Category: Cabinet

Cabinet (Wirral Council) 24/11/2011 Part 2, Minutes (3/11/2011) Strike arrangements for 30th November

The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on the 3rd November 2011 were agreed. Cllr Steve Foulkes asked for an officer to give an update on the first item of Any Other Business. Chris Hyams said they had received notification of a twenty-four hour strike on the 30th November due to change to pension arrangements. … Continue reading “Cabinet (Wirral Council) 24/11/2011 Part 2, Minutes (3/11/2011) Strike arrangements for 30th November”

The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on the 3rd November 2011 were agreed.

Cllr Steve Foulkes asked for an officer to give an update on the first item of Any Other Business.

Chris Hyams said they had received notification of a twenty-four hour strike on the 30th November due to change to pension arrangements. She reeled off a list of unions including UNISON, GMB, UNITE, NAT, NASUWT and others. She also said a number of trade unions not recognised by Wirral Council were involved too.

They had put in place appropriate arrangements as detailed in the Emergency Plan. All contacts had been asked in or to make themselves available on the day of the strike. She explained one of these employees had strike exemption. There would be Gold level planning at the regional level. A number of criteria meant some employees were given a strike exemption such as services that affect “life and limb”. By Monday 28th November 2011 they would finalise the posts covered. Services such as the Emergency Duty Team & Central Action and Duty Team (Out of Hours) were exempt from the strike, as were staff providing minimum cover at children’s and residential homes.

There were also a number of personal exemptions by the trade unions for example pregnant women or those who’d received notice they would retire in the next twelve months. There would be an impact on schools, some would close, especially as the headteacher’s union had voted for a strike. There was a Department for Education deadline of Friday 24th November. There was an issue about reporting arrangements for those who were not part of a trade union or don’t choose to strike.

Cabinet (Wirral Council) 24th November 2011 Declarations of Interest Part 1

Present:
Cllr Steve Foulkes (Chair) (Finance and Best Value)
Cllr Chris Meaden (Culture, Tourism and Leisure)
Cllr Harry Smith (Streetscene & Transport Services)
Cllr Ann McLachlan (Children’s Services & Lifelong Learning)
Cllr Anne McArdle (Social Care & Inclusion)
Cllr Jean Stapleton (Community & Customer Engagement)
Cllr Adrian Jones (Corporate Resources)
Cllr Phil Davies (Regeneration & Planning Strategy)
Cllr George Davies (Housing & Community Safety)
Cllr Brian Kenny (Environment)

Cllr Steve Foulkes started the meeting at 6.15pm saying he was going to take three items of Any Other Business first as they were urgent. He was pre-warning people. He wanted a verbal update on the one day strike. Cllr George Davies had an announcement to make on housing funding and he wanted a quick verbal on issues about gas supplies in Leasowe and Moreton East, as well as a further future report on the lessons learnt.

Cllr Jeff Green said there was speculation surrounding the Serious Fraud Office investigation.
Cllr Steve Foulkes said he had not been informed that the situation had changed, although he was aware of some things.

He asked for declarations of interest.

Cllr Phil Davies declared an interest in item 12 as he was a trustee of the Wirral Food bank, however as he was not a Council appointed trustee, he asked Bill Norman for advice as to whether the interest was personal or prejudicial.
Bill Norman replied that in his opinion it was personal, not prejudicial.
Cllr Chris Meaden declared an interest in item 5 (Annual Children’s Services Assessment 2011) because of her daughter’s employment.

Cllr Harry Smith Goes Back To School – S P E E D I N G

Harry Smith goes back to school

I’m always interested what my local councillor, Cllr Harry Smith is up to. According to a Wirral Council press release he’s been photographed at Greasby Junior School in an event run by Merseyside Police and Wirral Council.

Cllr Harry Smith was there to learn about speeding outside Greasby Junior School. A group of adults speeding past the school were invited in to be grilled by schoolchildren. Each adult was talked to by the children for an average of twenty minutes each (nine in total). This was part of Road Safety Week. Three other adults received three penalty points and a £60 fine. Cllr Harry Smith was there in his capacity as a councillor, he was not one of the adults who’d been speeding.

John Brace said, “I have campaigned on many road safety campaigns over the years and am always pleased when the issue of speeding is highlighted. Children are more vulnerable to speeding traffic than adults and it is irresponsible of drivers to speed past schools. The road outside a local primary school, Gautby Road outside Gautby Road Primary School is in a 20 miles per an hour zone. So are many other local schools.

However, it requires greater enforcement by Merseyside Police of the existing laws if a few careless motorists will be deterred from their risky behaviour. As the Labour-led Merseyside Police Authority has cut the police budget this year by many millions of pounds, it will become increasingly hard for local police to respond to resident’s concerns in this matter.”

Cabinet 3/11/2011 Part 1 Motions (Inflation, Projected Budget & PACSPE call-in)

The agenda and reports are here.

There were three motions at last week’s Cabinet meeting. They are all below.

Agenda Item: Provision for Inflation 2012-2013

Cabinet agrees all the recommendations, Cabinet asks Chief Officers to contain any price inflation costs within their existing budgets, as it notes that the long term Government assumption of inflation costs is set at 2% which is the amount contained within the projected budget, and that this will equate to a savings of £4.2m at a time when the Council is facing serious financial pressures.

Agenda Item: Budget Projections 2012-2015

Cabinet notes, with dismay, that the projected budget gap is likely to rise by 2014/15 to nearly £47m as a result of likely changes in the Local Government Resource Review and the implications of new legislation.

Cabinet recognises that these are projections based on what is known or anticipated at the moment on a pro rata basis between authorities, and could perhaps be even worse than anticipated when the direct impact on Wirral is calculated.

Cabinet expresses its grave concern that potential cuts at this level will be extremely damaging to Wirral’s services and to the people of Wirral at a time when the country’s economy is facing a slide into depression and poorer areas will once more be those which are hit the hardest.

Agenda Item: Parks and Countryside Services Procurement Exercise (PACSPE) – Outcome of Call-In

This Cabinet has considered carefully the resolution submitted to it by the Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee;

It recognises the detailed work that went into the procurement process and the Gateway Reviews that were carried out as part of that process and does not question the thoroughness of those Reviews or the dedication and ability of those carrying out those Reviews;

However, the Cabinet believes that this does not alter the fact that detailed unit costs and specific activity levels, which would have allowed for full comparator costs to be available to check against the tender specifications, were not available and that this would have left the Council open to the same criticism on the PACSPE contract that was levied against the HESPE contract:

  • Cabinet recognises the seriousness of the qualification by the District Auditor of the Council’s Value for Money statement and of the warning to Members that they should be aware of the increased risk of letting a ten year contract if there is only very limited information on the costs and activity levels of the existing service because there is nothing to monitor against when assessing whether or not letting the contract has delivered better value for money.
  • Cabinet further considered the position that the cost of contractual inflation over a period of three years at current CPI levels would erode any savings delivered by outsourcing the contract and in subsequent years could increase costs to the Council.
  • Cabinet was further mindful that this decision was being taken when a highly critical Corporate Governance report had just been published which pointed in general to weaknesses in the Council’s commissioning, managing and where necessary dismissing failing contractors and suppliers.
  • Cabinet, therefore, re-iterates its decision taking on 22 September 2011 and re-affirms the full content of the resolution passed, as stated in Cabinet Minute No. 117, including its confidence in the ability and commitment of the workforce to deliver an excellent service, with proper support and good management, over the next ten years.

Corporate Governance Committee (Wirral Council) 26th October 2011 5.00pm (Committee Room 1) Part 1

The agenda and reports for this committee can be found by clicking on this link.

Present:
Corporate Governance Committee
Chair, Cllr Steve Foulkes
Cllr Phil Davies
Cllr Adrian Jones
Cllr Anne McArdle
Cllr Ann McLachlan

Co-optee (no voting rights) Cllr Jeff Green
Co-optee (no voting rights) Cllr Tom Harney

Also present

Officers

Bill Norman (Borough Solicitor)

Jim Wilkie (Chief Executive)

Ian Coleman (Director of Finance & Deputy Chief Executive)

David Smith (Deputy Director of Finance)

Also

Anna Klonowski
A couple of members of the public/press
A number of other officers

Cllr Foulkes, once the microphones had been put out began the first meeting of the Corporate Governance Committee.

He said he couldn’t start the meeting without him [Cllr Jeff Green]. Some jokes were made about Cllr Jeff Green’s smoking habit and the people present waited for Cllr Jeff Green to return. Once he returned Cllr Foulkes asked for any declarations of interest. No declarations of interest were declared.

Cllr Foulkes said there’d be a slight change to the agenda as Chris Hyams [Head Of Human Resources & Organisational Development] needed to leave early as Cllr Foulkes said she had worked hard. Therefore they would be dealing with item 7 first which was on performance management, along with its six appendices.