Issue - meetings

That the progress achieved during Q2 of 2025/26 be noted and the contents of report CAB3525 be endorsed.

Councillor Cutler introduced the report and advised that the report had been considered at The Scrutiny Committee on 13 November 2025 which had made four recommendations for consideration by Cabinet as set out below.  The draft minutes of that committee had been circulated to all those present.

a)    That a members' briefing be arranged on the "Greener Faster" priority, to include updates and clarification on nutrient credits, biodiversity net gain (BNG), and carbon targets.

b)    That future performance reports should make explicit where major projects are paused, restarted, or significantly altered, such as the Station Approach and Bar End Depot projects.

c)    That officers provide a written response to the committee clarifying the data regarding housing stock EPC ratings and the number of retrofits completed (KPIs GH1, GH5, and GH6).

d)    That officers provide further information regarding average trends and comparisons concerning local procurement performance.

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillors Lee and Bolton addressed Cabinet as summarised briefly below.

Councillor Lee

Councillor Lee asked if the next quarters report could include information on key changes relating to the government’s recently published carbon budget and growth delivery plan.  In addition, he asked for further clarification regarding the Air Quality KPI actions.  He queried how the council intended to deliver key housing initiatives without securing the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, specifically the solar PV, battery, and air source pump programmes for housing. He questioned whether the Local Area Energy Plan was progressing fast enough to feed into the evidence base for the next Local Plan, sought assurance that the Electric Vehicle Charging Point framework would serve wider rural locations and whether the Nature Emergency Plan could include a specific section on chalk rivers.

Councillor Bolton

Councillor Bolton emphasised the risk presented by the withdrawal of national decarbonisation schemes for public buildings and raised concerns that the council might rely on carbon credits to meet its carbon zero targets.  He asked that clear information be provided on the proportion of the carbon zero target that would be achieved through offsets versus genuine structural reductions in energy use.  In addition, he believed there had been a lack of transparent communication regarding the major project development at Station Approach, which the performance report noted would not proceed at this time.

Councillors Cutler, Tod and other Cabinet Members responded to the comments made, including emphasising that a verbal update on the position regarding Station Approach had been provided in response to questions at the previous Scrutiny Committee meeting on 8 September 2025.

Councillor Tod referred to the recommendations from The Scrutiny Committee and advised that these would be actioned, as far as they related to Cabinet.

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons set out in the report and outlined above.

RESOLVED:

That the progress achieved during Q2 of 2025/26 be noted and the contents of report CAB3525 be endorsed.

RECOMMENDATION:

That the Scrutiny Committee raises with the Deputy Leader or relevant Cabinet member any issues arising from the information in this report, ref CAB3525, which is being presented to Cabinet on the 19 November 2025 and considers whether there are any items of significance to resolve or to be drawn to the attention of Cabinet.

Councillor Neil Cutler, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and

Transformation, introduced the report, ref CAB3525, which provided the second quarterly performance report for the 2025/26 financial year. The introduction included the following points.

1. The report focused on progress in delivering the Council Plan for the period 1 July to 30 September 2025.
2. At the committee's request, the report included the rationale for each of the annual targets associated with the relevant strategic key performance indicators.
3. Performance monitoring information was aligned with the six Council Plan priorities.
4. Areas of progress during the quarter included a 96% reduction in scope one and two carbon emissions against the 2017/18 baseline and the revocation of the Air Quality Management Area in Winchester City Centre.
5. Other achievements noted were the delivery of vehicles for the food waste rollout, the endorsement of a new twinning agreement, continued green business support, and the promotion of events for the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth.

Simon Howson, Senior Policy and Programme Manager, updated the committee and advised that the report included the previous quarter's RAG (Red, Amber, Green) status for service plan actions to provide additional context and show the direction of travel.

Councillor Danny Lee addressed the committee and raised several points for the committee to consider which could be summarised as follows. He suggested that the council's climate emergency action plan should make explicit reference to the government's new Carbon Budget Growth Delivery Plan to ensure alignment. He questioned whether the project's status should be shown as red if national net-zero targets were projected to be missed. He also suggested that data from the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero could be used to assist with tracking carbon savings.

Councillor Lee sought clarification on the status of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and its impact on the council's ability to deliver its programme of installing solar panels and heat pumps. He enquired about the speed of the rollout beyond the initial 195 homes and the total percentage of council housing suitable for such upgrades. He also raised concerns about the potential underperformance of nutrient mitigation schemes, asked for more detail on proposed small-scale renewable energy projects, and questioned whether the Local Area Energy Plan could be progressed earlier to inform the next Local Plan.

The committee was asked to raise with the relevant cabinet member any issues arising from the report, ref CAB3525, and to draw any items of significance to the attention of the cabinet. The committee proceeded to ask questions and debate the report. In summary, the following matters were raised.

1. Clarification was sought as to how nutrient credits generated in Cheriton could be used to mitigate development in Old Alresford.
2. A concern was raised that a lack of available nutrient credits in the Upper Itchen catchment had the potential to prevent Alresford from delivering its housing requirements under the Local Plan.
3. Clarification was sought on whether the council would abandon its net-zero plans for council assets  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9