[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Right have we got any apologies for absence? Yes?
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Yeah they're on the l the list which is er circulating.
[speaker003:] Yes.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] I think there's five so far.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Right. Er, I would like er to welcome you all to tonight. Er I would particularly like to welcome John Rothwell who many of you know. Erm... I've known John for many years. I can remember delivering er leaflets in Boothstown.
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Er we were finding out how long it would take us to deliver leaflets in Boothstown. That'd take us a lot longer now,.
[speaker003:] Mm.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Er but he he is the agent for the European elections, the Liberal Democrats agent, and he's gonna say a few words about that later on. Er thank you all for coming tonight. Er I think it's the er I think it's the third General Meeting... er of the Worsley Constituency Liberal Democrats. Er I know that there's at least one other attraction tonight, especially if you've got Sky Television, or
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] have a ticket for er Burnham Park, and I know at least one of our members found the attraction of the match too tempting. Lindon Greensit, who by the way would like to come onto the committee sends his apologies.
[speaker003:] Where?
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] [LAUGHTER] It's been a peculiar year, a sad year, we have lost some loyal members, Mr Williams, and John Norton Grimshaw. Sybil Mann, a Liberal member for many years. It was only two years ago however that er Bob discovered her, and George, and she's been an inval valuable member of the c committee ever since. We have missed her bad badly, especially in Astley, where she was to organize things, and I'm sure er the meeting sends George er our condolences.
[speaker003:] Mm.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Yeah. Nationally however,
[speaker003:] [clears throat]
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] nationally it has been a stimulating time. The party conference was bubbling with enthusiasm. There were good debates on racism, transport and crime pre prevention. In the latter debate there was not enough emphasis o on the inner cities. Home watch schemes are not much good when many of the neighbours are criminals... and they terrorize the rest. In Worsley frank f f f frankly, er actually it's been disappointing. Firstly we've had no elections, which means that we've had little to focus on. Usually after elections we have an upsurge in memberships, so this year, thanks mainly to Tom Hilton, er it's been good that we've managed to maintain our membership. The membership unfortunately have seemed rather passive. A dinner was organized for the Euro campaign, we sold about ten tickets, we had to cancel. We had a room booked for the Christmas dinner and we didn't have the courage to go ahead with it, because we didn't feel we could sell the tickets. Both lost money. We or we are organizing a hoe-down on the twelfth of February, [clears throat] eight eight P M, tickets five pound fifty. There's been a poor response from members. However, we've managed to sell eighty three tickets through sa through various ways, and er now every ticket that's sold will make a profit, and we need the money. Perhaps I'm wrong to blame members, perhaps it's the fault of the committee or the Chairman. Perhaps we need to involve members in er other ways. I feel that we need now new blood on the committee, and coupled with the fact that I've done one one more year than the constitution says I should, I'm not standing for reelection as Chairman. We must now look to the future. The Tories are in disarray. They promised ta tax cuts, they promised to cut crime, they promised to look after the environment, they promised to improve e education, they promised to improve the the democratic process, they're now the party of careful housekeeping. They deliver nothing. They deliver the opposite. We should replace them as the Labour Party's main op opponents. We have we have elections to fight, we need money, we need candidates, we need workers, and ideas, we need help.... For the local elections I would like to appeal to you to put your name forward as a candidate. We cannot afford to let the Labour Party go on unopposed, cos I feel that the Conservatives are struggling for candidates, in fact I know they are. Please, let's get going.... Right Bob, the minutes of the last A G M.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Very good. [cough]... to you.... Oh while I'm at it, might as well dish out the agendas as well since we've already started.
[speaker003:] I thought you were gonna say raffle tickets. [LAUGHTER]... Gonna say, I haven't got a, limitless [LAUGHTER]... ... [papers being distributed] [LAUGHTER] [LAUGHTER]...
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Yes they all squashed onto one sheet you see....
[speaker003:] ... Thank you.... [whispering] here in nineteen sixty two. []... [whispering] To... fifty nine. [] [whispering] [] [whispering] You've got a copy from... John. [] Oh sorry, yeah. I'll have a read. [LAUGHTER] [clears throat] There we [] are then. I can't read that sort of [LAUGHTER]... [minutes and agenda being read]
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Do you accept that these are a true record?...
[speaker003:] Yes.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Anybody to second that?... Alright? What if I propose that that's a true record? Yeah? Right? Seconder?... Right.... All in favour?... All right, thank you. Any matters arising?... Nothing?
[Mr Peter Brown:] There's just one thing if I might add to that. Erm... we we were supposed to have had a a guest speaker at the last er... A G M and that was the result of the the video being shown on its own. Might I just point out that that he did send his apologies, and er he also sent us a a donation of twenty pounds.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Right, thank you.
[speaker003:] Mm....
[Mr Bob Boyd:] That's excellent.
[Mr Peter Brown:] It was most welcome.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Yeah.... Have we given him a receipt or anything? Or acknowledgement, or anything
[Mr Peter Brown:] Yes. We we.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Excellent....
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Any other matters? [clears throat] Right.... Reports..
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Right....
[Mr Arthur Smith:] I like this phrase in paragraph eight of the...
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Oh. [LAUGHTER]
[Mr Arthur Smith:] of the minutes Mr Chairman.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Oh, what's that?
[Mr Arthur Smith:] Talking about the closing of mines.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Yeah.
[Mr Arthur Smith:] And it says [reading] The Tory government which must which must take responsibility for setting up a rapacious duopoly of generating companies [].
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr Arthur Smith:] Beautifully worded.
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Well I c I ca I can die happy now, praised by [LAUGHTER]
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] by Arthur Smith.
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] That that's something.
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Not many people have er enjoyed that. [LAUGHTER]
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Can we have an action replay of that?
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Yes.... Erm... yes, er erm er another bit of paper to dish out to have a look at er for those that er are not too familiar with the motorway project which has has taken up erm... quite a lot of my time.
[speaker003:] erm I did see I did see you on television.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Er oh I've been on. Oh yeah.
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Not every week.
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Er yeah.... Er... Yes erm the these erm... exemplify two of the effects of the motorway proposals. Er the the the top one er shows erm one or two of the houses which are due to be er demolished er if
[speaker003:] Corner of Glenn Avenue, are they? Row Green?
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Er yes.
[speaker003:] Yeah.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] That's right. Er so the the... er proposed additional motorway would in fact virtually cover the whole of the er site shown in in that picture.
[speaker003:] Mm.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Er the the l the lower picture is of the er traffic island er the present traffic island outside the Courthouse... er together with in the middle distance the existing motorway and behind it erm St Mark's Church, and as part of the scheme er that existing motorway would be dug up and moved er to cover the existing island in the foreground roughly up to where that white car or van is.... So there'd be two er and and then the new motorway would be built er at roughly er ground level as it were er where the existing motorway is, but it would be lower... and there would be a a footbridge... an ornamental [reading] landscaped! [] footbridge built over both motorways to get from the viewpoint to St Mark's Church. Er [sigh]... well... er a l a lot of my time has been spent in another context er as Secretary of... er Residents Against the Motorway which is er an all-party thing er but we've er we've also taken some action... as er a political party as well in that er fairly early on sixth of July ninety two er we we wrote to er Nick Harvey who is er MP who is our... Transport Spokesman er and we gave him some er initial details er of the scheme er to which he er replied erm reminding us of what we knew already which was the Lib Dems' transport pali policy in application to roads. Er at the last conference er both Kerry and myself buttonholed him er and proposed that we er push it a bit further and er the re upshot of that was that we wrote him a much more detailed letter... er [sigh] on whatever date it was, er first of November ninety three, and we've now had a er a reply... er to that er giving us carte blanche to quote him er w with er a number of er quotations which we'd drafted and put into his mouth, so er a all the quotations that we've asked him to approve we can use. Now er Paddy Ashdown has also said that anything that Nick Harvey approves of er he will approve of so we can quote Paddy er the same er at er at some suitable point, for example in advance of the May elections. We've also submitted er on your behalf er motions to the er regional conference er and to the er Cardiff er... federal conference, which I mistakenly referred to as a national conference. Er the upshot of that is er that... the... motion for Cardiff conference er has been ruled out er because it's not a national conference it's a federal one, [LAUGHTER] so I've got caught out on on a technicality there, er but we have put in er an amendment to... another motion submitted for Cardiff er... [whispering] not that one []... erm... a motion submitted er... by South West Herts er which concentrates on the M Twenty Five. So we've we've put in erm an amendment to that one to make it include reference to the M Sixty Two relief road. Er I've got the text of those here, I don't propose to go through it all now, but if anybody er you know wants to have a look at that they're they're welcome. The regional conference one, er since there is a regional transport paper coming up for debate er in in which I had... er a hand as regional erm policy chairman, er the the the Worsley motion er will in fact be taken as a an amendment er to that regional paper which is coming up er at the Southport conference. So we've er we've done I think what we can er as a party about that motorway project and er there will doubtless be more to do. So that's the er the motorway thing. I found out er today I don't know whether anybody else has er heard of this that there is a proposal coming er up to er for for the Isle of Man company which owns most of the Ellesmere shopping centre site er to purchase the Market Hall and er convert it er or whatever... er the suggestion is into a supermarket. Er the market traders er are up in arms about this and I found them er in the process of trying to get a petition together but it it wasn't put together right, they were just getting people to sign blank pieces of paper.
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr Bob Boyd:] So er when I [LAUGHTER] found out about this [] I've equipped them with a er
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr Bob Boyd:] with a proper petition er and er I have a copy here if er you would like to c circulate it and er sign it. Erm...
[Mr Peter Brown:] Might I just add to that that er I have heard that they also want to take over the Pembroke Hall. Whether there's any truth in that
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Yeah the the way it was put to me was that the Pembroke Hall would be part of the deal er but that the Isle of Man company was not particularly enthusiastic about having the er the the the poison pill of the Pembroke Hall wrapped in with the deal cos it doesn't make money. Er... so that's that's as it was told to me by er the th their their Chairman erm... Win Winder. E Winder.
[Mr Peter Brown:] Winder.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Winder is it?
[Mr Peter Brown:] Mhm.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Yes. So... er no details are are available er for what the er Isle of Man company proposes to do with the Market Hall or or with the Pembroke Hall for that matter. Er er it seems that the Council have known about this for six months er and it's only within the last week or two er that information has got out... so it seems to me that that's something that er that we ought to take an interest in. Er... next there is an item er for Kerry. Er we have now written to the Council about the excess traffic on Ringlow Park Road and Chapel Road... caused... er by erm... the traffic calming measures which have been put on er to Hazelhurst Road. So all the traffic that used that as a rat run to get on the East Lancs Road
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr Bob Boyd:] is is [LAUGHTER] now going er through Ringlow Park Road and some of it through Chapel Road, er and those roads are even less suitable for traffic than... er for commuter traffic er than Hazelhurst Road. So that's er been attended to. I think... that's I think that's all I want to report er Mr Chairman.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Right.... Er
[Mr Aled Owen:] I don't know whether it's now is the appropriate time Kerry but
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Go on.
[Mr Aled Owen:] ... could I ask if i if it is appropriate whether whether Bob could elaborate on on what the proposals are for the Market Hall and.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Yes, I've I've
[speaker003:] Yeah.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] only had this sprung on me er today... er when I went in to the Hall and and and saw them with a notice and a table collecting signatures. Er now... it s it seems that the idea is for this Isle of Man company I think you kn you know the name of it don't you which I've forgotten.
[Mr Aled Owen:] It has several guises. Anglo International is one of them.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Anglo International yes. Er well it seems that that they've put in a bid to er purchase the... th the market place er and as Peter said quite rightly apparently wrapped in wi with it er I don't know why but wrapped in with the the proposed deal is the er Pembroke Hall. Er... but... nobody could tell me for certain what it was that they intended to use it for, er but it was apparently not guaranteed that it would continue to be used er as a market hall.
[Mr Peter Brown:] I actually heard that it was going to be used as a food hall. Purely a food hall.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Right. Yes.
[Mr Peter Brown:] Which would then expel the market traders and I think the i well the ploy was to try and get them into some of the er the vacant lots in within the Ellesmere centre. But when you look at the cost of those units
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Yes.
[Mr Peter Brown:] in comparison with what they would be paying for a market stall then it would be it's way out of their their...
[Mr Bob Boyd:] That's right.
[Mr Peter Brown:] their their range.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] So I mean it it was it was represented to me er and I felt that there was some logic in it that that this company would not be discussing this deal unless it felt it could make money out of it and that money in the end would have to come out of the local people here....
[speaker003:] Yep.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Right.
[speaker003:] Could I make could I make er erm
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Sorry.
[speaker003:] a question? Mm.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Yes Alec.... George.
[Mr Aled Owen:] It doesn't seem to have. It doesn't
[speaker003:] Yeah.
[Mr Aled Owen:] it doesn't look as though the
[speaker003:] Yeah.... That's right.
[Mr Aled Owen:] initiative has come from Anglo International. Er... if part of the package cont contains something that they don't want
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Mm.
[Mr Aled Owen:] then I would suggest that perhaps Salford Council have approached them.... Erm
[Mr Bob Boyd:] ... It's not impossible because er
[Mr Aled Owen:] Well
[Mr Bob Boyd:] of of this secrecy that's apparently surrounded the whole thing.
[Mr Aled Owen:] But if if if Pembroke Hall is part of the package and they would never have volunteered to take on
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Yeah.
[Mr Aled Owen:] Pembroke Hall surely if er if it's something they don't want.
[Mr Peter Brown:] I would have thought the mo Without knowing anything about it I would have thought the most likely explanation for that is that... that the property company who own the precinct have suggested to the Council that they would like to buy the Market Hall and the Council have been sitting on it and pondering it and some bright spark has come up with the idea, Yes you can buy the Market Hall if you also buy Pembroke Hall.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] [LAUGHTER] Could be.
[Mr Peter Brown:] I would have thought that was a more likely erm... But er we're obviously we're speculating and it's perhaps
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Mm.
[Mr Peter Brown:] fruitless
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Yes I know.
[Mr Peter Brown:] to do so.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Would you wish me to write to the Council and ask them what's going on?
[Mr Peter Brown:] If you think there's any chance of a re of a reply I would very certainly.
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Well if they refuse to reply or reply saying that it's confidential the then er that's all grist to the mill as well isn't it?
[speaker003:] I think it would be a good idea yeah. Yes. It looks like a nice er subject... for the campaign for May.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Yes exactly.
[speaker003:] Maybe an open letter in the pre in the press er would be suffice better.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Well er depending on what we get from from the Council.
[speaker003:] Aye. as a next step perhaps.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Yeah.
[Mr Peter Brown:] I was thinking.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Yeah.
[speaker007:] Well you've got to react you've gotta act fairly quickly on that though haven't you.
[speaker003:] Mm. Oh yes.
[speaker007:] You know if you send an open letter you you've gotta do it fairly Otherwise somebody else is going to write in and...
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Yeah. Erm or I might ri ring
[speaker007:] And then you're just replying to what they've said aren't you.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Or I might ri ring ring them up and ask them.
[speaker007:] Yeah ring them up and ask them and then write a letter...
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Yeah.
[speaker007:] to the paper.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Yeah.
[speaker007:] I thought.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Yes. Excellent....
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Good. Right er... er that Secretary anything er else on Secretary's report? No? Er Membership Secretary....
[Mr Tom Hilton:] Yes well Mr Chairman... members. You will see that er at the last... meeting the membership total was a hundred and four. That's rather more than a year ago of course. Er it was in October in ninety two. And it followed a general election... which of course is always a...
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Yeah.
[Mr Tom Hilton:] ... good recruiting period and we had er thirty o thirty one I think it was or thirty four new members who came in at the general election. Inevitably we haven't held er er they haven't been able to hold up that new members this year and er the main job has been trying to er keep quite a number of the members who were recruited er to the gen following er the general election. Several of them were fringe members who we have not been able to keep on to some of them especially in er... in Little Hulton and Irlam
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Mm.
[Mr Tom Hilton:] where I think we've... er lost track of about eight or nine people. So er we're still hovering around a hundred but instead of being four over the hundred the present total is ninety six by my reckoning. Er... we'd dearly like to get it up to three figures again obviously because a amongst other things this affects the number of representatives that we get for... conferences and so on. If you get over a hundred you get an extra extra one there. Hopefully we may be able to do that. Er ninety three was not a good year for recruiting from the point of view of elections as has already been said because we didn't have any elections and therefore er it wasn't possible to... er to canvas... and consequently er we were struggling to recruit new members. We did we did manage to recruit nine during the year... but we lost er four by death as Kerry has mentioned, three by removal or one or two elderly people moving into... er sheltered or into homes and things like that where they're no longer contactable, and there were ten... lapses making a total of seventeen that we lost... er as against nine... new members recruited, which meant that we have a nett have a nett loss of eight from a hundred and four to the present total of... ninety six. What has been er what has been pleasing is that a n a number of the people who've come in on the last two or three years or so er are younger people, people in their er late teens or twenties. Er it's been one of my... hopes that we might be able to get... er a small youth section or youth committee coming... er... from amongst these people. The latest the latest recruit is a young man of of twenty three from Astley. Once again we have this problem of... keeping in touch with the wing wards,... Astley and er East it's not all that easy to do but er there are people there who are... showing an interest and I hope that we can. Obviously with the coming of two elections shortly we have the opportunity to do a lot more canvassing and contact more members of the public and to draw in new members from there. We also have in the area a tremendous number of new houses... which... have never been contacted by us or for by any political party and I would hope that we might be able to to do er something about the area behind the... church there is er an area that comes to mind which could well be... fruitful, and I would hope that we might during this year get er some kind of literature out to these places apart from election literature. So at the moment it's ninety six. If anybody can help me help me to get it up to three figures again... personal contact... could be er very useful in these cases if you come across anybody who you might think... we could interest. You don't have to do it, just tell me and I'll I'll tell them.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Right thank you Tom, thank you for your work again this year, especially following up the... the er members who lapse. I know it's difficult. Thank you. Er... next is Treasurer's report. Peter?
[Mr Peter Brown:] Mr Chairman er loyal members. Erm whilst I've not been able to produce an audited er set of accounts I do have er a set of figures for you erm... and as you said at the the beginning of your opening er speech Mr Chairman that erm we had one or two losses during the year, those er in actual fact didn't erm affect us in thi this particular financial year as they were aimed at the September December period, but therefore they will be reflected in next year's figures not or in the current year's figures or the next annual general meeting's figures. Er we started off the year with er a current account balance of two hundred and thirty three pounds ninety four and we ended with two er three hundred and twenty seven pounds twenty nine pence. The deposit account it makes me wonder why we've got money on on deposit in in a bank. Erm we've got we had two hundred and pounds fifteen pence on deposit which has raised us one pound ten pence interest over the year, leaving us at two hundred and twenty one pounds twenty five pence. Some of the expenditure er some of the income came from erm... the Cheltenham Gold Cup which ra actually realized us the sum of ninety four pounds in comparison with twenty fo twenty four pounds the previous year. The President's dinner raised us erm fifty five pounds and a profit on the hoe-down of thirty five pounds. And thanks to Tom chasing up membership that actually brought us in a hundred and ninety nine pounds seventy er throughout the year. Expenditures, er some of the the er higher amounts are printing at ninety pounds fifty,cons conference fees at sixty pounds, er Euro Election er donation of twenty five pounds, photocopies of forty pounds, er bank charges [clears throat] Which er was a point that I took up with the bank erm... Mr Chairman last December. Er they wanted to charge us eighty pence per transaction, and after a lot of argument we managed to pin them down er at er ten pounds for the at at the rate of two pounds fifty per quarter. Er had they got their way every time we put a cheque in or took one out or moved money from one account to another it would have cost us eighty pence, which meant that had anybody paid their their fees to the er and made the cheque payable to us directly, we would have had to bank that cheque and then reissue another cheque... er to the appropriate department and that would have cost us one pound sixty, for which we'd have got nothing.
[speaker003:] Mm.
[Mr Peter Brown:] And that one pound sixty would be eroded erm in the amount that comes back on our erm... direct payments from Downing Street. Erm we have we had in in this particular set of accounts thirty five pounds on two occasions for rooms er which we had to let go and computer data er which is still being processed I understand at a cost of forty pounds.... Those are the the figures as they stand... as of thir at the thirty first of August nineteen ninety three.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Right.... How do we stand now?
[Mr Peter Brown:] Pretty much the same at the moment because I'm I'm sat on a couple of bills for Salford Council who I'm sure can afford it for the moment.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] So
[Mr Peter Brown:] But we w we we are solvent.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Right.... Any questions?
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Perhaps I could just add something to the the the item about the... data processing. We er that that was that that er er election software wasn't it?
[Mr Peter Brown:] That's right.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] EARS.
[Mr Peter Brown:] Yeah.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Er we have now received a package from them. Incidentally I I think when you when you net it all out that that forty pounds er is partly offset because I think we got er twenty five pounds from the... Spastics or something.
[Mr Peter Brown:] That's right yes.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Er so the actual cost is fifteen. I've had a package at long last er back from EARS er... but I haven't actually erm put it onto the computer yet because it's erm it's proving a bit temperamental at the moment and I didn't want to risk overloading it with with yet another er software package u until I've had it seen to. Er [sigh]... I suspect that what they've sent us is the software but not the database for any wards and the the deal was that we would get er at least er the database for two wards er and a printout annotated with telephone numbers of the er electoral register. So we we may have to pursue that further but there has been some progress after all this time and expenditure of... money and and time.
[speaker003:] Where's that from Bob? Sorry.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] It's a [clears throat] it's a thing called... EARS er which is an acronym for... Starts with Election anyway. [LAUGHTER]
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr Bob Boyd:] And what it enables you to do is er to to either type in the electoral register or er read it in from the corporation's disks, er maybe after translation, which is what one of the jobs that EARS did for us, er and you can then tag it with erm er serv erm canvas er returns and telephone numbers and things like that. Well the reason why we were attracted to it was of course the very point that that they would translate the disks for nothing, we wouldn't have to type out the register, and they would also add the telephone numbers without us having to look them all up so that we could do telephone canvassing.
[speaker003:] Mm. Mm.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Er so I suspect it's not worked out quite as we intended er and it I mean the main problem is that it's it's it's cost us time, cost me time which I would rather have spent on something else but there we are.
[Mr Peter Brown:] Yeah the other the other factor is now that that data is getting on for twelve months old
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Oh yeah.
[Mr Peter Brown:] and new registers will have been er made, composed, disposed of,
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Indeed.
[Mr Peter Brown:] and recomposed.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Yeah. Th th there is supposed to be an updating or editing... mode for EARS.
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Yes.... Er
[speaker009:] Can I ask you how you've provided them with the data to to actually produce the erm
[Mr Bob Boyd:] We we bought it from Salford and from Wigan. Er it was a deal done with the Spastics Society er on a at a national level in that er the individual local parties would buy this data er from the appropriate councils on on either disk or tape, er... EARS would translate them and the the cost of the translation would be borne by the Spastics er Society, and the cost of the disks, would be borne by the Spastics Society, and I think it was about a hundred and thirty quid or something like that altogether. Er the Spastics Society would obtain the data for the purpose of trying to identify street agents for them er and er we would get the the database when completed. Now er we we already had a license for an earlier version of EARS which in er in fact was in Aled's name from the last general election but... one. T or two. [LAUGHTER] Erm... er that that was for a B B C computer. So er... the... forty pounds was for the update of the license to erm er an I B M compatible.... That was offset as I say by er this er I think it was I think it was twenty five pounds er sweetener from the Spastics Society. So the the whole operation has cost us fifteen pounds. Er whether we've got anything usable out of it still remains to be seen.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Mm. Right.
[Mr Peter Brown:] Might I just add that if anybody does actually pay their fee by cheques erm please make it to the right department... er as as Tom will give you erm... the co the correct er name for... for your cheque. It saves us er handling and
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Yeah.
[Mr Peter Brown:] erm
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] So you they pay it to Who do they pay it to then Tom?... Who do you pay a cheque to?
[Mr Tom Hilton:] Er just pay it to... Are are we talking about er s subs?
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Subs yeah.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Memberships.
[Mr Tom Hilton:] Er well the Liberal Democrats or even S L D if you want. You don't have to write very much.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Yeah.
[Mr Tom Hilton:] Liberal Democrats. The the point Peter er is making is don't make it out to us because if you if you give me a cheque to Worsley I've got to go to Peter's house and... and then get him to give me a cheque and then I've got to go to either Kerry or Bob and get them to
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Mm.
[Mr Tom Hilton:] countersign it and er [LAUGHTER] []
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Lot of messing.
[Mr Peter Brown:] The the other factor is that
[Mr Tom Hilton:] we used to get. We used to get exactly the same rebate, the only... thing is we have to wait three months for it. We do get a regular cheque every three months erm of a rebate of thirty percent.
[Mr Peter Brown:] The the other factor is that that the negotiations with the bank erm to pay two pound fifty per quarter erm should have been... erm reviewed last December. They've kept quiet and so have I.
[speaker003:] Yes.
[Mr Peter Brown:] So therefore until they stay char start charging me some more money on it I'm gonna keep quiet.
[speaker003:] Mm. Mm.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Right. Any... any other?
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Could I suggest erm Mr Chairman er our our Treasurer has been under er some pressure recently.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Yeah.
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Erm could I suggest that er that the incoming committee be given authority to erm... obtain erm audited accounts and to approve those accounts on on your behalf when available?... Can I move that?
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Yeah. Any seconders?
[speaker003:] Yeah.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] All in favour?... Right, passed. Right.... Er... D says [reading] Social [] here Bob, what does that mean? Are we does it mean we're having one? [LAUGHTER]
[Mr Bob Boyd:] Er no. What it what means is er er a report from anybody that will admit to any responsibility for the social activities. Er...
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Er well I think I've said quite a bit about it. Do you do you want to say anything Peter... in particular?
[Mr Peter Brown:] Er not not particularly apart from that er that the the s the support from from the Party in general wa was very poor from the members in general was relatively poor. Erm
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Yeah.
[Mr Peter Brown:] ... and though these sort of things were the... the best way I I saw it er of of raising funds for... for the coming two elections the Euro Election and the next local elections.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Yeah.
[Mr Peter Brown:] And whilst we had no opportunities last year for canvassing or erm... for getting members we we could have I I felt er put on more fund-raising events as we had a quiet year and we could have probably at the same time persuaded one or two people to to actually join us.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] It er I I mean I... as far as I'm concerned it's er extremely difficult to get people to er come to social events.
[speaker003:] Mm. Yeah.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Er... if you advertise them too early er they forget about it. If you advertise them too late they've booked up something else. Er so I I don't know where we are. I've er this, the the er hoe-down, I've been... advertising since before Christmas er and er... although we didn't inform the members till about three weeks ago something like that er I've been telling everybody about it and I've had more... response from non-members than I've had from members for it. Er I t I suspect that most of the tickets have gone to to people who you know who who are who I know and have rung up er not... It's no good putting notices out,no nobody responds to that.
[speaker003:] Mm.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] You've got to ring people up and ask them. And then you've gotta ring them up and ask them again to see who's [LAUGHTER] [LAUGHTER] to see who [] Cos they usually say, Well I'll see what I can do, and then you've got to ring them up again and see if they've done anything, and and er and then sometimes you've gotta ring them up again. Er so it's very very difficult. I managed to get rid of about eighty and if we do sell these extra what twenty or thirty that's going to be between a hundred and a hundred and fifty pounds... profit.
[Mr Peter Brown:] about that profit yeah.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Yeah. Because although the hotpots cost a pound er most people er... will will buy drinks at the bar and er we'll make fifty P out of them in the evening at the bar so you know we'll make five pounds from anybody we sell tickets to from now on.
[Mr Peter Brown:] Mm.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Er so if you can if you can talk to y r ring up anybody you know and just ask them. You know.
[Mr Peter Brown:] Mm.
[speaker009:] Did you say talk to or torture?
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Torture.
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Torture them.
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Yeah. But er it's less than a fortnight now. Er I also need people to help me on with the bar wi serving on the bar. Chris promised to help me buy the drinks and organize the that side of it getting the drinks.
[speaker003:] And help on the bar.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] And help on the bar. Right. Er... so we'll need some help on in the evening on on the bar when also er... we want some cakes as well cos we usually serve cakes with the hotpot, so if anybody would like to make a cake I'd be very grateful for that.... Er I've already had some promised but it depends on how many people we get there you see. If we're going to get over a hundred we're going to need quite a... a lot of cakes. Any er any questions about socials?
[John:] I'll promise one.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] You'll promised me a cake? Well done John.
[speaker003:] Ah excellent.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Well done John.
[John:] [LAUGHTER] What would you like? Cherry pie?
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Cherry pie'll do fine.
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[John:] cherries.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Cherries, right.
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Right.... Yeah.
[speaker003:] A ques a question about the er raffle tickets.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Oh right.
[speaker003:] Mm. Yes they've stripped me of my cash [LAUGHTER] for tonight []. [LAUGHTER]
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] [LAUGHTER]
[speaker003:] Should I really have supported this venture rather than the raffle tickets? What are what what are we gonna get out of
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Both. [LAUGHTER]
[speaker003:] What are we gonna get out of the raffle tickets?
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Er we get er three pounds er per complete book er out
[speaker003:] Right.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] of the five pounds for a for a full book
[speaker003:] Right. Fine.
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] er of the raffle tickets.
[speaker003:] Just so that I've got some idea of er
[Mr A. Kerry Holt:] Yeah. Yeah.
[Mr Peter Brown:] If I could just er just add to that, erm... th the Cheltenham Gold Cup, er as I said earlier, produced us ninety four pound last year. Erm... if we actually get into the th th t the top selling bracket er or the top ten as it were, erm... bearing in mind that the top sales were one thousand three hundred and nineteen pounds,
[speaker003:] [LAUGHTER]
[Mr Peter Brown:] that particular group got an additional five hundred pounds as a prize for selling the the most tickets.
[speaker003:] Mm. [cough]
[Mr Peter Brown:] The next figure down was nine nine hundred and ninety two pounds fifty. They got an award of two hundred pounds. Er that was at at Beverley. Erm... the the third prize was erm seven hundred and fifty eight pounds sales from South Suffolk, they got a hundred pounds, and seven other er constituencies who sold between six hundred and ninety three pounds seventy five and five hundred and one pounds' worth of tickets
[speaker003:] [cough]
[Mr Peter Brown:] got an extra fifty pound each.... Over the... erm four years th the last four years, er on aggregate, the income from the erm... erm... the draw has been one... a hundred and thirty thousand pounds, er of which ninety five thousand pounds has benefited the Party, and most of that is at constituency level
[speaker003:] Mm.
[Mr Peter Brown:] as against er Head Office.
[speaker003:] Mm.
[Mr Peter Brown:] Er anybody that... actually wants to see a list of the prizewinners from last year, from the actual race, I do have a copy... er
[speaker003:] Yeah.
[Mr Peter Brown:] which gives na