Are Wirral councillors about to make another Town Hall bungle on education?

Are Wirral councillors about to make another Town Hall bungle on education?

Are Wirral councillors about to make another Town Hall bungle on education?

                                

Cabinet 17th December 2014 vote on Lyndale School closure L to R Cllr Tony Smith (Cabinet Member for Education), Cllr George Davies, Cllr Ann McLachlan
Cabinet 17th December 2014 vote on Lyndale School closure L to R Cllr Tony Smith (Cabinet Member for Education), Cllr George Davies, Cllr Ann McLachlan

Pictured above is Cllr Tony Smith (Cabinet Member for Children and Family Services) who has political accountability to the public for education at Wirral Council.

For those with long memories, who read my article The reasons why Wirral Council’s Lyndale School call in is being delayed or the Wirral Globe article headlined Town Hall bungle means Lyndale meeting called off you will recall when I pointed out to a certain Monitoring Officer called Surjit Tour who works for Wirral Council that the call in over the Lyndale School closure wasn’t lawful. He agreed with me and the public meeting had to be postponed.

Regulations that the last Labour government brought in The Education (Parent Governor Representatives) Regulations 1999 require the education committee of a local council, to have a minimum of two and a maximum of five parent governor representatives with voting rights.

Many councils appoint three, so that if one should cease to be a parent governor at that school, die, or indeed not turn up to meetings for six months without sending apologies and therefore be removed it doesn’t drop below two.

Wirral Council next week meets at Wallasey Town Hall on Tuesday 16th May 2017, see here to appoint its committees for the 2017-18 municipal year, although the agenda and reports are here.

As previously stated on this blog, the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee (which covers education) is proposed to be split into two new committees, the Adult Care and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Children and Families Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

The People Overview and Scrutiny Committee, currently has only has one parent governor representative on it.

Below is video of Cllr Steve Foulkes explaining why Wirral Council can’t carry on with only one parent governor representative (although at the time the Committee he was referring to had none).

So why are Wirral Council seemingly ignoring this legal requirement in 2017?

Will Councillor Steve Foulkes remember next week what he stated in 2014? Or do the Wirral public just have more political fudge to look forward to next week from a council whose leadership, management and governance of education was rated inadequate by OFSTED last year?

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Coordinating Committee (Wirral Council) 5th February 2014 Part 1 of 2

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Coordinating Committee (Wirral Council) 5th February 2014 Part 2 of 2

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Election Result (Wirral Council, 2017): Claughton: Labour hold (Gillian Wood)

Election Result (Wirral Council, 2017): Claughton: Labour hold (Gillian Wood)

Election Result (Wirral Council, 2017): Claughton: Labour hold (Gillian Wood)

                                 

Polling station 4th May 2017 resized
Polling station 4th May 2017 resized

Please note we would have been happier reporting from the count centre about half a mile away but Wirral Council were not happy with the press being there.

Election Result (Wirral Council, 2017): Claughton: Gillian Wood (Labour Party)

Claughton Ward (2017)
 
Name of candidate     Description (if any)  Votes   %
Wood
Gillian
 Labour Party  1,761   52%   Elected
Evans
David Robert Cynlais
 Liberal Democrats  740   22%   Not elected
Sinclair
Barbara Vera  
 Conservative  567   17%   Not elected
Heydon
Liz
 Green Party  136   4%   Not elected
Jones
Beryl Rosina
 UK Independence Party   130   4%   Not elected
Wheddon
Leon Allen
 Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition   27   1%   Not elected

There were 11 rejected ballot papers, the electorate was 11,336 and the turnout was 30%.

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Voting begins in LCRCA Mayoral election and Claughton byelection (polls close at 10 pm)

Voting begins in LCRCA Mayoral election and Claughton byelection (polls close at 10 pm)

Voting begins in LCRCA Mayoral election and Claughton byelection (polls close at 10 pm)

Holy Cross primary school Bidston polling station Bidston St James 4th May 2017 resized
Holy Cross primary school Bidston polling station Bidston St James 4th May 2017 resized

Today is polling day (polling stations are open between 7am and 10pm) in Bidston, Birkenhead.

Here in Bidston people receive two votes in the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Mayoral election.

Above is a photo of my local polling station. When I took it I was filming into the sunshine (which is not considered good practice), but it wasn’t until I viewed it I realised what the photo meant. The thumbnail is above or you can click on it for a better resolution photo.

The no stopping sign outside is an excellent summary of Wirral Council’s bossy attitude. The spikes on the gates represent Wirral Council’s bunker mentality.

The sign (up for one day only) represents a small nod towards democracy and the public having a say. Yes the public that Wirral Council are there to serve.

Secrecy is of course something Wirral Council enjoys as that way nobody can dare criticise how they decided something!

Perhaps I am reading too much into one photo I took.

Inside the polling station was a queue of people waiting to vote. However it wasn’t very busy and the Presiding Officer seemed keen to see us leave.

So polling day, the beginning, a new dawn, a new day. The end of something and the start of a new beginning.

Results of both elections are expected tomorrow.

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What’s in the nomination papers of the 6 candidates wanting to be a councillor for Claughton? (Wirral Council)

What’s in the nomination papers of the 6 candidates wanting to be a councillor for Claughton? (Wirral Council)

What’s in the nomination papers of the 6 candidates wanting to be a councillor for Claughton? (Wirral Council)

                              

Ballot Box
Ballot Box by NAS of the Noun Project provided under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States (CC BY 3.0 US) licence Original has been resized and converted to a .jpg file

In the interests of openness and transparency in the Claughton byelection, I am publishing the nomination papers of each candidate during the election rather than after.

These are open to public inspection until 3rd May 2017 (the day before the poll).

Each form contains the candidates’ address, date of birth and the names of ten electors in Claughton who support their candidacy (referred to as proposer, seconder and eight assentors).

Each candidate has to sign to state they accept the nomination.

In addition to the nomination paper and candidates’ consent to nomination, candidates standing on behalf of a political party have to submit extra paperwork around the use of descriptions and party logos on ballot papers. This paperwork is not included here.

In order to be fair, the list is alphabetical by candidate surname (which is the order they will be on the ballot paper).

There is no deposit required to stand as a candidate for local councillor.

Please note each file below is a multi-page TIFF bitmap file.

EVANS, David Robert Cynlais (Liberal Democrat)
HEYDON, Liz (Green Party)
JONES, Beryl Rosina (UK Independence Party)
SINCLAIR, Barbara Vera (Conservative Party Candidate)
WHEDDON, Leon Allen (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition)
WOOD, Gillian (The Labour Party)

If for whatever reason a candidate’s nomination paper is invalid* a Returning Officer (in this case Eric Robinson) can disqualify that candidate before the result is declared.

*There are 101 reasons it could be, but some have been corrected to correct errors.

I’d like to thank Wirral Council for the time involved in supplying the above information.

Polling day for the Claughton byelection is Thursday 4th May 2017.

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Merseyrail strike – What will happen next? (Claughton byelection)

Merseyrail strike – What will happen next? (Claughton byelection)

Merseyrail strike – What will happen next? (Claughton byelection)

                                

Bidston Train Station (Borderlands Line and Wirral Line) 13th August 2016 (John Brace)
Bidston Train Station (Borderlands Line and Wirral Line) 13th August 2016 (John Brace)
“What power have you got?
Where did you get it from?
In whose interests do you exercise it?
To whom are you accountable?
How can we get rid of you?”
 

The Claughton byelection and Metro Mayor election raise wider political issues than just about what happens in Claughton.

Claughton’s only train station is Upton train station (which ironically is unaffected by the strike action and track renewal disruption on the Merseyrail network) as it’s on the Borderlands Line run by Arriva Trains Wales.

One of Claughton’s existing councillors Councillor Steve Foulkes is on the Merseytravel Committee and commented albeit somewhat reluctantly about the issues to do with Merseytravel, Merseyrail and the RMT. Cllr Steve Foulkes is on Liverpool City Region Combined Authority’s Merseytravel Committee and is the Lead Member for Strategy and Finance.

After a number of strike days (including during the high-profile Aintree Grand National), Merseyrail and the RMT union resumed talks.

Unfortunately you can read the RMT press release here and the Merseyrail press release here.

Talks have unfortunately broken down.

Ultimately this political issue is a matter that disrupts (in conjunction with track renewal work scheduled to finish on the 18th June 2017) travel by train for many people across Merseyside.

The incoming Metro Mayor will ultimately be politically accountable to the people for transport in the Liverpool City Region (Merseyside plus Halton) area. It is Merseytravel that decided on the franchise agreement to Merseyrail.

Personally, I know people on all sides of this dispute but hope whoever is elected as Metro Mayor on Friday will work with others and show the political leadership required to resolve this issue.

The alternative is years of strike action. Under the terms of the franchise agreement between Merseyrail and Merseytravel Merseyrail receive money for any lost revenue as a result of strike days. This money comes out of your taxes.

Polling day for both the Metro Mayor election and Claughton byelection is Thursday 4th May 2017.

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