A blog about Wirral Council, Wirral Council's councillors & officers
A blog about Wirral Council's public meetings, Wirral Council's councillors, Bidston & St. James ward and other public bodies on Merseyside
Following Wirral Council two years ago agreeing to lobby for an end to restrictions on cruise ships coming to Liverpool, it was pleasing to see last Friday on a Mersey Ferry trip the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship docked at the new cruise liner terminal. A photo I took of it from the ferry is below.
Following Wirral Council two years ago agreeing to lobby for an end to restrictions on cruise ships coming to Liverpool, it was pleasing to see last Friday on a Mersey Ferry trip the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship docked at the new cruise liner terminal. A photo I took of it from the ferry is below.
Yes, there isn’t much of a Wirral Council connection, other than Merseytravel’s sponsorship of the event, but below are a series of photos I took of the Liverpool Pride event on the 4th August 2012 (mostly of the parade). You can click on each thumbnail for a high quality photo.
This clip from Yes, Prime Minister reminded me of how minutes at public meetings at Wirral Council used to get produced. In the culture of Wirral Council though there are still shades of this going on, hope you enjoy.
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.
If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.
Wirral Council are recruiting a Senior Solicitor (Child/Adult Social Care), Senior Solicitor (Litigation/Governance) and Solicitor Child Care – Wallasey Town Hall.
Part of the reason I’d guess that Wirral Council is recruiting the Senior Solicitor (Litigation/Governance) is because the current Head of Legal and Member Services, Shirley Hudspeth isn’t a practising solicitor or barrister. When Wirral Council concentrates on internal promotions to fill posts, this is why you end up with anomalies like the Head of Legal and Member Services not being a practising solicitor or barrister.
Certainly there seems to be a cultural drive away from the past (subcontracting for external legal advice) to dealing with legal matters in-house. Bill Norman, Head of Law, HR & Asset Management did make the point in public meetings that he wanted more solicitors in house at Wirral Council (well just before he had to leave the room as the Tory councillors tried unsuccessfully to remove him as Monitoring Officer). It certainly would’ve led to a saving to the taxpayer as Wirral Council was at the time spending £millions/year in external legal advice. Yet for whatever reason the politicians at the time wouldn’t authorise the creation of the new posts required as corporate governance issues at Wirral Council weren’t once seen as the priority they are now.
Certainly some councillors prefer to rely on in house advisers employed by Wirral Council rather than have to spend months putting out a contract to tender before external adviser/s are agreed and appointed (and the delays can cause increased costs).
The papers for this meeting are here.
The meeting started ten minutes late and in a different room to the advertised Committee Room 4. Cllrs present on the panel were Cllr John Salter (Labour), Cllr Steve Niblock (Labour) and Cllr Cherry Povall (Conservative). Officers of Wirral Council were David Abraham (Legal Adviser), Anne Beauchamp (Committee Clerk) and Margaret O’Donnell (Licensing Manager). Representing Merseyside Police was Sgt Jenkins. Colin Fox (the proposed Designated Premises Supervisor) was represented by Samantha Brown/Ford of Napthens Solicitors.
When everybody came back, the Chair apologised for confusing Fox and Ford.
The decision was as follows:
“We have given careful consideration to the application made by Mr. Fox for the transfer of a Premises Licence in respect of the North Star, 294 Laird Street, Birkenhead. We have listened carefully to the representations by Mr. Fox and Mrs. Ford, his legal representative. We have considered the representations made in writing and orally by Sergeant Jenkins of the Merseyside Police.
In determining the application we have regards to the prevention of crime and disorder objective, the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy and the relevant guidance issued under s.182 of the Licensing Act 2003, in particular paragraph 8.99.
We’ve heard evidence from Merseyside Police, that they have serious concerns that the transfer of the Premises Licence to Mr. Fox would undermine the crime prevention objective. Merseyside Police gave evidence that when the premises was subject to a closure notice, it operated in a breach of that condition of the licence and an alleged serious sexual assault took place at the premises which is currently being investigated by Merseyside Police.
After these incidents have taken place, since Mr. Fox has been involved with the premises. We were not satisfied that the applicant Mr. Fox, as a holder of the Premises Licence …
2:01
to uphold the licensing objectives. We are not satisfied with the applicant’s responses, when he was asked to demonstrate what his responsibilities were and how the licensing objectives would be upheld by him, should the transfer of the Premises Licence be granted.
We also note that the applicant did not intend to take an active role in the running of the premises, that the lease…
his name..
Furthermore…
transfer the licence to a future
…
Designated Premises Supervisor.
2:47
In light of the above, we have considered it necessary to refuse the application by Mr. Fox, to transfer the Premises Licence in respect of the North Star, 294 Laird Street, Birkenhead. Thank you.