Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and / or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Leader extended a welcome to James Walton on his appointment as the new Director of Finance and Section 151 Officer.

Additionally, Members were asked to note that there were two agenda packs for this meeting, the contents of which were clarified.

Prior to consideration of the minutes of the Executive Committee meeting held on 17^th March 2026, the Leader announced that there was additional wording provided by the Interim Section 151 Officer following the publication of these minutes. It was suggested that the following wording be included for the Quarter 3 2025/26 Finance Monitoring Report:

·       Paragraph four – ‘In particular, reference was made to pressures within the Housing Revenue Account relating to the ability to fast track expenditure on fire doors, which represented a Health and Safety requirement it was noted this was an area for review the outcome of which would be reported to members in due course.’

·       Paragraph seven – ‘Reassurance was provided that service pressure requests affecting the current years financial position had been included within the new budget and that additional financial resources had been made available identified to support capacity in capital delivery if required.’

RESOLVED that

subject to the amendment detailed in the preamble above, the minutes of the Executive Committee meeting held on 17^th March 2026 be approved.

The VAT Recovery Updated Position report will follow in a supplementary pack for this meeting.

The Director of Finance and Section 151 Officer presented the VAT Recovery Updated Position report for the Executive Committee’s consideration.

The report set out the current position in relation to longstanding VAT issues affecting both Bromsgrove District and Redditch Borough Councils. Members were advised that, between April 2021 and October 2024, the Council had been unable to submit periodic VAT returns for a number of reasons, including:

• Incorrect configuration of the cash receipting back office.

• Incorrect inter-entity processing within the TechOne Enterprise Resource Planning system.
• Incorrect payment and bank statement file processing.
• Failure to align work processes with the configuration of the TechOne VAT module.
• Staff turnover and a consequent period of lack of internal VAT expertise.
• Weak reconciliation processes.

The Committee was informed that an approach had been agreed with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) whereby the Council would submit nil returns for each outstanding period, followed by Error Correction Notices to reflect the returns that ought to have been submitted. It was noted that required reconciliations were being processed manually.

Officers reported that a repayment of £20,616,650 had been received from HMRC which, once offset against existing payments made, resulted in an overall net cash gain of £19,889,753 to the Council. While the improvement in the Council’s cash position was welcomed, Members were advised that the underlying accounting transactions had already been recognised in the relevant prior financial years.

In respect of penalties, the Committee was notified that HMRC had agreed to suspend the financial penalties that would normally be applied in the event an organisation failed to submit timely and accurate VAT returns. This suspension was subject to the Council meeting a number of specified conditions, which were outlined to Members.  As part of the proposed arrangements, it was requested that the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee provide oversight to ensure the appropriate delivery of those conditions.

Members were also updated on the Council’s current VAT return process. It was reported that monthly VAT returns were now being submitted on time and that independent reviews of each return were undertaken prior to submission. The results of these reviews were presented to the Section 151 Officer or Deputy Section 151 Officer to confirm agreement to submit the return. Escalation procedures and sanctions were in place should these controls not be followed. Members were reassured that these arrangements represented a strengthened control environment and increased organisational resilience.

In concluding the presentation, officers summarised that the VAT position had been rectified, the Council had received substantial repayment from HMRC, and improved statutory compliance was now in place.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance welcomed the report and commented that the outcome would significantly reduce risk in both the short and long term, while also increasing confidence in financial projections for future years. He expressed his personal thanks to the Finance team for their work.

During consideration of the item, a question was raised regarding the length of time taken for VAT to be recovered from HMRC, given that returns had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 128.

Members considered the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 16^th March 2026 and in doing so noted that there were no outstanding recommendations requiring consideration on this occasion.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 16th March 2026 be noted.

To receive and consider any outstanding minutes or referrals from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Executive Panels etc. since the last meeting of the Executive Committee, other than as detailed in the items above.

There were no minutes or referrals from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee or any of the Executive Advisory Panels on this occasion.

There was no urgent business for discussion at the meeting. 

“That, under S.100 (A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following matter(s) on the grounds that it/they involve(s) the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the relevant paragraphs (to be specified) of Part 1 of Schedule 12 (A) of the said Act”.

These paragraphs are as follows:

Subject to the “public interest” test, information relating to:

·         Para 1 – any individual;

·         Para 2 – the identity of any individual;

·         Para 3 – financial or business affairs;

·         Para 4 – labour relations matters;

·         Para 5 – legal professional privilege;

·         Para 6 –  a notice, order or direction;

·         Para 7 – the prevention, investigation or

                     prosecution of crime;

                     and may need to be considered as ‘exempt’.

RESOLVED that

Under S100 A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following matters on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12 of the said act, as amended.

· Minute Item No. 133 – HRA Business Plan Update to Enhance the Delivery of the Housing Improvement Plan

The Executive Director for Environment and Communities presented the HRA Business Plan Update to Enhance the Delivery of the Housing Improvement Plan report.

The Committee was reminded that the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) was a ring-fenced account, primarily funded through rental income and associated service charges. In February 2023, the Executive had approved a thirty-year HRA Business Plan which established the long-term framework for managing and investing in social housing stock. The long-term capital forecasts within the plan had been informed by an independent Stock Condition Survey.

It was reported that Redditch Borough Council had received its regulatory judgement in July 2025 and had been issued with a C3 rating, indicating that substantial improvements were required. The judgement identified significant areas of weakness, including outstanding fire safety remedial actions, backlogs in repairs, gaps in transparency and oversight of performance reporting, and the absence of effective tenant scrutiny arrangements. Officers explained that these findings demonstrated the need for an accelerated approach to delivering the Council’s Housing Improvement Plan.

Members were updated that Savills UK Limited had been commissioned to review the HRA Business Plan to identify any immediate headroom for additional investment, with a focus on expediting high?priority safety works, and to explore options for future growth.

Officers expressed the view that refreshing the Business Plan, followed by annual reviews, would provide the opportunity to increase investment. It was explained that income growth remained dependent on effective rent policy implementation, rent collection and the management of voids and arrears, all of which would be key considerations in future reviews of the Business Plan.

Members were also advised that refreshed data from rolling stock condition surveys would inform future planning. Given that a number of HRA loans were due to mature in the near future, scenario planning was required to manage these risks effectively.

The Committee was then informed of the next steps moving forward. Savills UK Limited would use a revised financial modelling tool to optimise affordable borrowing in order to accelerate delivery of the plan, expedite fire remediation works, and increase the size of the HRA’s housing portfolio. A review of options would be undertaken to identify headroom and capacity to respond to repairs and maintenance demands. The aim was to accelerate the delivery of affordable social housing while maintaining regulatory compliance.

Once the report had been presented, Members discussed the following points in detail:

• The Portfolio Holder for Housing thanked the Executive Director for Environment and Communities for securing the value for money report from Savills UK Limited and welcomed the measures being taken to protect the HRA. It was noted that the Council held a unanimous position in support of the HRA and that Redditch Borough Council was the only authority in the county to have one.
• Members discussed the key highlights of the report.
• It was noted that a loan repayment of fifteen million pounds was due in 2027, reinforcing the need to invest in property acquisition to generate additional income. This would also increase the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 133.