Agenda and draft minutes

To consider and approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 21 April 2026 as a true and correct record of the proceedings and to be signed by the Chair.

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 21 April 2026 be approved 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 Bennett-Sylvester declared an interest in Minute No.7 (Housing Strategy 2025-2030 Progress Report Year 1 (2025-26)) on the grounds that they are a council tenant.

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.

Shared for information purposes only.

The Chair informed Members that the Improving Places Select Commission’s Terms of Reference had been included in the agenda pack  to ensure that new and returning members were sighted on the Commission’s responsibilities and

that they be duly considered in relation to work programming and scrutiny

activities conducted during the 2026-27 municipal year.  

To seek a representative from the Improving Places Select Commission to sit as a member on the Health, Welfare and Safety Panel.

The Chair sought a representative from the Improving Places Select Commission to sit as a member on the Health, Welfare and Safety Panel.

Resolved:- 

That the Improving Places Select Commission appointed Councillor Thorp as its representative on the Health, Welfare and Safety Panel for the 2026/27 municipal year.

To receive and consider the Housing Strategy 2025-30 Progress Report Year 1 (2025-26), which provides an update on progress in delivering the Housing Strategy 2025-2030 during year one (from April 2025 to March 2026).

At the Chair’s invitation, Councillor Beresford, Cabinet Member for Housing (Cabinet Member), introduced the item and explained that the Housing Strategy (Strategy) had been approved and published in late 2025, after a period of consultation with residents, tenants, council officers, partners and Members.

The Year One progress report and accompanying presentation highlighted the progress made against key performance indicators to deliver the Strategy and improve the lives of residents across the borough.

The Cabinet Member reminded Members that the Housing Strategy was a cross-tenure strategy and that work delivered under it for was for the benefit of all Rotherham residents, whether they were council tenants, tenants of housing associations, tenants of private landlords or homeowners.

Sarah Clyde, Service Director for Housing (Service Director) took Members through the presentation accompanying the report, highlighting the following points:

Priority 1 – Building high quality, sustainable and affordable homes

It was explained that it was crucially important to have housing growth within the borough to meet current and future housing need. It was reported that the number of residents on the housing waiting list had reduced over the last six months, largely as a result of the introduction of the new Housing Allocations Policy in December 2025. There were still 5,500 residents on the housing waiting list and many residents in the housing market looking for affordable homes to rent or buy.

One of the key performance indicators (KPIs) under Priority 1 of the Strategy, was to ensure that enough new homes of diverse and affordable nature were built. In the year 2025-26, a total of 778 new homes had been built across the borough. This did not meet the government's new target of 1,111 new homes, but the Service Director commented that current challenging market conditions meant that developers were not building as quickly. The housing targets set were very challenging, and the Service Director assured Members that the Housing team would continue to work with developers to meet housing need, whilst also ensuring a high-quality standard of build.

It was confirmed that in 2025-26, the local planning authority had approved 656 additional homes through the planning process, which evidenced a clear pipeline of sites for development. The Service Director explained that the Local Plan Review would also be carried out over the next couple of years and would form the strategic spatial development plan for Rotherham, linking in with the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA).

Another KPI under Priority 1 was to ensure that a minimum of 25% of new homes were affordable housing. The Council had over-achieved on this KPI as the percentage of new affordable homes in 2025/26 represented 34% of the total delivery. This 34% covered homes built by developer partners, housing associations and the council’s own build programme.

The council had committed to delivering 1,000 new council houses by summer 2027. These would not necessarily all be new build properties, but a mix of new homes and older properties converted or brought back to use. By the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To receive a presentation on the development of the Neighbourhood Leadership Strategy, following the Workshop held with IPSC Members in April 2026.

At the Chair’s invitation, Chris Paddock, Interim Director of Policy, Strategy & Engagement (Interim Director) introduced the item and explained that the former Thriving Neighbourhoods Strategy had reached the end of its lifespan (2018-2025), which provided an opportunity to review the council’s approach to neighbourhood working and how best to make residents feel more connected to council services.

The former Thriving Neighbourhoods Strategy had created a new model of working and had enabled Councillors to play a more prominent role in their localities, to have more control over ward budgets and to exert more influence over the local provision of services.

This model of neighbourhood working had been praised in a 2023 Local Government Association (LGA) peer review and recognised as an example of best practise nationally.

The Interim Director explained that the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act had introduced a new statutory duty on local authorities to establish appropriate arrangements for effective neighbourhood governance. The aim of this was to move decision making closer to residents so that it would be led by the people who most understand local needs.

From this position of strength and proven good practice, the council had decided to develop two strategies to sit alongside each other to support neighbourhood working. A new iteration of the Thriving Neighbourhood Strategy would be presented to Cabinet in December and would set out more wide-ranging plans for how the council intended to work with partners to deliver greater impact in neighbourhoods. The Neighbourhood Leadership Strategy would be introduced first and was due to be presented to Cabinet in early July 2026.

The council had worked with Councillors from all parties and officers across the council to develop a more ambitious strategy which would place Councillors, in their role as local leaders, at the heart of a more responsive, resident-led approach to local government.

The Interim Director explained that, to underpin this strength-based approach, a set of characteristics of the “21^st Century Rotherham Councillor” had been co-produced. Ward priorities, local budgeting process and Neighbourhood Coordinators would continue to be in place but would be informed by better evidence. Councillors would be given more opportunity to advocate for their residents and communicate local sentiments to the council to enable council services to be more responsive. All Councillors who wanted to participate would be supported to maximise their role as neighbourhood leaders, to help places thrive and to support Rotherham’s residents to live well.

The Interim Director took Members through the presentation on the Neighbourhood Leadership Strategy 2026-2032 (Strategy), highlighting the following points:-

Co-Production

·       The Strategy had been developed via co-production with Councillors and officers. A workshop had been held with Members of IPSC and OSMB in April 2026 to obtain their views and opinions on what the Strategy should cover.

·       The views of officers across all services at the council were also sought to create the framework for the two strategies and to consider the relationship between Councillors and council services and how they can  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To consider and endorse the outline schedule of scrutiny work for the 2026-2027 municipal year.

The Chair introduced the work programme report and drew Members attention to the following points:

·       Work Programme for the new municipal year

The work programme attached in the Agenda Pack showed the indicative programme for the upcoming municipal year.

The Governance Manager confirmed that any suggested items for scrutiny sent by Members to Councillor Steele, would be reviewed and considered by the OSMB Steering Group at a meeting on 29 June 2026.

·       School Road Safety Review

The Chair informed Members that a meeting had been set up for the Group to consider their draft recommendations, and a report would be written up for consideration for IPSC at a future meeting, prior to onward presentation at OSMB and then Cabinet.

Resolved:- 

1)    That the current IPSC work programme be 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 will 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.