Agenda item

To confirm as correct, the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 10^th July 2025.

The Minutes of the Council meeting held on 10^th July 2025 were provided.

In respect of Minute 83(6) – Question Time - King George V Playing Fields, Councillor David Heap thanked Councillor Stewart Eaves for his reply and noted that he had agreed to meet with him, local residents and representatives of Accrington Wildcats Amateur Rugby League FC.  No meeting had yet taken place.  Councillor Eaves responded that the take up of the lease was still being negotiated with a preferred lessee.  It would not be appropriate to arrange a meeting with other interested groups until those discussions had concluded.  He noted that the Wildcats had been content with the continued use of the Wilson Sports Hub, but might have been unsettled by the premature mention of the possible leasing of King George V Playing Fields.

In connection with Minute 83(10) Question Time – Accrington Neighbourhoods Board, Councillor Heap indicated that he was pleased to note that a new independent Chair, Sami Smithson, had been appointed to the Board.  He asked if a plan was now being worked on and, if so, whether the new Chair had read the draft Plan for Neighbourhoods and had been in a position to digest the information available.  Councillor Dad responded that he too was pleased to welcome Sami Smithson to the Board and was glad that other councillors supported this appointment.  Her first meeting would take place next week.  The first item was the draft Plan for Neighbourhoods. The Chair had already received all of the relevant paperwork.  Once the plan had been approved, it would be submitted to Government before the deadline of 28^th November 2025.

Regarding Minute 87 - Minutes of Cabinet (Minute 46 – Accrington Stanley FC), Councillor Heap noted that the Leader had indicated that progress was being made and that positive news might be available soon.  He asked what news was available.  Councillor Dad responded that this subject had been raised on several occasions.  ASFC was an important community club.  He had attended an event there a few days ago at which football shirts, funded by the Council, had been distributed to local children.  The club’s Chief Executive Officer, Warren Eastham, had met with the Council’s party and their subsequent press release had highlighted the good working relationship between the club and the Council.  Both sides would continue to try to resolve all of the issues identified previously.

In respect of Minute 89(3) - Motions on Notice – Welfare Motion, Councillor David Heap queried whether there had been any positive outcomes as a result of the resolution agreed about proposed welfare reforms.

In connection with Minute 87 - Minutes of Cabinet (Minute 46 – Accrington Neighbourhoods Board), Councillor Khan also noted that Sami Smithson was the new Chair and considered that this was a good appointment.  He expressed disappointment that he had not received further information about the appointment process for the previous Chair.

Regarding Minute 83(4) – Question Time – Council Owned Garages, Councillor Zak Khan indicated that no response had been received by Councillor Haworth about the possible creation of a budget to maintain the garages.  Councillor Dad responded that he had given no undertaking to send a reply, but he had committed to look into the matter.

In respect of Minute 89(3) – Motions on Notice – Welfare Motion, Councillor Zak Khan outlined an error in the minutes and clarified that in Paragraph 10, his statement was that the Opposition group would ordinarily have supported that particular motion, in principle.

In connection with Minute 87 – Minutes of Cabinet (Minute 46 – Accrington Stanley FC) Councillor Heather Anderson, expressed the view that the comments directed to the Leader of the Council calling for his resignation were disrespectful.  She reminded all councillors of the need to remain courteous during debates and to remember at all times the dignity expected of meetings held in the Council Chamber.

In respect of Minute 83(3) – Question Time – Reinstatement of BMX Track off Harvey Street, Councillor Smithson thanked Councillor Eaves for arranging the meeting with ward councillors.

Regarding Minute 82 (Minute 6 – Confirmation of Minutes (Minute 417), Councillor Smithson reported that the recent skip day in St Andrews ward had attracted only 3 or 4 people despite over 100 leaflets being hand delivered and face to face contact with residents.  He asked if the Leader would now scrap this scheme in favour of more CCTV cameras and enforcement.  Councillor Dad highlighted that skip days were a flagship Labour policy and would continue.  Their use had been widely welcomed in the participating wards.  The Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services, Councillor Stewart Eaves, had done an excellent job in providing this service.

In connection with Minute 89 –Motions on Notice, Councillor Dad remarked that the Opposition group had declined to engage in the debate and vote on the three Labour motions at the last meeting.  He hoped that the group would participate in the debate on their four motions on today’s Agenda.

Councillor Kimberley Whitehead raised a number of matters under this heading, which were more closely linked to the Cabinet minutes set out at Agenda Item 8.  Accordingly, these points are recorded as the first three matters at Minute 165, for ease of reference.

Resolved                                    -    That, subject to the inclusion of the following amendments in Paragraph 10, of Minute 89(3) – Motions on Notice – Welfare Motion:

At Sentence 1, the deletion of the words “the motions put today” and their substitution by the words “the above motion”, and

At Sentence 2, the deletion of the word “them” and its substitution by the word “it”,

the Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 10^th July 2025 be approved as a correct record.