EXCLUSIVE: Wirral Council spent £1,009.35 on “media training” for councillors and a further £57,659.24 on legal costs over unreasonable land charges

Jim Hancock invoice media training Wirral Council councillors

Wirral Council spent £1,009,35 on “media training” for councillors provided by Jim Hancock. The training was provided to councillors on the 16th March 2016, 27th April 2016 and 14th June 2016.

Part of the cost of the training were three round trips from Lymm to Wallasey (81 miles each time) charged to Wirral Council at 45 pence a mile costing £109.35.

I will declare an interest in the next part of this article as I’m currently awaiting a permission to appeal decision in relation to costs relating to an Environmental Information Regulations request (which doesn’t relate to land charges) which will be decided by the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights).

In an update to a story from last year about overcharging by Wirral Council, Wirral Council paid a further £57,659.24 to its lawyers Bevan Brittan in a dispute over unreasonable land charges. This followed a First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) case that ruled that such charges were unreasonable.