Decision details

(i)                 That the receipt of Government feedback in relation to the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent submissions of Interim Plans for Local Government Reorganisation, be noted.

(ii)                That it be noted that the Council will now further engage with Government and Staffordshire Leaders through a meeting separate to the Staffordshire Leaders Board.

(iii)              That it be delegated to the Chief Executive and Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Portfolio Holder, Finance, Town Centres & Growth,  to engage the necessary support for the work on the local government reorganisation, noting that the borough is not yet in receipt of funding from Government to partially offset any costs accrued and that the Council continues to seek a fair allocation of this funding.

(iv)              That  £200k to be transferred from the Business Rates Reserve to the Budget Support and Borrowing Fund in order to fund the work needed to submit the Council’s final Local Government Reorganisation Plan.

(v)               That Newcastle-Under-Lyme’s Members of Parliament be called upon  to support the Borough’s resolutions as set out in the report to full Council of 19^th March 2025, and that they engage with Government Ministers in stating the case for the Borough.