Regulations allow “virtual” public meetings of local councils and other local government bodies in England from Saturday 4th April 2020

Regulations allow “virtual” public meetings of local councils and other local government bodies in England from Saturday 4th April 2020

Regulations allow “virtual” public meetings of local councils and other local government bodies in England from Saturday 4th April 2020

                               

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Planning Committee (Wirral Council) 19th March 2020

Cllr Ian Lewis at a public meeting of Wirral Council’s Planning Committee held on the 19th March 2020 at Wallasey Town Hall
Cllr Ian Lewis at a public meeting of Wirral Council’s Planning Committee held on the 19th March 2020 at Wallasey Town Hall

At Wirral Council’s last Planning Committee meeting held on the 19th March 2020 Cllr Ian Lewis referred to the Government’s intention to allow councils to hold public meetings virtually. Indeed a report on that meeting was previously published on this blog under the headline Wirral Council’s Planning Committee suspends meetings and rules due to COVID-19.
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Councillors hear why Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority’s reserves are £2.5 million lower than expected

Councillors hear why Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority’s reserves are £2.5 million lower than expected

Councillors hear why Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority’s reserves are £2.5 million lower than expected

                                           

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Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority) 21st June 2019 Part 1 of 2

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Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority) 21st June 2019 Part 2 of 2

Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority) 21st June 2019 left Carl Beer (Chief Executive), right Cllr Tony Concepcion (Chair)
Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority) 21st June 2019 left Carl Beer (Chief Executive), right Cllr Tony Concepcion (Chair)

Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (also known as Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority) had a public meeting on Friday 21st June and video of that meeting can be watched above. The two councillors representing Wirral Council on it are Cllr Tony Norbury (Labour) and Cllr Steve Williams (Conservative) who were both present.
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How are 275 invoices connected to Wirral Council’s plans to change food waste and green bin collections?

How are 275 invoices connected to Wirral Council’s plans to change food waste and green bin collections?

How are 275 invoices connected to Wirral Council’s plans to change food waste and green bin collections?

                                

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Wirral Council’s Cabinet meeting 27th June 2016 (item 9 Domestic Refuse Collection Outline Business Case starts at 25 minutes 21 seconds)

Wirral Council Cabinet meeting at Birkenhead Town Hall Thursday 12th March 2015 Left to right Surjit Tour, Cllr Phil Davies and Joe Blott
Cllr Phil Davies (centre) chairs Wirral Council’s Cabinet who will decide whether to change green bin collections later this year

When I read the Wirral Globe article about the proposed changes to bin collections (which may include a new food waste collection and possibly changes to the green bin collection) that have been delayed, I remembered that I received invoices from Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (also known as Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority) earlier this week.

Wirral Council have the legal responsibility for collecting rubbish from households on the Wirral (which they do through a contract with Biffa), but Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority then deal with what to do with the rubbish (and charge a levy to Wirral Council and other local councils).

Earlier this year, during the 30 working day period when you can do so, I requested copies of 275 invoices paid by Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority over the last financial year (2016-17).

Out of the invoices supplied electronically, one was missing and one was a duplicate. I flagged this up with Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority and have since been supplied with the correct invoices.

This is invoice 186 (that was missing originally from what I was sent).

This is invoice 67 (that was originally duplicated with a different invoice already supplied.

The invoices are supplied in batches of fifty due to file size limits on emails. One of the invoices is for MWDA’s share for this study by Local Partnerships which included Wirral. At Wirral Council’s Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee last month it was stated that changes to Wirral’s waste collection were on hold while a regional study was being finished.

Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority 2016-17 Invoices 1-50

Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority 2016-17 Invoices 51-100

Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority 2016-17 Invoices 101-150

Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority 2016-17 Invoices 151-200

Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority 2016-17 Invoices 201-250

Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority 2016-17 Invoices 251-275

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What are 10 invoices paid by Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority totalling £4,758,470.23 for?

What are 10 invoices paid by Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority totalling £4,758,470.23 for?

What are 10 invoices paid by Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority totalling £4,758,470.23 for?

                                

Below are ten A4 images of invoices I requested during the 2015-16 audit of Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (that goes by the name of Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority).

They are in order from Mersey Waste Holdings Ltd, Veolia ES Merseyside & Halton Limited, FCC Recycling (UK) Limited, Wirral Council, JLT Speciality Limited and Liverpool City Council.

Some are for payments made to do with contracts, the one with Wirral Council is to do with a loan (MRDF stands for Merseyside Residual Debt Fund which MWDA’s share of the former Merseyside County Council’s debts), insurance and business rates to Liverpool City Council for the Gilmoss Waste Transfer Station in Stonebridge Lane.

Amounts for these invoices are for £2,136,797.83, £1,253,141.93, £650,990.21, £472,906.96, £182,600, £37,741.30 and £24,892 (total £4,758,470.23).

However, a good proportion of that ~£4.8 million is VAT as well as a small amount of insurance premium tax. Interestingly one of the invoices shows they are already processing kitchen waste in February 2015, which is part of a 6 week Wirral Council consultation on introducing kitchen waste collections to the Wirral as well as changes to the green bin collections.

I will point however that the costs of dealing with waste on these invoices is at the county level of Merseyside (possibly with Halton added too). Wirral Council’s share will be a fraction of what the total costs are).

Matters involving the current consultation by Wirral Council on food waste and changes to the green bin collection were recently the subject of a call in public meeting (26th July 2016) when opposition councillors requested that the Cabinet decision be reviewed. You can watch footage from that meeting below which discusses the proposed changes to the green bin collections and proposed new food waste collection.

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Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Wirral Council) 26th July 2016 Call in of Cabinet decision on consultation on green bins and food waste


0 Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority Mersey Waste Holdings Ltd £2136797.83 Landfill Services Contract Page 1 of 1 February 2015
0 Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority Mersey Waste Holdings Ltd £2136797.83 Landfill Services Contract Page 1 of 1 February 2015
1 Veolia ES Merseyside and Halton Limited £1253141 93 Waste Management and Recycling Contract Page 1 of 2 March 2015
1 Veolia ES Merseyside and Halton Limited £1253141 93 Waste Management and Recycling Contract Page 1 of 2 March 2015
2 Veolia ES Merseyside and Halton Limited £1253141.93 Waste Management and Recycling Contract Page 2 of 2 March 2015
2 Veolia ES Merseyside and Halton Limited £1253141.93 Waste Management and Recycling Contract Page 2 of 2 March 2015
3 Veolia ES Merseyside and Halton Limited £6509901.21 Waste Management and Recycling Contract Page 1 of 2 February 2015 min
3 Veolia ES Merseyside and Halton Limited £6509901.21 Waste Management and Recycling Contract Page 1 of 2 February 2015 min
4 Veolia ES Merseyside and Halton Limited £6509901.21 Waste Management and Recycling Contract Page 2 of 2 February 2015
4 Veolia ES Merseyside and Halton Limited £6509901.21 Waste Management and Recycling Contract Page 2 of 2 February 2015
5 FCC Recycling (UK) Limited £472906.96 Interim Waste Services Management Agreement Page 1 of 1 February 2015
5 FCC Recycling (UK) Limited £472906.96 Interim Waste Services Management Agreement Page 1 of 1 February 2015
6 Wirral Council £182600 MRDF 2nd instalment 14 15 Page 1 of 1
6 Wirral Council £182600 MRDF 2nd instalment 14 15 Page 1 of 1
7 JLT Speciality Limited £37741.30 Comined Liability Insurance Page 1 of 1
7 JLT Speciality Limited £37741.30 Comined Liability Insurance Page 1 of 1
8 Liverpool City Council £248965 non domestic rates Gilmoss Waste Transfer Station Page 1 of 2
8 Liverpool City Council £248965 non domestic rates Gilmoss Waste Transfer Station Page 1 of 2
9 Liverpool City Council £248965 non domestic rates Gilmoss Waste Transfer Station Page 2 of 2
9 Liverpool City Council £248965 non domestic rates Gilmoss Waste Transfer Station Page 2 of 2

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Why did Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority spend £24,000 + VAT on 4 half hour TV programmes and a short promotional film about re-use and recycling called We Are Stardust?

Why did Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority spend £24,000 + VAT on 4 half hour TV programmes and a short promotional film about re-use and recycling called We Are Stardust?

Why did Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority spend £24,000 + VAT on 4 half hour TV programmes and a short promotional film about re-use and recycling called We Are Stardust?

I’ll start this piece by declaring an interest in that I receive money from working in the broadcast media.

This is a continuation of a series on my experiences doing a citizen audit of local Merseyside public bodies relating to the 2015/16 financial year that started last Friday with Would you like to see 2 invoices (totalling £153,250.61) for pre construction work on the Saughall Massie fire station project?. As a local government elector I obtained this information by exercising a time limited right (there is a 30 working day window each year) using the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, s.26.

Below is a short note about some information revealed to myself on the 19th July 2016 by Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority (the public name of Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority).

Just for information, Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority received £15.531 million from Wirral Council in the 2015/16 financial year and the two councillors from Wirral Council currently appointed to it are Cllr Steve Williams (Conservative) and Cllr Irene Williams (Labour).

The below documents are details of £24,000 + VAT spent with Brightmoon Media/Bay TV on four 30 minute TV programmes (plus a short promotional film) with a working title of We Are Stardust.

The producer was Roger Appleton and the Executive Producer for Bay TV Chris Kerr. The Executive Producer for Merseyside Recyclicing and Waste Authority was Stuart Donaldson.

The programmes are about waste prevention, recycling and reuse. As far as I know I haven’t seen the programmes myself, but I just thought you dear reader would like to know the detail about how local council taxpayers’ money is spent. So I include what was provided to myself below by Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (whose motto is Merseyside… a place where nothing is wasted).

Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority Contract S 5011 C Brightmoon Media Bay TV Page 1 of 7
Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority Contract S 5011 C Brightmoon Media Bay TV Page 1 of 7
Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority Contract S 5011 C Brightmoon Media Bay TV Page 2 of 7
Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority Contract S 5011 C Brightmoon Media Bay TV Page 2 of 7
Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority Contract S 5011 C Brightmoon Media Bay TV Page 3 of 7
Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority Contract S 5011 C Brightmoon Media Bay TV Page 3 of 7
Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority Contract S 5011 C Brightmoon Media Bay TV Page 4 of 7
Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority Contract S 5011 C Brightmoon Media Bay TV Page 4 of 7
Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority Contract S 5011 C Brightmoon Media Bay TV Page 5 of 7
Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority Contract S 5011 C Brightmoon Media Bay TV Page 5 of 7
Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority Contract S 5011 C Brightmoon Media Bay TV Page 6 of 7
Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority Contract S 5011 C Brightmoon Media Bay TV Page 6 of 7
Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority Contract S 5011 C Brightmoon Media Bay TV Page 7 of 7
Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority Contract S 5011 C Brightmoon Media Bay TV Page 7 of 7

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