current pollution targets and has no active Air Quality Management Areas.
• Charnwood has an Air Quality Strategy in place to further reduce pollution through to 2030 based on Air Quality Standards Regulations (2010) and amended through The Air Quality Standards (Amendment) Regulations 2016 and The Environment (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.
• In 2021 the World Health Organization (WHO) produced new guidelines based on a systematic review of literature and expert consultation. These targets have not yet been blended into UK regulations; something the bill will address.
• In a recent report The Royal College of Physicians estimated that the economic impact of ill-health due to air pollution in the UK in 2019 alone was £27 billion.

The motion requested that the Leader of the Council writes to the MPs representing Charnwood Borough stating that the council accepts the aims of the Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill to establish the right to breathe clean air, to achieve clean air within five years and to maintain it thereafter, and urges support for the Bill. It also requested that the Cabinet Lead Member for Climate Action and Net Zero takes note of the 2021 WHO Guidelines and works with officers to enhance Charnwood's air quality annual status report to include an assessment of Charnwood's data against the WHO recommendations.

Executive Decision Exempted From Call-In

The Chief Executive was scheduled to present a report to note a decision exempted from call-in in accordance with Scrutiny Committee Procedure 11.9.

The report noted that the following decisions were exempted from call-in:

• DD229 2025 – Enter into Contract to deliver damp and mould surveys and associated repairs and improvements

Changes to the Delegation of Executive Functions

The Chief Executive was scheduled to present a report to inform Council of changes to the delegation of executive functions to the Director of Commercial and Economic Development.

The report noted that on 1st August 2025, the Leader amended Executive functions to give additional delegated authority to the Director of Commercial and Economic Development. The delegated authority had previously been allocated to the Head of Planning and Growth. The change was to give the Director of Commercial & Economic Development the power to make minor changes to the Council's Environmental Policy in consultation with the Leader.

Questions on Notice

The agenda included a number of questions on notice from councillors, covering topics such as digital inclusion, customer services, housing types and sizes, highway infrastructure, member representation, pension fund investment, and the Local Government Review. Councillor Matthew Brookes asked about digital inclusion and customer services, Councillor David Snartt asked about housing types, highway infrastructure and member representation, Councillor Geoff Lawrence asked about pension fund investments, and Councillor Deborah Taylor asked about Leicester City expansion plans and the Local Government Review.