Agenda item

a)    Mayor

b)    Leader of the Council

c)    Chief Executive

There were no announcements from the Mayor on this occasion.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Munsif Dad BEM JP, made the following announcements:

1)         Local Government Association Peer Challenge Review

Councillor Dad was pleased to be able to update the Council on the outcome of the recent LGA Peer Challenge Review.  The peer group had identified strong progress, with all actions either completed or underway.  Good progress had been made on the Council’s main strategic priorities, including the Accrington town centre interventions, Huncoat Garden Village and the Wilson Sports Hub.  Staff engagement was good and officer/member relationships were strong.  Further work was required to address the predicted financial challenges ahead and in supporting both staff and members in preparation for Local Government Reorganisation.

The Peer Group’s final report would be available shortly and would be provided to the Cabinet.  Councillor Dad thanked all who had participated in the review process, including officers and the cross-party working group.

2)         Pride in Place Programme

The Leader of the Council reported that the Government had announced some additional funding on top of the £20m provided (over ten years) under the Plan for Neighbourhoods funding.  The Pride in Place Impact Fund (PiPIF) would set aside a further £1.5m for the Borough.

The programme would be community led and should help local people to deliver improvements, for example, to parks, empty buildings and high streets.  Residents could send their ideas to the Council and, in some cases, might sit on the Board which would help to shape the improvements.

David Welsby, Chief Executive, added that the Council had only received this news after 6pm today.  Further details would be shared, as soon as possible.

3)         Draft Local Plan – Examination Stage

Members were informed that the examination stage of the draft Local Plan had been underway since last Monday.  The six day hearing phase had now been completed.  The Council would now have to create a schedule of work with timescales.  An interim report from the Inspector should follow within a few weeks.  The overall aim of this stage was to determine if the draft Plan was sound.

A further 6 weeks’ consultation would take place on any modifications made under this process.  Cabinet approval would be required to the modifications made.  The Inspector should then issue a final report.

4)         Recognition of Palestine

Councillor Dad reported that the UK Government had recently recognised the State of Palestine and the inalienable right of its citizens to self-determination.  This was in line with justice and international law.  The Labour Muslim Network had been campaigning for a decade on this matter.  An estimated 70,000 people had been killed in Gaza since October 2023.

The Government was being urged to press for an arms embargo, sanctions and action from the International Court of Justice (ICJ).  Local councillors would continue to raise their voice on this issue.

The Mayor indicated that he had received a request from Councillor Shabir Fazal OBE to make a brief statement and that he had acceded to this request.

5)         Israel/Gaza Conflict

Councillor Fazal acknowledged and welcomed the Leader’s announcement on the recognition of the state of Palestine by the UK Government.  He noted that some 80 other countries had done so in 1988.  This week had seen the UK, France, Italy and Canada join this movement.  He expressed the view that it was impossible now to refute that genocide was taking place in Gaza.  The United Nations (UN) had accepted this last week and some Jewish scholars also held this view.

We were all human beings together and the pain of conflict could regularly be seen live on television.  Ordinary citizens were helpless in the face of war.  He had hoped that the situation could not get any worse, but the reality was that it had, with citizens being bombed and starved to death and children simply waiting for death.  Only last week a doctor had been quoted as saying he hoped that a child would die, as she had been so badly injured that she could not be saved and a quick death would be merciful.

Many residents wanted to be able to do something to help.  Some, like himself, attended large-scale protests, including those planned soon in Liverpool and London.  He noted that Councillor Dad was taking some keys actions but, in the meantime, the Government was continuing to supply arms and aerial intelligence to Israel.  The Council could boycott businesses that invested in Israel and ask the Lancashire County Pension Fund to divest from Israeli companies, which made up 1% of the fund (some £108m).  In addition, it could encourage local companies, including BAE Systems, not to sell products to Israel.  He considered that it would be unlawful for companies to sell weapons to countries that were committing genocide.  A more worthwhile venture might be for local businesses to switch to manufacturing parts for renewable energy.

Councillor Fazal asked if the Council would observe one minute’s silence in memory of those killed and in solidarity with the people of Gaza.  The Mayor agreed to this request, adding that the silence should remember all those who were suffering across the world.

Accordingly, one minute’s silence was observed in memory of those killed throughout the world and in solidarity with people who were still suffering as a result of conflict.

The Mayor thanked those in the public gallery for their solemn contribution.

There were no announcements from David Welsby, Chief Executive, on this occasion.