Video of Wirral Council’s Cabinet meeting from 15th March 2012, here is a playlist with all seven parts, apart from the odd few seconds in between. Can anyone tell me how to embed a playlist into a WordPress post? Thankfully the battery lasted, so did the tape. Will do write-up and more subtitles later when I’ve had more sleep.
Mainly audio only as there’s no way to film video and write subtitles without a tripod (I only have a pair of hands!), so apologies for the “scribbling noise”! I might get a tripod in the next few weeks soon, if more people start watching this videos, or leave nice comments. One retweet of part 4 already, which is pleasing.
Any tips on Youtube please feel free to leave advice in the comments (whether on Youtube or here).
In an update to an earlier story about Cathcart Street Primary School it is now planned to open on Monday 12th September instead of Wednesday 7th September.
David Armstrong, Interim Director of Children’s Services, explained:
“Cathcart Street Primary School is undergoing £1.8m worth of major refurbishment works, which will create a better learning environment for pupils and new build accomodation for the after school club and satellite children’s centre. Contractors did as much work as possible prior to the summer break and despite working hard throughout the school holidays, there are still some final improvements to complete before the school can re-open.
“It is regrettable that the school is not able to open on time, however, the safety and wellbeing of pupils is our priority. We are confident that this three day delay will not impact children’s education and that the investment being made will make a real difference to everyone attending Cathcart Street Primary. We apologise for any inconvenience that this has caused but hope that people understand that we have pupils’ best interests at heart.”
Looking back over the last half-year or so since it started, what are the stories and pages on this blog that have captured the public’s attention and brought them to this blog?
There was the story about the 2011 Census, which many people had questions about ranging from why is there no question 17 (it was a question asking if you understand, speak, read or write Welsh).
In total there have been 5,557 views of pages on this website and it has been read keenly by certain councillors and others. Yet who knows what the public will be wanting from its elected representatives in the next 12 months?
Whilst out today with my wife, I spotted Cllr Harry Smith on Worcester Road and sure enough when I returned home there was a Labour leaflet delivered.
It seems both the Lib Dems and Labour agree that the nearly £2 million spent on Cathcart Street Primary School is a good idea. The very spot Cllr Smith and former Cllr Cocker are standing in in a photo on the leaflet was where we were told by a caretaker that photos couldn’t be taken! I have also listened to the concerns of John Cocker and the headteacher which they have aired at a number of public meetings when the future of the school was under threat.
Onto the second story in the leaflet, as Cllr Smith knows it was Liberal Democrats that campaigned for road safety measures on Fender Way. We were the ones who handed in a petition over over a hundred residents. We lobbied the local councillors, showed them photos and kicked up such a fuss we were told (after Cllr Smith complained to Cllr Roberts) never to bring a petition to an Area Forum ever again!
His claim that he “made sure resources were allocated from local Area Forum funding” is a strange one to make. The decisions over the local Area Forum funding allocation for road safety for this financial year were made by Wirral Council’s Cabinet (comprised of Conservative and Lib Dem councillors). We have an email from Wirral Council stating that no decisions are made by the Area Forum panel in respect of this. Wirral Council may have it wrong, so we will look into the matter and report back in a later more detailed post.
The figure is £625,931 and judging by the large difference in the amounts, Cllr Harry Smith seems to be referring (despite writing “the recent cold spell” to not last Winter, but the Winter before when a Liberal Democrat Cabinet member for Streetscene and Transport Cllr Jean Quinn decided to put extra money towards potholes.
Cllr Smith then goes on to mention the Liberal Democrat Party. He states “Are you aware that the Liberal Democrat Party has long been in favour of votes for prisoners?”
Jeremy Brown, Lib Dem MP for Taunton and spokesperson for the party said in the House of Commons, “It was said that my party favours votes for prisoners, but that was not in our manifesto and the leader of my party has made it explicit that he does not favour them.”
In February MPs voted 234 to 22 against giving prisoners the vote. I will write an article further on this. However if you wish to view the debate in the House of Commons on this issue it can be viewed on the BBC’s website.
As he points out, Liberal Democrats work hard for residents all year round. Unlike Labour who announced budget cuts to libraries, then defended the plan to the public, then spent thousands on a barrister at a public enquiry, the Lib Dem/Tory coalition on Wirral Council consulted first with the public.
I have previously pointed out myself that thanks to Lib Dems in government, 4,400 Wirral residents are now not paying income tax and 102,000 people are paying £200 less. £5 million extra is going to Wirral’s schools, targeted where it is most needed in areas like Bidston & St. James.
The designation of Wirral Waters as an Enterprise Zone will further help local residents searching for employment.
There are those that criticise the Liberal Democrats for forming a coalition government with the Conservative Party in the national interest (and similar criticism of the local progressive partnership with the Conservative Party on Wirral Council). Do you think more money would be going to schools in areas like Bidston & St. James and that people on a low income would pay less tax under a Conservative council or Conservative government?
Cllr Holbrook says “Unlike other parties, we do not rely on negative criticism, empty insults and blank sheets of paper to try and win votes.” I think he is referring to Labour who won’t come clean about the £14 billion of cuts they planned. The difference between the Coalition government cuts and Labour’s cuts are things like the following:-
ID cards: £86 million saving to the taxpayer
£800 million saving to the public in fees
Instead of cutting waste, Labour let government spending get out of control. Thanks to the tough decisions made by Lib Dems on Wirral Council no Sure Start centres had to close yet in Labour run councils massive cuts have been made to vital services people rely on like Sure Start and libraries.
The Cabinet report suggests they choose Paragon Construction for the project.
Waiving of call-in is also requested on this decision, so that the project can be started right away (depriving the Labour Party to have a further meeting within two weeks stating why they’d be against over a million pounds worth of investment in this school). The plan is that the contractor will start over the Easter break which would be impossible without waiving call-in.
The project raises a number of questions which I will be asking of Cabinet:-
a) Will the contract specify that local employment has to be used (or a % of local employment)? Is this what “Provision will be made within the contract for Targeted Recruitment and Training (TRT) so that Wirral Council can continue the policy of developing a Construction Employment Integrator (CEI).” means at 9.7? 12.2 states “The successful constructor will be encouraged to employ local labour and source materials from local suppliers as far as possible.”, but does this mean they will?
b) What’s the scale of the bonus the contractor would get for completing on time?
c) Considering the tendency of construction projects to take longer and cost more, what controls are in place to ensure it comes in on time and budget?
d) A number of construction companies contracted on the Wirral have gone bust part way through a project. For example the project to reconstruct the West Kirby Marine Lake or the new medical centre on Laird Street. What alternative arrangements are in place regarding this eventuality and has the financial background of the preferred contractor been looked into?
e) What can other Wirral schools learn from the green elements of the design in helping combat climate change, reducing their carbon footprint and saving Wirral Council money?
Well yesterday the Conservative & Lib Dem Cabinet “unveiled” their Wirral Council budget for 2011/2012. Labour’s (opposition) budget will arrive by noon on Friday the 25th February.
Next Monday (1st March) the full Council will vote on the budget, although with 41 (yes I know it’s 42 including the Lib Dem Mayor but generally he doesn’t vote as he’s supposed to be politically neutral as part of his office) “progressive partnership” councillors to Labour’s 25 24 (edit – I sometimes forget Cllr. Knowles had switched from Labour to Tory and the independent Cllr Kirwan isn’t still with Wirral Council) councillors, I’m sure even Labour can do the maths and realise Labour’s budget will be defeated next Monday (with no need for Budget Part 2 on the evening of the 9th March) by around seventeen votes.
Can you see which bits of the Budget are from the Lib Dem side and which from the Conservative side? Yes you can see “the seams” between the two halves as we continue to be two independent political parties with minds and policy making processes of our own. If you look really hard you can see the bits influenced by yours truly and others (for example the 4-year rolling programme for 20mph residential zones discussed last year by the party when Cllr Quinn was Cabinet Member for Streetscene and Transport) now carried forward by Cllr Rennie.
One Lib Dem policy coming into play is the pupil premium which means about £5 million extra for Wirral Schools to spend on children on free school meals, looked after children and service children. You should’ve heard the “wails of anguish” at the Wirral Schools Forum from headmasters/headmistresses from the more prosperous parts of the Borough when they realised £5 million would be spent on improving the educational chances of the most needy! Clearly Wirral is a place of large social divides and the extra money will be a welcome boost to the schools in Bidston & St. James.
So what may you ask is “in the budget”? Well, first to deal with the elements of the council tax that are made up by Merseyside Police’s budget and Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service’s budget. Both Merseyside Police and Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service froze their contributions from Council Tax compared to last year (2010/2011).
Due to increased costs and inflation (as well as a high proportion of its costs being on staff), Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service will be cutting some jobs. Their Chief Exec/treasurer explains the situation in a self-styled “podcast” (I don’t think he quite knows what a podcast is but I have to give them a few marks for trying), which unfortunately with my browser Firefox either opens a blank black window or six video windows of him at once creating an echo effect so I’ve uploaded it to Youtube (which has slightly better audio quality than five echoes).
For the purposes of any copyright lawyers out there, as the work has been made previously available to the public (and still is on Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service’s website at this location), this is classed as “fair dealing” under s.30 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is being done for the purpose of news reporting (and making sure you can hear what the speaker says).
Quite why councillors on MF&RS left it to an officer to record a video (which is below) to explain the cuts is a mystery I’m sure my humble readers can enlighten me on in the comments section (or maybe I’ll just ask Cllr. Ellis, Cllr. Niblock, Cllr. Rennie or Cllr. Roberts next time I see them).
It sounds like sound quality was the first thing to be cut at Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service! :P Perhaps next year they could invest £20 in a noise-cancelling microphone? The reference in the video to the Budget being set today is in reference to last Thursday.
It’s always good to have a good news story about matters in Bidston & St. James. Next Thursday at Wallasey Town Hall Wirral’s Cabinet, made up of Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors will decide whether to spend £1.8 million on Cathcart Street Primary School.
If approved next Thursday and agreed by the Planning Committee (or planning officers), work will start in May and (hopefully) be complete by the time of the next school year in September. Due to the closure of nearby St. Laurence’s Primary School, if this scheme is agreed the existing Children’s Centre at St. Laurence’s will be relocated to the Cathcart Primary School site. This scheme includes:-
• Alterations and small extensions to improve the pupil toilet and
cloakroom provision.
• Dry lining the existing internal walls to conceal the exposed brickwork
and block-work and to improve acoustic properties
• Alterations to the internal room layout to provide practical resource areas
adjacent to classrooms and to improve internal circulation.
• Provision of a hygiene room for pupils with disabilities.
• Improved office and reception facilities and a new entrance area.
• Refurbishment of all toilet provision for both pupils and staff.
• Redecoration and new floor finishes throughout.
• Replacement of the existing high level clerestory windows.
• Complete replacement of the roof covering with improved insulation
levels to reduce heat loss.
• A secure external covered play area adjacent to the Foundation
classrooms.
• Replacement boilers and heat emitters.
• Additional classroom ventilation.
• New energy efficient lighting.
• New fire and intruder alarms.
• CCTV security system.
• New fencing throughout to improve the security and appearance of the
site
In yet another good news story for Cathcart Street, Lib Dem MPs in government have agreed to give schools an extra £430/year for every child on free school meals and those in foster care or who have been adopted. This extra money, which will go directly to schools will mean over £5 million extra money being spent across Wirral helping schools such as Cathcart Street and other schools in Bidston & St. James.
Firstly it says tuition fees will triple. This is incorrect. At the moment there’s a cap of £3,000 so universities can charge anything from £0 to £3000. If the new proposals are accepted £9000 is just an upper ceiling for what they can charge. The way the motion is worded you’d think all universities will all charge the most that they can; the truth is they won’t. Universities were only allowed to charge tuition fees if they also gave out bursaries. If the bursaries stay in place, this should offset the tuition fees.
A National Scholarship Programme will mean university students from poorer backgrounds might not pay any tuition fees for the first couple of years.
The pledge was “I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament and to pressure the government to introduce a fairer alternative”. A number of Lib Dem MPs have already agreed to vote against an increase in fees, such as the Party President Tim Farron. The party has definitely been pressuring for a fairer alternative to the current system which will be extended to part-time students for the first time.
Labour also have the gall to put in their motion “these cuts will reduce social mobility and create a system in which only those young people from affluent families will be able to go to university”.
However it was Labour’s introduction of tuition fees in 2003 & Labour’s wish that 50% of school leavers go to university that has led to this already. I was a student at Liverpool University in the years after tuition fees were brought in. The university population was not reflective of society as the prospect of student debt put people off from poorer backgrounds.
People from larger families were also deterred from going as having subsidised their older brothers and sister through university often their parents didn’t have the financial means to have more than one of their children at university at a time.
I do not have any problem with more young people going to university. Has our economy now or even in three years time got enough graduate-level jobs for them to pay off their student debts and loans after they graduate? In the last few years I have known many graduates struggle to find employment or in the case of postgraduate students turned down for jobs because they’re “over qualified”.
It started with a surprise change to the agenda (after declarations of interest/minutes of the last meeting) with a presentation by Myles Platt, a Wirral Group Manager for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service on the Fire Service’s consultation on their Integrated Risk Management Plan (although Integrated is spelt wrong on their website)!
This consultation will feed into what MF&RS on the Wirral will be doing over the next year.
The agenda then resumed with the decision to close Cole Street Primary School at the end of this school year (31st August 2011). You may ask what relevance this has to the Bidston & St. James area. When Cole Street Primary School closes, some of the pupils will move to Cathcart Street Primary School.
A number of parents and the Chair of Governors were present for the decision and by the mood of the audience before and after the decision didn’t want to have Cole Street Primary School close, the Chair of Governors addressed the Cabinet and expressed her sadness that after 80 years the school was closing and that they didn’t understand why it wasn’t Cathcart Street school closing instead.
The headteacher of Cathcart Street Primary School also addressed the Cabinet; reassuring them that should Cole Street close they would do their best to help the new pupils and that lessons had been learnt after the recent closure of nearby St. Lawrences, mentioning Open Days and giving parents the opportunity to visit the school. She also mentioned that parts of Cathcart Street would be refurbished to deal with the increased pupil numbers.
The (Interim?) Director of Education explained why a new school (which would’ve led to both being closed) hadn’t been possible. He also mentioned concerns expressed by the MP Frank Field. He pointed out that the capital money received from the Department for Education for new buildings was being spent elsewhere in Wirral.
Cllr Hodson mentioned visiting Cole Street when he had been Mayor and that it had great pupils, was a fabulous school and that the staff put in a lot of effort.
