Support for town centre businesses and the future of 10 tower blocks will be among the key issues coming before council leaders in the next few months.

Cabinet members at Stoke-on-Trent City Council are due to make a raft of important decisions between now and the end of the year, including several relating to housing and regeneration.

Here are some of the more interesting items included in the cabinet's latest forward plan:

New Business Improvement District

Stoke-on-Trent City Centre Business Improvement District (BID), covering the centre of Hanley, was launched in 2018, and renewed for a further five years in 2023.

The scheme requires all businesses and organisations within the BID area to pay a levy, which goes towards funding a range of services and activities aimed boosting the city centre economy.

This includes organising seasonal events to increase footfall, environmental initiatives and marketing projects.

BIDs are business-led, but local authorities help set them up and provide ongoing support.

So far, the City Centre BID is the only one in Stoke-on-Trent, but cabinet members will soon consider proposals to create another one covering Tunstall and Burslem.

Proposed options for 10 council-owned tower blocks

Cabinet members backed plans to redevelop the tower block sites in Blurton, Hanley, Stoke and Burslem back in 2023.

They are now due to receive a report on the findings of an external options appraisal for the 10 tower blocks.

The cabinet will determine the viable options and authorise offices to move ahead with a formal consultation with residents.

It is expected that the report will be considered in a behind-closed-doors session, due to it involving the disclosure of exempt information.

City centre masterplan and delivery plan

The council carried out a consultation on its new masterplan for the city centre earlier this year.

The 'realistic' masterplan includes proposals for a new leisure centre – to replace the ageing Fenton Manor – along with hundreds of flats and a bus rapid transit system

Cabinet members will be asked to give their approval to take forward the recommendations in the masterplan later this year.

Future services model for streetlighting

Since 2003, Stoke-on-Trent's 40,000 streetlights have been operated and maintained through a £103 million private finance initiative.

The PFI, managed by Enervo, is due to come to an end in August 2028.

Cabinet members will soon approve the future operating model for streetlighting in Stoke-on-Trent once the PFI ends.

This is another decision which is set to be made in private