The Overview Select Committee is scheduled to meet on 24 September to discuss a range of topics, including changes to the Council Tax Support Scheme, support for adventure playgrounds, updates on asset sales and budget monitoring. Presentations are also scheduled on the environmental impact of construction projects.

Council Tax Support Scheme Review

The committee is scheduled to look at a report examining changes to the Council Tax Support Scheme (CTSS). The report contains recommendations relating to households receiving Personal Independence Payments¹ (PIP) and those with four or more children.

The report notes that in January 2025, the council approved changes to the CTSS, which took effect from 1 April 2025. These changes were intended to:

• Support vulnerable households by providing a maximum discount of 100% of a band C property council tax liability, increased from 80% of a band B property.
• Ensure other households (non-vulnerable) continue to receive a maximum discount of 80% of a band B property.
• Simplify the means-tested scheme based on household weekly income, with income defined within weekly income bands.
• Simplify the calculation of non-dependant deductions with a proposed deduction of 20% (of any CTSS award) where a non-dependant resides within the household.
• Maintain disregards for childcare costs and the capital limit of £6,000.
• Provide additional allowances to protect the incomes of households with three or more children, beyond the two child cap .

The report for discussion includes the following recommendations:

• For households where both partners receive a PIP, exclude 50% of PIP from the income calculation.
• For households with four or more children, increase the first income band from £250 to £300.
• Extend the additional £250,000 of the discretionary support scheme beyond two years.

The report notes that implementing all the recommendations could cost the council an estimated £625,000 by 2027/28.

The report also references several appendices, including summaries of task group meetings and presentations on the CTSS. These include Appendix 1 - CTSS OSC Task Group Part 1 June 2025 FINAL VERSION, Appendix 2 CTSS Task Group - Session 1 summary Final, Appendix 3 - CTSS OSC Task Group Part 2 July 2025 FINAL 230725, Appendix 4 - CTSS Task Group 2 Summary 2 and Appendix 5 - Council Tax Support Scheme Task Group - Session 3 Summary.

Support for Adventure Playgrounds

The committee is also scheduled to discuss a report examining support for Adventure Playgrounds. The report contains recommendations for Leicester City Council (LCC) to provide support for adventure playgrounds and play associations.

The report notes that in February 2025, a decision was made to stop providing grants to the play associations from 31 March 2026.

The report for discussion includes the following recommendations:

• That the council communicate all opportunities for bids and funding as they become available to the Play Associations.
• For LCC to underwrite the risk with regard to Adventure Playgrounds/Play Associations in order to provide stability and security.
• That perspectives be heard on whether funding from external sources would replace funding from LCC.
• That LCC aim to keep playgrounds going and updated on status of Better Futures Fund with regards to support on applications.
• That the council provide longer leases (suggested 15 years) to help play associations be eligible for certain types of funding.
• That the council provide clarity on the processes for Community Asset Transfer².
• That an impact assessment on the eventuality of the closure of Adventure Playgrounds be produced by December 2025.

The report also references representations from Mowmacre Playground and St Andrews play associations, as well as Manchester City Council's Youth, Play and Participation Commissioning Framework and a presentation on commissioning youth and play providers.

Update on Asset Sales

Richard Sword, Strategic Director City Development & Neighbourhood Services, is scheduled to provide an update to the committee on asset sales. The presentation notes that the 2025/26 Budget Strategy includes generating £60m of capital receipts from property sales.

The presentation also sets out the asset disposal criteria, disposal due diligence, asset disposal governance and disposal routes.

The presentation notes that £16.3m has been contractually secured from sales, with £32.6m at advanced terms stage. A further pipeline of £11.1m of assets are scheduled to be reviewed and progressed by 2027/28.

The presentation also provides an example of a completed sale at Greyfriars.

Environmental Impact of Construction

Matt Wallace, Director of Estates and Building Services, is scheduled to give a presentation outlining the environmental impacts of construction projects and the standards achieved by recent council projects.

The presentation is expected to cover:

• The main environmental impacts of construction, focusing on carbon and energy.
• The main legal and regulatory requirements.
• The key features of a low carbon building.
• Examples of what is being targeted and achieved in current council projects.

The presentation includes examples of current schemes, such as St Margaret's Bus Station, Dock 3-5, Phase 2 new council housing, Canopy and Stocking Farm.

Budget Monitoring

The committee is also scheduled to discuss reports on revenue and capital budget monitoring for April-June 2025/26.

The revenue budget monitoring report provides an early forecast for the 2025/26 financial year, showing a forecast spend of £431.0m against the current approved budget of £437.5m. The report notes cost pressures in homelessness and difficulties in filling social care posts.

The capital budget monitoring report presents the position of the capital programme for 2025/26 as at the end of June 2025, noting total spend of £23.1m for the year to date.

Other Items

The agenda for the meeting also includes:

• Welcome and apologies for absence.
• Declarations of interest.
• Minutes of the previous meeting.
• Chair's announcements.
• Progress on actions agreed at the last meeting.
• Questions, representation and statements of case.
• Petitions.
• Tracking of petitions - monitoring report.
• Questions for the City Mayor.
• Overview Select Committee work programme.
• Any other urgent business.

The committee is scheduled to note a report from the Monitoring Officer that updates members on the monitoring of outstanding petitions. The committee is asked to agree to remove those petitions marked 'Petitions Process Complete' from the report. The current work programme for the committee is attached, and the committee is asked to consider this and make comments and/or amendments as it considers necessary.