EXCLUSIVE: 10 invoices paid by Wirral Council in 2013/14 for clarinets, conveyancing, court fees, legal advice, debt collecting, legal services and a temporary worker

EXCLUSIVE: 10 invoices paid by Wirral Council in 2013/14 for clarinets, conveyancing, court fees, legal advice, debt collecting, legal services and a temporary worker

EXCLUSIVE: 10 invoices paid by Wirral Council in 2013/14 for clarinets, conveyancing, court fees, legal advice, debt collecting, legal services and a temporary worker

                                                                

I have another batch of copies of invoices to Wirral Council I received as part of the audit scanned in. Instead of the last time when I posted 155 invoices in the same blog post I thought it would make more sense to split them up and do them in batches of ten (with some comments). So these are the first ten.

Up first is an invoice from Wirral Music Service from a John Packer Ltd for 30 clarinets with Eb nickel-plated keys costing £74+VAT each. Quite why Wirral Music Service order clarinet keys from a shop over two hundred miles away in Somerset, when there are to my recollection plenty of music shops on Merseyside, each of whom I’m sure would appreciate nearly £3000 of business (and in the process help the local economy) I’m not sure!

I quote from page 1 of Wirral Council’s Corporate Plan that was in effect then which stated “We will help to drive continued economic growth in Wirral’s economy”.

Wirral Council invoice John Packer Ltd clarinet keys £2664 6th February 2014
Wirral Council invoice John Packer Ltd clarinet keys £2664 6th February 2014

Next we have a £700 invoice for a payment. Well being more accurate, it isn’t an invoice, it’s a form for a CHAPS payment to DLA Piper UK LLP (although the form itself states it’s for a BACS payment).

This is where Wirral Council gets about as cryptic as a cryptic crossword clue as not only is the address of the property blacked out but the handwriting is hard to decipher too. From what I can gather £500 is for “Purchase price of freehold title to (blacked out) (blacked out)” and £200 for “contribution towards sewers in (the rest of this is nigh impossible for me to decipher)”.

Wirral Council invoice DLA Piper UK LLP conveyance £700 7th August 2013
Wirral Council invoice DLA Piper UK LLP conveyance £700 7th August 2013

Next we have a heavily blacked out Barclaycard statement. The £2,415 entry is for court fees for cases involving unpaid council tax.

Wirral Council invoice Barclaycard Council tax court fees £2415 20th December 2013
Wirral Council invoice Barclaycard Council tax court fees £2415 20th December 2013

Next is a curious invoice from Weightmans LLP for £748.80 for 5.2 hours work (at £120 per hour plus VAT) between February 2013 and April 2013 which is an interim invoice for “professional services” on the “local council tax support scheme”. For just over five hours work wouldn’t it have been better value for money to the taxpayer to have this done in-house?

Wirral Council invoice Weightmans LLP Local Council Tax Support Scheme £748.80 29th April 2013
Wirral Council invoice Weightmans LLP Local Council Tax Support Scheme £748.80 29th April 2013

Now we have the first of a series of invoices relating to Wirral Council’s “toxic debt”. For collecting Wirral Council’s debts Weightmans LLP is charging 10% of the debt collected + VAT. As the fee on this invoice is for £720.25 + VAT, presumably the amount collected was £7,202.50.

Wirral Council invoice Weightmans LLP Debt collection general £864.30 27th September 2013
Wirral Council invoice Weightmans LLP Debt collection general £864.30 27th September 2013

Here is another invoice for collecting debts on behalf of Wirral Council from Weightmans LLP. This time it’s for collecting two larger debts than the previous invoice, which as Weightmans LLP get 10% of what is collected comes to £1,592.58 + VAT.

Wirral Council invoice Weightmans LLP Debt collection general £1911.30 30th September 2013 6
Wirral Council invoice Weightmans LLP Debt collection general £1911.30 30th September 2013 6

Then there is another invoice from Weightmans LLP for £1,182.20 which is 10% (+VAT) for collecting five debts. The debts range in size from £93.60 to £6500.

Wirral Council invoice Weightmans LLP Debt collection general £1418.64 30th October 2013 7
Wirral Council invoice Weightmans LLP Debt collection general £1418.64 30th October 2013 7

The next invoice from Weightmans LLP is for £7,761.60. It is an interim invoice for the period 3rd September 2013 to the 30th October 2013 for “professional services”. Counsel’s fees of £1500 + VAT (total £1800) and 34.3 hours of legal work (at £120 an hour) are listed on the invoice. However what this is all really about is a bit of a mystery! There also is a mismatch between the total of the associate’s fees at £4,140 and the entry of £4,968 in the fees and disbursements column.

Wirral Council invoice Weightmans LLP professional services £7761.60 30th October 2013 8
Wirral Council invoice Weightmans LLP professional services £7761.60 30th October 2013 8

This is another invoice from Weightmans LLP for collecting money from one of Wirral Council’s debtors. Based on the amount charged the debt collected must have been in the region of £44,000.

Wirral Council invoice Weightmans LLP Debt collection general £5297.77 28th January 2014 9
Wirral Council invoice Weightmans LLP Debt collection general £5297.77 28th January 2014 9

Finally in this batch of ten invoices is an invoice for £963.60 from Team24 Limited (who are a Capita company). This is for a worker for 22 hours (at £36.50+VAT) to the Children and Young People’s Department at Wirral Council.

Wirral Council invoice Team24 Limited Worker for 22 hours £963.30 31st January 2014 10
Wirral Council invoice Team24 Limited Worker for 22 hours £963.30 31st January 2014 10

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Author: John Brace

New media journalist from Birkenhead, England who writes about Wirral Council. Published and promoted by John Brace, 134 Boundary Road, Bidston, CH43 7PH. Printed by UK Webhosting Ltd t/a Tsohost, 113-114 Buckingham Avenue, Slough, Berkshire, England, SL1 4PF.

4 thoughts on “EXCLUSIVE: 10 invoices paid by Wirral Council in 2013/14 for clarinets, conveyancing, court fees, legal advice, debt collecting, legal services and a temporary worker”

  1. It looks to me as though these are school clarinets and sadly by buying on the Internet you can get a huge saving. A typical search reveals this –

    http://www.studentmusicsupplies.com/eb-clarinet-by-academy-102-p.asp?gclid=CKT_l4rVscMCFQQIwwodET4Ajw T

    so they got a good price.

    Dave Horton Wirral

    On 26/01/2015 11:51, A blog about Wirral Council, Wirral Council’s councillors & officers wrote: > WordPress.com > John Brace posted: “EXCLUSIVE: 10 invoices paid by Wirral Council in > 2013/14 for clarinet keys, conveyancing, court fees, legal advice, > debt collecting, legal services and a temporary worker > &nbsp” >

    1. Thanks for your comment. The page on John Packer’s website lists this particular clarinet at £126 each compared to the page you link to that lists a clarinet at being from that other supplier for £109 each.

      As Wirral Council were ordering thirty they would get a discount for purchasing in bulk and many music instrument suppliers have reduced prices for school/educational use too.

  2. G’day John

    Any invoices for trumpets for themselves to blow?

    Amazing how they couldn’t find the backing sheets for Fieldcrest invoices that were for payments to do a Wirral tender.

    Surprise surprise.

    Ooroo

    James

  3. Whilst the Invoices are interesting, they hold a far more important significance, than just a polite dig about “Gabriel’s Horn” and again corroborate other Evidence.

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