Category: 2012 Budget

West Wirral Area Forum 6/10/2011, Neighbourhood Plans, United Utilities roadworks (Hoylake) Part 3

Cllr Jeff Green started talking, but someone from the audience said they couldn’t hear him, so the wireless microphone was passed to him. He continued by thanking Tracey Smith and her team for the opportunities that local residents had been given to feed into Neighbourhood Plans. He wanted to make a point about the number … Continue reading “West Wirral Area Forum 6/10/2011, Neighbourhood Plans, United Utilities roadworks (Hoylake) Part 3”

Cllr Jeff Green started talking, but someone from the audience said they couldn’t hear him, so the wireless microphone was passed to him. He continued by thanking Tracey Smith and her team for the opportunities that local residents had been given to feed into Neighbourhood Plans. He wanted to make a point about the number of responses and the quality of responses. He said if you went to West Kirby Primary School, it would not be surprising if road safety especially speeding around schools was brought up. If they chatted to youngsters it was not suprising, however he was interested in the broader picture and not taking things for granted.

Resources were following the Neighbourhood Plans, which Cllr Green said were “only as good as the people who contributed” to them. He didn’t want a small number of people to set the agenda, as most people [present at the Area Forum] came to every one of the meetings. He asked Tracey if she agreed?

Tracey Smith, Senior Community Engagement Co-ordinator replied in the affirmative.

Deputy Mayor Cllr Gerry Ellis said that they should “take the opportunity” and that “the council would take some notice”. He said the “main attraction of the evening is Dave Green”. He also mentioned the display and that from Monday United Utilities would be digging up the road in Market Street and Birkenhead Road. There would be disruption to traffic.

Peter Cummings from United Utilities said the display illustrated the areas affected, but they would be working with Wirral Council’s Head of Traffic.

Deputy Mayor Cllr Gerry Ellis mentioned the work on the railway. Peter Cummings said the United Utilities work had been delayed. Deputy Mayor Gerry Ellis opened it up to the floor for questions.

Council Excellence Overview and Scrutiny Committee Wirral Council 27th September 2011 Part 5 Budget Projections 2012/2015

Ian Coleman referred Cllr Brighouse to paragraph 4.5.1 on IT Services. He said that Cabinet had agreed to savings of £500,000 then £400,000 a year which by year 4 comes to £1.7 million. He said that each year the efficiency investment fund was used, mainly for staffing and needed to be replaced. Cllr Alan Brighouse asked a further question. Ian Coleman gave the example of a Director could need three staff costing £100,000. However these three staff costing £100,000 could lead to a £300,000 saving.

Cllr Brighouse asked about Early Voluntary Redundancy (£3 million)? Ian Coleman said till 2017 and referred to 5 years of pension contributions. Cllr Gilchrist pointed out that Early Voluntary Redundancies can be capitalised. Ian Coleman said they had applied for capitalisation of statutory redundancy pay which was used in 2010/2011. Also people were going in 2011/12. In May they had applied for 2011/12, they had applied for £4 million. There had been an outline agreement, with a detailed proposal going to the Department of Communities and Local Government. There would be a report to Cabinet.

Cllr Ron Abbey asked about the Public Works Board. Ian Coleman said the Treasury had increased the interest rate charged by the Public Works Board by 1%. This meant the cost of borrowing went up. There was a substantial amount of money at a reduced rate, but this was for councils which were housing authorities which doesn’t apply to Wirral as it transferred its housing stock.

Cllr Gilchrist said the report was noted.

Council Excellence Overview and Scrutiny Committee Wirral Council 27th September 2011 Part 4 Financial Monitoring Statement, Budget Projections 2012/2015

The committee went to Agenda item 2: Financial Monitoring Statement. Ian Coleman, Director of Finance said this had been brought forward from the Council Excellence Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the 15th September.

Cllr Phil Gilchrist said it was for background. The report was noted.

The committee then considered Budget Projections 2012/2015. Cllr Gilchrist said there was “nothing to cheer us up”. He asked about the 2011 Census and how significant it was? Would it come in over the timescale of the Budget? Ian Coleman said he had spoken to the Office of National Statistics in 2001 after the poor response rate on Wirral to make sure it was not repeated. The Office of National Statistics had watched authorities that had problems in 2001. He mentioned the Deputy Director of Finance. The Office of National Statistics had commented on the high response rate and had confirmed it was be available in late 2012. It would therefore affect the 2013 grant settlement.

Cllr Gilchrist expressed his relief.
Cllr Tony Cox asked a question about page 13 (Appendix) specifically the Formula Grant line compared to page 5 (Financial Monitoring Statement 2011/2012 Appendix) and the National Non Domestic Rate line. He asked if the National Non Domestic Rate was part of the Formula Grant.

Cllr Gilchrist said he took it for granted [that it was].

Cllr Alan Brighouse said he was “slightly confused”. He asked if the efficiency investment funding was to be increased by an extra £2 million every year? He was slightly confused as he could not see the £3 million revised pension contribution drop out due to the early voluntary redundancies? He also asked about the £1.7 million IT savings which he would expect to see appearing?

Council Excellence Overview and Scrutiny Committee Wirral Council 27th September 2011 You Choose Budget simulator Part 3

Cllr Brighouse, Vice-Chair said that he had no problems with the £14 million & £25 million issue, however said that what they were “asking the public to do is right”. He talked about what Wirral Council did with the results and its effect on decisions. He said the majority were looking for a bigger reduction, with the average resulting in a -3% Council Tax change. The public were “looking for cuts” and “lower Council Tax”. He asked if council employees had been asked?

Cllr Gilchrist mentioned the Redbridge conversation. Cllr Ron Abbey said, he was not hung up on a like for like comparison between Wirral Council and the London Borough of Redbridge. He said they didn’t know Redbridge’s GDP or catchment area.

Cllr Gilchrist about the report to Cabinet on the 8th December. Ian Coleman replied by saying that was the intention. Cllr John Hale asked when the item was over, would there be copies of how people responded? Cllr John Salter said people could “sit all day putting anything in” and said it was “open to corruption”. Cllr Gilchrist said Cllr Salter’s explanation was “frank”. Cllr James Keeley asked if it was a dangerous exercise, as it implied the only way to balance the Budget was to cut council services? Cllr Ron Abbey said something about the human cost. Cllr Gilchrist said that councillors should address remarks to the Chair. He noted potential drawbacks. He thanked people and looked forward to a more detailed analysis and a report to all councillors. Ian Coleman said “once results are available”. Cllr Phil Gilchrist asked about the Cabinet paper. Ian Coleman said it would be an open report. Cllr Gilchrist thanked Peter Molyneux.

Council Excellence Overview and Scrutiny Committee Wirral Council 27th September 2011 You Choose Budget simulator Part 2

Cllr John Hale asked a question about the consequences used for reduced budgets. He also asked about efficiency savings.

The Chair, Cllr Gilchrist said there was a ninety-three page guide. Cllr Ron Abbey said it was “only a tool” and a “means to an end”. Cllr John Hale said that there would’ve been a different response if efficiency savings had been used. Cllr Gilchrist referred to the Wirral Globe and a query that had been raised about the narrative. He mentioned figures of £35 million, savings of £25 million and £14 million. He asked for the query and the evidence.

Cllr Ron Abbey said it was made up of inflation, service driven costs and was a factual reality. Cllr Gilchrist referred to the London Borough of Redbridge’s results but asked how much the budget simulator costs. The answer given was £1,000 to £,3000. There would be an analysis done by postcode. Cllr Gilchrist referred to one of the 986 responses in Redbridge which was to cut the number of councillors and allowances.

Cllr Ron Abbey said that the evidence to the Independent Remuneration Panel stated that Wirral Council councillors were one of the lowest paid in North West England. He said that not all communities can gain access to computers, so the responses would be biased towards the rich. Cllr Steve Williams asked if there was any verification of postcodes. The answer was that they were not aware of any verification, but this was a YouGov issue.