Agenda and draft minutes

To consider and approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 2^nd September 2025 as a true and correct record of the proceedings and to be signed by the Chair.

Councillor Allen referred to the minutes at page 8 of the agenda pack where she had raised concerns around the use of the word “happy” in Priority 4 of the draft Housing Strategy 2025-2030. This had led to a proposal for some alternative wording to be put forward to Cabinet - ““safe, thriving and places people want to live in”. Councillor Allen asked whether this alternative wording had been put to Cabinet for consideration and whether there had been any feedback.

Councillor Steele confirmed that the recommendation from Improving Places Select Commission (IPSC) for the alternative wording for Priority 4 of the Housing Strategy 2025-2030 had been put to Cabinet at its meeting on 15^th September 2025 but that Cabinet had rejected the proposal and approved the original wording.

The Governance Advisor informed members that a small typographical error had been spotted at minute 24 where an incorrect reference to “Improving Lives Select Commission” had been made rather than “Improving Places Select Commission”. The Governance Advisor sought members’ approval of this amendment, which had already been made to the printed copy of the minutes ready for the Chair to sign. Members approved this amendment.

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 2^nd September 2025 be approved, as amended, as a true and correct record of the proceedings.

To receive declarations of interest from Members in respect of items listed on the agenda.

Councillor Sheppard declared a personal interest in Minute No. 31 (Pride in Place Programme for Rotherham Central (previously Plan for Neighbourhoods) 2025-2035 on the grounds of being the former Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member involved in some of the funds mentioned in the presentation.

To receive questions relating to items of business on the agenda from members of the public or press who are present at the meeting.

The Chair advised that there were no members of the public or representatives of media organisations present at the meeting and there were no questions in respect of matters on the agenda.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any part of the agenda.

The Chair advised that there were no items of business on the agenda that would require the exclusion of the press or public from the meeting.

To consider the report and presentation on the Housing Strategy Draft Action Plan – 2025-2030.

At the Chair’s invitation, the Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Beresford, introduced the item and explained that the Draft Action Plan was being brought to IPSC following its review of the draft Housing Strategy 2025-2030 at September’s meeting. The Housing Strategy had since been approved by Cabinet on 15^th September 2025.

Councillor Beresford thanked members of ISPC for their involvement during the development of the Housing Strategy and confirmed that IPSC’s request to add some specific text around ASB and a further case study had also been approved at Cabinet. Councillor Beresford was also pleased to confirm that a date had been arranged for the “deep dive” workshop on ASB which IPSC members had expressed an interest in at the September meeting. This was due to take place on 4^th December 2025. The Chair noted that more information regarding this workshop would be provided in the Work Programme item later in the agenda.

Councillor Beresford explained that the Housing Strategy Action Plan would be approved by the Strategic Director for Adults, Housing & Public Health and it would be published on the Council website, alongside the approved Housing Strategy. Progress on the Action Plan would be monitored by the Strategic Housing Team and it was intended to bring the Action Plan back to IPSC to oversee performance on an annual basis at the end of each financial year.

Garry Newton, Housing Development Intelligence Coordinatorwent through the presentation which accompanied the Report and Action Plan, making the following points –

·       The four priorities of the Housing Strategy and the key aims under each priority formed the basis of the Action Plan.

·       There were three cross-cutting themes which underpinned the Council’s approach and were woven through every target in the Action Plan – 1) to keep residents healthy and warm, 2) to reduce carbon emissions and 3) to reduce inequalities in and between communities.

·       Each of the four priorities had its own individual Action Plan with key performance indicators (KPIs) that would measure the success of the strategy. There would be a total of 16 KPIs through the four priorities.

·       Each individual Action Plan would set out what the Council and its partners and stakeholders would do over the five years of the Strategy to ensure that the aims were met. The data and the actions that would be used to measure against the KPIs were also set out.

·       Key milestones were highlighted for each of the four priorities:-

Priority 1 Building high quality, sustainable and affordable new homes) – progress being made on key housing sites around the borough (e.g Bassingthorpe Farm) and the Council's own delivery programme to build social housing (714 new homes had been built since 2018 and the target of 1000 homes by summer 2027 should be achieved).

Priority 2 Improving the safety, quality and energy efficiency of homes - tenant satisfaction measures being monitored; a good outcome from the upcoming inspection by the Regulator of Social Housing; and all emergency repairs, complaints,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

To consider the presentation which provides a further update on Pride in Place for Rotherham Central (previously Plan for Neighbourhoods) 2025-2035.

At the Chair’s invitation, the Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs & the Local Economy, Councillor Williams, introduced the update presentation and explained that the Pride in Place programme was a further rebranding of the former Plan for Neighbourhoods. Councillor Williams confirmed that this rebrand did not change what had been reported to IPSC at September’s meeting – namely, the funding of £20 million available to the Rotherham Central area over a 10- year period. The aims of the programme also remained the same - thriving places, stronger communities and giving residents more control.

Councillor Williams referred to the recently announced additional scheme within the Rotherham borough at Maltby East where £20 million of funding would also be made available over a 10-year period to fund projects and interventions within that area.

Councillor Williams mentioned Councillor Allen’s previously minuted request to be provided with a better overview of the wider regeneration programmes and strategy and how the different funding streams fitted together. Officers had met with the Chair and Councillor Allen prior to this meeting and additional slides had been incorporated into the presentation to provide more context and information in this respect.

Councillor Williams confirmed that since September’s meeting, officers had been developing the possible interventions and themes that could come out of the funding and would be taking members through these within the presentation. The deadline to make submissions to government with confirmed plans would be at the end of November and prior to this, service would take a report to Cabinet for approval earlier in November.

Simon Moss, the Assistant Director of Planning, Regeneration & Transport provided an update on the strategic intent behind the Council’s regeneration programme and how that related to the funding which had been allocated. The Council had been very successful in securing funding over the last five years via various government funding streams but these funding streams had often been disparate funds that hadn’t always fitted together well. The Assistant Director of Planning, Regeneration & Transport explained the importance of focusing on the strategic plans first so that when the funding came in, there were already projects identified that it could be applied to – strategy driving investment rather than funding.

The Assistant Director of Planning, Regeneration & Transport went through the first few slides of the presentation for members, highlighting the timeline of recent regeneration projects (in blue text) with the different funding streams set out underneath (in black text). This began with the Town Centre Masterplan in 2017, followed by the Town Investment Plan, which began connecting opportunities outside of the main town centre footprint. When the Levelling-Up money became available in 2021, this led to the regeneration model beginning to strain slightly as the Council had to make quick decisions as to where to spend the money. This led to investment beyond the town centre in the principal towns and opportunities to improve the visitor and leisure economy, post-pandemic. The trend of borough-wide investment had continued further with the Towns & Villages Programme and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

To consider and endorse the outline schedule of the Commission’s Work Programme for the 2025-2026 municipal year.

The Governance Advisor introduced the work programme report and made members aware of the following updates –

·       School Road Safety Review:

A meeting had taken place on 17^th October 2025 to re-start this review with members of the sub-group and the relevant officers. As a result of this constructive discussion, further meetings, visits and evidence gathering sessions would be scheduled.

·       Members’ Suggestions for Work Programme topics

Suggestions for work programme topics that had been submitted to Councillor Steele over the summer had been considered and incorporated into the IPSC Work Programme, where suitable. The Governance Advisor confirmed that members had been contacted separately to confirm how their suggestions had been incorporated or where they would be considered via an off-agenda method. Members were asked to contact the Governance Advisor if they had any queries.

·       Proposed ASB Workshop – 4^th  December 2025

The Governance Advisor informed members that an invite would shortly be coming out to them for a dedicated workshop on ASB to be delivered by the Housing team on the morning of 4^th December 2025. This workshop had been arranged further to discussions surrounding ASB at the September IPSC meeting. Members were encouraged to attend in person, if possible, as the workshop had been designed to be interactive, with case studies to discuss and work through.

Resolved:- 

1)    That the update on the Work Programme be received and noted; and

2)    That the Governance Advisor be authorised to make any required changes to the work programme in consultation with the Chair/Vice Chair and to report any such changes back at the next meeting for endorsement.

To consider any item which the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chair advised that there were no urgent items of business requiring the Commission’s consideration.