Category: Audit and Risk Management

REVEALED: Grant Thornton’s previously secret £50,0000 report into how Wirral Council played the regeneration game

REVEALED: Grant Thornton’s previously secret £50,0000 report into how Wirral Council played the regeneration game

REVEALED: Grant Thornton’s previously secret £50,0000 report into how Wirral Council played the regeneration game

                          

If there’s somethin’ strange in your neighborhood
Who ya gonna call (Grant Thornton)
If it’s somethin’ weird and it won’t look good
Who ya gonna call (Grant Thornton)

Yes, my challenge for today is “making accountants sound interesting” (wish me luck)!

So where to start this tale that has about as much twists, turns and complexity as a Dan Brown thriller? Well in order to keep your attention and not send you to sleep I’ll be comparing what happened to far more exciting things (as this blog isn’t called “101 fascinating tales of bean counting”).

Wirral Council paid a company called Enterprise Solutions (NW) Limited approximately a million pounds for work done on a program called ISUS (a program to support businesses). It also paid them for work on another scheme called BIG (a business grants program). However something had gone wrong so Wirral Council sent in a crack team of accountants from Grant Thornton to investigate.

Grant Thornton as Ghostbusters
This blog has no file photo of Grant Thornton’s crack team of accountants, so using perhaps more artistic licence than is necessary this is the blogger’s impression of them (from the film Ghostbusters) (although being accountants they were probably wearing suits instead).

This intrepid team (who were paid ~£50,000 for all this) went to interview the whistleblowers who worked for Enterprise Solutions (NW) Limited to find out what had happened. As Enterprise Solutions (NW) Ltd is an absurdly long name that takes forever to type I will from now on instead be calling them the USS Enterprise instead.

There was trouble on the USS Enterprise and the whistleblowers said (this is a summary of hundreds of page of a report) that the “the engines cannae’ take it anymore”. Money was being fed into the USS Enterprise’s engines from Wirral Council. Its mission was to seek out new businesses and boldly help them (in the form of grants and other assistance). However the whistleblowers knew that thing were going very wrong and detailed the who, what, where, why and when.

The crack team from Grant Thornton heard what the whistleblowers had to say and then tried to investigate what had happened. They even went to the USS Enterprise to investigate further and spent three days there.

However, someone senior on the USS Enterprise heard about this and perhaps frightened that they might find something that would lead to a court-martial prevented Grant Thornton from setting foot on the ship ever again. This was despite the contract between Wirral Council and the USS Enterprise stating that Wirral Council could have access to their “accounts and records” (although there’s a long running controversy as to whether this contract was ever signed). This didn’t however deter (much) the crack team of accountants who then wrote (as best they could) reports on both the BIG and ISUS programs.

These reports went to Wirral Council, who then refused to publish them, giving the reason that they had referred some of the matters in it to the Merseyside Police. They felt that publishing it would prejudice any potential future criminal prosecutions (but there are also others that felt this was an extremely convenient excuse to prevent Wirral Council being embarrassed by what Grant Thornton had discovered).

A long, long time later the Merseyside Police got back in touch with Wirral Council with a letter that can be summed up by we can’t charge or ask the CPS to prosecute people in this matter as the police had been denied access to key evidence they’d need.

So then Wirral Council convened a special meeting of its Audit and Risk Management Committee to discuss the whole matter.

That is it in a nutshell (leaving an awful lot out too). The detailed nature of what the whistleblowers alleged is far beyond a few hundred words I have here to do justice to and I’m sure will be discussed next Tuesday evening at a special meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Committee.

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Wirral Council committee appointments for the 2014/15 municipal year

Wirral Council committee appointments for the 2014/15 municipal year

Wirral Council committee appointments for the 2014/15 municipal year

                            

This is a list of which councillor is on which committee for the 2014/15 year. It doesn’t include deputies (but the list of deputies can be found here at pages thirteen to twenty-three). This is the original list as agreed at the Annual Meeting (Part 2) of the Council on the 9th June 2014 (and published on the 23rd June 2014). Changes can be made throughout the 2014/15 year.

Cabinet (10 councillors)

Cllr Phil Davies (Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance)
Cllr Ann McLachlan (Governance, Commissioning and Improvement & Joint Deputy Leader of the Council)
Cllr George Davies (Neighbourhoods, Housing and Engagement & Joint Deputy Leader of the Council)
Cllr Adrian Jones (Support Services)
Cllr Christine Jones (Adult Social Care and Public Health)
Cllr Chris Meaden (Leisure, Sport and Culture)
Cllr Pat Hackett (Economy)
Cllr Tony Smith (Children and Family Services)
Cllr Bernie Mooney (Environment and Sustainability)
Cllr Stuart Whittingham (Highways and Transport)

Although there are no deputies for Cabinet, there are ten assistant portfolio holders.

Audit and Risk Management Committee (9 councillors)

Councillor John Hale (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor David Elderton (Conservative)
Councillor Adam Sykes (Conservative)
Councillor Jim Crabtree (Labour & Chair)
Councillor Ron Abbey (Labour & Vice-Chair)
Councillor Paul Doughty (Labour)
Councillor Matthew Patrick (Labour)
Councillor Joe Walsh (Labour)
Councillor Stuart Kelly (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and five Liberal Democrat deputies.

Employment and Appointments Committee (8 councillors)

Councillor Jeff Green (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor Lesley Rennie (Conservative)
Councillor Adrian Jones (Labour & Chair)
Councillor Phil Davies (Labour & Vice-Chair)
Councillor George Davies (Labour)
Councillor Ann McLachlan (Labour)
Councillor Moira McLaughlin (Labour)
Councillor Phil Gilchrist (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and five Liberal Democrat deputies.

Licensing, Health and Safety and General Purposes Committee (9 councillors)

Councillor Andrew Hodson (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor Leah Fraser (Conservative)
Councillor Geoffrey Watt (Conservative)
Councillor Bill Davies (Labour & Chair)
Councillor Steve Niblock (Labour & Vice-Chair)
Councillor John Salter (Labour)
Councillor Christine Spriggs (Labour)
Councillor Mike Sullivan (Labour)
Councillor Pat Williams (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and five Liberal Democrat deputies.

Licensing Act 2003 Committee (15 councillors)

Councillor Eddie Boult (Conservative)
Councillor Gerry Ellis (Conservative)
Councillor Andrew Hodson (Conservative)
Councillor Mike Hornby (Conservative)
Councillor Bill Davies (Labour, Chair)
Councillor Steve Niblock (Labour, Vice-Chair (from 18th June 2014))
Councillor George Davies (Labour)
Councillor Tony Norbury (Labour)
Councillor Louise Reecejones (Labour)
Councillor Denise Roberts (Labour)
Councillor John Salter (Labour)
Councillor Harry Smith (Labour)
Councillor Mike Sullivan (Labour)
Councillor Dave Mitchell (Liberal Democrat)
Councillor Pat Williams (Liberal Democrat)

There are no deputies for this committee.

Pensions Committee (10 Wirral Council councillors plus 5 co-opted members)

Councillor Geoffrey Watt (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor Mike Hornby (Conservative)
Councillor Cherry Povall (Conservative)
Councillor Paul Doughty (Labour, Chair)
Councillor Ann McLachlan (Labour, Vice-Chair)
Councillor George Davies (Labour)
Councillor Treena Johnson (Labour)
Councillor Adrian Jones (Labour)
Councillor Harry Smith (Labour)
Councillor Chris Carubia (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)

Co-opted members
Councillor Norman F Keats (Labour, Knowsley Council)
Councillor John Fulham (Labour, St Helens Council)
Councillor Paul Tweed (Labour, Sefton Council)
Councillor Patrick Hurley (Labour, Liverpool City Council)
Patrick McCarthy

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and four Liberal Democrat deputies.

Planning Committee (13 councillors)

Councillor David Elderton (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor Eddie Boult (Conservative)
Councillor Paul Hayes (Conservative)
Councillor Kathy Hodson (Conservative)
Councillor Anita Leech (Labour, Chair)
Councillor Denise Realey (Labour, Vice-Chair)
Councillor Phillip Brightmore (Labour)
Councillor Matt Daniel (Labour)
Councillor Christine Spriggs (Labour)
Councillor Joe Walsh (Labour)
Councillor Irene Williams (Labour)
Councillor Stuart Kelly (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)
Councillor Pat Cleary (Green Party spokesperson)

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and five Liberal Democrat deputies.

Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee (9 councillors, 4 independent persons)

Councillor Les Rowlands (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor Gerry Ellis (Conservative)
Councillor John Hale (Conservative)
Councillor Bill Davies (Labour, Chair)
Councillor Moira McLaughlin (Labour, Vice-Chair)
Councillor Rob Gregson (Labour)
Councillor Denise Roberts (Labour)
Councillor John Salter (Labour)
Councillor Pat Williams (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)

Independent persons
Professor R S Jones (until 15th July 2016)
Mr C Jones (until 15th July 2016)
Mr D Burgess-Joyce (until 15th July 2016)
Mr B Cummings (until 15th July 2016)

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and five Liberal Democrat deputies.

Coordinating Committee (15 councillors, 4 co-opted members)

Councillor Chris Blakeley (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor Tom Anderson (Conservative)
Councillor Wendy Clements (Conservative)
Councillor Mike Hornby (Conservative)
Councillor Steve Williams (Conservative)
Councillor Moira McLaughlin (Labour, Chair)
Councillor Paul Doughty (Labour, Vice-Chair)
Councillor Phillip Brightmore (Labour)
Councillor Anita Leech (Labour)
Councillor Christina Muspratt (Labour)
Councillor Walter Smith (Labour)
Councillor Mike Sullivan (Labour)
Councillor Jerry Williams (Labour)
Councillor Janette Williamson (Labour)
Councillor Phil Gilchrist (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)

Co-opted members (when dealing with education matters with voting rights)
Roman Catholic Diocese Mr Damian Cunningham
Church of England Vacancy
Mrs H Shoebridge (parent governor) until 28th October 2015
Mrs Nicola Smith (parent governor) until 8 February 2017

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and five Liberal Democrat deputies.

Families and Wellbeing Policy and Performance Committee (15 councillors, 4 co-opted members)

Councillor Wendy Clements (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor Bruce Berry (Conservative)
Councillor Paul Hayes (Conservative)
Councillor Mike Hornby (Conservative)
Councillor Cherry Povall (Conservative)
Councillor Moira McLaughlin (Labour, Chair)
Councillor Denise Roberts (Labour, Vice-Chair)
Councillor Phillip Brightmore (Labour)
Councillor Treena Johnson (Labour)
Councillor Tony Norbury (Labour)
Councillor Walter Smith (Labour)
Councillor Christine Spriggs (Labour)
Councillor Janette Williamson (Labour)
Councillor Alan Brighouse (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)
Councillor Pat Cleary (Green Party spokesperson)

Co-opted members (with voting rights)
Roman Catholic Diocese Mr Damian Cunningham
Church of England Vacancy
Mrs H Shoebridge (parent governor) until 28th October 2015
Mrs Nicola Smith (parent governor) until 8 February 2017

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and five Liberal Democrat deputies.

Regeneration and Environment Policy and Performance Committee (15 councillors)

Councillor Steve Williams (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor Gerry Ellis (Conservative)
Councillor John Hale (Conservative)
Councillor Andrew Hodson (Conservative)
Councillor Tracey Smith (Conservative)
Councillor Mike Sullivan (Labour, Chair)
Councillor Jerry Williams (Labour, Vice-Chair)
Councillor Jim Crabtree (Labour)
Councillor Matt Daniel (Labour)
Councillor Rob Gregson (Labour)
Councillor Anita Leech (Labour)
Councillor Steve Niblock (Labour)
Councillor Denise Realey (Labour)
Councillor Jean Stapleton (Labour)
Councillor Dave Mitchell (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and five Liberal Democrat deputies.

Transformation and Resources Policy and Performance Committee (15 councillors)

Councillor Adam Sykes (Conservative spokesperson)
Councillor Tom Anderson (Conservative)
Councillor Bruce Berry (Conservative)
Councillor Kathy Hodson (Conservative)
Councillor Tracey Smith (Conservative)
Councillor Janette Williamson (Labour, Chair)
Councillor Paul Doughty (Labour, Vice-Chair)
Councillor Matt Daniel (Labour)
Councillor Rob Gregson (Labour)
Councillor Matthew Patrick (Labour)
Councillor Christina Muspratt (Labour)
Councillor Louise Reecejones (Labour)
Councillor Joe Walsh (Labour)
Councillor Irene Williams (Labour)
Councillor Phil Gilchrist (Liberal Democrat spokesperson)

In addition to the above there are eight Conservative deputies, eight Labour deputies and five Liberal Democrat deputies.

Birkenhead Constituency Committee (18 councillors, 1 co-opted member)

Councillor Jim Crabtree (Labour, Bidston & St. James)
Councillor Ann McLachlan (Labour, Bidston & St. James)
Councillor Harry Smith (Labour, Bidston & St. James)
Councillor Pat Cleary (Green, Birkenhead & Tranmere)
Councillor Phil Davies (Labour, Birkenhead & Tranmere)
Councillor Jean Stapleton (Labour, Birkenhead & Tranmere)
Councillor George Davies (Labour, Claughton)
Councillor Steve Foulkes (Labour, Claughton)
Councillor Denise Roberts (Labour, Claughton)
Councillor Alan Brighouse (Liberal Democrat, Oxton)
Councillor Stuart Kelly (Liberal Democrat, Oxton)
Councillor Pat Williams (Liberal Democrat, Oxton)
Councillor Paul Doughty (Labour, Prenton)
Councillor Tony Norbury (Labour, Prenton)
Councillor Denise Realey (Labour, Prenton)
Councillor Bill Davies (Labour, Rock Ferry)
Councillor Chris Meaden (Labour, Rock Ferry)
Councillor Moira McLaughlin (Labour, Rock Ferry)

Co-opted Member
Rt Hon Frank Field MP (Chair)

Wallasey Constituency Committee (18 councillors, 6 community representatives)

Councillor Ron Abbey (Labour, Leasowe and Moreton East)
Councillor Treena Johnson (Labour, Leasowe and Moreton East)
Councillor Anita Leech (Labour, Leasowe and Moreton East)
Councillor Matt Daniel (Labour, Liscard)
Councillor Bernie Mooney (Labour, Liscard)
Councillor Janette Williamson (Labour, Liscard)
Councillor Bruce Berry (Conservative, Moreton West and Saughall Massie)
Councillor Chris Blakeley (Conservative, Moreton West and Saughall Massie)
Councillor Steve Williams (Conservative, Moreton West and Saughall Massie)
Councillor Rob Gregson (Labour, New Brighton)
Councillor Pat Hackett (Labour, New Brighton)
Councillor Christine Spriggs (Labour, New Brighton)
Councillor Adrian Jones (Labour, Seacombe)
Councillor Chris Jones (Labour, Seacombe)
Councillor John Salter (Labour, Seacombe)
Councillor Leah Fraser (Conservative, Wallasey)
Councillor Paul Hayes (Conservative, Wallasey)
Councillor Lesley Rennie (Conservative, Wallasey)

Community Representatives
Mr Ken Harrison
Mr Brian Higgins
Mr Tony Jones
Mr Keith Raybould
Mr Paul Roberts
Mr Lewis Collins

Wirral South Constituency Committee (15 councillors, up to 6 community representatives)

Councillor Christina Muspratt (Labour, Bebington)
Councillor Walter Smith (Labour, Bebington)
Councillor Jerry Williams (Labour, Bebington)
Councillor Steve Niblock (Labour, Bromborough)
Councillor Joe Walsh (Labour, Bromborough)
Councillor Irene Williams (Labour, Bromborough)
Councillor Cherry Povall (Conservative, Clatterbridge)
Councillor Tracey Smith (Conservative, Clatterbridge)
Councillor Adam Sykes (Conservative, Clatterbridge)
Councillor Chris Carubia (Liberal Democrat, Eastham)
Councillor Phil Gilchrist (Liberal Democrat, Eastham)
Councillor Dave Mitchell (Liberal Democrat, Eastham)
Councillor Andrew Hodson (Conservative, Heswall)
Councillor Kathy Hodson (Conservative, Heswall)
Councillor Les Rowlands (Conservative, Heswall)

Community representatives
Unknown

Wirral West Constituency Committee (15 councillors plus six co-opted community representatives)

Councillor Tom Anderson (Conservative, Greasby, Frankby & Irby)
Councillor Wendy Clements (Conservative, Greasby, Frankby & Irby)
Councillor Mike Hornby (Conservative, Greasby, Frankby & Irby)
Councillor Eddie Boult (Conservative, Hoylake & Meols)
Councillor Gerry Ellis (Conservative, Hoylake & Meols)
Councillor John Hale (Conservative, Hoylake & Meols)
Councillor Phillip Brightmore (Labour, Pensby & Thingwall)
Councillor Louise Reecejones (Labour, Pensby & Thingwall)
Councillor Michael Sullivan (Labour, Pensby & Thingwall)
Councillor Matthew Patrick (Labour, Upton)
Councillor Tony Smith (Labour, Upton)
Councillor Stuart Whittingham (Labour, Upton)
Councillor David Elderton (Conservative, West Kirby & Thurstaston)
Councillor Jeff Green (Conservative, West Kirby & Thurstaston)
Councillor Geoffrey Watt (Conservative, West Kirby & Thurstaston)

Community Representatives
Jackie Hall (Hoylake and Meols)
John Smith (Greasby, Frankby & Irby)
Lynn Collier (Pensby & Thingwall)
Elise Wong (Upton)
David Wade (West Kirby & Thurstaston)

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Surjit Tour tells Wirral Council’s councillors that they have to accept filming at their public meetings

Surjit Tour tells Wirral Council’s councillors that they have to accept filming at their public meetings

Surjit Tour tells Wirral Council’s councillors that they have to accept filming at their public meetings

                         

Birkenhead Constituency Committee (10th April 2014) Birkenhead Town Hall
Left to Right Surjit Tour (Head of Legal and Member Services), Councillor George Davies, Rt Hon Frank Field MP (Chair), Dawn Tolcher (Birkenhead Constituency Manager)

In an update to the blog post headlined Does Pickles think that Wirral Council’s £22,500 newspaper plan “pours taxpayers’ money down the drain”?, something seems to have happened “behind the scenes” as Surjit Tour had this to say to councillors on the subject at last night’s Transformation and Resources Policy and Performance Committee on an item about the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (the bit he says about Wirral Council’s compliance with the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity is the relevant part):

“Thank you Chair, just very briefly taking you through this particular report. It’s a report that’s already been considered by the Audit and Risk Management Committee on the 14th March and the report seeks to summarise the key provisions of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.

On the 13th August of 2010 the government announced its intention if you recall to abolish the Audit Commission and replace it with a decentralised process and arrangements with regard to the audit of public bodies. This Act seeks to set out the necessary framework in relation to the audit arrangements and I’ll turn your attention if I may to page fifty-seven of the report and that provides an explanatory note in terms of the key features of the current and new arrangements that are being introduced.

Paragraph 2.1 sets out and highlights features of the new arrangements and notably the abolition of the Audit Commission and with a view to arrangements being put in place. Under the new arrangements public bodies will be required to appoint an external, independent auditor on the advice of an independent audit panel. The audit panel which the Council must have in place and each local authority is required to have that audit panel in place to discharge their responsibilities, the appointment of an auditor. Various other… may be deferred on that particular panel by the Secretary of State.

The make up of that particular panel it talks about in the report of the recommended changes in the explanatory forward. The actual amend to the legislative framework with regards to council tax referendums and the revised measures to ensure local authorities’ compliance with the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity.

The Act also then introduces greater transparency and openness to meetings of Council meetings in particular by allowing local residents to film, tweet, blog and access the information in relation to decision-making in those committees. So it goes further than just the filming and the arrangements that we currently have.

We also then have arrangements and changes with regards to any local audit, taking account value for money elements which needs to be also factored in and we have a transfer of responsibilities of setting a new code of audit practice going now to the National Audit Office as part of these arrangements. So you see that in a bit more detail in paragraph three some of those provisions there in more detail.

In terms of our current arrangements, there are outsourcing arrangements in place and as you know we have Grant Thornton who is the external auditor for Council and that arrangement continues until 2017 at which point arrangements will be put in place for the appointment of a new local auditor and this is where the new local auditor panel will be engaged in the procurement of that particular body.

There will be a series of approved, accredited firms that will be able to do that and they will be made subject to assessment and criteria by the Financial Reporting Council and relevant professional accountancy bodies who are regulated in the provision of local government services.

In terms of the panel itself, details of its make up are set out in paragraph six of the explanatory note and this is where we need to have a panel which would consist of a majority of independent members and it would be chaired by an independent member. Now our Audit and Risk Management Committee can act as the Council’s auditor panel under the act if so required and if we need to appoint individuals then there’ll be a process that’ll need to be gone through.

You’ll recall that the Audit and Risk Management Committee, in fact it happened last year, indicated that it wished to be a majority of members of the Audit and Risk Management Committee to be independent and there will, arrangements are in hand to make those necessary arrangements. However the Secretary of State is still yet to publish regulations in relation to this particular Act, particularly the criteria and it needs to be expanded on what appears in the Act itself. So the draft regulations are not complete in terms of what the criteria will be for the appointment of independent members and as such a decision has been taken to await the Act or indeed those final regulations to ensure that any appointment that is made is compliant with those regulations.”

The Chair said, “Thanks Surjit, any questions, comments? Pat?”

Cllr Patricia Glasman said, “Paragraph 2.1.5 access information relating to the decisions made in those meetings, I wonder if you could just expand a little bit on that specifically the Pensions Committee we have attachments which are not available to the public. It’s business meetings and I just wondered was there any change to really the way those are treated?”

Surjit Tour replied, “No, there’s no, those changes with regards to information at committees considering the exempt schedules, the schedules before them so those provisions remain unchanged. This is very much the ability to report in open session at committee meetings, individuals being able to not only film, but to tweet, blog information in real-time and as decisions are made.”

The Chair said, “If there’s no further questions, can we agree the recommendations on page fifty-five, 11.1 agreed?”

The Committee agreed the following recommendation:

That the Committee notes the Report and Appendix 1 concerning the changes being introduced by the Audit and Accountability Act 2014 and its implications.

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Black boxes begone! Notes from the Charging Policy Working Group (22nd August 2005) Appendix 9 from the AKA report

Black boxes begone! Notes from the Charging Policy Working Group (22nd August 2005) Appendix 9 from the AKA report

Black boxes begone! Notes from the Charging Policy Working Group (22nd August 2005) Appendix 9 from the AKA report

 

At the last Council meeting last month, Cllr Pat Williams gave a speech (reported in full on this blog) in which she stated “There is also a lack of personal accountability for the numerous errors of judgement made by officers and councillors during the period which led to the involvement of the Improvement Board.”

How true that is, Cllr Pat Williams! Appendix 9 to the Anna Klonowski Associates report was the notes of the Charging Policy Working Group held on the 22nd August 2005. It was heavily redacted with a black marker pen. This was the document I asked Graham Burgess to release without redactions at the public session of the Improvement Board back in November. He hasn’t got back to me on that point so here it is below. I agree with Cllr Pat Williams there has been a lack of accountability, hopefully this will go some way to address it!

Charging Policy Consultation
Notes of a meeting held on 22nd August 2005
Westminster House, Birkenhead

Present

Older people’s representative
Service user/carer representative x 2
A representative of Wirral MIND gave apologies
Advocacy Services Representative
Councillor Pat Williams (Lib Dem)
Councillor Denise Roberts (Labour)
Councillor Les Thomas (Con)
Mike Fowler (Assistant Director Finance & Support Services)
Breda Dutton (Business & performance Manager)
Hilary Grant (Client Financial Services Manager)

Purpose
The purpose of this meeting was to consult with party spokespersons and a number of representatives of users and carers on Wirral’s charging policy for social care services delivered to people in their own homes. It is intended that the outcome of this and other consultations will be presented to the Health and Social Care Select Committee prior to recommending to Cabinet any revisions to the Charging Policy as directed by Cabinet in March 2005.

Process
Mike Fowler (MF) gave a presentation (attached) which outlined the type of services the Council charges for and how they are calculated. The presentation went on to explain why the Council believed changes to the policy were necessary and what options might be considered.

The Group asked questions during the presentation and these are recorded in the attached table. The Group did not intend to make any specific recommendations to Council but agreed to review these notes and make subsequent representations as were considered appropriate.

It was recognised that not all client groups were adequately represented and MF gave assurance that there would be other processes to ensure as many people as possible were consulted prior to Cabinet making a decision on future charges.

Notes of User/Carer Consultation

Presentation Discussion and Comment
1. What Services are charged for ?
MF explained the three types of charges. These are (a) for people who live in residential or nursing homes, (b) for people who are helped to live at home, and (c) for meals-on-wheels. Noted
The remit of this consultation is (b) and (c). Charges for residential and nursing care are set by Government and cannot be influenced locally. Noted
MF explained charges for people who are helped to live at home are based on Government guidance ‘Fairer Charging’ which assesses people’s ability to pay (based on their income, benefits and savings) It was noted that Councils do not have to charge, but if they do they must adhere to the principles within this Guidance.
People who receive meals delivered to their homes were charged £1.60 per meal. No account is taken of their ability to pay. In response to a question raised by Councillors, MF confirmed this price had not been changed since December 2000, and if inflation had been applied each year the charge would now be £1.81.
2. How are charges worked out?
MF went through the steps to calculate charges for people supported with a community care package and identified the three bases of charges. These were:- Noted
(a) Charges against disposable income.This is currently 27%. Disposable Income is the amount above the minimum the Government believes is necessary to live on (ie Income Support levels). MF confirmed that (i) people whose only source of income was Income Support were not charged, (ii) carers income was not taken into account, and (iii) Mobility Allowance was not included as income.
(b) Charges against benefits.Currently £5.27 per week for people who receive Disability Allowance (DLA), or £7.27 for higher DLA The group asked for information on the current levels of this Allowance. HG responded £40.55 per week for Medium DLA, and £60.60 per week for higher DLA. Over 80% of claimants receive the Medium level.
(c) charges against savings.Currently £1 per week for every £250 above £12,500. People with more than £20,500 are assessed to pay the full cost of their care MF clarified the £1 was the assumed income from savings to be added to Disposable income in 2(a) above. The Group asked who set these levels and MF responded they are in the guidance but Council’s were free to set higher figures (not lower).
3. Why does the Council think the policy should be reviewed?
MF summarised the ‘Fairer Charging policy, the main principles are:-(a) Charges should take account of people’s ability to pay

(b) Charges should be equally applied across all client groups

 It was acknowledged the current policy does this in accordance with the Fairer Charging Guidance.MF reported there were some groups, and service types, not being charged in the same way. These were (1) Adults with Learning Disability who attend Day Centres, and (2) Adult living in Supported Living services – previously classed as residential care.The Group felt this was unfair, and that everyone should be assessed in the same way, although it was noted the group most affected were not represented at this event.
MF reported the existing policy had not been changed for 5 years Noted
The Council agreed budget savings in 2005-06 of £150,000 from Fairer Charges and £50,000 from Meals Noted
4. Options
MF summarised the options that could be considered by the Council. These are:-(a) Charge more for people with over £20,500 savings (ie raising the full price)

(b) Charge more against disposable income

(c) Charge more against Disability related Benefits

(d) Increase the price of Meals on Wheels

(e) Include people who only receive Day Care or Supported Living Services in the charging policy

 There was concern that people just over the limit would have their savings reduced rapidly. MF confirmed the Council ‘could’ raise the threshold for being assessed to pay the full price.The Council could either change the %-Take figure or increase the minimum level before charges start to apply (eg Income Support + £10)

The Council could change the charge against Disability benefits. Few Councils take all the Benefit in charges, many take between £10 and £15 per week.

The Council can charge up to the full price for meals (currently £2.42)

Most Councils operate the same Fairer Charging policy for these type of services
5. Exploring each option in turn ->
(a) Charge people with over £20,500 more.
The current policy is to charge £6.14 per hour. The actual cost to the Council is between £9 and £11. If the Council raised its charge to £7.14 an additional £75,000 would be raised.		 The Group asked how many people this would affect, MF reported approximately 500 people (there are actually 540 people paying on average £27 per week, which raises £750,000 pa)The Group felt it would be fair to charge people more who were more able to pay because they had more assets, but were concerned people who were just over the threshold would quickly drop below it. There was also concern people would divest themselves of their savings purposefully to avoid paying charges.

MF explained there were few people who were ‘just over’. Most people paying the full price had elected not to reveal the level of their savings and had ‘chosen’ to pay full cost.

The group would like to ask the Council to consider raising the £20,500 threshold to protect those who were ‘just over’ the limit. On this basis, people with more substantial savings would be more likely to accept higher charges; bearing in mind the subsidy that would still remain.
(b)Charge more against disposable incomeThe current policy is to charge 27% of disposable income. MF explained that for every ‘percentage point’ above this the Council would raise an additional £10,000 (eg if the charge was 30%, £30,000 would be generated. MF confirmed there would be 1,200 service users affected by varying the %-Take figure.Many other Authorities charge between 30% and 35%.
(c) Charge more against Disability related BenefitsPeople who get DLA/AA are charged £5.27 per week at the lower level or £7.27 at the higher.

Raising the charges by £1 per week would generate an additional £94,000 per year.

 The Group felt it fair that people should use these benefits to pay for their care as this was the purpose of the benefit.
(d) Increase the price of Meals on WheelsThe current price per meal is £1.60. The average in the North West is £1.85. The price had not changed in 5 years. Raising it to £1.85 would raise an additional £30,000. The Group asked what the actual price of each meal was. MF responded £2.42 taking into account the cost of the meal, regeneration, and transport.The Group still felt at £1.85 it was good value for a two course meal
(e) Charge people in Supported LivingMany people are not charged for Supported Living
Services. Applying the Fairer Charging Policy would raise £40,000 per year		 The Group felt people receiving these services should be assessed to pay charges in the same way as other service users. MF reported up to 80 people would be affected.The other group not currently charged is Adults with Learning Disability who only receive day care. Up to 100 users may be affected and MF reported potential collection difficulties.
MF asked the Group to comment on the current method of payment.Users currently receive a statement against which they can make regular payments using a swipe card The group felt the statements were a good idea but felt regular monthly invoices would be an improvementThe group also felt more use of standing orders and direct debits would aid collection (this needs to be offered as a choice)

The Group asked MF to consider ‘rewards’ for opting for Direct Debits similar to those offered by utility Companies
Summary of messages from the Group to CommitteeMF asked the Group what comments they would wish to make to the next Committee
  • ‘Fairness’ was considered to be the key consideration.
  • Benefits that were paid for people with disability should be used to pay charges.
  • Avoid putting people into poverty by charging against low incomes.
  • People with higher income and savings should be assessed to pay more.
  • £1.85 is good value for a hot two course meal delivered to your own home
  • The savings threshold should be increased to avoid people fluctuating between full cost and assessed charge when they have around £20,500.
  • All client groups and service types should be charged in the same way.

Summary

The meeting ended with the following bullet points to be included in a report to Committees in November 2005

  • ‘Fairness’ was considered to be the key consideration.
  • Benefits that were paid for people with disability should be used to pay charges.
  • Avoid putting people into poverty by charging against low incomes.
  • People with higher income and savings should be assessed to pay more.
  • £1.85 is good value for a hot two course meal delivered to your own home
  • The savings threshold should be increased to avoid people fluctuating between full cost and assessed charge when they have around £20,500.
  • All client groups and service types should be charged in the same way.

Next Stage

MF reported an intent to report the outcome of consultation to the Health and Social Care Select Committee in October and Cabinet in November. However the fact that representatives of Learning Disability services could not attend it was decided to delay the report for one month. This
would also give an opportunity to invite further comments from older people themselves by a postal questionnaire.

Recommendations

Members of the Group are asked to confirm this record as a true reflection of the discussion that took place on the 22nd August and make any further representations they feel appropriate.

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Have improvements to make Wirral Council’s decision making better got bogged down in bureaucracy?

Have improvements to make Wirral Council’s decision making better got bogged down in bureaucracy?

Have improvements to make Wirral Council’s decision making better got bogged down in bureaucracy?

                                     

The New Year is a time of looking back to the previous year and forward to the new one. So please cast your minds back to November 2013 and a meeting of the Improvement Board held in public.

Prior to this there had been a short ten-day consultation on the Improvement Board Review report.

As the Improvement Board Review report is sixty-three pages long I will quote the sections I am referring to here about changes to the Audit and Risk Management Committee (the committee referred to in the quote from section 95 is Wirral Council’s Audit and Risk Management Committee):

“ 20. Action Taken

…
20.4 It is proposed to strengthen the independent nature of the Audit and Risk Management Committee through the appointment of a majority of external members.” (page 15)

“PRIORITY 2: CORPORATE AND DECISION MAKING

95. It is proposed to strengthen the independent nature of the Committee through the appointment of a majority of external members.” (page 34)

“Next Steps

112. Compliance with the constitution will be through more rigorous challenge from Audit and Risk Management Committee. It is proposed that would be enhanced, by (subject to Council agreement) appointing a majority of independent members of the committee.” (page 37)

“SUMMARY OF NEXT STEPS FOR WIRRAL

167. A key challenge is to ensure compliance to the revised procedures. Compliance with the constitution will be through more rigorous challenge from Audit and Risk Management Committee. It is proposed that would be enhanced by (subject to Council agreement) appointing a majority of independent members of the committee. The Leader of the Council has indicated that he will develop a proposal for consideration by Councillors alongside the review of the Constitution.” (page 49)

Prior to the Improvement Board public meeting on the 15th November there were special meetings of both the Coordinating Committee and the Audit and Risk Management Committee to discuss the Improvement Board Review report.

The Coordinating Committee agreed this:

That this Committee welcomes the Report. It clearly states that the Authority is moving in the right direction.

This Committee pledges to play its full part in continuing that direction of travel.

All Members will be encouraged to engage in the next steps identified within the report.

We must not be complacent as we still need to improve in many areas identified in the report and embed positive changes.

We thank all members of the Improvement Board for their help.

We thank all employees and Members for their efforts in this journey of improvement.

We would recommend the approach adopted by the Local Government Association, in piloting sector led improvement, and would recommend it to others who find themselves in difficulties.

and the Audit and Risk Management Committee (by eight votes to one agreed):

(1) That this Committee welcomes the report of the Improvement Board, which draws attention to the significant progress Wirral has made in the last 20 months.

It recognises that there are still issues which need to be addressed but believes it is clear that Wirral is now an outward looking Authority – open to constructive criticism and willing to address problems when they occur.

We would recommend the sector-led approach to change and development to other authorities who find themselves in difficulty.

(2) That the thanks of the Committee be accorded to the Improvement Board, all staff and Members who have participated in the change process. It now remains for Members to continue to participate in their own development and not become complacent but ensure that change becomes embedded for the future.

(3) That the recommendations contained within the Review report be endorsed and that, subject to clarification as to the ownership of the steps required to support continued improvement, all Members be encouraged to engage in the work required in those areas.

Here is a transcript of the answer given to my question on this issue at the Improvement Board meeting of the 15th November 2013 on the issue of changes to the Audit and Risk Management Committee:

In the review report it states “it is proposed to strengthen the independent nature of the Audit and Risk Management Committee through the appointment of a majority of external members”. How many independent members of the Audit and Risk Management Committee will be appointed, who will they be appointed by and will the Audit and Risk Management Committee be chaired in future by one of these independent members?

You can watch Graham Burgess’s and Cllr Phil Davies’ reply to this question by following this link to footage of the Improvement Board meeting.

Graham Burgess replied, “In terms of the request to strengthen the independent nature of the Audit & Risk Management Committee. First of all I think it’s going to be proposed by the Leader of the Council that for the new municipal year, after the elections in May, that there should be a majority of independent people on the Audit and Risk Management Committee.

There’s only one other Council in the country that’s adopted this approach and the Leader may wish to speak for himself on this matter but I think it is, it’s got to be recognised I hope, the willingness of this Council to open itself up to external scrutiny by I don’t know the numbers yet because that’s going to be discussed, it will be and Phil’s agreed that it should be referred to the Council’s scrutiny committee to discuss the best way to do it, the best way to recruit them, the exact numbers, but certainly I think it’s really brave of him, the fact that this Council and the other one Council to open themselves up in this way.

And the sort of people who might be ?????, and again there’ll be discussions with scrutiny and looking at elsewhere and taking advice from audit. I suspect there’ll be a number of people with a financial background to challenge that.

There’ll be a number of people who can represent key community organisations and can represent individual voices on the Wirral. So there’ll be a mixture I suspect of professional and lay people who can judge whether this Council is actually operating well in terms of its audit responsibilities.

I think that’s another demonstration of the openness that Phil and all parties I suspect want going forward and to be challenged. So in theory and in practice in fact, the councillors can be out voted by the independent members on that panel.

Might I also say that the Council does intend, again this is not finalised to retain the Chair of that panel as a councillor. The majority will be non councillors and that’s because it’s still a Council committee and in terms of organising things we need the availability of a councillor to do that, but I don’t want to be drawn about that.”

Cllr Phil Davies: “Just a sentence to say I think it will enable kind of an ongoing challenge to be built into monitoring, reviewing how we go forward in terms of all of the issues that have been looked at by the Improvement Board over the last eighteen months.

So I think it’s just another kind of check going forward that we’ve got an external voice or external voices, not part of the Council to really scrutinise what we’re doing on our performance going forward and I welcome that.”

So just to go back to a quote from the Improvement Board review report “The Leader of the Council has indicated that he will develop a proposal for consideration by Councillors alongside the review of the Constitution.” Well on Monday 6th January 2014 at a special meeting of the Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee councillors (and the independent members of the Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee) will discuss a review of Wirral Council’s constitution and a survey of councillors. The survey itself states “This feedback will inform a full review of the Constitution that will be undertaken in January 2014” asking for councillors to return the survey by the 7th January 2014 (the 7th January 2014 is stated on the survey, but the recommendation in the accompanying report states 24th January 2014).

Yet nowhere in the thirty-six proposed amendments to Wirral Council’s constitution is there even one that refers to appointing a majority of the Audit and Risk Committee as independent members. The Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee is the Council committee that proposes and scrutinises changes to Wirral Council’s constitution. So why haven’t changes to Wirral Council’s Audit and Risk Management Committee appeared on the Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee agenda for the meeting on the 6th January?

The Improvement Board will be returning in March 2014 to see the progress Wirral Council has made, so why the delay on this matter. Does it require the matter to be referred to the fifteen councillors on the Council’s Coordinating Committee to agree things like “the exact numbers” of independent members on the Audit and Risk Management Committee? If the intention is a majority of independent members that can outvote the councillors you merely have one more independent member than councillors and remove the casting vote of the Chair?

Where is the Leader’s “proposal for consideration by Councillors alongside the review of the Constitution” and why isn’t it included in the agenda of the Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee’s meeting of the 6th January? Why delay implementation of this until after the elections in May? Surely if it’s a “demonstration of openness” this could (as was indicated in the Improvement Board review report) be included in part of the January constitutional review and these changes to the constitution agreed at the Council meeting in either February or March?

At least then when the Improvement Board returned to check on progress in March (although the independent members wouldn’t have been recruited yet) the constitutional change to the Audit and Risk Management Committee could be pointed to as evidence that Wirral Council has actually implemented one of the Improvement Board’s recommendations?

If a simple recommendation to have a majority of the Audit and Risk Management Committee made up of independent people has to go to a meeting of the Coordinating Committee to be agreed in principle (November 2013), the Audit and Risk Management Committee to agree its recommendations (November 2013), then the Coordinating Committee (again to agree the details), then the Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee (to recommend the constitutional changes to Council), then full Council (to agree the constitutional changes), is it any wonder that the Anna Klonowski Associates report referred to the “bureaucratic machinations” of Wirral Council (which seem to still be alive and kicking) and that the Wirral public (as expressed at the public meeting of the Improvement Board in November) are sceptical that there is a political will to change Wirral Council in the direction of more openness in what most people would consider a reasonable timescale?

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