Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority | A blog about Wirral Council, Wirral Council's councillors & officers

What’s in Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service’s planning application for a new fire station in Saughall Massie?

Dan Stephens (Chief Fire Officer) answers questions at a public consultation meeting in Saughall Massie to discuss proposals for a new fire station thumbnail — Dan Stephens (Chief Fire Officer) answers questions at a public consultation meeting in Saughall Massie to discuss proposals for a new fire station

The planning application for a new fire station in Saughall Massie has been made to Wirral Council by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service.

The application number is APP/16/00985 and the description is, "A single storey two bay community fire station incorporating operational and welfare accommodation, offices and meeting space, external drill and training facilities and associated car-parking." at "land adjacent to SAUGHALL MASSIE ROAD, SAUGHALL MASSIE" .

The planning application form for this is 9 A4 pages long so I will summarise the details below. Further details are expected to be published on Wirral Council’s website in the near future.

You can make a comment supporting or objecting to this planning application on Wirral Council’s website which also contains the documents that are part of the planning application.

It is expected after a period of consultation with the public for the planning application to be decided by Wirral Council’s Planning Committee in October 2016.

1. Applicant Name, Address and Contact Details

Mr Colin Schofield
Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service
Merseyside FRS HQ
Bridle Road
Bootle
L30 4YD

2. Agent Name, Address and Contact Details

Mrs Dawn Coward
Ryder Architecture
Innovation Centre
131 Mount Pleasant
Liverpool
United Kingdom
L3 5TF

Tel: 0151 237 1300
Email: dcoward@ryderarchitecture.com

3. Description of the Proposal

A single storey two bay community fire station incorporating operational and welfare accommodation, offices and meeting space, external drill and training facilities and associated car-parking.

Has the building, work or change of use already started? No.

4. Site Address Details

Land of Saughall Massie Road
Saughall Massie
Upton
Wirral

Easting 325469
Northing 388515

5. Pre-application advice

Has assistance or prior advice been sought from the local authority about this application? Yes

Officer name:
Mrs Sheila Day
Department of Regeneration and Planning
04/11/2015

Details of the pre-application advice received:

Following request for pre-application advice and meetings with planning case officer and colleagues, a detailed response was received and covered the following:
– Advice on scale, massing and positioning of the building.
– Advice on landscaping
– Advice on highway interfaces and parking
– Review of ground investigation.
– Request for further particulars that justified the location of the fire station and evidence of community consultation
– Request for details of training procedures and frequency

6. Pedestrian and Vehicle Access, Roads and Rights of Way

Is a new or altered vehicle access proposed to or from the public highway? Yes

Is a new or altered pedestrian access proposed to or from the public highway? Yes

Are there any new public roads to be provided within the site? No

Are there any new public rights of way to be provided within or adjacent to the site? No

Do the proposals require any diversions/extinguishments and/or creation of rights of way? No

If you answered Yes to any of the above questions, please show details on your plan/drawings and state the reference of the plan(s)/drawings(s)

28042 – 691 – P2-A3.pdf
28042 – 692 – P2-A3.pdf
28042 – 693 – P2-A3.pdf
28042 – 615 – P2-A1 PLAN.PFG
J667 Saughall Massie Fire TS.pdf

7. Waste Storage and Collection

Do the plans incorporate areas to store and aid the collection of waste? Yes

If Yes, please provide details:
Enclosed bin store

Have arrangements been made for the separate storage and collection of recyclable waste? Yes

If Yes, please provide details:
Separate storage bins within bin store.

…..
9. Materials

Please state what materials (including type, colour and name) are to be used externally (if applicable):

Boundary Treatments – description:
Description of proposed materials and finishes:
Polyester powder coated mesh fencing, earth embankment retaining walls with soft landscaping treatment as appropriate.

Doors – description:
Description of proposed materials and finishes:
Polyester powder coated aluminium / steel

Lighting – description:
Description of proposed materials and finishes:
PPC steel / aluminium street lamps and aluminium bollards

Roof – description:
Description of proposed materials and finishes:
Aluminium standing seam cladding.

Vehicle Access – description:
Description of proposed materials and finishes:
Tarmacadam and concrete surfacing

Walls – description:
Description of proposed materials and finishes:
Aluminium standing seam cladding. Timber rain screen vertical cladding. Dark grey facing brickwork. PPC aluminium curtain walling in silver grey.

Windows – description:
Description of proposed materials and finishes:
Polyester powder coated aluminium

OTHER – description:
Description of proposed materials and finishes:
Polyester powder coated aluminium glazed overhead sectional doors

Are you supplying additional information on submitted plan(s)/drawing(s)/design and access statement? Yes

If Yes, please state references for the plan(s)/drawing(s)/design and access statement:

Design_and_access_statement_reduced_final.pdf
2864-01-MFRS_RYD-00-ZZ-DR-A-2000-S0-P2 – Location Plan.pdf
2864-01-MFRS-RYD-00-ZZ-DR-A-0001-S0-P1-Existing Site Information.pdf
2864-01-MFRS-RYD-00-ZZ-DR-A-2001-S1-P8-Site Plan.pdf
2864-01-MFRS-RYD-00-ZZ-DR-A-9001-D1-P3_Site Sketch Sections.pdf
2864-01-MFRS-RYD-00-00-DR-A-3001-S1-P6_Proposed GA Plan.pdf
2864-01-MFRS-RYD-00-R0-DR-A-3002-S1-P1_Proposed GA Roof Plan.pdf
2864-01-MFRS-RYD-00-ZZ-DR-A-3602-S1-P5-GA Elevations.pdf
2864-01-MFRS-RYD-00-ZZ-DR-A-3603-S1-P1-Training tower alternating position.pdf
2864-01-MFRS-RYD-00-ZZ-DR-A-3901-S1-P1_Typical Strip Section 01.pdf
2864-01-MFRS-RYD-00-ZZ-DR-A-3903-S1-P1_Typical Strip Section 03.pdf
2864-01-MFRS-RYD-00-ZZ-DR-A-3904-S0-P1_Typical Strip Section 04.pdf
2864-01-MFRS-RYD-00-ZZ-DR-A-3601-S0-P3_External Views.pdf
2864-01-MFRS-RYD-00-ZZ-DR-A-3801-S0-P1_GA Sectionss.pdf
Q10568-01.pdf
2864-01-MFRS-RYD-00-ZZ-VS-A-1402-S1-P1_CGI Street View Visualisation.pdf
3371.PR-03 Saughall Massie F&R Colour Landscape Layout.pdf
28042 – 615 – P2-A1 PLAN.PDF
Saughall Massie F&R General Arrangement Plan 3371_PR_01 rev A.pdf
Saughall Massie F&R Planting Plan 3371_PR_02 rev A.pdf
Saughall Massie F&R Tree Protection Plan_final_reduced.pdf
28042 Saughall Massie FRA rev 3 reduced.pdf
20662R01PKmdw.pdf
LG28042 – Phase I Preliminary Risk Assesment VrA SPLIT_Part1.pdf
LG28042 – Phase I Preliminary Risk Assesment VrA SPLIT_Part2.pdf
LG28042 – Phase I Preliminary Risk Assesment VrA SPLIT_Part3.pdf
28042 Drainage Assessment and Strategy REV 01.pdf
Leigh Ecology – Amphibian_Report – Merseyside Fire and Rescue Saughall Massie.pdf
Leigh Ecology – Ecological Appraisal – Merseyside Fire and Rescue Saughall Massie.pdf
28042 – 691 – P2-A3.pdf
28042 – 692 – P2-A3.pdf
28042 – 693 – P2-A3.pdf
70019-R-002 – Saughall Massie Fire Station – Travel Plan Framework_V2-2.pdf
70019-R-002 – Saughall Massie Fire Stn – TPF Appendices_V2-2.pdf
J667 Saughall Massie Fire TS.pdf
SM Heritage Statement February 16_reduced.pdf
2864_01_Statement of Community Involvement_FinalCombined.pdf
2864_01_Ryder Planning Statement – Very Special Circumstances FINAL 20160715

10. Vehicle Parking

Total proposed (including spaces retained)

Cars 11
Cycle spaces 12
Disability spaces 2
Motorcycles 4
Other (e.g. bus) 2

Short description of Other Fire appliances (note: within appliance bay)

11. Foul Sewage

Please state how foul sewage is to be disposed of:

Mains sewer

Are you proposing to connect to the existing drainage system? Yes

If Yes, please include the details of the existing system on the application drawings and state references for the plan(s)/drawing(s):
28042 Drainage Assessment and Strategy REV 01.pdf

12. Assessment of Flood Risk

Is the site within an area at risk of flooding? No

Is your proposal within 20 metres of a watercourse (e.g. river, stream or beck)? No

Will the proposal increase the flood risk elsewhere? No.

How will surface water be disposed of? Sustainable drainage system Main sewer

13. Biodiversity and Geological Conservation

Is there a reasonable likelihood of the following being affected adversely or conserved and enhanced within the application site, OR on land to or near the application site:

a) Protected and priority species
No

b) Designated sites, important habitats or other biodiversity features
No

c) Features of geological conservation importance
Yes, on land adjacent to or near the proposed development

14. Existing Use

Please describe the current use of the site:
Vacant land

Is the site current vacant? Yes

If Yes, please describe the last use of the site: Vacant grass land

Does the proposal involve any of the following? If yes , you will need to submit an appropriate contamination assessment with your application.

Land which is known to be contaminated? No

Land where contamination is suspected for all or part of the site? No

A proposed use that would be particularly vulnerable to the presence of contamination? No

15. Trees and Hedges

Are there any trees or hedges on the proposed development site? Yes

And/or: Are there trees or hedges on land adjacent to the proposed development site that could influence the development or might be important as part of the local landscape character? Yes

If Yes to either or both of the above, you may need to provide a full Tree Survey, at the discretion of your local planning authority. If a Tree Survey is required, this and the accompanying plan should be submitted alongside your application. Your local planning authority should make clear on its website what the survey should contain, in accordance with the current ‘BS5837: Trees in relation to design, demolition and construction – Recommendations’.

16. Trade Effluent

Does the proposal involve the need to dispose of trade effluents or waste? No

17. Residential Units

Does your proposal include the gain or loss of residential units? No

18. All Types of Development: Non-residential Floorspace

Does your proposal involve the loss, gain or change of use of non-residential floorspace? Yes

Total gross new internal floorspace proposed (including changes of use) (square metres) 737
Use Class/type of use: Other

19. Employment

If known, please complete the following information regarding employees:

Proposed employees 10 (full-time)

20. Hours of Opening

No Hours of Opening details were submitted for this application

21. Site Area

What is the site area? 4,950.00 sq. metres

22. Industrial or Commercial Processes and Machinery

Please describe the activities and processes which would be carried out on the site and the end products including paint, ventilation or air conditioning. Please include the type of machinery which may be installed on site:

Compressors for refilling and testing of breathing apparatus.
Hydraulic cutting devices for car cutting during road traffic collision simulation.

Is the proposal for a waste management development? No

23. Hazardous Substances

Is any hazardous waste involved in the proposal? No

24. Site Visit

Can the site be seen from a public road, public footpath, bridleway or other public land? Yes

If the planning authority needs to make an appointment to carry out a site visit, whom should they contact? (Please select only one)

The agent

25. Certificates (Certificate B)

Certificate of Ownership – Certificate B
Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 Certificate under Article 14
I certify/ The applicant certifies that I have/the applicant has given the requisite notice to everyone else (as listed below) who, on the day 21 days before the date of this application, was the owner (owner is a person with a freehold interest or leasehold interest with at least 7 years left to run) and/or agricultural tenant (“agricultural tenant” has the meaning given in section 65(8) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990) of any part of the land or building to which this application relates.

Owner/Agricultural Tenant
Wirral Metropolitan Council
Brighton Street
Wallasey
CH44 8ED

15/7/2016

Mrs Dawn Coward
AGENT
15/7/2016

26. Declaration

I/we hereby apply for planning permission/consent as described in this form and the accompanying plans/drawings and additional information. I/we confirm that, to the best of my/our knowledge, any facts stated are true and accurate and any opinions given are the genuine opinions of the person(s) giving them.

15/7/2016

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Would you like to see 2 invoices (totalling £153,250.61) for pre construction work on the Saughall Massie fire station project?

Below this are 2 two page invoices to Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service for work by their contractor Wates Construction Ltd. This is for pre-construction work on the Saughall Massie fire station (as far as I know a planning application hasn’t been yet submitted).

One invoice is for £99,686.90 (£119,623.31 including VAT) paid on the 4th March 2016, the second is for £28,022.75 (£33,627.30 including VAT) paid on the 17th March 2016.

There are also some emails that accompany the invoices which show:

a) The contractor originally didn’t put Saughall Massie on the invoice but Prescot (Prescot is about 18 miles away from Saughall Massie and is another fire station project),

b) Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service refused to pay the invoice until it was amended and Saughall Massie put on it,

c) the contractor submitted an amended invoice but then spelt Saughall Massie as Saughall Massey.

Sadly the valuation breakdowns of what these invoices were for which was included in the Draft Payment Notice e-mail has not been shared with me. Apologies if the images below take a while to load, I scanned them in in colour by mistake instead of black and white. This has the effect of increasing the file size.

0 Wates Construction Ltd invoice 26th February 2016 Saughall Massie Fire Station £119623.31 Page 1 of 2

1 Wates Construction Ltd invoice 26th February 2016 Saughall Massie Fire Station £119623.31 Page 2 of 2

2 email from Neil Bushell to Tina Woods and Stewart Woods re Wates invoice 94903 £99686.09

3 emails re Saughall Massie Payment Notice Number 1

5 Wates Construction Ltd invoice 26th February 2016 Saughall Massie Fire Station £33627.30 Page 1 of 2

6 Wates Construction Ltd invoice 26th February 2016 Saughall Massie Fire Station £33627.30 Page 2 of 2

7 email re Prescot Payment Notice Nr 12 - Saughall Massie Payment Notice Nr 2 — 7 email re Prescot Payment Notice Nr 12 – Saughall Massie Payment Notice Nr 2

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What were the top 10 most popular stories on this blog last month in June 2016?

Below are links to the ten most popular stories read on this blog last month (June 2016). Eight involve Wirral Council, one Liverpool City Council and the other Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service/Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority. All except one (the one about the regeneration of Birkenhead Town Centre) were published in June 2016. Two are on the topic of the recent First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) public hearing involving myself and Wirral Council.

I’m surprised the EU Referendum stories didn’t feature higher up in the list, but as the EU Referendum was held in the last week of June, those stories have had less time to be read than articles published nearer the start of June.

Councillor Steve Foulkes (left) at a Merseytravel Committee meeting (7th January 2016)

1. Why has Wirral Council sunk deeper into the quagmire of poor corporate governance surrounding a complaint about Cllr Steve Foulkes? (published 29th June 2016)

2. Secrets about Wirral Council’s Birkenhead Town Centre Regeneration revealed (published 27th December 2013)

3. Labour councillors reject Green Party proposal to reduce Mayor of Liverpool’s Allowance by £89,000 over a 4 year period (published 1st June 2016)

4. Surjit Tour asks Wirral councillors to agree to changes to how complaints about councillors are dealt with (published 3rd June 2016)

5. £206,000 extra for Wirral’s potholes, £170,000 for selling “ornamental pleasure gardens” and a land swap to a body that doesn’t exist! (published 13th June 2016)

6. What did Surjit Tour answer to questions about a Freedom of Information request to Wirral Council at the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) hearing (EA/2016/0033) (continued)? (published 22nd June 2016)

7. Disclosure of 46 pages of PFI contractor’s banking details by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service described as “oversight” (published 14th June 2016)

8. What was in the 11 A4 page witness statement of Surjit Tour (Wirral Council) about a Freedom of Information request for the minutes of a meeting of the Headteachers’ and Teachers’ Joint Consultative Committee (EA/2016/0033)? (published 17th June 2016)

9. Where is your polling station (for Wirral voters) for the 2016 EU Referendum vote? (published 23rd June 2016)

10. Liberal Democrat Leader Cllr Phil Gilchrist calls for cross-party unity on Wirral Council on issue of EU funding withdrawal (published 27th June 2016)

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Disclosure of 46 pages of PFI contractor’s banking details by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service described as “oversight”

The author of this piece is an Appellant in a First-Tier Tribunal (Information Rights) case involving Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority.

Today, the eighteen councillors on the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority met. One of the decisions they agreed was a constitution which includes the following (Members means councillors), “Members should avoid public criticism of individual Officers, as it is unfair and oppressive.”

Last year during the 2014/15 audit, I requested the North West Fire and Rescue PFI contract. This is the PFI contract with Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority for the Belle Vale, Birkenhead, Bootle/Netherton, Formby, Kirkdale, Newton-le-Willows and Southport fire stations on Merseyside as well as fire stations in Lancashire and Cumbria.

After Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority insisted I provide them with a blank DVD, a copy was provided to me on DVD which contained the entire contract. The contract (apart from 46 pages in section 4.7 (Bank account mandates and specimen signatures)) was published on this blog.

When it was published on this blog in October 2015, a former press officer working for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service Lyndsay Young phoned me asking me to remove the contract from my blog. I explained why I wasn’t going to do so and alerted her to the 46 pages of bank account mandates and specimen signatures that I had not published.

Last week Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority’s Audit Sub-Committee met and discussed the Corporate Risk Register which included the risk of data loss and the possibility of regulatory action by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). I requested a press officer be present for this meeting so I could ask for a quote from Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service about its disclosure of this information. This request was denied.

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service refused to comment (in part because of criticism in an article published that day about how Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority was managed and led) and instead asked us to speak to their solicitor on Tuesday 14th June.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Phil Garrigan (bottom left) tells Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority's Audit Sub-Committee 9th June 2016 about the risk of data being compromised — Deputy Chief Fire Officer Phil Garrigan (bottom left) tells Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority’s Audit Sub-Committee 9th June 2016 about the risk of data being compromised

After Deputy Chief Fire Officer Phil Garrigan’s glowing comments at that meeting about the efforts Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service had taken to prevent data loss at the Audit Sub-Committee meeting, I emailed the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Services’ auditors Grant Thornton alerting them to this and also asked the contractor Balfour Beatty for a quote.

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service’s position changed from their original “no comment” to an email requesting that the information be destroyed or returned (offering to pay any costs of doing so).

Louise McCulloch, Head of Media & PR for Balfour Beatty kindly gave us the following quote, “Last year, information relating to [the] North West Fire and Rescue (NWFR) [contract] in which Balfour Beatty has an interest, was inadvertently shared with an individual as part of a response to their request to the Fire and Rescue Authority under s 15(1)(a) of the Audit Commission Act 1998.

The Authority made NWFR fully aware of the oversight immediately. NWFR has taken the necessary steps to ensure no adverse impact.

NWFR has asked the Authority to request the individual destroy or return the information which has no public interest, which Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service has done.”

The 46 pages of disclosed information contain details of sort codes, account numbers, specimen signatures and names of those authorised to use various Barclays Corporate bank accounts connected to the PFI fire stations project run by Balfour Beatty.

Clearly this information should not have been disclosed to me, but it is worrying that Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service seemed to only realise this had happened after I told them first in October 2015 and again in June 2016!

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Interviews to happen with 8 consultancy firms over tender for confidential advice on cuts to Merseyside’s police and fire services

In the interests of openness and transparency I’ll declare at the outset that I’m the Appellant in a sub judice First-Tier Tribunal (Information Rights) case involving Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority (2nd Respondent).

I was briefly remembering what happened five years ago in 2011.

Five years ago (well four years and ten months ago) if you remember it was the summer when there were riots. The riots were so widespread the police had difficulty coping. It was similar reasons that led to the 1981 Toxteth riots.

The Lib Dems’ attitude towards ethnic minorities was unfortunately the kind of attitude (especially from one of the two parties in the Coalition government at the time) that led to the riots. I remember vividly being at a North West Lib Dem regional conference where a party member stood up and proudly stated to the entire room of dozens of party activists that he would never choose a candidate from an ethnic minority background. So if you wondered why all the Lib Dem MPs (and indeed many of their councillors) were white, male and pale you should understand now!

There was of course an uproar from those from ethnic minorities in the room and the chair had to settle things down before the person who’d said it got drowned out through a lot of shouting.

In 2011 a black man Mark Duggan was shot dead by the police, in 1981 the Toxteth riots followed the Brixton riots which were also triggered by poor relations between the police and ethnic minorities.

In fact I know someone who wrote a book From the Empire to the Rialto: Racism and Reaction in Liverpool 1918-1948 that discusses the reasons behind the Toxteth riots in more detail.

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Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority’s Police and Fire Collaboration Committee 7th June 2016

However what’s the point of mentioning the above? Well Tuesday’s meeting of the Police and Fire Collaboration Committee (you can watch video of the 13 minute meeting above) reminded me of a change in the culture of the police. A long time ago I used to report on the Merseyside Police Authority (before there was a Police and Crime Commissioner who started in November 2012), so I remember how matters involving Merseyside Police used to be.

In fact when I used to report on the Merseyside Police Authority it was obvious from the statistics shown to councillors that you were still far more likely to be stop searched in the Wirral area (although there were problems all over Merseyside to varying degrees) if you were from an ethnic minority background.

When Deputy Chief Constable, Andy Cooke, QPM (soon to be Chief Constable) didn’t use his microphone during the Police and Crime Collaboration Committee and my wife said she couldn’t hear, he apologised to my wife and turned it on.

Deputy Chief Constable Andy Cooke (with his microphone on) at the Police and Fire Collaboration Committee meeting of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority 7th June 2016

This shows things have changed. The police "half" of the committee has learnt from bitter experience that it is better to apologise, learn from and correct their mistakes and move on. This is indeed the very hard to learn cultural lesson to be take away from high profile matters that happened a long time ago involving the police as a whole.

One of the nine Peelian principles is, “To seek and preserve public favour, not by pandering to public opinion, but by constantly demonstrating absolutely impartial service to law, in complete independence of policy, and without regard to the justice or injustice of the substance of individual laws, by ready offering of individual service and friendship to all members of the public without regard to their wealth or social standing, by ready exercise of courtesy and friendly good humour, and by ready offering of individual sacrifice in protecting and preserving life.”

However the fire service/fire authority culture is different. The Chair interrupted the meeting to tell my wife off for interrupting (which he does while looking directly at me rather than her).

I’m really am not entirely sure why he looked at me when he was saying this rather than her? Did he want me to say something to her? Is he not aware of Article 21(1)?

I suppose I should just be glad that he didn’t start ranting at me like his former Labour colleague Cllr Niblock (who until recently was on the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority) once did.

Just for clarity I was standing up behind the camera, she was sitting down to my left. So you’d have to look in completely different directions to face myself or Leonora. You can hear clearly my response to him on the video above.

Bear in mind that already during the meeting two people had commented on the minutes and hadn’t ask permission for the Chair to speak and aren’t on the Police and Fire Collaboration Committee itself.

The Chair indeed didn’t say anything to them (for the purposes of clarity those two were I think from memory the Deputy Chief Constable referred to above and if I am correct the Chief of Staff for the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner)!

The recently elected Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside Jane Kennedy wasn’t there. Her Deputy PCC Cllr Sue Murphy was (yes Jane Kennedy had previously stated she wouldn’t have a deputy but changed her mind part way through her previous term of office). Thankfully this meant the meeting started on time as a previous meeting of this Committee had been delayed from starting because Jane Kennedy arrived late and the person chairing the meeting didn’t want to start without her.

The meeting of the Police and Fire Collaboration Committee agreed to hire consultants to advise them on how Merseyside Police, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (and Authority) and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside can work better together.

I realise some may well comment along the lines of isn’t this what managers in the public sector on six-figure salaries are paid to do? However have you ever heard of a public sector manager either volunteering to offer themselves the sack or massively reducing the headcount they manage?

Yet in these times of seemingly never ending austerity, you the 1.4 million members of the public on Merseyside who finance the fire service may well ask why does more money need to be spent on consultants?

Eight organisations have applied for the role and there will be interviews later this month. You can read the detail here.

There are many areas within the Corporate Services Review, you can read the list on page 3 here.

Unusually (as they seem to have been quite vocal at previous meetings about the impact on jobs) as far as I could tell the trade union representatives weren’t present for this meeting.

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What’s in Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service’s planning application for a new fire station in Saughall Massie?

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Would you like to see 2 invoices (totalling £153,250.61) for pre construction work on the Saughall Massie fire station project?

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What were the top 10 most popular stories on this blog last month in June 2016?

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Disclosure of 46 pages of PFI contractor’s banking details by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service described as “oversight”

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Interviews to happen with 8 consultancy firms over tender for confidential advice on cuts to Merseyside’s police and fire services

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