Agenda item

Report attached.

Members were asked to appoint the Leader of the Council for a one year term, from this meeting until the Council’s Annual Meeting in 2027, and nominations were invited accordingly.

In December 2010, the Council had adopted the Leader and Cabinet Executive (England) Model, in accordance with the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.  This had taken effect from 9^th May 2011.

Under this arrangement, the Council had elected the Leader for a four-year term.  The Localism Act 2011 had subsequently removed the requirement for the Leader to be elected for a four-year term, leaving the duration of tenure to local choice.  In 2024, the Council had reverted to electing the Leader annually.  It was proposed that the Council should retain the system of appointing the Leader annually for 2026/27.

The Leader was responsible for –

• determining the size of the Cabinet (which must be a minimum of 3 councillors, up to a maximum of 10, including the Leader);
• appointing the members of the Cabinet and appointing one of the Cabinet to be the statutory Deputy Leader of the Council;
• allocating portfolios or areas of responsibility to the various Cabinet members;
• allocating decision-making powers to the Cabinet and to individual Cabinet members; (although in Hyndburn the Cabinet made all decisions collectively) and
• removing and replacing Cabinet members.

In addition, the Leader was responsible for deciding how the Council’s executive functions would be exercised and for making the delegation of executive powers to officers.  Council would still approve a scheme of delegation of non-executive functions to officers and this would be considered later in the agenda.

The Leader nominated a statutory Deputy Leader, who would exercise the Leader’s powers if the Leader was unable to act, or the post of Leader became vacant.

Council was, therefore, requested to elect a Leader in accordance with those arrangements.

The report included a suggestion that if more than one nomination was received at the meeting, these would be put to the vote in turn and alphabetically by surname, as had happened in previous years.  However, the order of voting was at the Mayor’s discretion.

A nomination for Councillor Zak Khan was MOVED and SECONDED, following which a nomination for Councillor Munsif Dad BEM JP was MOVED and SECONDED.

The Mayor considered the order in which to take the votes and, having previously taken votes in the order of receipt of the nomination for the Appointment of Deputy Mayor (Minute 2 refers), he determined to do similarly for this item.

On being put to the VOTE the motion to appoint Councillor Zak Khan as Leader of the Council for 2026/27 was LOST.

Then, on being put to the VOTE the motion to appoint Councillor Munsif Dad BEM JP as Leader of the Council for 2026/27 was CARRIED.

The Mayor gave his congratulations to Councillor Dad.  The Leader then thanked the Council for supporting his appointment to this role for a third consecutive year and also thanked the members of his own group for supporting his leadership of the Labour group for a fourth year.  He undertook to do his best in these roles and indicated that he wished to work constructively with all of the Opposition groups.  He intended operate an ‘open door’ policy in support of his duty to work for the benefit of the residents of Hyndburn.

The Council had developed an ambitious Capital Programme of £36m, the delivery of which would be a huge task.  The Council wanted to progress these schemes before LGR and a Member Group had been established to monitor and oversee delivery of the programme.

The new Local Plan had been given the green light by the Inspector and should be available for approval at the next Council meeting. This would set out the authority’s 15 year vison for the development of housing and employment sites.  The Planning Committee now had more say in the use of premises as Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) across the whole Borough, following the recent implementation of an Article 4 Direction.

Further investment in the Borough was available via £1.5m Pride in Place funding, which would provide 6 play areas across the various townships.  Work was already taking place to renovate the Civic Theatre, in Oswaldtwistle.  Accrington Town Hall would return the Council’s control from 1^st April 2027 and some investment would follow.  Some £0.5m had already been invested in Mercer Hall to bring it back into use.

It was likely that LGR would be fully implemented.  Councillor Dad confirmed that he was working across Lancashire with the other council leaders.  Hyndburn had supported the three unitary authority model and had set out a case for Accrington as the most appropriate location for the headquarters any new East Lancashire authority.

In summary, he was committed to delivering the controlling group’s Budget promises and would also listen to ideas from Opposition group leaders.  He reiterated his thanks to councillors for their support and the opportunity to take the Council forward.

Councillor Khan delivered a short speech about the leadership challenge.  He had prepared two speeches, one in the event that he was elected as Leader of the Council and second if that was not the case.  He explained why some members of his group had abstained from the second vote on this matter.  In effect, if an alternative administration had not been installed, then a minority administration would appear to be the most viable option.  The only options available were as follows:

(a)  A Conservative, Reform UK and Progressive Hyndburn collaboration  -  This did not appear to be viable, as there were significant differences in political ideology between the parties, notwithstanding the fact the group leaders got on well personally.

(b)  The Conservative group could have all voted against Councillor Dad’s nomination and the installation of a minority Labour administration  -  However, the absence of a Council Leader could damage inward investment, would bring the Council’s work to a standstill and might lead to unproductive wrangling in the Council Camber.

(c)   Accepting a minority Labour administration - The responsible and most pragmatic approach would be to acknowledge that Labour was still the largest group on the Council by a significant margin.  The Conservative group recognised that a minority administration was the only workable route forward.

In view of (c) above, the Conservative and Reform UK groups could provide a strong but constructive Opposition and it was requested that the new Leader of the Council should work cross-party by engaging with all political groups on the Council.  The following actions would help to cement this relationship:

• Opposition representation on the Accrington Town Centre Board (for example, by the continuation of Councillor Ashley Joynes’ LCC appointment);
• Opposition involvement in business growth;
• Opposition involvement in the renovation of the Civic Theatre, Oswaldtwistle;
• Opposition involvement in capital expenditure decisions, to drive forward investment; and
• Opposition involvement in the appropriate use of Reserves.

The above list represented key Conservative principles.  The Conservative group would remain opposed to socialist values while in opposition, but did wish to be constructive.

On a personal level, Councillor Khan commented that he had been born and bred in the area and had been elected to represent its residents.  He believed that this was the right way forward under the circumstances.  He expressed the view that local government was not about national politics, but about providing quality local services.  All councillors had a duty to make this work and to distribute improvements fairly across the whole Borough.  During the election campaign, a clear message had emerged that residents were tired of ‘toxic politics’.

Resolved                               -   That Councillor Munsif Dad BEM JP be elected Leader of the Council for a one year period, with his term of office ending at the Council’s Annual Meeting in May 2027.