Agenda item - Chair's Communications

29.1    The Chair gave the following communication:

Today we have a full agenda with 5 items for discussion, which is why we are starting the meeting slightly earlier today so thank you for accommodating this.  

We will be starting with Local Government Reorganisation and have invited members from People and Health Overview & Scrutiny Committees to attend due to the overlap in remit. You are welcome to stay for the whole meeting if you wish but feel free to leave after the LGR item. This is the final scrutiny of LGR following the public engagement on the proposed options for the boundary for BHCC. This final proposal will be submitted to central government pending cabinet approval on the 25^th.  

Following LGR, we will look at the King Alfred Leisure Centre regeneration project which is also going to cabinet on the 25^th. We are being asked to note the plans for the new leisure centre, and any comments from this meeting will be shared with cabinet in advance of their meeting. 

Next, we have our first look at the budget for 26/27, this report is to inform us of the council’s current budget position ahead of further scrutiny on more detailed budget proposals closer to Budget Council in February 2026.  

Our last two agenda items are update reports as agreed at previous Place O&S Committees. It was agreed at our meeting on 1^st October 2024 to receive an update on solid fuel burning, looking at the results of air monitoring, the comms campaign and an enforcement pilot within the existing smoke control areas. We are being asked to note the updates and to comment on the suggested options for further work in this area. 

Our final item on the agenda is another update report on Housing Safety and Quality Compliance following the judgement made by the Regulator of Social Housing back in September 2024. We are being asked to note and comment on progress made in addressing these issues. 

As you can see, we have a lot on the agenda for today and so we will have a lot of questions to get through. Can I therefore please request that both those asking and answering questions are as brief and to the point as possible, as we want everyone who wishes to contribute to have the opportunity to do so. We also don’t want the meeting to overrun too much into the evening.