The Cabinet is asked to note any apologies for absence received from Members.

An apology for absence was submitted on behalf of Councillor Smith (the Portfolio Holder for the Environment & ICT) who had been unable to attend the meeting as he was convalescing following an operation.

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on Friday 26 September 2025.

It was moved by Councillor Stephenson, seconded by Councillor Hendersonand:-

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet, held on Friday 26 September 2025, be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chairman.

Councillors are invited to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, Other Registerable Interests of Non-Registerable Interests, and the nature of it, in relation to any item on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest made by Members at this time.

The Cabinet is asked to note any announcements made by the Leader of the Council.

There were no announcements made by the Leader of the Council on this occasion.

The Cabinet is asked to note any announcements made by Members of the Cabinet.

Essex Housing Awards 2025

The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning was proud to announce that Tendring District Council had won an award under the Small Housing Schemes category for its development at Honeycroft, Lawford. This reflected well on the hard work of Officers in conjunction with the Council’s partners. This Award had been won in the face of stiff competition from other excellent housing schemes across the County.

The Portfolio Holder also gave due credit to the previous Administration who had started the Honeycroft scheme.

Arts Council England Funding Award

The Portfolio Holder for Arts, Culture and Heritage was pleased to inform Cabinet that the District had been awarded the sum of £750,000 through the Arts Council England Creative People and Places Programme. This funding would support Creative Tendring a community led cultural initiative hosted by the Arts Trust in partnership with this Council, CVST and the Harwich Festival. Over the next three years this programme would deliver cultural projects aimed at tackling isolation, supporting wellbeing and building self-confidence through creativity and celebrating what made Tendring special. The development phase for such creative projects would commence from April 2026.

There are no matters referred to the Cabinet by the Council on this occasion.

There are no matters referred to the Cabinet by Full Council on this occasion.

There are no matters referred to the Cabinet by a Committee on this occasion.

There are no matters referred to the Cabinet by a Committee on this occasion.

To provide an update to Cabinet following receipt of final detailed submissions from bidders at the Invitation to Submit Final Tenders (“ISFT”) stage of the procurement process, to set out details of the tender proposed for award of contract and subject to funding requirements seek approval to appoint the successful bidder to deliver a waste & recycling collection and street cleaning contract for three years with effect from 1^st April 2026 with an option to extend for up to two years.

The report highlights the financial implications of entering into the contract to ensure the Council can deliver its statutory duties and comply with the requirements of the Environment Act 2021. 

Subject to Cabinet’s approval an implementation and communications plan will be necessary to ensure the residents of the District are aware of the changes coming into effect on 1^st April 2026.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

1.       notes the further extensive work undertaken on the procurement process, both by officers and external consultants following the revisions to the Core Specification Principles adopted in May 2025 and the subsequent decision, to approve the detail of the service specification and other related documentation associated with the Invitation to Submit Final Tenders stage of the waste contract procurement;

2.       thanks the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee and notes their recommendations following the meeting on 4 November 2025, as set out in this report, which will be considered as part of the work associated with the implementation of the contract and revised service going forward;

3.       acknowledges that the tender received from Veolia ES (UK) Ltd (company registration number 02481991) has been fully evaluated and meets the requirements of the final service specification that in turn is based on the revised Core Specification Principles;

4.       agrees to award the contract to Veolia ES (UK) Ltd commencing on 1 April 2026:

(i)       for an initial term of three years (with the option to extend for up to two years);

(ii)     at a total gross cost over the initial three-year term of £7.796m over and above existing budgetary provision as set out in Table 1 of this report;

(iii)    that associated Government grant funding of £0.437m as set out within the finance section of this report be allocated towards the cost highlighted in (4)(ii) above;

(iv)    that the necessary further budget adjustments set out within Table 3 of this report be agreed to meet the net overall additional three-year contract costs;

(v)     that any unspent money from the previously agreed sum of £0.400m that was set aside to support the overall procurement process be applied as a further contingency sum to support the implementation of the new contract;

(vi)    that, subject to (4)(i) to (4)(v) above, agrees a delegation to the Corporate Director (Finance & ICT), in consultation with the Corporate Director (Operations & Delivery), the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Finance & Governance and the Portfolio Holder for Environment & ICT to make the necessary changes to the budget to reflect the implementation of the new contract; and

(vii)  notes the next steps and key procurement target dates set out within this report and acknowledges that the Portfolio Holder for Environment & ICT and the Corporate Director (Operations & Delivery) will prepare an implementation and communications plan as part of the smooth transition and roll out of the new service, ensuring that residents are aware of the new requirements.

Cabinet considered a report of the Environment & ICT Portfolio Holder (A.1) which provided an update to Cabinet following receipt of final detailed submissions from bidders at the Invitation to Submit Final Tenders (“ISFT”) stage of the procurement process, and set out details of the tender proposed for award of contract and subject to funding requirements sought Cabinet’s approval to appoint the successful bidder to deliver a waste & recycling collection and street cleaning contract for three years with effect from 1^st April 2026 with an option to extend for up to two years.

The report highlighted the financial implications of entering into the contract to ensure the Council could deliver its statutory duties and comply with the requirements of the Environment Act 2021. 

Subject to Cabinet’s approval an implementation and communications plan would be necessary to ensure the residents of the District were aware of the changes coming into effect on 1^st April 2026.

Cabinet was informed that the proposals set out in this report provided for a new waste and recycling collection and street cleaning contract that:

a.   would provide residents with an enhanced recycling collection service alongside the continuation of fortnightly or weekly residual waste collection and weekly food waste collection;

b.   gave residents and visitors to the District a level of street cleaning that was at least equivalent to that provided currently;

c.    was fully funded for a period of three years without adversely impacting on other important services provided by the Council.

Cabinet recalled that, at its meeting held on 26 July 2024, Cabinet had agreed to the commencement of a procurement process to appoint a contractor to deliver the Council’s waste and recycling collection and street cleaning service from 2026 onwards, based upon a set of principles, which had translated into a specification for detailed solutions to be submitted against.

Members were assured that the Council’s project team had been supported throughout the procurement process by four external organisations, chosen for their experience in supporting similar procurements elsewhere.

Members were reminded that the price for the initial detailed solutions provided by bidders at the Invitation to Submit Detailed Solutions (ISDS) stage had not been affordable by the Council, being potentially over £7m per annum above the current associated budgets.

In response to the affordability position and Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) proposals for Greater Essex, at its meeting held on 23 May 2025 Cabinet had agreed a revised set of Core Specification Principles aimed at reducing the price at final tender stage (those changes were):

o  a shorter contract term – from eight to an initial three-year contract term with an optional extension period of up to two years;

o  a reduction in specification, mainly in relation to street cleaning, aimed at reducing the level of risk and uncertainty whilst increasing affordability but not offering a lower level of service than currently;

o  that the Council did not take any risk on the value of the dry mixed recycling (DMR) collected at the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 74.

To provide a general update and overview of the Council’s financial position against the 2025/26 budget as at the end of September 2025 and looking ahead to 2026/27 and beyond.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)   notes the Council’s in-year financial position at the end September 2025;

(b)   approves the proposed adjustments to the 2025/26 budget, as set out in Appendix 1H and requests Officers to review the potential on-going impact in 2026/27 and beyond, where necessary, as part of developing the forecast and detailed estimates for further consideration by Cabinet later in the year;

(c)   agrees that the Council continues to be a member of the Essex Business Rates Pool and Council Tax Sharing Agreement with Essex County Council and the other Major Preceptors in 2026/27, if it remains financially advantageous to do so;

(d)   notes the updated context to the financial forecast from 2026/27, as set out in this report (A.2) and requests Officers, in consultation with Portfolio Holders, to further develop the financial forecast alongside the development of the Council’s priorities; and

(e)  formally invites the views of the Resources and Service Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the information set out in this report along with the Council’s wider financial position, as part of its work programme for the year.

Cabinet considered a report of the Corporate Finance and Governance Portfolio Holder (A.2) which provided it with a general update and overview of the Council’s financial position against the 2025/26 budget as at the end of September 2025 and looked ahead to 2026/27 and beyond.

SECTION 1 - In-year financial position at the end of September 2025:

The report highlighted that several adjustments had been made to the 2025/26 budget as part of developing the detailed estimates that had been agreed by Full Council in February 2025. This had been complemented by further 2025/26 budget amendments as part of the Outturn Position for 2024/25 that had been reported to Cabinet in July 2025.

Members were advised that, with the above approach in mind, the in-year position at the end of September 2025 was broadly performing to the underlying budgetary position with no new major issues emerging relating to 2025/26. 

However, it was considered timely to address a limited number of items that had been identified to date, which it was proposed to fund on an initial one-off basis in 2025/26 as set out in Appendix 1H to the Portfolio Holder’s report (A.2). Any longer-term impact would be considered as part of developing the forecast as detailed in Section 2 of the report (A.2).

Cabinet was informed that the position to the end of September 2025, as set out in more detail within the appendices, showed that overall, the General Fund Revenue Account was underspent against the profiled budget by £3.661m. However, it was important to highlight that this position continued to primarily reflect the timing of expenditure across several budgets along with the timing of when the Government reimbursed the Council for the cost of meeting housing benefit claims. 

It was acknowledged that other expenditure or income trends might still emerge / develop over the remainder of the year, which would be included in future financial performance reports as necessary.

In respect of other areas of the budget such as the Housing Revenue Account, capital programme, collection performance and treasury activity, apart from additional details set out within the report, there were no other major issues that had been identified to date.

SECTION 2 Updated long-term financial forecast:

Cabinet was aware that, as set out earlier in the meeting, the waste contract had highlighted a significant financial challenge for the Council and, when taken into account with the potential impact of Local Government Reorganisation, which had emerged / evolved since the last forecast had been considered, it had presented an important financial ‘cross roads’ that set the financial context over the next two years.

It was recognised that the next two years could be the Council’s last two budget ‘cycles’ ahead of a successor Unitary Council being established and in place from 1 April 2028. With that in mind, there was clearly now an underlying and critical need to revisit / revise the Council’s financial plans over the next two years.

Given the timing and expected financial scale /  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75.

To provide the Cabinet with the positive progress over the first six months with the Highlight Priority Actions adopted for 2025/26 towards the Council’s Corporate Plan Themes 2024/28.  In view of the need to refocus the Council’s priorities for the remaining 28 months, until a new unitary council takes on delivery of functions and services currently delivered by Essex County Council and this Council, this report invites the Cabinet to establish those new priorities.

One of the proposed priorities concerns the Clacton Town Board’s emerging 10-Year Vision and 4-Year Investment Plan.  Further text on these is set out in the Executive Summary and Recommendations in respect of the Council’s ‘in principle’ approach to those emerging Vision and Plan.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)     notes the six-month progress report on the current adopted highlight priorities, as set out at Appendix A to the Leader of the Council’s report (A.3);

(b)     approves a re-alignment of the highlight priorities for the Council for the period until new Unitaries take on local government services in Greater Essex as set out in Appendix B to the report (A.3);

(c)     directs Officers to undertake the necessary work to develop those items set out in (b) above for consideration as part of the proposed two year ‘work programme’; and

(d)     endorses that the Leader of the Council, in consultation with the Council’s statutory officers, will determine the Council’s ‘in principle’ support for those measures to be included in the Clacton Town Board’s 10-year Vision and 4-year Investment Plan with the UK Government’s Pride in Place Programme that may, in turn, be submitted to this Council as specific projects for delivery (subject to the Council’s own governance arrangements at the time they are submitted and subsequently).

Cabinet considered a report of the Leader of the Council (A.3) which provided the Cabinet with the positive progress over the first six months with the Highlight Priority Actions adopted for 2025/26 towards the Council’s Corporate Plan Themes 2024/28.  In view of the need to refocus the Council’s priorities for the remaining 28 months, until a new unitary council took on delivery of functions and services currently delivered by Essex County Council and this Council, this report also invited the Cabinet to establish those new priorities.

It was reported that one of the proposed priorities concerned the Clacton Town Board’s emerging 10-Year Vision and 4-Year Investment Plan.

Cabinet recognised that the progress made against those priorities in this first six months, including the transfer of Careline Services to the Colchester Helpline Service, the publication of a draft new Housing Strategy, approval of the Community Safety Strategy for the Council, had led to a point of reflection on the priorities going forward.  This, in turn had provided an opportunity to consider the focus of the Council in a number of areas across a range of functions and services for the period to 31 March 2028 and to leave Tendring in the best possible position upon unitarisation in Greater Essex.

As considered earlier in the meeting, this work fitted with the intended development of a fully funded financial ‘work programme’ for the Council for the period until 31 March 2028 when the delivery of local government functions and services in the area were expected to be transferred to a new Unitary Council across Tendring District and other existing District Council areas in north Essex.

Members recognised that, one of the proposed priorities related to the UK Government’s Pride in Place Programme for which the Clacton Town Board would submit its 10-year Vision and 4-year Investment Plan to Government to secure the release of the £2M funding per year under that Programme for the Clacton-on-Sea designated area.  The Board was on track to submit those Plans by the 28 November 2025 deadline set by the UK Government. The Board’s emerging Vision and Investment Plan include measures that complemented and built on the other UK Government Community Regeneration Programmes which the Council had committed to delivering.  The Clacton Town Board was not a body corporate with the infrastructure to directly deliver its Vision and Plan.  As such, MHCLG through their guidance on Plan for Neighbourhoods, required the local authority as the accountable body to provide assurances on delivery.  There were several of the measures in the emerging Plans that were likely to be referred to the Council to enable them to be delivered. Following submission of the Vision and Plan by the Board, the UK Government would consider and, hopefully, confirm that it was satisfied with them to release the funding from 1 April 2026.  All matters to be delivered by Council would be separately subject to individual governance processes of the Council.  However, it was helpful to the process for a high level  ...  view the full minutes text for item 76.

To update Cabinet on progress on the Community Regeneration Partnership (CRP2) programme and recommend Cabinet agree the reallocation of funding within the programme including:-

1)       removal of Ten_13 Town Centre Building from the programme scope;

2)       rescoping of Ten_05 Tudor Fields – Jaywick walking route and reduction of funding;

3)       increasing the budget to the following projects:

Ten_04 Sunspot Solar Panels;

Ten_07 Clacton Town Centre and Seafront Public Realm;

Ten_08 Jaywick and Clacton Shopfront Improvements;

Ten_09 Jaywick Sands Public Open Space;

Ten_10 Seafront Arts/Community Micro Venue;

Ten_11 Repurposing Martello Tower E;

Ten_12 Active Wellbeing Centre Phase 1 and inclusive cycling facility;

4)       approval of an alternative approach to Ten_06 Expanding the Housing Work of the Healthy Homes Initiative.

RESOLVED that Cabinet - 

(a)     approves the reallocation of funding within the programme as set out below, for the purposes of contingency; the opportunity to add quality and value to the schemes; deliver within tight programme deadlines; and manage organisational capacity:

         i.    to no longer pursue the Ten_13 Town Centre Building project, reallocatingthe £5m capital funding set out within the MOU elsewhere within the programme;

        ii.    reallocate £1.5m of the capital funding allocated to the Ten_05 Tudor Fieldsproject within the programme, and for this Council to progress the delivery of a

      iii.    walking and cycling route only with the remaining £1m allocation, and for a Project Initiation Document to be presented to the Portfolio Holders for

      iv.    Leisure & Public Realm and Housing & Planning for their approval;

       v.    reallocate £100,000 the capital funding allocated to the Ten_06 JaywickHealthy Buildings project within the programme, and to rescope the project to include works to the Enterprise Centre to support the team’s operations, with a Project Initiation Document to be presented to the Portfolio Holders for Assets & Community Safety and Housing & Planning for their approval;

      vi.    allocate an additional £50,000 Capital to the Ten_04 Sunspot Solar Panelsproject, raising the total project budget to £200,000;

     vii.    allocate an additional £2.5m Capital to the Ten_07 Clacton Town CentrePublic Realm project, raising the total project budget to £3.8m;

   viii.    allocate an additional £200,000 Capital to the Ten_08 Jaywick and ClactonShopfront Improvements project, raising the total project budget to

      ix.    £700,000, with a sum of £150,000 ringfenced for grants in Jaywick Sands;

       x.    allocate an additional £1.2m Capital to the Ten_09 Jaywick Sands OpenSpaces project, raising the total project budget to £3.2m;

      xi.    allocate an additional £400,000 Capital to the Ten_10 Seafront Micro Venueproject, raising the total project budget to £900,000;

     xii.    allocate an additional £1.5m Capital to the Ten_11 Martello Tower E project,raising the total project budget to £3.5m; and

   xiii.    allocate an additional £750,000 Capital to the Ten_12 Active WellbeingCentre Phase 1 project, raising the total project budget to £3.75m.

(b)     allocates £200,000 of revenue funding to the Ten_06 Jaywick Healthy Buildingsproject to progress an approach to achieve the intended outputs & outcomes through enforcement;

(c)     requires the £200,000 funding to be delivered via the capitalisingof project management time of the Project Delivery Unit across the various CRP2 projects through existing delegations and / or financial performance reports as necessary;

(d)     authorises the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration andTourism, in consultation with the supporting Portfolio Holder for each project, to approve Change Control Notices setting out the detailed implications and implementation of the above; and

(e)     notes the requirement from MHCLG that a substantial start and commitment toprojects within the Community Regeneration Partnership (CRP2) programme can be demonstrated by March 2026.

Cabinet considered a report of the Regeneration, Economic Growth & Tourism Portfolio Holder (A.4) which updated Cabinet on progress on the Community Regeneration Partnership (CRP2) programme and which recommended Cabinet agree the reallocation of funding within the programme including:-

1)   removal of Ten_13 Town Centre Building from the programme scope;

2)   rescoping of Ten_05 Tudor Fields – Jaywick walking route and reduction of funding;

3)   increasing the budget to the following projects:

Ten_04 Sunspot Solar Panels;

Ten_07 Clacton Town Centre and Seafront Public Realm;

Ten_08 Jaywick and Clacton Shopfront Improvements;

Ten_09 Jaywick Sands Public Open Space;

Ten_10 Seafront Arts/Community Micro Venue;

Ten_11 Repurposing Martello Tower E;

Ten_12 Active Wellbeing Centre Phase 1 and inclusive cycling facility;

4)   approval of an alternative approach to Ten_06 Expanding the Housing Work of the Healthy Homes Initiative.

Cabinet acknowledged that the reasoning behind the Portfolio Holder’s recommendations was as follows:-

(i)           MHCLG required evidence that a substantial start and commitment by the Council could be demonstrated to deliver the Community Regeneration Partnerships (CRP2) Programme by March 2026. Clarification from MHCLG received in August 2025 did not require contracts to be entered into by March 2026, however commitment from the Section 151 Officer that the projects would be delivered would be sought.

(ii)         in effect this commitment was a collective responsibility with assurance being given via the Council’s usual decision-making processes.  It was therefore reasonable to assume from the guidance, advice and clarification received from MHCLG to date that the necessary commitments could be made via formal resolutions from decisions of either Cabinet, individual Portfolio Holders or Officers as necessary across the various procurement and decision-making milestones that were required to successfully deliver the projects. Where projects were being delivered by external partners, the same level of governance would be expected, to enable the Council acting as the accountable body to successfully meet the requirements of the funding arrangements with MHCLG across all relevant schemes and projects. This approach should also encompass the ‘accounting for outcomes’ element of the projects alongside the ‘accounting for the funding’ requirement as the accountable body.

(iii)        the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) empowered the Council to reallocate funding within the programme; if additional projects were proposed, they required Ministerial approval which had a time implication of a minimum of two months.

(iv)        Further to the feasibility and project initiation work undertaken, two of the Capital Projects within the programme had been found to be subject to prohibitive  deliverability risks within the constraints of the funding, as originally set out within  the MOU (Ten_05  Tudor Fields and Ten_13  Town  Centre  Building) and one  of  the Capital Projects  (Ten_06  Jaywick  Healthy Homes Initiative) had been found to be deliverable but could not be funded from Capital as the result would be Revenue expenditure through enforcement action.

It was moved by Councillor Henderson, seconded by Councillor Stephenson and:-

RESOLVED that Cabinet - 

(a)     approves the reallocation of funding within the programme as set out below, for the purposes of contingency; the opportunity to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77.

To enable Cabinet to consider and agree for recommending to Full Council the following:

·      Local Council Tax Support Scheme 2026/27;

·      Exceptional Hardship Policy;

·      Discretionary Council Tax Exemptions, Discounts and Premiums for 2026/27; and

·      Annual MRP Policy Statement for 2026/27.

RESOLVED that Cabinet agrees that -

(a)     the LCTS scheme for 2026/27 remains the same as the current year (2025/26);

(b)     the Council Tax Exceptional Hardship Policy be as set out in Appendix B to the report; and

(c)     the discretionary Council Tax exemptions, discounts and premiums for 2026/27 be as set out in the appendices to the Portfolio Holder’s report.

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that –

(i)    the LCTS, as set out as Appendix A to the report, be approved with the maximum LCTS award being 80% for working age claimants;

(ii)   the Corporate Director (Finance and IT), in consultation with the Corporate Finance and Governance Portfolio Holder, be authorised to undertake the necessary steps to implement the LCTS scheme from 1 April 2026;

(iii)  the locally determined council tax discounts, as set out in Appendix C, be approved;

(iv)  the council tax discount policy for young people leaving care, as set out in Appendix D, be approved;

(v)   the discretionary council tax premiums, as set out in Appendix E, be approved;

(vi)  the Corporate Director (Finance and IT), in consultation with the Corporate Finance and Governance Portfolio Holder, be authorised to undertake the necessary steps to implement the council tax exemptions, discounts and premiums from 1 April 2026; and

(vii)  the Annual Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement for 2026/27, as set out in Appendix F, be approved.

Cabinet considered a report of the Corporate Governance & Finance Portfolio Holder (A.5) which enabled Cabinet to consider and agree for recommending to Full Council the following:

·      Local Council Tax Support Scheme 2026/27;

·      Exceptional Hardship Policy;

·      Discretionary Council Tax Exemptions, Discounts and Premiums for 2026/27; and

·      Annual MRP Policy Statement for 2026/27.

Cabinet was informed that in terms of the LCTS scheme, it was proposed to continue with the principle of providing financial stability wherever possible to Tendring residents. It was therefore proposed to keep the 2026/27 LCTS scheme the same as this year, which provided for a maximum discount of 80% for working age claimants. The associated exceptional hardship policy had also been subject to annual review, and it was not proposed to make any changes from the scheme operating this year and so it would remain available to support eligible claimants in 2026/27.

In respect of existing discretionary council tax discounts, exemptions and premiums (including discounts for young people leaving care), it was not proposed to make any changes for 2026/27, with the same levels applying as in 2025/26.

In respect of existing council tax premiums on long term empty properties, it was not proposed to make any changes for 2026/27, with the same levels applying as in 2025/26.

In respect of the existing council tax premium of 100% on properties used as a second home, it was not proposed to make any changes for 2026/27, with the same levels applying as in 2025/26.

It was reported that, as part of the extension to council tax premiums on long term empty properties and the introduction of council tax premiums on second homes last year, the Government had stated that their intention was not to penalise property owners where they were making genuine efforts to make use of their properties. The Government therefore had introduced mandatory exceptions where the council tax premium on long term empty properties and/or second homes was not chargeable and those remained in place for 2026/27.

The Annual Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement had also been reviewed for 2026/27, and no changes were proposed to the existing approach adopted from 2025/26.

Members were advised that if it was agreed that no changes were necessary to the proposed LCTS scheme, there would be no need for public consultation. However, if any amendments were proposed and approved at Full Council on 25 November 2025, then public consultation would be required before the final scheme could be agreed and adopted. Consequently, if consultation was required, this Council would have to notify the precepting authorities that the final council tax base would be delayed and not available until later on in the budget cycle.

Given the Portfolio Holder’s recommendation to continue with the existing LCTS scheme, it was also not proposed to formally refer it to the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee, as it would be considered by Full Council on 25 November 2025.

In order to enable the implementation of an LCTS Scheme in 2026/27 along with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

Following the Portfolio Holder for Environment’s & ICT agreement to be part of the draft consultation process to adopt the Essex Wide Air Quality Strategy in November 2024, the proposed strategy was presented to the Essex Chief Executives’ Forum (ECEF) recently, where plans for finalising the strategy were set out.

The ECEF supported the proposed strategy unanimously, and agreement to publish the final strategy on the EssexAir website at the end of October 2025 was given the green light to proceed.

Essex County Council took the final strategy to its Cabinet on Tuesday 9^th September 2025 when it was formally adopted.

This report seeks the agreement of Cabinet to endorse the adoption of the Essex Wide Air Quality Strategy for Essex 2025-2029, in accordance with the Portfolio Holder’s agreement to participate in the consultation process.

RESOLVED that –

(a)     the Essex Wide Air Quality Strategy 2025-2029 in the form appended to this report (i.e. Appendix 1) be formally adopted; and

(b)   it is noted that other councils across Essex will be taking individual decisions regarding adopting the Essex Wide Air Quality Strategy 2024-2029.

It was reported that, following the Portfolio Holder for Environment & ICT’s agreement to be part of the draft consultation process to adopt the Essex Wide Air Quality Strategy in November 2024, the proposed strategy had been presented to the Essex Chief Executives’ Forum (ECEF) where plans for finalising the strategy had been set out. The ECEF had supported the proposed strategy unanimously, and agreement to publish the final strategy on the EssexAir website at the end of October 2025 had been given the green light to proceed.

Essex County Council (ECC) had taken the final strategy to its Cabinet on Tuesday 9th September 2025 when it had been approved and adopted on behalf of ECC. The final version of the strategy had been published at the end of October which now afforded all other Essex Local Authorities to go through their governance process and seek a decision to formally adopt it.

This report (A.6) therefore sought the agreement of Cabinet to endorse the adoption of the Essex Wide Air Quality Strategy for Essex 2025-2029 on behalf of Tendring District Council.

The Leader of the Council read out a statement on behalf of the Environment & ICT Portfolio Holder who had been unable to attend the meeting.

Cabinet endorsed the reasoning behind the Portfolio Holder’s recommendations as follows:-

(1)     by formally adopting the Essex Wide Air Quality Strategy it would ensure that Tendring was part of a robust and focussed approach to tackling poor Air Quality across the County, whilst implementing changes where appropriate to protect the health and safety of current and future generations who resided in this District. It would allow Tendring to be part of discussions on a county level via working groups and ensure that it was ahead of the curve regarding any proposed or new legislative changes.

(2)     in the light of impending Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) it would afford the opportunity to work collaboratively with neighbouring Councils and provide a joined-up approach to protect public health and wellbeing.

(3)     although Tendring did not have an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) within the District, it needed to assess air quality in the District for the specified pollutants and submit Annual Status Reports to the Department for Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA). By adopting the Essex Wide Air Quality Strategy, it would remove the need for Tendring to draft its own strategy, whilst ensuring that it adhered to the principles set out in the strategy and continued to follow best practice in accordance with other Local Authorities throughout the County. By being part of the strategy and the Essex wide working groups, it would ensure that any new legislation, regulations and guidance were discussed and that this Council’s work in monitoring and improving Air Quality in Tendring was appropriate and focussed accordingly.

It was moved by Councillor Stephenson, seconded by Councillor Scott and:-

RESOLVED that –

(a)     the Essex Wide Air Quality Strategy 2025-2029 in the form appended to this report (i.e. Appendix 1) be formally adopted; and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79.

There are no Management Team items on this occasion.

There were no Management Team items for Cabinet to consider on this occasion.