Agenda and minutes

No declarations of interest were made.

RESOLVED

that the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 27 November 2023, as now submitted, be received and approved.

Chairman of the Council

The Chairman took the opportunity to give an update in respect of the events he had hosted and attended from November 2023 to January 2024 including a visit to Kings Mill Hospital on Christmas Day as part of the recent Toy Appeal.

An announcement was also made that once his tenure as Chairman of the Council ended in May 2024, he would be commencing work as a volunteer with the ‘Enlighten the Shadows’ charity at their new offices in Kirkby.

Leader of the Council

The Leader took the opportunity to advise Council that this would be the first meeting in 50 years where there was not one Labour Councillor present in the Chamber.

Congratulations were given to Councillor Paul Grafton who had recently celebrated his 70^th birthday and to Tony Delahunty, a broadcaster for Mansfield 103.2 Radio, who had recently celebrated his 80^th birthday and the achievement of broadcasting media every day for 1,100 days without a break.

Mention was made regarding the recent Ashfield District Council Employee Awards and the Discover Ashfield Awards and how excellent staff, and local organisations and businesses were being recognised and awarded for their achievements.

Executive Lead Member for Community Safety and Crime Reduction

The Executive Lead Member advised that a resident had recently been prosecuted for causing anti-social behaviour within Sutton Town Centre. An injunction had been granted and a fine given of £2,000.

No presentation of awards were made.

1. From Hannah Denny:

Question to Jason Zadrozny, Leader of the Council -

“As you will be aware national legislation came into force on 31st December 2023 regarding XL bullies.

From 31 December 2023 it became against the law to:

* Sell an XL Bully dog

* Abandon an XL Bully dog

* Give away an XL Bully dog

* Breed from an XL Bully dog

* Have an XL Bully in public without a lead and muzzle

Hundreds of dogs in shelters have been euthanised already due to the non rehoming law, hundreds and hundreds more are reportedly being abandoned in the streets by their owners who are either struggling with all the new legislation’s, or having exempted their dog, being given eviction notices from their homes due to having a banned breed.

From February 1st 2024, it will be a criminal offence to own an XL Bully dog unless it is covered by public liability insurance, microchipped, neutered and has a Certificate of Exemption. If the owners are unable to achieve every one of these in just a few weeks, they by law must arrange for their pet to be euthanised.

Cost.

Insurance - £25 (dogs trust)

Microchipping - around £20

Neutering - up to £400

Government exemption -£92.40

This totals up to over £500, which many people simply cannot afford.

To put this in context, The average monthly food budget in the UK is £194 per person.

Under the Government’s compensation scheme, owners of XL Bully dogs who elect to have their dogs euthanised are then entitled to claim £200 towards these costs.

Locally vets for pets in Ashfield have now confirmed they will euthanise healthy dogs - while this is a national issue, it’s happening here in Ashfield!

Many people in Ashfield strongly disagree with Healthy animals being put down unnecessarily through no fault of their own.

Could you outline your position on this? Also what stance and actions Ashfield District Council intend to take to support these dogs and their owners.”

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11, the following question had

been submitted by Hannah Denny:

“As you will be aware national legislation came into force on 31st December 2023 regarding XL bullies.

From 31 December 2023 it became against the law to:

* Sell an XL Bully dog

* Abandon an XL Bully dog

* Give away an XL Bully dog

* Breed from an XL Bully dog

* Have an XL Bully in public without a lead and muzzle

Hundreds of dogs in shelters have been euthanised already due to the non

rehoming law, hundreds and hundreds more are reportedly being abandoned in the streets by their owners who are either struggling with all the new legislation’s, or having exempted their dog, being given eviction notices from their homes due to having a banned breed.

From February 1st 2024, it will be a criminal offence to own an XL Bully dog unless it is covered by public liability insurance, microchipped, neutered and has a Certificate of Exemption. If the owners are unable to achieve every one of these in just a few weeks, they by law must arrange for their pet to be euthanised.

Cost.

Insurance - £25 (dogs trust)

Microchipping - around £20

Neutering - up to £400

Government exemption -£92.40

This totals up to over £500, which many people simply cannot afford.

To put this in context, The average monthly food budget in the UK is £194 per person.

Under the Government’s compensation scheme, owners of XL Bully dogs who elect to have their dogs euthanised are then entitled to claim £200 towards these costs.

Locally vets for pets in Ashfield have now confirmed they will euthanise healthy dogs - while this is a national issue, it’s happening here in Ashfield!

Many people in Ashfield strongly disagree with Healthy animals being put down unnecessarily through no fault of their own.

Could you outline your position on this? Also what stance and actions Ashfield District Council intend to take to support these dogs and their owners.”

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Jason Zadrozny, responded by thanking Ms. Denny for her question. He said that Ashfield is a community of animal lovers and that this legislation has been difficult for a lot of people as they do not like to see healthy, safe animals being put to sleep. He went on to explain that the Council has no role in enforcing the XL Bully dog ban that was introduced by the Government.

He explained that enforcement is a matter for the Police, for example, if they are walking a dog without a muzzle, as it is with other banned breeds like Pitbull Terriers. He explained that this Council’s role with animals is in relation to stray dogs and he has been working with officers to make sure that the Council is not putting itself in a position where it might be putting healthy animals in a position where they might be euthanised.

In terms of  ...  view the full minutes text for item C.71

(None received for this meeting)

No petitions were received for consideration.

Council was requested to approve and adopt the Pay Policy Statement for 2024/25.

RESOLVED

that the Council’s Pay Policy Statement for 2024/25, as presented, be received and approved.

Council was requested to appoint and authorise nominated officers to act as Deputy Electoral Registration Officers, as outlined within the report.

RESOLVED that

a)    with effect from 13 February 2024, Theresa Hodgkinson, Chief Executive, be appointed and authorised as Deputy Electoral Registration Officer pursuant to Section 52(2) of the 1983 Act;

b)    the following officer be authorised to act as Deputy Electoral Registration Officer for the purpose of signing Temporary Voter Authority Certificates, in addition to the Statutory Electoral Registration Officer (Ruth Dennis), Deputy Electoral Registration Officer (Theresa Hodgkinson) and those previously authorised by the Council in March 2023:

• Ian Dobson, Electoral Services (AEA) Consultant (for elections during 2024/2025).

The Chairman of the Principal Select Committee, Councillor Kier Barsby, presented the Annual Select Committee Report for 2023/24 with a contribution from Councillor Oliver Hay as the Chairman of the Inward Focus Select Committee.

RESOLVED

that the work undertaken by the Select Committees, as detailed within the

Annual Scrutiny Report for 2023/24, be received and noted.

Council was requested to consider and approve two recommendations from

Cabinet.

Minute No. CA.43

Cabinet – 29 January 2024

Community Safety Partnership – Strategic Plan

RESOLVED

that the new Community Safety Plan for 2024-2027 and the accompanying action plan, as presented, be approved.

Minute No. CA.51

Cabinet – 29 January 2024

2023/24 Forecast Outturn for General Fund, Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and Capital Programme as at October 2023

RESOLVED

that the amendments and the addition of new schemes to the Capital Programme 2023/24 to 2027/28 and the funding of the Capital Programme as set out in Section 7 and Appendix 3 of the Cabinet report, be approved.

The following Cabinet Members gave updates in relation to their portfolio activity:

Councillor Jason Zadrozny – Leader of the Council

Councillor Vicki Heslop – Executive Lead Member for Governance

Councillor John Wilmott – Executive Lead Member for Community Safety and Crime Reduction

Councillor Helen-Ann Smith – Deputy Leader and Executive Lead Member for Parks and Environmental Services

Councillor Chris Huskinson – Executive Lead Member for Leisure, Health and Wellbeing.

(None received for this meeting)

No motions were received for consideration.

(None received for this meeting)

No questions were received from Members.

No questions were received from Members.