Cabinet – 17th March 2011 Part 8 – Alcohol Scrutiny Review

Cabinet then went onto consider the Alcohol Scrutiny Report referred to it by the Scrutiny Programme Board. Cllr Clarke said she was an advocate and supporter of scrutiny. She wished to add the Cabinet’s response to taking it forward. She welcomed the report and noted the hard work. Cllr Clarke paid tribute to the scrutiny … Continue reading “Cabinet – 17th March 2011 Part 8 – Alcohol Scrutiny Review”

Cabinet then went onto consider the Alcohol Scrutiny Report referred to it by the Scrutiny Programme Board.

Cllr Clarke said she was an advocate and supporter of scrutiny. She wished to add the Cabinet’s response to taking it forward. She welcomed the report and noted the hard work. Cllr Clarke paid tribute to the scrutiny support officer. She felt the report raised serious issues and should be referred to the Licensing, Health & Safety & General Purposes Committee. She referred to a to f on the handout. Cllr Moon said it was a timely and good report. He said that alcohol covered different agencies such as the police and hospitals. He said the next Joint Strategic Needs Assessment had to consider the work done regarding alcohol and young people, reflect it in its priorities in order to go forward. Cllr Holbrook referred to the LSP executive and said the primary focus of the LSP should be partnership working. He said it was something that could be done by working together to get a grip on the issue. Cabinet then passed the recommendations below:-

a. Welcomes this report and notes the hard work put in by the Alcohol Scrutiny Panel and the Scrutiny Programme Board in carrying out this review.

b. Expresses its concern about the serious issues for the health, safety and wellbeing of young people that the report raises and accepts all the panel’s recommendations.

c. Notes that recommendation A is picked up on the Corporate Pan (presented elsewhere on this Agenda) and that recommendation H has already been acted on in the Budget.

d. Refers the report of the Alcohol Scrutiny Panel to the Licensing, Health and Safety and General Purposes Committee and asks that it gives specific attention to recommendations E, F, G and J.

e. Refers the report to the LSP Executive and asks that it give specific attention to recommendations B, C, D, I and K.

f. Requests that the Director of Public Health be the lead officer for co-ordinating the response of the Council and other Agencies to this report.

Cabinet – 17th March 2011 – Part 7 PACSPE continued

Cllr Green said he had confidence in the gateway process and the external validation. He asked was sort of people came in and did the external validation? Dave Green answered it was 4Ps reviewers who were experts in procurement management. He said the professional assessor had twenty years experience in the local authority area and was an expert in highways management. The assessor was vastly experienced and had undertaken thirty gateway reviews. He had only previously given two greens. Dave Green said the level of experience and systematic approach had been fantastic as the assessor had read every Cabinet report.

Cllr Green paid testament to the work Dave and his team had done which had stood up well to external scrutiny. He thanked them and the report was agreed. The Cabinet went onto consider the report on Choice Based Lettings. Cllr Green said it was his view that foster carers should be identified as a priority for housing. Cllr Clarke said that she would like to add a further recommendation. Cllr Blakeley agreed. Cllr Clarke said she welcomed the agreement that foster carers would have a high priority and move to band B if there was an urgent need to move. Cllr Blakeley seconded the recommendation. Cllr Green said there were human benefits of foster carers. He said some had rubbished the “Wirral’s Future Be a Part of It” consultation. However Wirral had increased its numbers of foster carers and he said this as a very, very important piece of work. He referred to Emma Degg’s campaign on foster carers. The report was agreed.

Cabinet – 17th March 2011 – Part 6 PACSPE continued

Cllr Elderton said it was the culmination of hard work since 2006. He said it was logical, comprehensive and professional and that it was now a commercial and financial reality. Dave Green and his team were thanked, however there was still a long way to go.

Cllr Holbrook asked about the indexing for inflation. Dave Green replied that it was CPI-1.5%. Mr. Green felt this was sensible, he was minded to do a bit more but didn’t want to scare off bidders. However the contractor would have to help improve services and to try to identify how to make them more efficient.

Cllr Green said the project had spanned administrations. He said there were benefits to Wirral Council. Dave Green referred to the previous process regarding Biffa and the Council. He said there was now good governance and levels of accountability as well as good project management techniques. The work was validated by external experts. The gate process had introduced discipline as there was a decision made as to whether to proceed or not at each gate. They were not just talking to the office, but had spoken to the Procurement Team, Group Solicitor, funeral directors, Friends of Parks groups, sports users, consultants, Deputy Director of Finance, councillors and all parties. They had taken on board their views and observations. The key was that it was externally verified and validated. This had been clarified with Cabinet and the Members Steering Group in a complicated but speedy procurement. He commended Mark Smith for his work.

Cabinet – 17th March 2011 Part 5

The Cabinet then considered the Wirral Flood and Water Management report. This would redesignate the functions of the Flood Working Group, which was referred to in the two appendices. Cllr Rennie said that it was good news as it would enhance the status of the Flood Working Group. However she was concerned that the partner agencies either sent no representative or a different representative each time. She was pleased with the work and that it had all party and member support. The report was agreed.

The Cabinet then considered the Invitation to Tender for the Parks and Countryside Procurement Exercise. Dave Green said Cabinet had agreed what was in and out of scope and that they had built good experience already with the Colas and Biffa contracts. Following the invitation to tender, thirteen pre-qualification questionnaires had been received by the deadline. The contract would be decided on 70% price and 30% quality. At the second call-in the Overview and Scrutiny Committee wanted to ensure successful contracts had admitted body status to the Merseyside Pension Fund. Any procurement exercise would also receive an individual quote for three bids. The first would be for a broadly comparable scheme, the second would be admitted body status with the risks borne by the contractor. The third would be admitted body status with the risks borne by Wirral Council. The Consumer Price Index would be used for inflation with a 1.5% efficiency saving built in. They had done much consulting and he said the trade unions were relaxed over the pension issue. He said it was a good time to procure and referred to the scale and complexity of the process.

Cabinet – 17th March 2011 Part 4

The Cabinet’s recommendations to Council for Mayor and Deputy Mayor were Cllr McLaughlin (Mayor) and Cllr Ellis (Deputy Mayor). Cllr Blakeley did say that not everyone agreed with the nomination of Cllr McLaughlin, however the nominations were agreed.

There was one minor change proposed to the Committee Calendar for the 2011/2012 Municipal Year, moving the Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on the 27th June to the 20th June. Cllr Green agreed that any minor changes could be delegated to Bill Norman. This was agreed.

The Cabinet then considered the transport capital funding for 2011/2012. Cllr Rennie described it as a disappointing settlement. However she said the money was extremely welcome. She said no area of Wirral was ignored and there was something for everybody. She referred to meetings of the cycling and pedestrian forums and said they were both willing to work closely with the Council. The report was agreed.

The Cabinet then considered the report on the Highway Winter Maintenance costs. The extra costs for gritting had been £358,000. Cllr Rennie welcomed the extra finance that kept Wirral’s road users safe. She said that you only have to travel around Merseyside to see what a high level of pothole filling in that Wirral had. She did say there was plenty more to do including the complete resurfacing of roads to make them safe for everybody. Cllr Green referred to the extra sum of money nationally (£100 million) for road surfacing and potholes. Wirral had applied and received its share of £297,000. He said he was pleased with the complete piece of work and the major changes away from just filling in potholes. The report was agreed.