Councillors asked for further £600,000 towards fire station at Saughall Massie

Councillors asked for further £600,000 towards fire station at Saughall Massie

Councillors asked for further £600,000 towards fire station at Saughall Massie

                                    

Planning Committee site visit to land off Saughall Massie Road 13th December 2016 Left Cllr Steve Foulkes Right Cllr Anita Leech Chair
Planning Committee site visit to land off Saughall Massie Road 13th December 2016 Left Cllr Steve Foulkes (Vice-Chair) Right Cllr Anita Leech (Chair)

Councillors on the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority will be asked next week to agree to a further £600,000 for a new fire station at Saughall Massie. The government’s contribution to the project has been increased from £1.5 million to £2.086 million.
Continue reading “Councillors asked for further £600,000 towards fire station at Saughall Massie”

Wirral Council councillors discuss “naming and shaming” after “zero tolerance” approach to persistent bad behaviour

Wirral Council councillors discuss “naming and shaming” after “zero tolerance” approach to persistent bad behaviour

Wirral Council councillors discuss “naming and shaming” after “zero tolerance” approach to persistent bad behaviour

                            

Councillor Steve Foulkes (right) 30th November 2017
Councillor Steve Foulkes (right) 30th November 2017

In a discussion about flytipping and environmental crimes on Wirral Council”s Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee councillors discussed a “naming and shaming” policy.
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Why are Bombardier suing Merseytravel over the contract for new trains?

Why are Bombardier suing Merseytravel over the contract for new trains?

Why are Bombardier suing Merseytravel over the contract for new trains?

                                           

Councillor Steve Foulkes (Lead Member for Finance and Organisational Development) (left) at a Merseytravel Committee meeting
Councillor Steve Foulkes (Lead Member for Finance and Organisational Development) (left) at a Merseytravel Committee meeting

Edited 26.11.17 to include link to Hansard report of parliamentary debate and also text of first two pages of Particulars of Claim.

I’ve written previously about the large sum that Merseytravel is spending to defend a legal challenge brought by Bombardier over the procurement of new trains on the Merseyrail network.

You can read a decision by The Hon Mr Justice Coulson as to whether the Particulars of Claim are confidential here. That decision decides that the Particulars of Claim are not confidential.
Continue reading “Why are Bombardier suing Merseytravel over the contract for new trains?”

Wirral Council claims no disclosable conflicts of interest over grant of Saughall Massie fire station planning application

Wirral Council claims no disclosable conflicts of interest over grant of Saughall Massie fire station planning application

Wirral Council claims no disclosable conflicts of interest over grant of Saughall Massie fire station planning application

                                        

Planning Committee (Wirral Council) site visit Saughall Massie fire station 18th July 2017 photo 1 of 40
Planning Committee (Wirral Council) site visit Saughall Massie fire station 18th July 2017 This photo shows the distance between the proposed fire station and the nearby residential properties referred to in the letter below

Below is the text of a letter I received earlier this month from a David Ball at Wirral Council following a stage 1 complaint I made about the grant of planning permission APP/17/00306 (which was for a fire station in Saughall Massie).

I will point out that there are aspects to the letter I don’t agree with, but in the interests of transparency, the public interest in the matter and the seniority of David Ball I am publishing it below. As it’s two pages, a link break is shown between the two pages.
Continue reading “Wirral Council claims no disclosable conflicts of interest over grant of Saughall Massie fire station planning application”

Wirral Council’s councillors decided on backdated pay rises for 4 councillors costing an extra £34,226 a year!

Wirral Council’s councillors decided on backdated pay rises for 4 councillors costing an extra £34,226 a year!

Wirral Council’s councillors decided on backdated pay rises for 4 councillors costing an extra £34,226 a year!

                                          

Councillor Steve Foulkes (centre) 16th October 2017 voting to give himself a backdated £10,108 pay rise
Councillor Steve Foulkes (centre) 16th October 2017 voting to give himself a backdated £10,108 pay rise

Wirral Council councillors on Monday evening voted to give four councillors a backdated pay rise costing Wirral Council an extra £34,226 a year.

Councillors from Wirral Council (Councillors Abbey, Foulkes, Rowlands and Jerry Williams) on the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Transport Committee (formerly called the Merseytravel Committee) will now receive a backdated basic allowance for their work on the Transport Committee annually of £5,675 each.

On top of the basic allowance of £5,675 (backdated to May) three councillors received extra amounts too. Cllr Les Rowlands received an extra £2,660 as Opposition Spokesperson, Cllr Steve Foulkes an extra £4,433 as Lead Member for Finance and Organisational Development and Cllr Ron Abbey an extra £4,433 as Lead Member for Bus.

A report of the Independent Panel on Member’s Allowances stated that prior to May “the allowances paid to the four Wirral Members were paid by the Council and reimbursed by Merseytravel” but went on to explain that after May 2017 Merseytravel would no longer do this and it would become a decision for individual councils.

Despite a legal requirement to publish the total amounts Wirral Council pays to individual councillors as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of a year it appears from this page on Wirral Council’s website that it has not yet done so for the 2016-17 year.

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Council (Wirral Council) 16th October 2017 Agenda item 11C Members Allowance Scheme

Earlier in the same public meeting, councillors heard from UNISON trade union representative Paddy Cleary who supported a Notice of Motion that called for the “immediate end of public sector pay restraint”.

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