EXCLUSIVE: NHS Consultation on impact on 2,269 Wirral cancer patients of Clatterbridge inpatient and outpatient cuts

EXCLUSIVE: NHS Consultation on impact on 2,269 Wirral cancer patients of Clatterbridge inpatient and outpatient cuts

EXCLUSIVE: NHS Consultation on impact on 2,269 Wirral cancer patients of Clatterbridge inpatient and outpatient cuts

                         

Despite Clatterbridge Cancer Centre being one of three charities chosen by the Mayor of Wirral for fundraising this year, Wirral Council’s Families and Wellbeing Policy and Performance Committee will be discussing at a public meeting on the evening of the 8th July (in Committee Room 1 (ground floor) at Wallasey Town Hall, Brighton Street, CH44 8ED) a consultation on major changes to Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. Employees from the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre will be there at the meeting to answer questions from councillors and co-opted members of the Families and Wellbeing Policy and Performance Committee.

The formal consultation, expected to start next month (July 2014) will run for twelve weeks. UPDATED: 28th July 2014 The consultation has started and runs to October 19th 2014.The “preferred option” being consulted on includes:

  • Creating a new Cancer Centre at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital campus. Closing all cancer inpatient beds at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and moving the inpatient beds to the Royal Liverpool University Hospital’s new Cancer Centre,
  • Relocating the Teenage and Young Adult Unit (including the inpatient beds) from the Wirral to Liverpool and
  • Relocating complex outpatient radiotherapy from the Wirral to Liverpool (which represents about 6% of outpatient treatments).

If the NHS decides to go for the preferred option after the consultation period, predictions show the new Cancer Centre in Liverpool having 278 in-patients from the Wirral area by the time it opens in 2018/19. It is also predicted that 2,269 cancer patients living on the Wirral will be travelling to the new Cancer Centre in Liverpool by 2018/19. If the preferred option was agreed, all patients however would still be given a choice of where they receive treatment (provided this choice provides the specific treatment they need based on their type of cancer).

The proposals plan that the new Cancer Centre will be built in Liverpool between July 2016 and July 2018. Due to the wide area affected by the proposals, if Wirral Council’s Families and Wellbeing Policy and Performance Committee deem the proposals to be substantial they will nominate two Wirral Council councillors to a Merseyside and Cheshire Joint Scrutiny Committee. The Merseyside and Cheshire Joint Scrutiny Committee will scrutinise the proposals in detail and could comprise of representatives from Cheshire East Council, Cheshire West and Chester Council, Halton Borough Council, Knowsley Council, Liverpool City Council, St. Helens Metropolitan Borough Council, Sefton Council, Warrington Borough Council and Wirral Borough Council.

A briefing session on the joint scrutiny protocol was given to the following councillors on the 11th March 2014 (Councillor Wendy Clements (in her capacity as the then Chair of the Families and Wellbeing Policy and Performance Committee), Councillor Moira McLaughlin (in her capacity then as Vice-Chair of the Families and Wellbeing Policy and Performance Committee (she is now its Chair) and Councillor Pat Williams (Liberal Democrat spokesperson).

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Wirral Council committee appointments for the 2014/15 municipal year

Wirral Council committee appointments for the 2014/15 municipal year

Wirral Council committee appointments for the 2014/15 municipal year

                            

This is a list of which councillor is on which committee for the 2014/15 year. It doesn’t include deputies (but the list of deputies can be found here at pages thirteen to twenty-three). This is the original list as agreed at the Annual Meeting (Part 2) of the Council on the 9th June 2014 (and published on the 23rd June 2014). Changes can be made throughout the 2014/15 year.

Cabinet (10 councillors)

Cllr Phil Davies (Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance)
Cllr Ann McLachlan (Governance, Commissioning and Improvement & Joint Deputy Leader of the Council)
Cllr George Davies (Neighbourhoods, Housing and Engagement & Joint Deputy Leader of the Council)
Cllr Adrian Jones (Support Services)
Cllr Christine Jones (Adult Social Care and Public Health)
Cllr Chris Meaden (Leisure, Sport and Culture)
Cllr Pat Hackett (Economy)
Cllr Tony Smith (Children and Family Services)
Cllr Bernie Mooney (Environment and Sustainability)
Cllr Stuart Whittingham (Highways and Transport)

Although there are no deputies for Cabinet, there are ten assistant portfolio holders.

Audit and Risk Management Committee (9 councillors)

Councillor John Hale (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor David Elderton (Conservative)
Councillor Adam Sykes (Conservative)
Councillor Jim Crabtree (Labour & Chair)
Councillor Ron Abbey (Labour & Vice-Chair)
Councillor Paul Doughty (Labour)
Councillor Matthew Patrick (Labour)
Councillor Joe Walsh (Labour)
Councillor Stuart Kelly (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and five Liberal Democrat deputies.

Employment and Appointments Committee (8 councillors)

Councillor Jeff Green (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor Lesley Rennie (Conservative)
Councillor Adrian Jones (Labour & Chair)
Councillor Phil Davies (Labour & Vice-Chair)
Councillor George Davies (Labour)
Councillor Ann McLachlan (Labour)
Councillor Moira McLaughlin (Labour)
Councillor Phil Gilchrist (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and five Liberal Democrat deputies.

Licensing, Health and Safety and General Purposes Committee (9 councillors)

Councillor Andrew Hodson (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor Leah Fraser (Conservative)
Councillor Geoffrey Watt (Conservative)
Councillor Bill Davies (Labour & Chair)
Councillor Steve Niblock (Labour & Vice-Chair)
Councillor John Salter (Labour)
Councillor Christine Spriggs (Labour)
Councillor Mike Sullivan (Labour)
Councillor Pat Williams (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and five Liberal Democrat deputies.

Licensing Act 2003 Committee (15 councillors)

Councillor Eddie Boult (Conservative)
Councillor Gerry Ellis (Conservative)
Councillor Andrew Hodson (Conservative)
Councillor Mike Hornby (Conservative)
Councillor Bill Davies (Labour, Chair)
Councillor Steve Niblock (Labour, Vice-Chair (from 18th June 2014))
Councillor George Davies (Labour)
Councillor Tony Norbury (Labour)
Councillor Louise Reecejones (Labour)
Councillor Denise Roberts (Labour)
Councillor John Salter (Labour)
Councillor Harry Smith (Labour)
Councillor Mike Sullivan (Labour)
Councillor Dave Mitchell (Liberal Democrat)
Councillor Pat Williams (Liberal Democrat)

There are no deputies for this committee.

Pensions Committee (10 Wirral Council councillors plus 5 co-opted members)

Councillor Geoffrey Watt (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor Mike Hornby (Conservative)
Councillor Cherry Povall (Conservative)
Councillor Paul Doughty (Labour, Chair)
Councillor Ann McLachlan (Labour, Vice-Chair)
Councillor George Davies (Labour)
Councillor Treena Johnson (Labour)
Councillor Adrian Jones (Labour)
Councillor Harry Smith (Labour)
Councillor Chris Carubia (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)

Co-opted members
Councillor Norman F Keats (Labour, Knowsley Council)
Councillor John Fulham (Labour, St Helens Council)
Councillor Paul Tweed (Labour, Sefton Council)
Councillor Patrick Hurley (Labour, Liverpool City Council)
Patrick McCarthy

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and four Liberal Democrat deputies.

Planning Committee (13 councillors)

Councillor David Elderton (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor Eddie Boult (Conservative)
Councillor Paul Hayes (Conservative)
Councillor Kathy Hodson (Conservative)
Councillor Anita Leech (Labour, Chair)
Councillor Denise Realey (Labour, Vice-Chair)
Councillor Phillip Brightmore (Labour)
Councillor Matt Daniel (Labour)
Councillor Christine Spriggs (Labour)
Councillor Joe Walsh (Labour)
Councillor Irene Williams (Labour)
Councillor Stuart Kelly (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)
Councillor Pat Cleary (Green Party spokesperson)

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and five Liberal Democrat deputies.

Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee (9 councillors, 4 independent persons)

Councillor Les Rowlands (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor Gerry Ellis (Conservative)
Councillor John Hale (Conservative)
Councillor Bill Davies (Labour, Chair)
Councillor Moira McLaughlin (Labour, Vice-Chair)
Councillor Rob Gregson (Labour)
Councillor Denise Roberts (Labour)
Councillor John Salter (Labour)
Councillor Pat Williams (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)

Independent persons
Professor R S Jones (until 15th July 2016)
Mr C Jones (until 15th July 2016)
Mr D Burgess-Joyce (until 15th July 2016)
Mr B Cummings (until 15th July 2016)

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and five Liberal Democrat deputies.

Coordinating Committee (15 councillors, 4 co-opted members)

Councillor Chris Blakeley (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor Tom Anderson (Conservative)
Councillor Wendy Clements (Conservative)
Councillor Mike Hornby (Conservative)
Councillor Steve Williams (Conservative)
Councillor Moira McLaughlin (Labour, Chair)
Councillor Paul Doughty (Labour, Vice-Chair)
Councillor Phillip Brightmore (Labour)
Councillor Anita Leech (Labour)
Councillor Christina Muspratt (Labour)
Councillor Walter Smith (Labour)
Councillor Mike Sullivan (Labour)
Councillor Jerry Williams (Labour)
Councillor Janette Williamson (Labour)
Councillor Phil Gilchrist (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)

Co-opted members (when dealing with education matters with voting rights)
Roman Catholic Diocese Mr Damian Cunningham
Church of England Vacancy
Mrs H Shoebridge (parent governor) until 28th October 2015
Mrs Nicola Smith (parent governor) until 8 February 2017

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and five Liberal Democrat deputies.

Families and Wellbeing Policy and Performance Committee (15 councillors, 4 co-opted members)

Councillor Wendy Clements (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor Bruce Berry (Conservative)
Councillor Paul Hayes (Conservative)
Councillor Mike Hornby (Conservative)
Councillor Cherry Povall (Conservative)
Councillor Moira McLaughlin (Labour, Chair)
Councillor Denise Roberts (Labour, Vice-Chair)
Councillor Phillip Brightmore (Labour)
Councillor Treena Johnson (Labour)
Councillor Tony Norbury (Labour)
Councillor Walter Smith (Labour)
Councillor Christine Spriggs (Labour)
Councillor Janette Williamson (Labour)
Councillor Alan Brighouse (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)
Councillor Pat Cleary (Green Party spokesperson)

Co-opted members (with voting rights)
Roman Catholic Diocese Mr Damian Cunningham
Church of England Vacancy
Mrs H Shoebridge (parent governor) until 28th October 2015
Mrs Nicola Smith (parent governor) until 8 February 2017

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and five Liberal Democrat deputies.

Regeneration and Environment Policy and Performance Committee (15 councillors)

Councillor Steve Williams (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor Gerry Ellis (Conservative)
Councillor John Hale (Conservative)
Councillor Andrew Hodson (Conservative)
Councillor Tracey Smith (Conservative)
Councillor Mike Sullivan (Labour, Chair)
Councillor Jerry Williams (Labour, Vice-Chair)
Councillor Jim Crabtree (Labour)
Councillor Matt Daniel (Labour)
Councillor Rob Gregson (Labour)
Councillor Anita Leech (Labour)
Councillor Steve Niblock (Labour)
Councillor Denise Realey (Labour)
Councillor Jean Stapleton (Labour)
Councillor Dave Mitchell (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and five Liberal Democrat deputies.

Transformation and Resources Policy and Performance Committee (15 councillors)

Councillor Adam Sykes (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor Tom Anderson (Conservative)
Councillor Bruce Berry (Conservative)
Councillor Kathy Hodson (Conservative)
Councillor Tracey Smith (Conservative)
Councillor Janette Williamson (Labour, Chair)
Councillor Paul Doughty (Labour, Vice-Chair)
Councillor Matt Daniel (Labour)
Councillor Rob Gregson (Labour)
Councillor Matthew Patrick (Labour)
Councillor Christina Muspratt (Labour)
Councillor Louise Reecejones (Labour)
Councillor Joe Walsh (Labour)
Councillor Irene Williams (Labour)
Councillor Phil Gilchrist (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and five Liberal Democrat deputies.

Birkenhead Constituency Committee (18 councillors, 1 co-opted member)

Councillor Jim Crabtree (Labour, Bidston & St. James)
Councillor Ann McLachlan (Labour, Bidston & St. James)
Councillor Harry Smith (Labour, Bidston & St. James)
Councillor Pat Cleary (Green, Birkenhead & Tranmere)
Councillor Phil Davies (Labour, Birkenhead & Tranmere)
Councillor Jean Stapleton (Labour, Birkenhead & Tranmere)
Councillor George Davies (Labour, Claughton)
Councillor Steve Foulkes (Labour, Claughton)
Councillor Denise Roberts (Labour, Claughton)
Councillor Alan Brighouse (Liberal Democrat, Oxton)
Councillor Stuart Kelly (Liberal Democrat, Oxton)
Councillor Pat Williams (Liberal Democrat, Oxton)
Councillor Paul Doughty (Labour, Prenton)
Councillor Tony Norbury (Labour, Prenton)
Councillor Denise Realey (Labour, Prenton)
Councillor Bill Davies (Labour, Rock Ferry)
Councillor Chris Meaden (Labour, Rock Ferry)
Councillor Moira McLaughlin (Labour, Rock Ferry)

Co-opted Member
Rt Hon Frank Field MP (Chair)

Wallasey Constituency Committee (18 councillors, 6 community representatives)

Councillor Ron Abbey (Labour, Leasowe and Moreton East)
Councillor Treena Johnson (Labour, Leasowe and Moreton East)
Councillor Anita Leech (Labour, Leasowe and Moreton East)
Councillor Matt Daniel (Labour, Liscard)
Councillor Bernie Mooney (Labour, Liscard)
Councillor Janette Williamson (Labour, Liscard)
Councillor Bruce Berry (Conservative, Moreton West and Saughall Massie)
Councillor Chris Blakeley (Conservative, Moreton West and Saughall Massie)
Councillor Steve Williams (Conservative, Moreton West and Saughall Massie)
Councillor Rob Gregson (Labour, New Brighton)
Councillor Pat Hackett (Labour, New Brighton)
Councillor Christine Spriggs (Labour, New Brighton)
Councillor Adrian Jones (Labour, Seacombe)
Councillor Chris Jones (Labour, Seacombe)
Councillor John Salter (Labour, Seacombe)
Councillor Leah Fraser (Conservative, Wallasey)
Councillor Paul Hayes (Conservative, Wallasey)
Councillor Lesley Rennie (Conservative, Wallasey)

Community Representatives
Mr Ken Harrison
Mr Brian Higgins
Mr Tony Jones
Mr Keith Raybould
Mr Paul Roberts
Mr Lewis Collins

Wirral South Constituency Committee (15 councillors, up to 6 community representatives)

Councillor Christina Muspratt (Labour, Bebington)
Councillor Walter Smith (Labour, Bebington)
Councillor Jerry Williams (Labour, Bebington)
Councillor Steve Niblock (Labour, Bromborough)
Councillor Joe Walsh (Labour, Bromborough)
Councillor Irene Williams (Labour, Bromborough)
Councillor Cherry Povall (Conservative, Clatterbridge)
Councillor Tracey Smith (Conservative, Clatterbridge)
Councillor Adam Sykes (Conservative, Clatterbridge)
Councillor Chris Carubia (Liberal Democrat, Eastham)
Councillor Phil Gilchrist (Liberal Democrat, Eastham)
Councillor Dave Mitchell (Liberal Democrat, Eastham)
Councillor Andrew Hodson (Conservative, Heswall)
Councillor Kathy Hodson (Conservative, Heswall)
Councillor Les Rowlands (Conservative, Heswall)

Community representatives
Unknown

Wirral West Constituency Committee (15 councillors plus six co-opted community representatives)

Councillor Tom Anderson (Conservative, Greasby, Frankby & Irby)
Councillor Wendy Clements (Conservative, Greasby, Frankby & Irby)
Councillor Mike Hornby (Conservative, Greasby, Frankby & Irby)
Councillor Eddie Boult (Conservative, Hoylake & Meols)
Councillor Gerry Ellis (Conservative, Hoylake & Meols)
Councillor John Hale (Conservative, Hoylake & Meols)
Councillor Phillip Brightmore (Labour, Pensby & Thingwall)
Councillor Louise Reecejones (Labour, Pensby & Thingwall)
Councillor Michael Sullivan (Labour, Pensby & Thingwall)
Councillor Matthew Patrick (Labour, Upton)
Councillor Tony Smith (Labour, Upton)
Councillor Stuart Whittingham (Labour, Upton)
Councillor David Elderton (Conservative, West Kirby & Thurstaston)
Councillor Jeff Green (Conservative, West Kirby & Thurstaston)
Councillor Geoffrey Watt (Conservative, West Kirby & Thurstaston)

Community Representatives
Jackie Hall (Hoylake and Meols)
John Smith (Greasby, Frankby & Irby)
Lynn Collier (Pensby & Thingwall)
Elise Wong (Upton)
David Wade (West Kirby & Thurstaston)

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The questions Wirral Council couldn’t, wouldn’t or didn’t answer about Lyndale: can you?

The questions Wirral Council couldn’t, wouldn’t or didn’t answer about Lyndale: can you?

Councillor Tony Smith (Cabinet Member for Childrens Services) talks at a meeting of Wirral Council's Cabinet about deciding to consult on closing Lyndale School (16th January 2014)
Councillor Tony Smith (Cabinet Member for Childrens Services) talks at the meeting of Wirral Council’s Cabinet which decided to consult on closing Lyndale School (16th January 2014)

The questions Wirral Council couldn’t, wouldn’t or didn’t answer about Lyndale: can you?

                  

One of the (many) problems the parents have had with Wirral Council is they feel their legitimate questions relating to the Lyndale School closure consultation have remained unanswered (and in fact stated that at the last consultation meeting). This is despite public claims (made by very senior officers) at the call-in meeting back in February about openness, transparency and about how officers would do their best.

Below this are the questions. To be fair to Wirral Council, Wirral Council have (probably) sent what they regard (although obviously not what the parents regard) as answers. So how long has Wirral Council had to answer these? Well these questions have been around since March (which you have to take into account when reading them).

It does make you wonder at times whether some officers speak a completely different dialect of English to the rest of the Wirral population! Is it any wonder that the Cabinet decision and report on the next stage has now been put back to September (instead of what was planned which was July)? Wirral Council’s website has details on how you can respond to the consultation which closes on the 25th June. I’m not going to name the officer at Wirral Council given the task of answering these questions because that would have the effect of blaming one person for a decision-making process that over the last seven months has (and I’m being charitable here) fallen short of what the Wirral public deserve.

After all the politicians (who are supposed to hold the officers to account) and who’ve made the decisions so far have to accept some responsibility, as officers are only allowed to act within the agreed policy and budget framework (and yes I can imagine some readers laughing at this sentence).

Consultation RE: The Closure of The Lyndale School – March 2014

The following document is a list of the points that have been raised thus far by the parents of the children currently attending the Lyndale School.

The document contains a number of concerns and a list of questions that we would like to have answers to. A number of these questions have been asked in the past and we have received what have purported to be answers to them. We have considered the answers, and feel that they do not in any way address the points that have been raised. We have therefore prepared this document to clarify the questions that we would like answered as well as giving more detail for the avoidance of any doubt. As you are aware, we as parents, need to ensure that our children have the same standard of care and education as they have currently. We need to make sure that they have the same level of access to both inside and outside space, that they are safe at all times. We need to ensure that they enjoy the same freedoms and inclusion that they currently have. We do not believe that this is possible in any environment other than their current school. These questions have been put together due to those concerns.

  1. The Consultation Process

  • As you are aware, we have grave concerns regarding the consultation process as a whole. There are a number of questions in relation to the process as follows

  1. When will we be provided with a named council officer to assist us with procedural as well as other queries. We were promised council staff time and resources at the first Cabinet meeting and are still waiting for that help.
  2. Funding-

For band 4 and 5 top up, please clarify the following:-

  1. How many teachers per child have been allocated?

  2. How many TA’s per child have been allocated?

  3. Does nursing care come with this budget?

  4. Does Physio care come within this budget?

  5. Does Equipment come within this budget?

  6. How will the schools fund the additional equipment and capital expenditure which will be required for preparation of the school for our children eg changes within the school layout, decoration, provision of suitable outside space including sensory areas?

  1. Cross Funding – The funding cuts brought in by place lead funding represent a loss of £7000 per child. How exactly do they propose the saving to be met per child?

  2. If the children move schools, they will still be underfunded. Please confirm that the deficit will be met by cross funding from other pupils? This has been suggested on a number of occasions.

  1. SEN Improvement Test –

  1. Please confirm the exact procedure and process and confirm that this will look at not only Education, but also Safety, our childrens general well Being including Physiotherapy, Nursing, Sensory experience, Feeding, Space, and Toileting.

  2. We have been told that the test must be passed but have yet to be told who makes that decision as to whether the test is passed? It is clearly a very specialist area and the local authority will need the input of suitably experienced personnel. We wish to know who that will be and their level of qualification and expertise.

  3. We have been told that a needs assessment will be carried out on our children, as above, who will this be done by?

  4. Will there will be agreement between the local authority and ourselves as to the suitability of the person engaged to carry out the report?

  5. Please confirm that we will be asked to give permission for that person to access not only our children but their medical records?

  6. We also feel that it will be necessary for the parents and or carers of each child to be interviewed as the children are unable to communicate and the parents/ carers are best placed to advise on their own childs needs, please confirm that this will be done.

  7. We have been informed by Julia Hassall that each Medic involved with each child will be consulted, please confirm by whom and how this will take place.

  1. If when the SEN Report is done, it states that the SEN improvement test has not been met, what are the contingency plans? Does this mean Lyndale will stay open? Clearly any further period of uncertainty will be detrimental to the children and the parents/ carers as well as the staff and the school as a whole. We anticipate that the local authority will have contingency funds available to ensure that the school can remain open in the long term should the SEN improvement test not be met.

  2. Please confirm what will actually happen during the consultation? We are not knowledgeable nor experienced in local authority practice or procedure and need to have a clear picture of both including the timescale and dates of any proposed meetings and decisions.

  1. Please confirm we will be sent copies of any paperwork in relation to the consultation forwarding to us via paper copy or mail.

  2. We want assurance that all Councillors are looking at this from a Non Political and Non Personal view. We note from the Call In that all Councillors Labour voted – FOR and Conservative – AGAINST. We are firmly of the view that this is a political decision and want to be assured that it will be a decision based entirely on the needs of the children. I have to say that we were also quite alarmed that one of the Councillors at the call in mentioned that he personally knew the local authority witnesses and assured us that they were nice people ! We do not feel that that was at all appropriate to say and do not feel that that councillor was impartial and in fact he should not have been involved in that or any decision involving our school.

  3. Has there been an equality impact assessment done for:-

  1. SEN funding changes

  2. Lyndale Closure

  3. Schools Budget 2014/15

If there has, can we have a copy of the paperwork.

  1. The Options to be Considered

  1. How will the other options mentioned in the initial document provided by the Local Authority be assessed?

  2. Will the local authority look at the possibility of us becoming an academy as they would not then be involved in the running of the school?

  3. Will the 2-19 or in fact 2-23 be revisited. The last time this was looked at the reasoning behind the decision not to go ahead was flawed. The current trend in other boroughs is to make schools 2-19 and in fact in Cheshire its 2-23. Will the local authority look in detail at this proposal?

  4. At the call in it was mentioned a number of times that the consultation would look at options that had not yet been thought of, how will this be done? Will the local authority bring in expert help in looking at these options?

  1. The Closure of The Lyndale School and moving the children to Stanley and Elleray Park schools

If The Lyndale School should close:-

  1. How will the children be allocated to each school?

  2. Will allocation be on geography?

  3. Will allocation be on ability?

  4. Will allocation be on age?

  5. If the decision is based on choice, what if there is not an equal division? What if all parents want their children to go to the same school?

  6. What if parents decide that neither school is suitable? Will the LA fund out of borough schooling?

  7. Will each of the parents be able visit the respective schools once the new provisions are in place in order to assess them?

  8. At the time our children were allocated to The Lyndale School, neither Elleray nor Stanley School was considered suitable. What has changed?

  9. Are each of these schools going to cater for children aged 2-11 in just 2 groups or is the plan to integrate our children with the existing children in both Stanley and Elleray? It would clearly be very difficult to cater for such a large age range with, for example, only two small classes of children, it would mean that a child would potentially be in the same class and therefore the same class room for up to nine years.

  10. We have requested the incident reports from Meadowside, Elleray, Stanley and Foxfield Schools. These are necessary to look at any potential safety issues with our children both now and if they go through transition to secondary school. We have received inadequate information. Please confirm that these records will be obtained and provided to us. We do not want any details that would identify any of the children involved so there should be no data protection issues.

  1. STANLEY SCHOOL SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

Stanley School currently has 97-100 pupils and we are told that there will be 110 there within a very short space of time. It also has a waiting list. The school capacity is listed as 90(Information taken from letter from Julia Hassall dated 7 March 2014 – answer to question 8, table 2).

  1. Where are the spaces for our children?

  2. We have been told the capacity will be increased to 110. How will this be achieved?

  3. What if Stanley is already at 110 pupils when the consultation is in progress?

  4. If spaces are created somehow for our children, what happens to the children on the waiting list for Stanley school?

  1. Everyone knows the number of ASD and behavioral children is increasing, how will you cope with this if Stanley school is full and / or over capacity, where will the additional capacity be for any future increase in either ASD/ behavioural or PMLD children.

  2. On our Governors visit to Stanley School they had one spare classroom, however, they were told that once this school is at capacity this would be full. Where exactly are our children’s classrooms going to be and how many classes will they have? For example, for 10 children, we would need at least 2 classrooms, there are no spare classrooms in this school. We were told categorically that there was no plans to expend Stanley school however at the call in meeting Julia Hassle mentioned something about an extension, please clairfy.

  3. During our meeting with the Headmaster of Stanley and Julia Hassall, the Head informed us that he would have to stop their intake of children now, to accommodate our children in July 2015. Julia Hassall said at the call in that this is not the case, please clarify how this space is going be freed up at this school?

  4. Stanley school is low arousal. The Headmaster acknowledged that this environment would not be suitable for our children, as our children need constant stimulation. How is Stanley school going to create a stimulating, vibrant, colorful environment in and out of the classroom without impacting on existing children?

  5. How do they propose to get our children into school in the morning safely? Stanley has one door and one arrival point at present. This will be busy and noisy and a lengthy process. How can our children be offloaded quickly, quietly and safely whilst not coming into contact with the children who could potentially stress or injure them.

  6. How do they propose to get our children safely through the school during the day, will the school ensure enough staff to have one pushing the wheelchair and one walking with the child to ensure that they are safe?

  7. Stanley does not have communal lunch or assemblies. Our children do, on a regular basis, which they enjoy and which is an essential part of their development as it allows them a sensory and stimulating experience whilst allowing them to mix with the other children. How will this be replicated in Stanley?

  8. Outside space at Stanley is currently one open space sectioned off by green mesh fencing, there is no quiet area, no sensory area, nowhere suitable for wheelchair bikes. It is going to be an extremely noisy, unsafe and stressful environment. Our children currently spend a lot of time outdoors, especially during the warmer months, outside, enjoying the environment. How is this going to be replicated?

  9. Stanley does not have or as far as we are aware have never had any severely physically disabled and highly vulnerable children like ours. Are they proposing that our staff move with our children or that they take on new staff ?

  10. We as parents believe that Stanley was built with our children in mind and that the local authority were always minded to close our school. If that was not the case why was Stanley built with specific classrooms containing expensive and extensive hoisting equipment in one of their class rooms and in other communal rooms. They did not and still do not have any children needing them? (if any children did need them, they could be catered for via a portable hoist ).

  11. If it is a case of the local authority complying with equality regulations then please confirm why the Lyndale school has not been provided with such equipment and in fact has outdated and insufficient hoisting for their children .

  12. Nurses – Please confirm how many full time nursing staff will be at each school for the children? Stanley currently have no full time nursing care. This is clearly insufficient, if our children were to join the school due to their high medical needs. They currently have two nurses.

  13. Please confirm that the children will have a warm and cosy nursing room with a suitable nursing bed if they need nursing care and are unwell during the day. The current room does not have a suitable bed and is cold and unwelcoming.

  1. ELLERAY SCHOOL SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

Elleray currently has 92 pupils, their capacity (as per the same document referred to above) is 75.

  1. Why aren’t suitable children currently attending Stanley and Elleray being referred to The Lyndale School? We are aware of suitable children who have been told that they must go to Elleray.

  2. Elleray is currently oversubscribed by 17 children. We have been told that the extension is for the current population of children. Can you confirm that this is the case? If this is the case, where will the space be for our children?

  3. During a meeting with the head teacher and Julia Hassle we were told that if our children go to Elleray that the planned Library would not go ahead and would in fact be changed to provide new classrooms for our children. Surely this would be detrimental to the existing children? Are the Elleray parents aware of this fact?

  4. Elleray currently has no suitable outdoor space, no quiet area, and no outdoor sensory area. The outside area is very cramped and will be taken up further by the proposed extension. Where could this required outside space be created without taking space from the current children? How would the school ensure that this would be a quiet and safe area?

  1. How do they propose to get our children into school in the morning safely? Elleray has one door and one arrival point at present. This would be busy, noisy and time consuming with all children arriving on buses at the same time. Currently, the childrens Escorts are not allowed into the School to do the handover of the children to the classroom? How can they ensure a speedy, safe handover? Our Escorts play an extremely important part of our child’s transport and they convey a lot of important information to the staff. How can they ensure this would continue? How would the school ensure a safe journey into and through the school at the beginning and end of the day and in fact throughout the day?

  2. Whilst our parent governors were there a child was seen running unrestrained up the corridor being chased by a member if staff, this would obviously be a potential danger to one of our children. How would the school ensure that our children were protected and safe at all times and still had access to the school as a whole?

  3. Elleray does not have an open door policy to parents, this is vital. Please confirm that this will be changed as this is vital for parent’s confidence.

  4. Hydrotherapy – The pool is very small, this will be unsuitable for our children. There is no hoist from the changing area straight into the pool. The current method of transfer would not be suitable for our children who all have temperature regulation issues. The transfer takes far too long. Also, confirm how many hydrotherapy sessions our children will get per week? They currently get 2 per week. We were told that the children have class swims, how can the school manage this when each of our children need two staff in the water with them and some of our children have to stay in class due to medical issues, how will the school cater for the number of staff needed?

  5. Nurses – Please confirm how many full time nursing staff will be at each school for the children? Stanley currently have no nursing care and Elleray currently have 1. This is clearly insufficient, if our children were to join the school due to their high medical needs. They currently have two nurses.

  6. Elleray Park currently have a communal lunch and assembly, this is a very noisy and potentially stressful and dangerous experience for our children. How will our children be integrated safely into this or will they have to be confined to their classroom?

  7. How will the school ensure that they have sufficient staff to look after our children?

  8. Will the staff be taken from The Lyndale School?

  9. How many teachers and TA’s will be allocated per each child?

  10. How will the school ensure that they have enough staff for eg toileting – when needed, dependent on the child’s needs, each child can require changing between 3 and 8 times a day, 2 staff are required for each change and the appropriate number of staff are required to remain in the classroom with the remaining children. The Head Teacher at Elleray seemed to be under the impression that the children had staff from continuing care to look after these needs, the majority do not.

  11. How will the school ensure that there are staff available and trained to feed each child and administer water and vent gastrostomy tubes?

  12. How will the school fund the additional equipment needed for our children ie hoisting?

  13. Will the school ensure that they have a nurses room where a child can go if they are needing nursing assistance and “time out” due to feeling unwell during the day? Lyndale currently have this provision and Elleray do not.

We appreciate that these questions are numerous and detailed but this information should be readily available as part of the consultation and therefore expect a detailed answer to the same.

 

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If Lyndale School closed: what might happen next?

If Lyndale School closed: what might happen next?

Councillor Tony Smith (Cabinet Member for Childrens Services) talks at a meeting of Wirral Council's Cabinet about deciding to consult on closing Lyndale School (16th January 2014)
Councillor Tony Smith (Cabinet Member for Childrens Services) talks at the meeting of Wirral Council’s Cabinet which decided to consult on closing Lyndale School (16th January 2014)

If Lyndale School closed: what might happen next?

                                    

Usually I write about other people. However today because personal experience and stories shape who you are I felt the need to share some of my history as a child to make a number of points about the Lyndale School Closure consultation.

From ages four to ten, I went to a primary school in Upton that I really liked and enjoyed called St. Josephs Upton. At age ten, I was transferred to St. Josephs Birkenhead in the September of 1991. Both were great schools and this is in no way meant at all as any criticism of how either school was run.

I found myself taken away from the people I’d known and grown up with in Upton and put in an unfamiliar school I didn’t know my way round. To make things worse I no longer had my best friend to talk to and with it being the last year of primary school, the other kids had known each other for the last six years. I was the outsider.

Trying to make the best of a difficult situation I tried to fit in, but I found coping with the change very stressful, in fact extremely stressful would be a better way of describing it. To give one illustration, I remember collapsing and blacking out waiting in a dinner queue that week. The other kids and teachers did their level best to be welcoming, I can’t fault them on that but I just had a very hard time coping. It all took its toll on my health and after a week I ended up being admitted to Arrowe Park Hospital for days because the impact it had on my asthma.

In Arrowe Park Hospital, hospital school was only in the morning. I remember being puzzled that the school there finished at lunchtime and being told to go back to the ward! The staffing ratio (very different to the mainstream schools I was used to) was such that things were tailored on a very personal level and what the children could cope with because of their poor health. The small numbers of children there helped dispel the feelings I’d had of being lost (both in the feeling sense and literally as I didn’t know my way round) in a large school. In fact the small size of the hospital school (something that’s been given as a reason for closing Lyndale School down) was a positive for many reasons.

Five months later (still unhappy) I was transferred back to my previous primary school.

So why do I bring this up? Taking a young child out of a school and away from a school they’re used to, away from their friends, teachers they know and places they’re familiar with is something that very difficult to fully understand unless it has happened to you.

One of the points brought up by an officer during the consultation was that children have to change schools when they go to secondary school! This is not a fair comparison. The move to secondary school is very different as such a change is known and planned for years in advance. The change to secondary school everyone experiences together at the same time.

My health as a child is nowhere near the level of ill-health experienced by the children at Lyndale School. I’m sure (from an educational perspective) they have a somewhat comparable experience to that that I had at the hospital school, with a very tailored educational experience catering for their individual needs. Yet if one of them was put through what I describe above, whatever well-meaning “measures” are put in place by the “professionals” it would have far more damaging long-term effects than it did on me.

It wouldn’t be the same as what happened to me, it would be an experience far, far worse than a bad time from my childhood I still remember twenty-four years later. Julia Hassall has stated many times that the welfare of the children is important. Based on my personal experience (as outlined above), it was not in my interests for my primary school to be changed at age ten. The reasons given by the person who made the decision were to do with other people’s interests, not my interests and I had been against the change (but when does the world ever listen to a ten-year old?)

This is what will happen though if Lyndale School is closed and the children are transferred elsewhere. The children (the ones affected by this) won’t understand why it’s happening. There won’t be the option to go back as the Lyndale School will have been been closed. It will cause tremendous stress and upheaval that whatever the professionals may say about it being managed and measures being put in place to help with the transition, will have an effect on the children’s health.

Coping with the change will make the ones who have seizures more likely to have seizures. Those with breathing difficulties will have their condition made worse by the stress and as I did will black out (with all the problems that can cause). A certain proportion will react as I did and have such a rapid deterioration in their health that they end up in hospital. It may even shorten the life of some. These are extremely serious considerations.

Perhaps it is difficult for politicians that don’t have a professional background in education or health to fully understand these arguments. I’m sure there are some sceptics that feel that these effect are exaggerated by people keen to prevent the school being closed. They’re not!

History is littered with warnings and those who don’t heed its warnings are doomed to repeat its mistakes. I’m still around decades later, despite what happened to me to try and warn of what might happen.

In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol there is a ghost of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future. In this analogy Wirral Council is seen as Ebenezer Scrooge. The warnings of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come have been given loud and clear to any councillors listening. It is getting to the stage where Scrooge has to change his ways. In the book Scrooge became a kinder, generous and more compassionate person, will Wirral Council follow the same path on Lyndale School or end up making an unpopular wrong choice for the wrong reasons that could have very serious consequences?

Wirral Council has a legal duty to ensure that all its decisions are compatible with people’s human rights. I brought up the right to education at the last consultation meeting but what about the effect of closing the school on people’s right to life?

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Cllr Ann McLachlan “the key problem here that we have a high volume of FOIs from a small number of people”

Cllr Ann McLachlan “the key problem here that we have a high volume of FOIs from a small number of people”

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Wirral Council’s Cabinet discuss freedom of information (19th June 2014) starts at 2:29 in the video above


Wirral Council’s Cabinet discuss the Freedom of Information Scrutiny Review (19th June 2014) L to R Cllr Stuart Whittingham, Cllr Bernie Mooney, Cllr Chris Jones, Shirley Hudspeth, Surjit Tour, Cllr Phil Davies, Graham Burgess

Cllr Ann McLachlan “the key problem here that we have a high volume of FOIs from a small number of people”

                         

Wirral Council’s Cabinet discussed the Freedom of Information Scrutiny report, the Cabinet report, report and final report of the scrutiny panel can be viewed on Wirral Council’s website. The reason for it being on Cabinet’s agenda is that it was referred to Cabinet by the Transformation and Resources Policy and Performance Committee on the 14th April. I wrote a transcript of what was said then back on the 17th April so I’ll be following the same format here.

COUNCILLOR PHIL DAVIES (Chair)
Right, which takes us on to item 16 in the governance, commissioning and improvement. It’s the freedom of information scrutiny review. This was a piece of work done under the Transformation and Resources Policy and Performance Committee. I’m delighted that Councillor Sykes, you’ve come along tonight to Cabinet and it’s really good that we’re giving you kind of an opportunity just to make to talk to the recommendations. OK, thank you.

COUNCILLOR ADAM SYKES
Chair, I’ll keep things brief because everyone eager to get home.

COUNCILLOR PHIL DAVIES
What’s happening tonight?

COUNCILLOR ADAM SYKES
Apparently there’s some football. During the last municipal year, the Transformation and Resources Committee carried out a scrutiny review to look into the FOI performance of the Council. As we began the review, the Council already began taking steps to improve FOI response times after the Information Commissioner had investigated and asked us to make some improvements and I’d like you to know obviously that you know that improvement came, response times to over 85% now within the guidelines which has improved since this report was done.

Eight recommendations came out of the report which are detailed in the report so I won’t go through each individually but I’ll take any questions should people ask them. They basically covered a couple of areas, firstly having designated people who are responsible for FOI throughout the Council rather than the current situation which is different across the Council depending on departments which answer your question.

Also to produce a more consistent and robust process throughout the Council as to how the FOI request is tracked and how it proceeds to make sure things run on track and things move forward in a quick fashion. Finally, to also improve the monitoring for carrying out both the scrutiny duty in the, in the… finally note the improvement in that and also by councillors as well, a strategic review that the Council’s put in place. That’s the Chief Executive’s Strategy Group. So I’m happy to take any questions.

COUNCILLOR PHIL DAVIES
Thanks for that Adam, I’m going to ask our Cabinet Member who this item comes under Councillor Ann McLachlan just to respond to this report, Ann over to you.

COUNCILLOR ANN MCLACHLAN (Cabinet Member for Governance, Commissioning and Improvement)
Yes thank you, well, Chair I’d like to start by congratulating Adam and Councillor Whittingham I believe and it’s Councillor Muspratt who formed this scrutiny review for Council and undertook what is an excellent piece of task and finish work really helping us to refine and you know be more efficient in dealing with a particular problem area and certainly it’s an excellent piece of work and I’d really like to congratulate you but as you’ve pointed out Adam there are eight recommendations which flow from your, from your review and as a result of that now in conjunction with Surjit [Tour], Head of the Legal Service I’ve now worked on an action plan to address those eight recommendations.

Just briefly I’d like to talk about that Chair and what those actions will be, but suffice to say that those actions will be implemented between now and December and we will have further reports to Cabinet and certainly to Council on those and they will include the nomination of champions. So a single point of contact for FOIs within departments and I understand the strategic directors and heads of service will be identified in nominating champions and that action will be done fairly soon.

There are a number of actions that are going to relate to our CRM which is our customer relationship management software system and we’re going to look at that in particular in a number of areas. One is how can we do better recording and monitoring to shorten the timescales when we receive FOI requests and also a solution possibly to look at how we capture all the information about an FOI before it’s actually disseminated so we’ve got it all in one place and a further piece of work is going to be undertaken with our software also to look at whether it’s actually fit for purpose to deal with some of these issues and if it is identified that we actually need a new kind of piece of software then we’re going to ask for a business case to be brought forward to show that we demonstrate that that’s going to you know have some good outcomes for us.

Also in terms of one of the recommendations that you made was you know at what level in an organisation are the FOIs dealt with. From the FOI reporting is now going to be escalated to the Chief Executive and his Strategy Group but also and I think quite importantly to go to the policy and performance committees into our new performance management framework now. So you can actually have much more oversight in terms of scrutiny of this area.

Another piece of work is going to be undertaken to identify all the new trends and themes really, so we can categorise FOIs. You know that the key problem here that we have a high volume of FOIs from a small number of people who request them but are some of those on particular trends and themes, when we could create something on our website which would be like frequently asked questions so that information is there it’s readily accessible.

What we want to do is make sure that we’re as open and transparent as we possibly can be in order that we can lessen the number of FOI requests that need to put through the Council. Another piece of work that we’ll be undertaking with our marketing team to look at how is information structured and accessed on our website in other words how accessible is information? If you come onto the Council’s website and you’re trying to find something out, how easy is it? So we’re going to ask the department to kind of market test queries and see whether we need to do some work there but I think all in all what this piece of, this exercise has demonstrated is that members [councillors] working together have come up with shared solutions that are going to help us to deal with this in a more effective way.

It is going to involve some of internal systems, some of our ICT but again I’d like to thank you and I’d also like to thank Surjit [Tour] and his team and those people that are going to undertake the workload going forward and I’ll be looking forward Chair to reporting to the Cabinet and Council on what I hope will be you know will be a more successful story going forward in terms of the numbers of requests that we’re receiving. OK, thank you.

COUNCILLOR PHIL DAVIES
OK, thanks Ann, well can I suggest we agree kind of Ann’s sort of plan for taking this work forward and that means, I’d just like to reiterate I think it’s been a really excellent piece of work by the scrutiny team so well done Adam to you and your colleagues and thanks for coming along tonight to take us through it. OK, thanks very much. OK

COUNCILLOR ADAM SYKES
OK, I’d just thank the Cabinet Member and the officers for their response in a positive way in moving this forward and I’m grateful for the recommendations.

COUNCILLOR PHIL DAVIES
OK, thanks very much. OK, so we’ll agree that as a way forward. Is that agreed Cabinet?

CABINET
Agreed

COUNCILLOR PHIL DAVIES
Thank you.

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