CBN meeting November 2024

As always it was a pleasure to get together face-to-face again at our November meeting.
We had no guest speaker for this one, so we concentrated on hearing from members and discussing current hot topics and priorities.
We talked through some of the announcements in the recent Budget, some of which will affect our buildings, staff and volunteers, as well as our local communities who use our buildings. Increases in the national minimum wage are good news for low-paid workers, but will hit employers – as will the increase in employers’ NI contributions. The Office for Budget Reform (OBR) expects standards of living to increase slightly due to the budget changes, which is encouraging. The official Budget summary document, including the OBR’s comments, can be found hereAutumn Budget Summary

We also talked about recent grant applications and works arising, PPL/PRS licensing, and the BHCC Tenants annual conference. Meetings for 2025 will be in March, July and November – dates will be circulated to members soon. Meetings in 2025 will be hosted by some different CBN members, which will be a great opportunity to see some other venues and perhaps share some different ways of working.