Is this what an “open and transparent” Council looks like?

Is this what an “open and transparent” Council looks like?                                                    Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party. YouTube privacy policy If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh. Accept … Continue reading “Is this what an “open and transparent” Council looks like?”

Is this what an “open and transparent” Council looks like?

                                                  

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Public Question Time 14th December 2015 where I ask a question to Councillor Adrian Jones

In his answer Cllr Adrian Jones states that Wirral Council is being “open and transparent”.

I provide below four pages from what Wirral Council supplied when I requested the Highway Services Contract that Wirral Council have with Bam Nuttall on which millions of pounds are spent each year.

These first two pages (according to the preceding page) are to do with the NRSWA Team (whatever that stands for). This team is described as “a separate team of 4 inspectors monitoring utility works and repeat defects. This team could integrate with the highway teams

As usual the thumbnails link to higher resolution versions of the same image.

Bam Nuttall contract Service Breakdown Structure page 1 of 2 thumbnail
Bam Nuttall contract Service Breakdown Structure page 1 of 2 thumbnail
Bam Nuttall contract Service Breakdown Structure page 2 of 2 thumbnail
Bam Nuttall contract Service Breakdown Structure page 2 of 2 thumbnail

Next is an email detailing some last minutes changes to the contract. The unnamed author of this email receives this blog’s first ever Sir Humphrey Appleby award for the sentence “Please find attached a revised copy of P112 of Volume 1, which now includes the omitted Tender Amendment relating to the uplift on rates for Coastal Defence Work in tidal conditions, and an additional page for Volume 3 Method of Measurement to be inserted in the Preamble, which compiles the clarifications issued during the tender period in connection with Price List Bandings into a coherent single document.

Bam Nuttall contract email thumbnail
Bam Nuttall contract email thumbnail

Finally, even the author of the Scottish Power Energy Network’s guide to connecting street lights to the mains electricity gets the black box treatment.

Bam Nuttall contract SP Energy Networks Connection Registration and Management thumbnail
Bam Nuttall contract SP Energy Networks Connection Registration and Management thumbnail

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Why did Wirral Council pay £48,384 to Weightmans and what has DASS got to do with it?

Why did Wirral Council pay £48,384 to Weightmans and what has DASS got to do with it?

Why did Wirral Council pay £48,384 to Weightmans and what has DASS got to do with it?

Wirral Council invoice Weightmans £2700 7th June 2013
Wirral Council invoice Weightmans £2700 7th June 2013
Wirral Council invoice Weightmans £720 7th June 2013
Wirral Council invoice Weightmans £720 7th June 2013
Wirral Council invoice Weightmans £48384 11th July 2013
Wirral Council invoice Weightmans £48384 11th July 2013

Above are three invoices to Wirral Council from Weightmans, one for £720, one for £2,700 and one for £48,384.

Apart from “Counsel’s fees” and the always cryptic “professional services” I’ve no idea what these are for, other than the two smaller amounts are to do with Wirral Council’s Department of Adult Social Services. Two refer to a fee note attached to the invoice describing the work done in more detail. I’ve made a Freedom of Information Act request for the fee notes.

All three invoices would seem to be related as they have the same account number. Certainly there’s a public interest in having some openness and transparency as why Wirral Council spent £51,804 on legal costs. However considering how much of the detail on these invoices are blacked out, I don’t hold out much hope that Wirral Council won’t do the same to the fee notes in response to the Freedom of Information Act request.

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