Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee | A blog about Wirral Council, Wirral Council's councillors & officers

Was the recent decision to award litter enforcement contract to Kingdom by Wirral Council lawful?

Nearly six years ago the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012 came into effect on the 10th September 2012 which changed the way both decisions made by the whole Cabinet and by individual Cabinet Members should be made.

Regulation 9 of the regulations (as the award of the litter enforcement contract was a key decision) required a document to be published on Wirral Council’s website 28 days in advance of a decision.

For the litter enforcement contract decision, Wirral Council published on its website this page (a screenshot is below).

Wirral Council Forward Plan Environmental Enforcement contract

Award of Litter Enforcement Contract to Kingdom by Wirral Council to be reviewed following request by Lib Dem and Green councillors

Cllr Matthew Patrick (Cabinet Member for the Environment) 14th June 2018

In an update to an earlier story published on this blog headlined Kingdom awarded further 3 year contract by Wirral Council for litter and dog fouling fines, six councillors (the sole Green Party councillor Cllr Pat Cleary and five Liberal Democrat councillors) have “called-in” the decision.
Continue reading “Award of Litter Enforcement Contract to Kingdom by Wirral Council to be reviewed following request by Lib Dem and Green councillors”

What are Wirral Council’s budget proposals on garden waste and cuts in services to the Irish community?

The author of this piece has one parent who has dual Irish & British nationality.

Below are briefing notes sent to councillors following a behind closed doors meeting to discuss budget cuts (that have yet to be formally agreed).

Topics covered include garden waste (where it’s noted that the plan shows that the Wirral Globe receives £3,000 and Wirral View £2,200), defunding a service provided through Sadir House for people with HIV/AIDS and defunding services provided through Irish Community Care Merseyside to the Irish and Irish traveller communities.
Continue reading “What are Wirral Council’s budget proposals on garden waste and cuts in services to the Irish community?”

Wirral’s Labour and Lib Dem councillors vote against Conservative motion that recommended restricting future development on Council owned land in the greenbelt

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Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Wirral Council) 5th July 2017 starting at agenda item (Notice of Motion – Green Belt) 1:18

Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee 5th July 2017 Left Colin Hughes solicitor Right Cllr Paul Stuart Chair

ED: Edited to add quote from Wirral Society at end. 8.7.17 16:58

Yesterday evening, Wirral Council’s Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee discussed Cllr Chris Blakeley’s motion about Wirral Council owned land in the greenbelt.

The Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee is made up of 9 Labour councillors, 5 Conservative councillors and 1 Lib Dem councillor. However 1 Labour councillor couldn’t make it which meant on the evening in question there were 8 Labour councillors, 5 Conservative councillors and 1 Lib Dem councillor.

Cllr Chris Blakeley wanted an “unconditional guarantee” that it wouldn’t be “developed under any circumstances”.

The Labour councillors disagreed with Cllr Chris Blakeley and Cllr Foulkes gave the example of Arrowe Park Hospital as a development that Cllr Foulkes approved of that was on Council-owned land in the greenbelt. The Conservative councillors agreed with Cllr Chris Blakeley.

However when it came to the vote, the Labour councillors (plus a Lib Dem councillor) voted down Cllr Chris Blakeley’s notice of motion, replacing it instead with a Labour proposed notice of motion.

The text of the replacement motion proposed by the Labour Chair Cllr Paul Stuart was as follows:

“We note the notice of motion.

The Council recognises the value of the greenbelt, which should only be developed in special circumstances.

We await the Emerging Core Strategy: Local Plan and the consultation around this with specific reference to the national guidelines.”

The Labour notice of motion was agreed by a 9 (for): 5 (against) vote. This recommendation has to be agreed by a future meeting of all Wirral Council’s councillors before it becomes policy.

The Wirral Society “applauds the commitment by Wirral Councillors to uphold the integrity of the Wirral Green Belt and especially of land within its ownership.

As the legislation makes provision for exceptions to be made for development in the Green Belt under Very Special Circumstances, we accept that it would be difficult to for the Council to say it would never allow any development on its Green Belt land. However, the Society was disappointed that the Motion passed made no mention of the need to pursue a policy of giving priority in all cases to developing ‘Brown-Field’ (ie previously developed) land as a priority.”

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What are 10 invoices paid by Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority totalling £4,758,470.23 for?

Below are ten A4 images of invoices I requested during the 2015-16 audit of Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (that goes by the name of Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority).

They are in order from Mersey Waste Holdings Ltd, Veolia ES Merseyside & Halton Limited, FCC Recycling (UK) Limited, Wirral Council, JLT Speciality Limited and Liverpool City Council.

Some are for payments made to do with contracts, the one with Wirral Council is to do with a loan (MRDF stands for Merseyside Residual Debt Fund which MWDA’s share of the former Merseyside County Council’s debts), insurance and business rates to Liverpool City Council for the Gilmoss Waste Transfer Station in Stonebridge Lane.

Amounts for these invoices are for £2,136,797.83, £1,253,141.93, £650,990.21, £472,906.96, £182,600, £37,741.30 and £24,892 (total £4,758,470.23).

However, a good proportion of that ~£4.8 million is VAT as well as a small amount of insurance premium tax. Interestingly one of the invoices shows they are already processing kitchen waste in February 2015, which is part of a 6 week Wirral Council consultation on introducing kitchen waste collections to the Wirral as well as changes to the green bin collections.

I will point however that the costs of dealing with waste on these invoices is at the county level of Merseyside (possibly with Halton added too). Wirral Council’s share will be a fraction of what the total costs are).

Matters involving the current consultation by Wirral Council on food waste and changes to the green bin collection were recently the subject of a call in public meeting (26th July 2016) when opposition councillors requested that the Cabinet decision be reviewed. You can watch footage from that meeting below which discusses the proposed changes to the green bin collections and proposed new food waste collection.

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Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Wirral Council) 26th July 2016 Call in of Cabinet decision on consultation on green bins and food waste