Category: 2012 Budget

Council (Wirral Council) 12/12/2011 Part 4 Agenda Item 3 (Petitions), Agenda Item 4 (Minutes), Agenda Item 5 (Leader’s Announcements)

Agenda Item 3 Petitions Cllr Lesley Rennie presented a petition of 92 residents of Wallasey who wanted improvements to road safety in reference to a primary school. Cllr Stuart Wittingham presented a petition of 58 from Ackers Road, Woodchurch. Edit: 20/12/2011 Apologies to Cllr Steve Williams as this blog post initially incorrectly stated that he … Continue reading “Council (Wirral Council) 12/12/2011 Part 4 Agenda Item 3 (Petitions), Agenda Item 4 (Minutes), Agenda Item 5 (Leader’s Announcements)”

Agenda Item 3 Petitions

Cllr Lesley Rennie presented a petition of 92 residents of Wallasey who wanted improvements to road safety in reference to a primary school.
Cllr Stuart Wittingham presented a petition of 58 from Ackers Road, Woodchurch.

Edit: 20/12/2011 Apologies to Cllr Steve Williams as this blog post initially incorrectly stated that he presented the petition of 58 from Ackers Road, Woodchurch when this should have been Cllr Stuart Wittingham. [7]

Cllr Harry Smith presented a petition of approximately 600 from Pensby & Thingwall about road safety at a primary school there. He said this was a rolling petition.

Cllr Harry Smith took his petition to the one of the committee clerks.

Agenda Item 4: Minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on the 11th October 2011 were agreed and the minutes of the meeting held on the 17th October 2011 were agreed.

Agenda Item 5: Leader’s Announcements

Cllr Steve Foulkes said on a high note he thanked Madam Mayor for hosting the Queen on her recent visit and wished that more councillors could have been invited. They had invited the voluntary sector and the Armed Forces to a one hour lunch and it had been a “great day”. He thanked Cllr Tom Harney and Cllr Jeff Green and said they had not had a royal visit for some time. Cllr Foulkes was proud of what we showed the Queen and made a plea to councillors to think.

As Leader of the Council, the corporate governance reforms were proceeding. There was a deadline of April 2012, which depended on the ability of the Corporate Plan which was linked to the 2012/13 Budget. He said it hadn’t happened before that the Corporate Plan had to be taken to a Scrutiny Committee. However a compromise had been reached. There would be a special meeting of the Scrutiny Committee and a special Council meeting by the 9th January 2012. This would allow things to be read and for issues to feed back into the 2012/13 Budget.

Madam Mayor thanked Cllr Steve Foulkes.

Cabinet (Wirral Council) 8th December 2011 Part 4 Council Tax Base 2012/2013, Council Tax Discounts, Council Tax Discounts Consultation, Insolvency and Charging Orders Policy, Capital Program (2012-2015)

Ian Coleman said report 4 (Council Tax Base 2012/2013) was an annual update and the basis for the grant settlement. Cllr Foulkes asked if the Cabinet were happy to endorse it and it was agreed.

Ian Coleman then introduced the report on Council Tax discounts. He said there were a range of discounts in line with legislation, some they had the power to vary. Cllr Foulkes asked about the second home issue and his opinions on that. Ian Coleman said it was too soon to say although he wasn’t suggesting any changes to it. Cllr Foulkes said he was happy to accept it and it was agreed.

Ian Coleman introduced agenda item 6 (Council Tax Discounts – Consultation on Technical Reform) as a Department of Communities and Local Government consultation paper. He said it didn’t cover the Single Person Discount which was not included in the consultation. However second homes, empty homes, solar panels and annexes were included. There was a proposed response attached as an appendix.

Cllr Foulkes asked the Cabinet if they were happy to agree the response. It was agreed.

Ian Coleman introduced the report on Insolvency and Charging Orders Policy. He said there were minor amendments which was being updated because of legislation changes. Cllr Foulkes asked if Cabinet were happy to agree the policy, so it was agreed.

Ian Coleman then introduced the Capital Program and Financing for 2012-2015 which was to be sent to the Department for Communities and Local Government who would decide the final grant at the beginning of February. There had been a review because of slippage in 2010/2011 which had a knock on effect on 2011/2012, there had also been some delays to projects in 2011/12 and 2012/13. Projects had made bids for money with the weightings agreed by Cabinet and those that scored highest went ahead. Cllr Foulkes said he was happy to endorse it and it was agreed.

Cabinet (Wirral Council) 8th December 2011 Part 1 Motions (libraries, Autumn statement, 0% Council Tax increase)

There were three motions to Wirral Council’s Cabinet meeting. For each motion you can click on the images for a larger version. The motion on libraries strategy is below, which will mean libraries will be open on Wednesdays and at lunchtimes after the merge with the One Stop Shops is complete.

Libraries motion (Cabinet) Wirral Council 8/12/2011

The second motion is on the Chancellors’ Autumn Statement.

Autumn statement motion (Wirral Council) Cabinet 8/12/2011

The third motion was on the Budget and is across two pages. It signals the minority Labour administration’s desire to have a 0% Council Tax increase for 2012/2013.

Projected Budget Motion (Wirral Council) Cabinet 8th December 2011 Page 1 of 2


Projected Budget Motion (Wirral Council) Cabinet 8th December 2011 Page 2 of 2

Audit & Risk Management Committee (Wirral Council) 29th November 2011 Part 2 Budget Projections 2012-2015

Cllr Simon Mountney also asked about the processes in place.

David Taylor-Smith said it was a decision of the administration, they were provided with the information which was then discussed. The Budget would be set by the statutory deadline.

Cllr Simon Mountney asked about actions taken by officers.

David Taylor-Smith said that there were a number of processes. There was the Budget Simulator which was running to the 30th November. The administration was making deliberations.

Cllr Simon Mountney said the decisions were based on a game?

David Taylor-Smith said there were assumptions and the report was a projection. It had been quickly revised over the 1% in 2013. There were also implications for Housing Benefit. He asked if Cllr Simon Mountney wanted him to share such matters with the Chair and spokespersons? He said the Budget Projections was a regular report to Cabinet and the latest projections would be in the next report. There had been announcements today but the next meeting would be mid January.

Cllr Ron Abbey asked if there was signficant movement then it should be shared with the Chair, Deputy Chair and spokespersons, as the longer it was delayed the less time they had.

Cllr Alan Brighouse asked if there were enough resources to fulfill the requirements of the Budget process?

David Taylor-Smith said it was kept under regular review.

Cllr Jim Crabtree asked what officers were doing to stay within projected budget spends?

David Taylor-Smith said that was up to individual Chief Officers. The budget allocations went to Cabinet along with assurances. He was happy to take specific instances to Chief Officers.

Cllr Jim Crabtree and the committee agreed the report and moved to item 4 (Internal Audit Update).

Audit & Risk Management Committee (Wirral Council) 29th November 2011 Part 1, Declarations of Interest, Minutes (28/9/2011), Budget Projections 2012-2015

Present:

Labour
Cllr Jim Crabtree (Chair)
Cllr Darren Dodd (Vice-Chair)
Cllr Irene Williams
Cllr Ron Abbey

Conservative
Cllr Simon Mountney (Spokesperson)
Cllr James Keeley
Cllr Sue Taylor (deputy for Cllr Jeff Green)

Liberal Democrat
Cllr Alan Brighouse (Spokesperson)

Officers present
Tom Sault
Surjit Tour (Legal adviser)
Mark Delap (Committee Clerk)
David Taylor-Smith

Also
Mike Thomas (District Auditor)
Liz Temple-Murray (Audit Commission)

Surjit Tour after talking with the Chair Cllr Jim Crabtree left the room. Mike Thomas said that agenda item 9 (Audit Commission) HESPE Follow Up Report would not be dealt with tonight.

Cllr Jim Crabtree said he would like to make a start and welcomed people to the meeting. He asked for any declarations of interest. None was declared. The minutes of the meeting held on the 28th September 2011 were agreed.

David Taylor-Smith introduced the Budget Projections 2012-2015 report. He said it was a regular report to Cabinet and referred to page nineteen, which dealt with the shortfall in each of the next three financial years. There were processes to address the issues rather than debate over how the shortfall would be found. He asked for any questions.

Cllr Jim Crabtree invited Cllr Darren Dodd to speak.

Cllr Darren Dodd asked him to “tell us more about the processes in place”?

David Taylor-Smith said the Director of Finance reported to the Cabinet meetings. He said the Cabinet and the Executive behind the scenes had regular debates over planning and how the [Labour] administration responded to the reports was up to them.