Social Value Ideas for Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council

Draft accounts show positive outturn

The draft 2024/25 statement of accounts records a small general fund surplus of around £20,000, which officers presented as a good result given wider local government pressures. The committee approved…

“Um the report also includes details on the financial outturn for 2425. Um the report highlights key issues including a commentary on the general fund …”

MTFS budget gap and funding loss

The medium-term financial strategy identified a £1.777m gap in the current year and £3.69m over the five-year period. Members attributed much of the pressure to the government fair funding review and …

“Okay. Thank you Steve. Yes, endorse this this MTFS. Thank all the team for working on it. It's obviously we're well into the the process of setting ne…”

Ryecroft and property income

The cabinet linked recovery to asset management, specifically the Ryecroft site and occupancy of Lancaster House, including NHS occupation, as a means to generate revenue and support future capital pl…

“Paul I think at this point yes thank you leader the projects that we have we involved with to try and raise funds of the council in the long term we n…”

Budget gap managed with reserves

The council is working to close a £1.752m budget gap for 2026/27 using cautious assumptions, inflation-linked cost growth, and a general fund reserve used to absorb shortfalls. Officers said the reser…

“Savings and funding strategies have been identified to address a 1.752 million pound budget gap for 2627 via a vigorous internal efficiency board proc…”

Irrecoverable debts write-off

Cabinet noted a proposed write-off of £239,236 in irrecoverable debts, down from £449,000 the previous year. Members described it as an unpleasant but necessary annual item, with some losses arising f…

“thankfully this is the the one report i think every year that we have that leaves a bit of an unpleasant taste in in our mouth we're actually writing …”

Walleys Quarry closure response

Cabinet welcomed the Environment Agency closure notice for Walleys Quarry and agreed the council must continue legal and regulatory action, keep residents reporting odours, and support any appeal defe…

“okay welcome to uh Newcastle Bor council's cabinet meeting today we're in a strange environment today when're not in our usual room because there's a …”

Further legal funding for quarry action

The council approved additional funding for legal action over Walleys Quarry odour breaches. The report and debate indicate an extra £400,000 drawdown, on top of around £600,000 already allocated, fro…

“the council's legal action is what we're here to discuss tonight and the officers are bringing a report asking us to to allocate uh more money to the …”

Walleys Quarry odour worsening

Complaints and monitoring data show the Walleys Quarry odour issue is deteriorating again, with more complaints in October, higher odour events, and increased H2S readings. Officers described it as th…

“I'd refer uh members uh firstly to uh item 2.1 which is the complaint data and really just to show uh that uh since the summer uh complaints have cont…”

HMO application deferred

The committee deferred the proposal to convert the former CAB premises at 25-27 Well Street and 82 Garden Street into two HMOs because members wanted clearer evidence on HMO concentrations, frontage i…

“Permission is sought for the change of use of um an office at 25 to 27 Well Street and 82 Garden Street to provide two HMOs or houses of multiple occu…”

Navigation House contractor award

Cabinet approved the procurement outcome for refurbishing Navigation House into a homeless hub and accommodation, and authorised the deputy chief executive to sign agreements and allocate funding. The…

“purpose of this report is to provide cabinet with an update on the procurement of a contractor for the refurbishment of navigation house as a homeless…”

Madeley Manor conversion approved

Permission was granted for the conversion of Madeley Manor Nursing Home into 14 dwellings. The scheme includes internal conversion only, reinstatement of the orangery/conservatory, parking changes, cy…

“so chair that is the the summary of The Proposal so it just remind you that there are two applications here one for Lister building consent and one fo…”