Agenda item

In addition to the Leader and Lead Member for Resources, the following Lead Members have been invited to attend for this item:

Mr K Crook CC (Lead Member for Marketing, promotion and tourism)

Mr V. Richichi CC (Lead Member for Regulatory Services)

The Commission considered a joint report of the Chief Executive and the Director of Corporate Resources which provided information on the proposed 2026/27 – 2029/30 Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) as it related to the Chief Executive’s Department.  A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 10’ is filed with these minutes.

In addition to the Lead Member for Resources, the Chairman welcomed the Lead Member for Marketing, Promotion and Tourism Mr. K. Crook CC, and the Lead Member for Regulatory Services Mr. V. Richichi CC, to the meeting.

Arising from discussion and questions, the following points were made:

(i)           Registration Services ceremony room fees were reviewed for increases year on year with a focus on fee revisions based on the popularity of each ceremony room. It was necessary to be commercially sensitive on any price increases. An overall 5% increase would be applied for 2026/27. 

(ii)         For 2026/27 there was to be a saving of £10,000 arising from a reduction in civic events. A list of which civic events would be provided to members after the meeting.

(iii)        Responsibility for Communities would be transferred to the Public Health department from 1 April 2026 and the whole of the department would come under the Director of Public Health. It was felt that the communities work aligned well with Public Health particularly with regards to the locality place-based work. The Head of Communities, Policy and Resilience post would be deleted which would produce a saving.

(iv)       Included in the revenue budget were subscriptions to the value of £69,000. This figure related to several subscriptions that Corporate Resources required. The full list of subscriptions would be circulated to Committee members after the meeting.

(v)         Leicestershire County Council was joining the Local Government Association (LGA) because they provided training and best practice advice, as well as networking opportunities and peer reviews. A document which set out the benefits of joining the LGA would be circulated to Scrutiny Commission members after the meeting. Currently Leicestershire County Council was one of only two Councils not part of the LGA.

(vi)       The Council was also joining the County Councils Network (CCN) as this would better enable the Council to engage with government on policy development. The CCN had also been involved with Local Government Reorganisation discussions.

(vii)      A member pointed out that County Councils were expected to play a greater role in strategic planning going forward and therefore questioned whether the MTFS should include growth for the planning department. In response it was acknowledged that the new planning system had implications for the Council’s statutory role as the Minerals and Waste Authority and the requirement to prepare a new Minerals and Waste Local Plan. However, it was explained that the regulations underpinning the new plan making system had not yet been published shortly therefore it was too early to know what growth would be required.

(viii)    The Trading Standards department did not have the capacity to tackle every case reported to them immediately and therefore had to make prioritisation decisions about when to intervene based on risk assessments. It was proposed to seek growth for 2027/28 to recruit at least three additional Trading Standards Investigators at an estimated cost of £185,000 per annum. Members welcomed this investment, and emphasised the quality and importance of the work provided by the Trading Standards department. In response to a question about cross local authority boundary work, it was explained that Leicestershire County Council was part of Trading Standards East Midlands (TSEM) hosted by Nottinghamshire County Council. Leicestershire County Council could also submit bids to National Trading Standards (NTS) for funding to tackle trading standards cases that had a regional element to them. The Lead Member for Regulatory Services stated that he supported the cross-boundary work.

RESOLVED:

(a)        That the report and information now provided be noted;

(b)        That the comments now made be submitted to the Cabinet for consideration at its meeting on 3rd February 2026.