Tag Archives: Cllr Ron Abbey

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Scrutiny Programme Board 4th January 2012 Part 1, Declarations of Interest, Minutes


Present

Councillors
Cllr Andrew Hodson (Chair)
Cllr Simon Mountney (Vice-Chair)
Cllr Patricia Glasman (Spokesperson)
Cllr Ann Bridson (Spokesperson)
Cllr Ron Abbey
Cllr Chris Blakeley
Cllr Pat Hackett
Cllr Adam Sykes
Cllr Jerry Williams

Officers
Mark Delap, Committee Clerk
Surjit Tour, Head of Legal and Member Services
Another Wirral Council officer

Two members of the public.

The Chair, Cllr Andrew Hodson said good evening to everyone and commented on the fact that Cllr Bridson was looking better since he’d last seen her, but was not looking 100%.

Cllr Ron Abbey said there’d been no improvement in the Chair.

The Chair, Cllr Andrew Hodson said it had been three weeks since he’d seen Cllr Bridson and she looked a lot better. He asked those present to turn their mobile phones off. Cllr Hodson then asked councillors if they had any declarations of interest to make.

1. Declarations of Interest

Cllr Patricia Glasman asked for advice on a declaration of interest.

Cllr Tony Smith arrives late and apologised for being late.

Cllr Patricia Glasman says that it is about her role as Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the work of the Health and Wellbeing Board.

Surjit Tour replied that it was up to Cllr Glasman if she wished to declare an interest.

2. Minutes

The Chair, Cllr Andrew Hodson asked if members of the Committee were happy with the minutes [of the meeting held on the 8th September 2011]

Cllr Bridson said on page three, the top item there was a summary of complaints made against councillors that had led to a vibrant discussion. She said she had asked for costs to be presented, this had been agreed and noted.

Surjit Tour said he was happy to give to councillors this information as soon as possible.

Cllr Bridson said it was important the public knew how much they were spending when making inappropriate complaints.

Cllr Blakeley said it had been referred to the Standards Committee.

Surjit Tour said he would check it and apologised.

Cllr Chris Blakeley said it had gone to the last Standards Committee meeting, however some final costs had yet to be decided.

The Chair, Cllr Hodson said he wanted it minuted.

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Audit & Risk Management Committee (Wirral Council) 29th November 2011 Part 6 Internal Audit Update


Cllr Jim Crabtree asked if Cllr Ron Abbey had a question.

Cllr Simon Mountney said it was unfair to ask [Colin Hughes]. He said the question should be put to the Director of Law, Human Resources and Asset Management [Bill Norman] at the earliest opportunity.

Cllr Ron Abbey said the wanted his question minuted. He referred to item 4 section 4.3 (b)(i) and the audit undertaken of the Department of Adult Social Services Day to Day Procurement System. He said that the issues raised in the audit had not been addressed by the Department of Adult Social Services, but following the reorganisation responsibility now rested with the Department of Law, Human Resources and Asset Management. He wanted to know the timescale and when the committee would see it, even as an interim announcement between meetings sent to the Chair, Deputy Chair, spokespersons and the rest of the committee.

Colin Hughes said that he was sure they would their best to comply, but he was not familiar with it.

Cllr Ron Abbey said the Department for Adult Social Services actions had not been actioned and responsibility had been given to the Department of Law, Human Resources and Asset Management to resolve it following the reorganisation. He wanted timescales as to when it would be delivered and reported on in the interim period between meetings. It was important that recommendations were made into actions as speedily as possible rather than not actioned. Cllr Abbey said this issue went back months and months and months. He wanted them to be a bit more prompt and he said the critical report showed we’re “not good at dealing with anything as an organisation”.

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Audit & Risk Management Committee (Wirral Council) 29th November 2011 Part 5 Internal Audit Update


Cllr Jim Crabtree said they would find someone.

Cllr Abbey said he had other questions on actions and timescales.

Cllr Simon Mountney said he was happy to talk, but the decision over not having a legal adviser because he had a meeting tomorrow he thought “a disgrace”. He repeated that he thought it was a disgrace.

Cllr Jim Crabtree said it was his decision, that Sarjit had asked and that had been his response.

Cllr Simon Mountney said he was delighted that Colin was here, but that Colin didn’t know about the items on the agenda. He wasn’t going to ask Colin to go away but he felt it was a waste of their time.

Cllr James Keeley said he was happy to move forward.

Cllr Ron Abbey said he wasn’t being disrespectful, but that [Cllr Crabtree] should have asked the committee who would’ve said no. He felt that the Department for Adult Social Service had kicked it into the long grass with no answer. He said was important for good governance and for advising Cabinet. He was mindful that there would be the holidays soon. They would soon be dealing with the Budget, after that would be the local elections, then things would be delayed to the Mayor Making. He was sorry to labour the point, but it was symptomatic of the way things were happening.

Cllr Jim Crabtree said would be appropriate for Bill Norman to write to members of the committee.

Cllr Ron Abbey suggested this was done by “pony express” not “snail mail”.

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Audit & Risk Management Committee (Wirral Council) 29th November 2011 Part 4 Internal Audit Update


Cllr Abbey said he had to be as blunt as this as time after time, actions had not been actioned. He had suspicions it was deliberate. He said the corporate governance recommendations had not been actioned, damage done and that they should have people sitting at this committee as it was a very important meeting in going forward. Cllr Abbey said they can’t do corporate governance without the relevant officers present and it was symptomatic of the problems.

Cllr Jim Crabtree said he apologised on Surjit’s behalf, Surjit had a meeting tomorrow and work to do and had asked Cllr Crabtree if he was needed.

Cllr Ron Abbey said they had more important and pressing matters and nothing was more important than good…

Cllr Jim Crabtree said Colin Hughes was in the building.

Cllr Ron Abbey said senior people were not here and they were “paying lip service” to “addressing issues”.

Cllr James Keeley said he agreed. It was a “statutory committee” and it was outrageous they had no legal adviser.

Cllr Jim Crabtree said he could adjourn the committee until one was found.

Cllr Alan Brighouse said he shared the concerns.

Cllr Jim Crabtree said Surjit had asked if he was really needed as tomorrow he had a tribunal.

Cllr Ron Abbey said he appreciated officers could be unable to attend, but a replacement officer should be a matter of course. He appreciated David Taylor-Smith was here on behalf of the Department of Finance, but there was no-one from the Department of Law, Human Resources and Asset Management.

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Audit & Risk Management Committee (Wirral Council) 29th November 2011 Part 3 Internal Audit Update


The committee considered the Internal Audit update. A council officer said it covered from the beginning of September to October and that he wanted to bring to the committee’s attention several items. At 1.5 the format and content of Internal Audit reports was under review by a working party. This included the Chief Internal Auditor, Deputy Chief Internal Auditor, Chair of the Audit & Risk Management Committee and Deputy Chair of the Audit and Risk Management Committee. 4.6 detailed several high-profile items, there was no specific recommendation for action but he wanted to highlight these. 4.3(b)(i) dealt with the issue of the failure to implement agreed recommendations, it needed further action to encourage officers to urgently implement the recommendations.

The officer said that 4.2.1 dealt with Internal Audit staffing as the “current staffing was in peril” due to maternity leave, sickness leave which had been exacerbated by two officers unavailable as they were seconded full-time to deal with the Anna Klonowski recommendations. A member of staff was also going on jury service. Group auditors had been seconded to the corporate governance team full-time from Monday. They had been authorised to engage appropriate staff through the corporate agency contract. Staff would be selected next week.

Cllr Ron Abbey said he had a number of questions and thanked officers for the report. He said that staffing issues were covered in item 5 but caused short-term difficulties. Referring to 4.3 (b)(i) he said it could slip off the side and never be actioned. As it was high risk and high priority, he said that the officer dealing with it was not sitting here was “ridiculous” and “scandalous”.

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Audit & Risk Management Committee (Wirral Council) 29th November 2011 Part 2 Budget Projections 2012-2015


Cllr Simon Mountney also asked about the processes in place.

David Taylor-Smith said it was a decision of the administration, they were provided with the information which was then discussed. The Budget would be set by the statutory deadline.

Cllr Simon Mountney asked about actions taken by officers.

David Taylor-Smith said that there were a number of processes. There was the Budget Simulator which was running to the 30th November. The administration was making deliberations.

Cllr Simon Mountney said the decisions were based on a game?

David Taylor-Smith said there were assumptions and the report was a projection. It had been quickly revised over the 1% in 2013. There were also implications for Housing Benefit. He asked if Cllr Simon Mountney wanted him to share such matters with the Chair and spokespersons? He said the Budget Projections was a regular report to Cabinet and the latest projections would be in the next report. There had been announcements today but the next meeting would be mid January.

Cllr Ron Abbey asked if there was signficant movement then it should be shared with the Chair, Deputy Chair and spokespersons, as the longer it was delayed the less time they had.

Cllr Alan Brighouse asked if there were enough resources to fulfill the requirements of the Budget process?

David Taylor-Smith said it was kept under regular review.

Cllr Jim Crabtree asked what officers were doing to stay within projected budget spends?

David Taylor-Smith said that was up to individual Chief Officers. The budget allocations went to Cabinet along with assurances. He was happy to take specific instances to Chief Officers.

Cllr Jim Crabtree and the committee agreed the report and moved to item 4 (Internal Audit Update).

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Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee 20/10/2011 Part 1 (PACSPE call in)


The agenda and reports for the meeting can be found here.

Apologies
Cllr Stuart Wittingham substituted by Cllr Denise Roberts
Cllr Pat Hackett substituted by Cllr Ron Abbey

Present:
Conservative councillors
Cllr John Hale (Chair)
Cllr Don McCubbin (Vice-Chair)
Cllr Steve Williams
Cllr Adam Sykes

Labour councillors
Cllr Denise Roberts (substitute for Cllr Stuart Wittingham)
Cllr Ron Abbey (substitute for Cllr Pat Hackett)
Cllr Jerry Williams
Cllr Chris Jones
Cllr Joe Walsh

Liberal Democrat councillor
Cllr Bob Wilkins

Labour Cabinet member in attendance (who is not part of the Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee)
Cllr Chris Meaden (Cabinet Member for Culture, Tourism and Leisure)

The Chair, Cllr John Hale welcomed people to the meeting. Something about the Serious Fraud Office was mentioned and a wish to “close without session”.

Cllr Ron Abbey suggested ten minutes of the meeting in closed session.

Cllr John Hale mentioned something about the press and an inquiry being another matter.

The legal advisor to the committee said it had been brought to Wirral Council’s attention, but the level of information was limited. He appreciated the Labour councillor’s suggestion.

Cllr Bob Wilkins said he failed to see the evidence, but agreed with the Labour councillors to hold it in closed session for ten minutes.
Cllr John Hale said as it was a majority view of the committee, that press and public would have to leave until they were invited back in.

Due to the large numbers of people present it took some time for the room to clear. Some people went home, others waited in the lobby to go back into the meeting.

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In the interests of openness, John Brace lives opposite Bidston Hill which is covered by the PACSPE contract.

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Council Excellence Overview and Scrutiny Committee Wirral Council 27th September 2011 You Choose Budget simulator Part 3


Cllr Brighouse, Vice-Chair said that he had no problems with the £14 million & £25 million issue, however said that what they were “asking the public to do is right”. He talked about what Wirral Council did with the results and its effect on decisions. He said the majority were looking for a bigger reduction, with the average resulting in a -3% Council Tax change. The public were “looking for cuts” and “lower Council Tax”. He asked if council employees had been asked?

Cllr Gilchrist mentioned the Redbridge conversation. Cllr Ron Abbey said, he was not hung up on a like for like comparison between Wirral Council and the London Borough of Redbridge. He said they didn’t know Redbridge’s GDP or catchment area.

Cllr Gilchrist about the report to Cabinet on the 8th December. Ian Coleman replied by saying that was the intention. Cllr John Hale asked when the item was over, would there be copies of how people responded? Cllr John Salter said people could “sit all day putting anything in” and said it was “open to corruption”. Cllr Gilchrist said Cllr Salter’s explanation was “frank”. Cllr James Keeley asked if it was a dangerous exercise, as it implied the only way to balance the Budget was to cut council services? Cllr Ron Abbey said something about the human cost. Cllr Gilchrist said that councillors should address remarks to the Chair. He noted potential drawbacks. He thanked people and looked forward to a more detailed analysis and a report to all councillors. Ian Coleman said “once results are available”. Cllr Phil Gilchrist asked about the Cabinet paper. Ian Coleman said it would be an open report. Cllr Gilchrist thanked Peter Molyneux.

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Council Excellence Overview and Scrutiny Committee Wirral Council 27th September 2011 You Choose Budget simulator Part 2


Cllr John Hale asked a question about the consequences used for reduced budgets. He also asked about efficiency savings.

The Chair, Cllr Gilchrist said there was a ninety-three page guide. Cllr Ron Abbey said it was “only a tool” and a “means to an end”. Cllr John Hale said that there would’ve been a different response if efficiency savings had been used. Cllr Gilchrist referred to the Wirral Globe and a query that had been raised about the narrative. He mentioned figures of £35 million, savings of £25 million and £14 million. He asked for the query and the evidence.

Cllr Ron Abbey said it was made up of inflation, service driven costs and was a factual reality. Cllr Gilchrist referred to the London Borough of Redbridge’s results but asked how much the budget simulator costs. The answer given was £1,000 to £,3000. There would be an analysis done by postcode. Cllr Gilchrist referred to one of the 986 responses in Redbridge which was to cut the number of councillors and allowances.

Cllr Ron Abbey said that the evidence to the Independent Remuneration Panel stated that Wirral Council councillors were one of the lowest paid in North West England. He said that not all communities can gain access to computers, so the responses would be biased towards the rich. Cllr Steve Williams asked if there was any verification of postcodes. The answer was that they were not aware of any verification, but this was a YouGov issue.

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Council Excellence Overview and Scrutiny Committee Wirral Council 27th September 2011 Declarations of Interest, You Choose Budget simulator Part 1


The Chair, Cllr Phil Gilchrist welcomed those present to the Council Excellence Overview and Scrutiny Committee. He asked councillors if they had any declarations of interest.

Cllr Ron Abbey and Cllr Jon Salter declared the same interest in regard to item 7. This was because they are Wirral Council’s representatives on Merseytravel (Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority) which has previously bid for the Pacific Road Theatre and Arts Centre.

The Chair said he was going to vary the order of the agenda, and take item 8 You Choose Budget consultation first. He also pointed out that there were ninety-one pages of explanatory notes.

Peter Molyneux (Chief Accountant – Financial Services) was there to introduce the report.

At this point (6.05pm) the Vice-Chair Cllr Alan Brighouse arrived. Cllr Steve Foulkes (Cabinet Member for Finance & Best Value) also arrived and sat near the door.

Peter Molyneux demonstrated the budget simulator on the display screen. He said they could only raise Council Tax by 3%, if it was above this it would be capped. Consequences of reducing budgets by 10%, 20% and 50% had been entered into the system. The results were available by place and the public could see some information. There had been 1,334 responses so far.

Cllr Gilchrist asked about the timetable and when data was going to emerge. He said it was open until 30th November 2011. Ian Coleman said that there would be a report in December. Cllr Gilchrist asked if there could be an interim report. Ian Coleman said that there would be no report until it was closed down, interim information was available and all information was available.