The Executive Cabinet of Chorley Council met on 18 September 2025, and among other business, approved an action plan following a corporate peer challenge, agreed to dissolve Chorley BC Property Ltd, and reviewed the council's budget and strategic risks. The cabinet also reviewed performance monitoring reports for the first quarter of 2025-26 and responded to recommendations from the Overview and Scrutiny Task Group on Suicide Bereavement and Prevention.

Dissolution of Chorley BC Property Ltd

The Executive Cabinet approved the dissolution of Chorley BC Property Ltd, a wholly owned company of Chorley Council, and the transfer of its lease back into the council's accounts. Councillor Peter Wilson, Deputy Executive Leader and Executive Member for Resources, introduced the report, which argued that the company structure created an unnecessary administrative burden and was now redundant.

According to the Chorley BC Property Ltd Governance Review, since becoming operational in April 2023, the company's only transaction has been the lease arrangement for Logistics House. The original rationale for the company was to act as the council's legal entity for commercial property activities and residential acquisitions. However, changes in government guidance and Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) rules now make it unlikely that the council will expand its investments as originally envisioned, rendering the company redundant.

The council currently accounts for Logistics House as an investment asset and makes all relevant disclosures in its Statement of Accounts and Group Accounts. The lease arrangements remain financially beneficial to the council, contributing £747,000 after financing to support the council's budgets. These arrangements would continue regardless of the company's governance structure.

Other options considered and rejected were retaining the company, repurposing it, or keeping it as a dormant company. These were rejected as there was no benefit to the council.

Quarter One Performance Monitoring Report 2025-26

The Executive Cabinet reviewed the Chorley Quarter One Performance Monitoring Report 2025-26, providing a position statement on the Corporate Strategy for the first quarter (April-June) of 2025/26. The report highlighted project delivery and performance progress against key indicators.

Overall, the performance of the corporate strategy delivery programme was reported as good, with 82% of projects rated on track (green) and 9% rated complete (blue). However, two projects (9%) were forecast to have delays or concerns (amber).

Of the indicators that could be reported at quarter one, 79% of corporate strategy measures and 100% of key organisational measures were performing on or above target (green) or within the 5% threshold (amber).

The two corporate strategy projects that were completed are:

• Progress the delivery of the Central Lancashire Local Plan¹
• Continue to deliver improvements to Chorley's Bus Shelter Network

The two corporate strategy projects off track (amber) are:

• Improve the effectiveness of social housing operations
• Carry out renovations to the West Wing of Astley Hall

Three corporate strategy indicators were below target by 5% or more (red):

• Number of projected jobs created through Chorley Council support or intervention
• The percentage of 16-17 year olds who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET)
• The percentage of customers satisfied with the service they received from the Council

Executive Cabinet was asked to review the report and provide feedback where required.

Corporate Peer Challenge Action Plan

The Executive Cabinet approved the action plan responding to recommendations from the Local Government Association (LGA) Corporate Peer Challenge, which took place in May 2025. The peer challenge reviewed the council against five areas: local priorities and outcomes, organisational and place leadership, governance and culture, financial planning and management, and capacity for improvement.

The Corporate Peer Challenge Action Plan detailed nine recommendations made by the peer team and the council's proposed actions in response. These included:

• Evaluating the successes and lessons learned from shared services to support organisational learning and maximise benefits for both Chorley and South Ribble Borough Council.
• Reviewing budget presentation to ensure clarity on how council budgets are supported by different income streams and identifying risks of non-core income streams.
• Reviewing governance arrangements for the Leisure Company and Property Company to ensure compliance with best practice.
• Retaining oversight of improvements in the property and planning directorate, specifically on resourcing, long-term strategy planning, and financial management.
• Implementing the communications strategy and plan and measuring its impact.
• Reviewing corporate priorities to ensure they fully reflect local need, with the potential to include an additional inward-focused priority around efficiency and releasing capacity.
• Considering how best to include members and external partners to coordinate the delivery and promotion of corporate priorities.
• Considering approaches used by regional exemplar authorities to refocus work on climate action to realise both environmental and economic benefits.
• Further developing the role and impact of overview and scrutiny and providing external training for members and officers.

The action plan will be published on the council's website, and a progress visit will take place on 10 February 2026.

Budget Monitoring

The Executive Cabinet reviewed the Revenue Budget Monitoring Q1 report, which set out the forecast outturn for revenue and reserves for 2025/26, based on the position as at 31 July 2025. The report projected an underspend of £67,000.

According to the Revenue Budget Monitoring Q1, the council's Medium-Term Financial Strategy states that the minimum level of General Fund Reserves should be maintained at £4.0 million. Based on the forecast underspend, the level of General Fund balances as at 31 March 2026, will be £4.379 million.

The report also detailed virements² made to and from the revenue budget during the period.

Key variances by directorate included:

• Change and Delivery: Forecast £23,000 underspend due to staffing vacancies.
• Communities and Leisure: Forecast £125,000 underspend, mainly due to vacant posts and realignment of contract periods for core-funded grants.
• Customer and Digital: Forecast £71,000 underspend, mainly due to staffing vacancies, offset by overspends on IT costs and postage.
• Finance: Forecast £4,000 underspend due to staffing vacancies, offset by overspends on external audit fees and uncertainty regarding grant income.
• Governance: Forecast £10,000 underspend due to staffing vacancies and reduced utilities costs, offset by overspends on general insurance and reduced income from Union Street offices.
• Planning (Part of Planning and Property): Forecast £141,000 underspend due to staffing vacancies and increased planning application income, offset by overspends on legal fees.
• Property (Part of Planning and Property): Forecast £224,000 overspend due to staffing overspends, increased utilities costs, and repairs and maintenance, offset by increased car parking income.
• Major Projects (Part of Planning and Property): Forecast £84,000 overspend, including overspends on Market Walk, Primrose Retirement Living, Strawberry Meadows, and Tatton Gardens, offset by underspends on Strawberry Fields.
• Corporate: Forecast £1,000 underspend, including overspends on interest payable, offset by over-recovery of interest receivable and underspends on the Minimum Revenue Provision.

The Executive Cabinet also reviewed the Capital and Balance Sheet Monitoring Report Q1, which reported the outturn financial position of the council's capital programme at 31 July 2025. The total cost of the capital investment programme for 2025/26 has decreased from £52.991 million to £15.974 million.

Strategic Risk Register Review

The Executive Cabinet reviewed the Strategic Risk Register, which identifies and addresses potential risks to the council and its functions. The register outlines key risks, control measures, and planned actions to mitigate those risks.

According to the Strategic Risk Register Review Executive Cabinet, a new risk has been identified and included in the register, titled Local Government Reorganisation, to reflect the high risk of changes due to the government's proposed move to a single tier of government by April 2028.

Since the previous review, two risks have increased in score:

• R1 Incidents Impacting Service Delivery: The inherent risk score increased from 9 (medium) to 12 (high) due to potential disruption on service delivery as a result of evolving external threats and increased reliance on digital infrastructure.
• R7 Failure of ICT Security and Data Protection: The residual risk score increased from 9 (medium) to 12 (high) due to a rise in cyber threats and recent high-profile incidents.

One risk has reduced in score:

• R4 Failure to Realise the Benefit of Major Investments: The residual risk score reduced from 12 (high) to 9 (medium) due to current work in progress to ensure the realisation of benefits from planned large-scale investments.

The highest scoring risks, with an inherent risk score of 16, are:

• R3 Poor Financial Sustainability
• R4 Failure to Realise the Benefit of Major Investments
• R6 Lack of Staff Capacity and Skills
• R7 Failure of ICT Security and Data Protection
• R17 Local Government Reorganisation

Suicide Bereavement and Prevention

The Executive Cabinet considered the response to recommendations from the Overview and Scrutiny Task Group on Suicide Bereavement and Prevention. The Task Group's report included 12 recommendations to reduce death by suicide and support bereaved families and friends.

According to the Executive Cabinet Response to the Overview and Scrutiny Task Group on Suicide Bereavement and Prevention, Chorley has a relatively high rate of deaths by suicide compared to the England average.

The recommendations and actions include:

1. Liaising with partners to provide information about suicide prevention more widely in Chorley.
2. Providing training to local employers/businesses and consulting with taxi drivers regarding training provision on suicide prevention.
3. Including voluntary training on suicide prevention and bereavement in the Member Development Programme and providing information in the Members' Room.
4. Requesting death by suicide data for Chorley from Lancashire County Council (LCC) Public Health and sharing information between the county-wide group and the local Chorley Working Group.
5. Lancashire Constabulary to consider reviewing their process for offering support to people bereaved by suicide.
6. Amparo and Lancashire Constabulary to liaise to ensure that the right information is provided about what Amparo offer.
7. Amparo to liaise closely with the council's Social Prescribing Team to ensure its visibility and awareness locally.
8. Amparo to provide the council with progress updates on their activities in the Chorley area and time frame for receipt of ICB³ funding.
9. Chorley Council's Revenues and Benefits team to consider including information about accessing mental health/social prescribing services in council tax debt reminders.
10. Chorley Council to regularly review and update information relating to suicide support groups and explore possibilities of commissioning their services as appropriate.
11. If suicide support groups are discontinued for any reason, Chorley Council should seek a replacement venue/organisation.
12. Review and refresh the existing Suicide Working Group, including that data be obtained from Lancashire County Council Public Health on a regular basis.