What were the 6 A4 pages of partially redacted minutes of a Headteachers’/Teachers’ Joint Consultative Committee meeting and the name of a LGA Associate Tutor that Wirral Council disclosed voluntarily in response to a First Tier-Tribunal (General Regulatory chamber) hearing (case number EA/2016/0033) about a Freedom of Information request first made in March 2013?
What were the 6 A4 pages of partially redacted minutes of a Headteachers’/Teachers’ Joint Consultative Committee meeting and the name of a LGA Associate Tutor that Wirral Council disclosed voluntarily in response to a First Tier-Tribunal (General Regulatory chamber) hearing (case number EA/2016/0033) about a Freedom of Information request first made in March 2013?
I will start by declaring an interest as I was the Appellant in case EA/2016/0033. I am also married to my McKenzie Friend in this matter Mrs Leonora Brace.
Court | Room: Tribunal Room 5, 3rd Floor, Liverpool Civil and Family Court Hearing Centre, 35 Vernon Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, L2 2BX
Oral Hearing
On: 16th June 2016
Time: 10.15am
First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber)
Case Ref: EA/2016/0033
Parties Mr | John Brace (Appellant) ICO (First Respondent) Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council (Second Respondent)
Before: Mr. David Farrer QC Tribunal Judge Mr. Michael Hake Tribunal Member Dr Malcolm Clarke Tribunal Member
EXCLUSIVE: Wirral Council spent £16,412.04 on legal advice for Birkenhead Town Centre regeneration
EXCLUSIVE: Wirral Council spent £16,412.04 on legal advice for Birkenhead Town Centre regeneration
Invoices published below for the first time today show that Wirral Council spent £16,412.04 with Weightmans on legal advice on proposals for redevelopment of Birkenhead Town Centre. Advice was given by Weightmans to Wirral Council on the preferred development agreement (later referred to as a lock out agreement) with developers Neptune Developments Limited.
Wirral Council’s Cabinet agreed last month to consult staff at Europa Pools, which might be relocated as part of the regeneration proposals.
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EXCLUSIVE: 11 more invoices paid by Wirral Council including £2,241 for gym mats and £6,090 for a barrister
EXCLUSIVE: 11 more invoices paid by Wirral Council including £2,241 for gym mats and £6,090 for a barrister
Below are eleven invoices (although some are for credit amounts) paid by Wirral Council. The first four are for people in nursing homes or residential homes where Wirral Council pay their fees. It seems Wirral Council do the accounting for this using software so these are printouts of the payments made (although the last amount to Riversdale Northwest Limited is for a credit of £6247.57). The invoice after that for £2,241 is for gym mats and safety mats for Birkenhead Youth Club.
The next invoice is a bit of a mystery. United Utilities refunded Wirral Council £10,070.32. The information supplied (a printout from a spreadsheet) shows this is to do with United Utilities invoices to the library and one stop shops section (which doesn’t really tell why the refund happened).
Cottrell Electrical Services invoiced Wirral Council £1,973.40 for work on Wallasey Town Hall.
Merrill Legal Solutions (who do transcription of legal cases) issued Wirral Council a credit note for £1598.92 for a case in the Liverpool County Court in 2011.
DMM Psychology Limited did a psychological report for a legal case. The cost was split between four parties (one of which was Wirral Council). Wirral Council paid £809.85.
BDH Solicitors charged Wirral Council £1369.80 although what this is for is a mystery as the “attached cost checker” was not supplied to me. The amount of the court fee would suggest it was either to do with a special guardianship order or an application for permission for adoption or wardship.
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Wirral Council spent £2,451.60 with Weightmans LLP on legal advice after reading something about themselves in the press
Wirral Council spent £2,451.60 with Weightmans LLP on legal advice after reading something about themselves in the press
I will first start by declaring an interest in that I am a member of the press, however I am unsure if it is anything I’ve written about Wirral Council (or something in the local newspapers) that led to the matter I’m writing about below.
Last year Wirral Council received an invoice dated 26th June 2013 from a Liverpool based firm of solicitors called Weightmans LLP. Nothing unusual in that you might say! The invoice was for £2,451.60. So what was this invoice for? It was for “To our professional charges in advising in relation to press comment”.
Oh dear did Wirral Council read something in the press they didn’t like again? Did they not have anybody available to provide internal legal advice on the “press comment” and had to rack up nearly 16 hours of time charged at either £160/hour or £120/hour over this?
I hope it wasn’t about something I wrote on this blog! So what was written in the press at around this time about Wirral Council? Anyone care to enlighten me?
The committee is down as “FIN” which I presume means it was something related to financial matters. Sadly Wirral Council black out the names of the five people (or job descriptions) at Weightmans LLP that provided them with this expensive advice. Anyway reading press articles at £120/hour or £160/hour is nice work if you can get it isn’t it?
The invoice is included below.
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1 invoice and 1 letter about the secret Court application I’m not allowed to write about that cost Wirral Council £535.20
1 invoice and 1 letter about the secret Court application I’m not allowed to write about that cost Wirral Council £535.20
I’m going to write a story now to show you how difficult it is to do investigative journalism in this country due to the legal framework here, as there are details I know about this story which is would be unlawful for me to publish.
There are two documents associated with this story so first I have to explain the background as to what they are and why I got them. The first is an invoice dated 13th January 2014 to Wirral Council from Lees Solicitors to Wirral Council for the sum of £535.20. This is for:
36 minutes preparation for a hearing at £160/hour 36 minutes which is £96 (+ VAT of £19.20) = £115.20
Counsel’s fee £350 (+VAT of £70) = £420
Grand total: £535.20
Due to legal restrictions *(*don’t you just love this country sometimes and their restrictions on the press?) although I know the names of the parties (such as the Applicant and Respondent) in this case, I’m not allowed to publish either of them on this blog. I cannot tell you who (although I know) the Applicant or Respondent are. In fact I’d better not tell you the date of the hearing, just in case you use that to somehow figure out who the Applicant and Respondent are. As far as I can tell (maybe I’m wrong) I’m not allowed to get a copy of or publish the Court Order (if there is one) that resulted from the hearing to consider the application.
This is openness and transparency in the local courts British style.
So why are Wirral Council paying £535.20 to Lees Solicitors for the legal work outlined in the invoice below? I think I’ve gone as far as I can do in answering that question as the rest would be educated guesswork.
Ironically I get more openness and transparency from Laura Quarry of the Family Court at Birkenhead than I get from Wirral Council in this matter in her letter to me dated 27th October 2014 (also below that the Wirral Council invoice). Mind you it is not hard to be more open and transparent than Wirral Council is it?
Laura Quarry states “Thank you for your letter dated 24th October 2014. This case is a Private Law Family matter. Therefore as you are not a party to this application, we cannot provide you with the documents you have requested. The documents you have requested refer to a civil matter and the case number you have provided is not a civil case number.
If you can provide us with a civil case number we can process your request. Please find enclosed your fee.”
If anyone would like to translate exactly what that means by leaving a comment, please do! I think I understand what she means although I may be wrong!
So which department is involved at Wirral Council in Family Court matters that the press aren’t allowed to write about? Why the Children and Young Peoples Department at Wirral Council of course! Who else?
In a recent change a few years ago, the press can be present at court hearings in the Family Court, however we’re still not allowed to report the details. The Family Court run to a different set of rules to the rest of the court system you see.
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