Wallasey | A blog about Wirral Council, Wirral Council's councillors & officers

EXCLUSIVE: How many pages did Wirral Council black out from a 63 page litter enforcement contract with Kingdom Security Ltd?

Yesterday I received through the post what I hope is the last of what I requested during the 2015-16 audit. Yes, I know that Wirral Council was supposed to supply this contract by 11th August 2016 within the 30 working day inspection period but matters move slowly at Wirral Council.

What I was sent on the litter enforcement contract I publish a copy of below. If any page is difficult to read, I’ve had to resize the images and compress them for publishing on this blog.

For those who don’t know the background is that the litter enforcement function used to be done in-house at Wirral Council. From July 2015 it was outsourced to Kingdom Security Limited. I’m rather surprised by how much has been blacked out from the contract, but the invitation to tender explains that it’s a 2 year contract with an option to extend for a year.

Wirral Council require at least 4 full-time enforcement officers and interestingly don’t issue fixed penalty notices to people under 18. Enforcement officers have to hold a SIA licence, and be “of good character, polite and confident with proven experience of dealing with conflict situations”.

The Council ask that a minimum of 4,800 fixed penalty notices are issued each year. There are two interesting bits about the press which I quote below (it’s a gagging clause).

“2.10.1 Neither the Contractor nor his Employees shall give or offer to permit to be given, any information concerning the Services for use by or publication in the press or radio, television or cinema screens, or in any other media whatsoever without the written approval of the Council’s Authorised Officer.

2.10.2 The Contractor shall under no circumstances use the name of the Council in any advertisement or press release without express written permission thereof.”

Here’s another interesting bit, “5.1 .. In order to incentivise the contractor to reach the minimum requirement of 4800 FPNs, the pricing schedule enables tenderers to specify a different fixed price for all justified FPN’s [sic] issued over 4800 per annum.”

Unfortunately Wirral Council have decided to black out the method statements at pages 20 to 39 of the contract and the pricing schedule at pages 45 to 46. Those with long memories will remember some stories in the local press about fixed penalty notices issued, then rescinded by Wirral Council.

Below is the contract (or at least the parts Wirral Council was happy with the public seeing), many of the blacked out bits are subject to a public interest test.

Wirral Council litter enforcement contract Kingdom Security Ltd cover page 1

DATED 3rd July 2015

WIRRAL BOROUGH COUNCIL

and

KINGDOM SECURITY LTD

AGREEMENT

THE PROVISION OF LITTER ENFORCEMENT

Surjit Tour
Head of Legal and Member
Services
Town Hall
Brighton Street
Wallasey
CH44 8ED

Continue reading “EXCLUSIVE: How many pages did Wirral Council black out from a 63 page litter enforcement contract with Kingdom Security Ltd?”

Election Result (Wirral Council, 2016): Wallasey: Conservative hold (Ian Lewis)

Wallasey Ward

Name of candidate	Description (if any)	Votes	%
LEWIS Ian	Local Conservatives	2,249	50%	Elected
MCGENITY Bill	Labour Party	1,574	35%	Not elected
RODGERS John Eric	Green Party	241	5%	Not elected
HEATHERINGTON Adam Giles	UK Independence Party	234	5%	Not elected
CODLING John Richard	Liberal Democrats	191	4%	Not elected

There were 19 rejected ballot papers, the electorate was 11,672 and the turnout was 39%.

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Liverpool City Region Combined Authority decides to freeze Mersey Tunnels cash tolls for 2016/17 at 2015/16 levels, reduce Fast Tag tolls in 2016/17, not charge tolls on Christmas Day 2016 and no tolls for emergency vehicles

Councillors on the Merseytravel Committee met on Thursday afternoon to decide on a recommendation on Mersey Tunnel tolls for 2016/17. Their recommendation was accepted at a meeting of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority that met the following day on Friday morning.

You can view video of the Merseytravel Committee meeting on Youtube below (starting at agenda item 6 (Mersey Tunnel tolls).

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Merseytravel Committee meeting 4th February 2016 starting at agenda item 6 (Mersey Tunnel tolls) (1m45s)

You can view video of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority meeting on Youtube below (starting at agenda item 10 (Mersey Tunnel tolls 2016/17) below.

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The decision made was that cash tolls would be kept the same for 2016/17 as they were in 2015/16. The cash toll levels decided for 2016/17 are shown below.

Vehicle Class	2016/17 Cash toll
1	£1.70
2	£3.40
3	£5.10
4	£6.80

The price for Fast Tag tolls was reduced for 2016/17. Below is a table of 2016/17 Fast Tag tolls compared to 2015/16.

Vehicle Class	2016/17 Fast Tag toll	2015/16 Fast Tag toll
1	£1.20	£1.40
2	£2.40	£2.80
3	£3.60	£4.20
4	£4.80	£5.60

There were also other changes agreed for 2016/17. Tunnel tolls will be waived for all classes of traffic between 10 pm on Christmas Eve (24th December 2016) to 6 am on Boxing Day (26th December 2016). All designated emergency vehicles will no longer have to pay tolls in 2016/17.

These were the votes on the Mersey Tunnel tolls decision at the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority meeting.

FOR THE PROPOSAL (4)
Mayor Joe Anderson (Liverpool City Council) FOR
Cllr Phil Davies (Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council) FOR
Cllr Andy Moorhead (Knowsley Council) FOR
Cllr John Fairclough (Sefton Council) deputy for Cllr Ian Maher (Sefton Council) FOR

ABSTENTION (1)
Cllr Rob Polhill (Halton) ABSTAIN

Reacting to the decision, John McGoldrick representing the Mersey Tunnels Users Association stated that “the [Liverpool City Region Combined] Authority would still be making a massive profit from the Tunnels and that most users of the Tunnels would not be seeing the reductions in tolls promised last year.”;

During the meeting of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Cllr Phil Davies (pictured below) said,

Cllr Phil Davies speaking about Mersey Tunnel tolls for 2016 17 at the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority meeting on the 5th February 2016

“Yeah, I’d just like to say a few things about this. I welcome the recommendations of Merseytravel yesterday and the recommendations in this report.

Errm, I think I just need to record the fact that I’ve been involved in the errm the Task Group that’s been looking at this so, this issue errm, but I clearly wanted to, to hear what the outcome of the meeting is today was and I do endorse the approach.

I mean from each err, errm, we did make a commitment in the devolution deal that we gain control of the finances of the Mersey, Mersey Tunnels, errm and certainly you know, wearing my Wirral hat, I think this is definitely a big move forward, errm.

You know, the id.., the fact that the errm the cash toll has been frozen for a further year is great news but even more importantly the Fast Tag, which is effectively a local discount, is being reduced by 20p. So that would mean that errm, there’ll be a 50%, 50p discount per a journey, using the Fast Tag which if you’re travelling, if you’re travelling each day, it could be a saving of £5 a week.

So I think this is err, you know if I can use the expression, I think this is the kind of devolution dividend deal if you like, the deal that was signed with government, I think it will help local people who use the Fast Tag and local businesses. Errm and I really think this is a good demonstration of the value we’re getting already from the devolution deal but finally Chair I’d like to say I’m hoping in future err years we can go even further.

I think we need to do err more work, err more, I know there are more discussions errm err going on with government about us gaining even greater control over the finances of the Tunnels. Certainly from a personal point of view, I’d like to see us continue to drive down the costs of the err tunnel tolls for residents particularly local users, but I do welcome the recommendations in the report. Thanks Chair.”

Just for clarity, the discount for Fast Tag users (compared to cash tolls) for 2016/17 is not 50% as stated by Cllr Phil Davies. It’s (to the nearest percent) 29% for class 1, 29% for class 2, 29% for class 3 and 29% for class 4.

The new tolls for 2016/17 will come into effect on Sunday 3rd April 2016. If you wish you can apply for a Fast Tag on the Mersey Tunnels website here.

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Where are the Remembrance Sunday services on the Wirral on the 8th November 2015?

Remembrance Sunday 2012 at the War Memorial Birkenhead Hamilton Square

There will be many services to mark Remembrance Sunday on the Wirral on the morning and afternoon of the 8th November 2015.

The Mayor of Wirral, Cllr Les Rowlands will be attending the service held at The Cenotaph in Hamilton Square, Birkenhead in the morning and the service at the War Memorial in Thornton Hough in the afternoon.

These are details of when and where the Remembrance Day Services for 2015 will be:

Morning

10.55 The Cenotaph, Hamilton Square, Birkenhead

10 o’clock Christ Church, Kings Road, Bebington, followed by a service at the Higher Bebington British Legion at noon.

10 o’clock St Mary’s Church, Eastham

10.15 St. Barnabas Church, Bromborough

10.30 St. Oswald’s Church, Bidston

10.45 Grange Hill, West Kirby

10.45 St. Peter’s Church, Lower Village, Heswall, followed by wreath laying at The Cenotaph, Heswall

10.30 for The Cenotaph, corner of Maryland Lane and Pasture Road

10.15 for The Parade will leave the Royal British Legion, Wallasey for a 10.55 am Service at the War Memorial, Magazines Promenade, New Brighton

10.00 for Short Service at St. Stephen’s Church followed by 10.45 a.m. War Memorial at Junction of Osmaston Road and Prenton Lane, Prenton

10.45 War Memorial outside the Public Library, Ford Road, Upton

10.45 War Memorial, Port Sunlight Village followed by a service at Christ Church, Port Sunlight Village

If crossing the River Mersey to Liverpool on Remembrance Sunday, larger crowds than usual are expected for the Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph, St George’s Plateau because of the ceramic poppy art installation "The Weeping Window" at St Georges Hall. It’s expected there will be large numbers of people there and road closures will be in place by 9.30 in the morning.

Afternoon

2.20 for Service at the War Memorial, Thornton Hough 2.45

The Merseytravel journey planner is useful for the times of public transport when travelling to and from Remembrance Sunday services.

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Where are the free Wirral Council firework displays on the 5th November 2015?

Fireworks display photo Photo by Portobay Trade

Photo above is by Porto Bay Trade. Image was compressed from the original for use online and is used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic licence.

Wirral Council will run firework displays starting at 6.30pm on the evening of the Thursday 5th November 2015.

The firework displays will be held at the following locations:

Birkenhead Park (Lower Park, Night Pasture football pitch) Park Dr, Birkenhead, Merseyside CH41 4HY
Central Park (cricket pitch) Off Liscard Road, Wallasey, CH44 8AA
Lingham Park Edgehill Road, Moreton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH46 6AN
Mayer Park Off Higher Bebington Road, Bebington, Wirral CH63 7PL
Mersey Park Tranmere, Birkenhead, Wirral CH42 6PA
Upton Park Upton, Wirral CH49 4NQ
Woodchurch Community Centre, Carr Bridge Rd, Wirral CH49 8EU .

In addition there will be a community display at Leasowe Adventure Playground, Oxley Ave, Wirral, Merseyside CH46 1RU.

At the time of the firework displays this evening the weather forecast is for a 20% (1 in 5) chance of rain, a temperature of 13 degrees centigrade (which will feel like 11 degrees centigrade due to the wind). The wind direction will be SSE at 10 mph with gusts of up to 19 mph.

The Merseytravel journey planner is useful for the times of public transport when travelling to and from fireworks displays.

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EXCLUSIVE: How many pages did Wirral Council black out from a 63 page litter enforcement contract with Kingdom Security Ltd?

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Election Result (Wirral Council, 2016): Wallasey: Conservative hold (Ian Lewis)

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Liverpool City Region Combined Authority decides to freeze Mersey Tunnels cash tolls for 2016/17 at 2015/16 levels, reduce Fast Tag tolls in 2016/17, not charge tolls on Christmas Day 2016 and no tolls for emergency vehicles

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Where are the Remembrance Sunday services on the Wirral on the 8th November 2015?

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Where are the free Wirral Council firework displays on the 5th November 2015?

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