Here is a summary of the agenda for the Cabinet meeting of Ashfield District Council on 22 September 2025. The Cabinet was scheduled to discuss local government reorganisation, corporate plans, financial forecasts, houses of multiple occupation, high street rental auctions, biodiversity net gain, nature recovery, and housing complaints. The meeting was also scheduled to discuss the disposal of land in Huthwaite.

Local Government Reorganisation

The Cabinet was scheduled to receive an update on the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) within Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. A formal invitation had been issued to the nine council leaders within Nottingham and Nottinghamshire by the Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution on 5 February 2025, asking each leader to work with other council leaders in the area to develop a proposal for local government reorganisation.

The letter outlined six criteria against which proposals for local government reorganisation would be assessed:

a. A proposal should seek to achieve for the whole of the area concerned the establishment of a single tier of local government.

b. Unitary local government must be the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks.

c. Unitary structures must prioritise the delivery of high quality and sustainable public services to citizens.

d. Proposals should show how councils in the area have sought to work together in coming to a view that meets local needs and is informed by local views.

e. New unitary structures must support devolution arrangements.

f. New unitary structures should enable stronger community engagement and deliver genuine opportunity for neighbourhood empowerment.

An Interim Plan was submitted on 21 March 2025, outlining three options for unitary councils. Following feedback from the government, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) were commissioned to support the detailed development work, which included financial modelling, sensible economic area, sensible geography (housing land supply and employment), homelessness, public safety, adult social care, children's social care and SEND, community Engagement and Neighbourhood Empowerment. Following presentation of the PwC options appraisal to the Chief Executives and the Leaders & Mayor of the nine Nottingham and Nottinghamshire councils on 11 July 2025, consensus agreement was given to discarding Option 2 due to it not sufficiently meeting the Government set criteria. Consensus agreement was also given to further develop options 1b and 1e to enable informed consideration by respective councils.

As a 'neutral' authority, Ashfield District Council would undertake the role of leading and managing a 'Core Programme', which includes overseeing the use of the same and consistent data sources, evidence and information by all proposals, maintaining the collaborative, open and transparent approach to development of proposals and supporting a consistent approach and format to submitted final proposals.

An online survey was launched on 4 August for people who live and/or work within Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, which has been designed to enable residents, businesses, town and parish councils and wider stakeholders to express views that will inform the development of robust full proposals and build a shared understanding of the improvements they expect to be delivered through reorganisation. The six-week survey ends on 14 September. The outcomes will be shared with all nine Councils.

The Council will be expected to take a decision on a single option / proposal pre submission deadline of 28 November 2025.

Corporate Peer Challenge Update

The Cabinet was scheduled to endorse the findings of the Local Government Association Corporate Peer Challenge Progress Review. A Local Government Association Corporate Peer Challenge Review took place from Tuesday 4 to Friday 7 June 2024, with a follow-up Progress Review on Tuesday 15 July 2025.

The Progress Review focussed on each of the CPC's main recommendations, under the following theme headings:

• governance and culture
• decision making accountability and human resources
• performance management and performance information
• regeneration and potential synergies
• East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA)
• local government reorganisation (LGR)

Corporate Plan Refresh

The Cabinet was scheduled to approve the Corporate Plan refresh. The Council's Corporate Plan 2023 - 2027 sets out what it wants to achieve between 2023 – 27, with the ambition to be 'Great' across all its services and to look forwards. The six priorities are based on knowledge and understanding of the needs of Ashfield residents and businesses.

The Corporate Plan, and associated Delivery Plan, have been reviewed in light of the second year's progress and performance outturn, and also external factors impacting upon the organisation such as forthcoming Local Government Reorganisation. It also includes input from the Corporate Peer Challenge Progress Review, which took place in July 2025, and subsequent Feedback report. The plan has been refreshed to ensure alignment to the Council's ongoing ambitions and Corporate Priorities for the last two-year period of the plan (2023-2027).

The Council's priorities have been developed based on knowledge and understanding of the needs of Ashfield residents and businesses:

• Health and Happiness
• Homes and Housing
• Economic Growth and Place
• Cleaner and Greener
• Safer Communities
• Innovate and Improve

2025/26 Forecast Outturn

The Cabinet was scheduled to note the current forecast outturn for the General Fund¹, Housing Revenue Account (HRA)² and Capital Programme for 2025/26, and to recommend to Council the amendments and the addition of new schemes to the Capital Programme 2025/26 to 2029/30 and the funding of the Capital Programme as set out in the report.

The current General Fund forecast was scheduled to be in line with the budget in overall terms.

Houses of Multiple Occupation

The Cabinet was scheduled to note the protections currently in place to ensure Houses in Multiple Occupation meet appropriate housing standards and fit within the housing mix of their communities, to agree to prepare an Article 4 direction(s)³ for areas of the district where evidence demonstrates any significant concentrations of Houses in Multiple Occupation, and for public consultation to take place on any proposed direction(s), to approve the preparation of a Supplementary Planning Document for Houses in Multiple Occupation, and to agree to review the current licensing arrangements for Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) to consider extending the requirements for a licence beyond the current mandatory requirements to additionally include HMOs with 3 or 4 occupants.

Concerns have been raised about the increasing numbers of HMOs in certain parts of Ashfield, including the impact on the local character, antisocial behaviour, and the strain on local services and infrastructure.

High Street Rental Auction

The Cabinet was scheduled to formally adopt the implementation of the new High Street Rental Auction (HSRA) powers, to designate HSRA areas in Hucknall, Kirkby and Sutton town centres and Stanton Hill high street and to commence the community engagement process for Sutton Town Centre and Stanton Hill high street, and to delegate powers to amend and finalise the HSRA designations in the light of comments received during the community engagement period and to implement the rental auctions process to the Executive Director, Place in consultation with Councillor Matthew Relf, Executive Lead Member for Growth, Regeneration and Local Planning.

High Street Rental Auctions (HSRA) are new powers for local authorities in England, introduced through the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, whereby landlords can be required to rent persistently vacant commercial properties to a tenant, through an auction process, thus bringing empty units back into use.

The process is summarised below:

• To qualify for auction, a property must be in a designated high street or a town centre, vacant for at least one year, or 366 days non-continuously in the past two years, and suitable for high street use , such as shops, cafés, offices, entertainment or community spaces.
• Local authorities must designate an area as a high street or town centre, carry-out community engagement for a minimum of 28 days, consulting on the designated areas, collate a vacancy register for the designated areas to identify persistently vacant properties, and survey properties to assess the suitability and to identify any required works.
• The initial notice period is ten weeks, during which the landlord can find a tenant to occupy the premises, without going to auction, with Council consent. The final notice is issued where no agreement can be reached, and the Council can proceed to auction. The auction period will then last for twelve weeks, which will include marketing, bidding and the finalisation of the tenancy lease.

Biodiversity Net Gain Site Designations

The Cabinet was scheduled to consider a proposal to utilise Council owned land to provide Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) sites and sell biodiversity units to developers, to deliver BNG locally where it is not possible to deliver it on development sites, and to agree to register an initial two sites for the project:

• Oakwood Fields, Forest Road, Annesley
• Pye Hill Road, Jacksdale

The Environment Act (2021) introduced a mandatory requirement for development to provide a net gain in biodiversity. Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is an approach to planning which requires new developments to measurably and demonstrably improve habitats. The Environment Act makes BNG of 10% a mandatory condition for qualifying development and requires that it is calculated through the use of the biodiversity metric. Applicants for planning permission are required to identify enhancements through a BNG Plan.

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy

The Cabinet was scheduled to confirm they are content with the final Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) for publication, and to delegate authority to the Executive Director of Place, in conjunction with Councillor Matthew Relf, Executive Lead Member for Growth, Regeneration and Local Planning, to confirm in writing to Nottinghamshire County Council that Ashfield District Council is content for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy final LNRS to be published within 28 days of the responsible authority providing the final LNRS, and to authorise the Executive Director of Place in consultation with the Executive Lead for Growth, Regeneration and Local Planning to agree minor amendments to the LNRS, supporting text and other relevant documents accordingly, as part of any future LNRS review as required as a supporting authority.

Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) are a new system of spatial strategies for nature recovery, legislated for in the Environment Act 2021. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has appointed 48 responsible authorities (in most cases county or combined authorities) to lead the preparation of the strategies. Each strategy will agree priorities for nature recovery and the wider environment and propose actions in the locations where they would have the most impact in helping to deliver those priorities.

Housing Complaints

The Cabinet was scheduled to acknowledge the requirements and obligations on the Council under the Housing Ombudsman Service's Complaint Handling Code and the Council's compliance with these, to approve the revised annual Self-Assessment and its publication on the Council's website and submission to the Housing Ombudsman Service, to acknowledge engaged tenant's feedback on the self-assessment element they were consulted on, and to comment on the Annual Housing Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report 2024/25 and self-assessment, prior to submission to the Housing Ombudsman Service and publication.

Membership to the Housing Ombudsman Service's (HOS) Scheme is mandatory for all social housing landlords and compliance with their Complaint Handling Code (the Code) is a statutory requirement. Landlords must comply with all requirements of the Code or offer an explanation.

The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 places a requirement on the HOS to monitor compliance with the Code, all large social housing landlords have until 30 September 2025 to submit their Self-Assessment and Complaint Performance & Service Improvement Report to the HOS and publish it for tenant/leaseholder scrutiny.

The HOS' current Complaint Handling Code came into effect from 01 April 2024. The Code sets out the HOS' expectations on members of their scheme, which is mandatory for social housing landlords, to ensure that complaints from their residents are dealt with fairly, consistently and in line with good practice. The Code also ensures that landlords have an accessible and transparent complaints process, to enable tenants to hold their landlord to account, where they are dissatisfied with their service provision.

The Code requires landlords to publish a Self-Assessment and Complaints Performance & Service Improvement Report annually, so their residents can scrutinise their complaint handling activities. Both reports must also be submitted to the HOS, to enable them to fulfil their statutory obligation to monitor compliance with the Code.

The Housing Ombudsman works in conjunction with the Regulator for Social Housing and will report any complaint handling concerns to them, which could trigger inspections/interactions with the landlord. The Regulator for Social Housing has the authority to apply sanctions on social housing landlords and can issue unlimited fines.

The self-assessment against the HOS' Complaint Handling Code found that the Council's approach to the handling of housing complaints is fully compliant with the requirements of the Code.

It is noted in the self-assessment that a small number of complaints were not handled in line with the timescales set out in the Code during 2024/25. Actions have been taken to address these issues with relevant service areas and performance is being closely monitored.