Agenda and minutes

There were no items of urgent business.

To receive declarations by Councillors of interests in respect of items on this Agenda. 

Councillors are reminded that, in accordance with the Localism Act 2011, they are required to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests which have not already been declared in the Council’s Register of Interests. (It is a criminal offence not to declare a disclosable pecuniary interest either in the Register or at the meeting). 

Whilst not a legal requirement, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9 and in the interests of clarity and transparency, Councillors should declare any disclosable pecuniary interests which they have already declared in the Register, at this point in the meeting. 

In accordance with Part B Section 2 of the Code Of Conduct, Councillors are required to declare the existence and nature of any other interests as defined in paragraphs 8(1) or 9(2) of the Code of Conduct. 

There were no declarations of interest.

Report of the Chief Finance Officer.

Published 30 July 2025

The Chief Financial Officer introduced the report informing Members of the Government Consultation on proposed changes to the grant funding system for English local government and summarised the briefing note on the matter provided by the District Councils’ Network.

The Committee was informed that the DCN was due to release its final response to the consultation ahead of the 15August deadline and was asked to consider approving that as the formal response from Lancaster City Council subject to final review by the S151 Officer and Monitoring Officer.

The Committee was advised that as the leading representative of the sector, the DCN had a louder voice than any of its 164 member Councils and could more effectively influence the Government than an individual submission.

Following a discussion of deprivation modelling and the proposed increased flexibility of setting fees and charges it was proposed by Councillor Par, seconded by the Vice-Chair and resolved unanimously as follows:

Resolved: -

1)     That subject to final review by the s151 officer and Monitoring Officer the District Council’s Network’s response to the Governments consultation, be submitted as a formal response from Lancaster City Council.

Report of Chief Officer – Planning and Climate Change

The Chief Officer, Planning and Climate Change presented a draft response to the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) Consultation published by Lancashire County Council. The Committee was asked to note the proposed draft response and consider it for submission as the Council’s corporate response to the consultation on or before the deadline of 3 August 2025.

Members were provided with a summary of the draft response’s accompanying report which provided details of the consultation as well as the aims of the LNRS and Lancaster City Council’s role as a supporting authority.

The Committee was advised that although it was a statutory document intended to provide a coordinated approach to nature recovery across the County, the LNRS did not add levels of designation to land and therefore did not assign any level of protection or restrictions on land use.

After noting the consultation it was proposed by Councillor Parr, seconded by Councillor Whitaker and resolved unanimously as follows: -

Resolved: -

1)     That the draft response to the Local Nature Recovery Strategy Consultation be approved and submitted on or before the deadline of 3^rd August 2025