Category: Wirral Council

Labour councillors on Wirral Council’s Cabinet agree to consultation on master plan for Birkenhead

Labour councillors on Wirral Council’s Cabinet agree to consultation on master plan for Birkenhead

Labour councillors on Wirral Council’s Cabinet agree to consultation on master plan for Birkenhead

                                                       

Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

YouTube privacy policy

If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

You can watch what happened at the Cabinet meeting on the 12th March 2015 above.

Wirral Council Cabinet meeting at Birkenhead Town Hall Thursday 12th March 2015 Left to right Surjit Tour, Cllr Phil Davies and Joe Blott
Wirral Council Cabinet meeting at Birkenhead Town Hall Thursday 12th March 2015 Left to right Surjit Tour, Cllr Phil Davies and Joe Blott

Wirral Council’s Cabinet met at a different venue to usual (Birkenhead Town Hall). At the start, Councillor Phil Davies wanted to show people the trophy that Wirral Council had received for being “Most Improved Council”. You can see a photo of when they received the award on the Local Government Chronicle website, but below is a photo of Cllr Phil Davies showing people the award at the Cabinet meeting.

Councillor Phil Davies shows off the Local Government Chronicle award Wirral Council received for being most improved council 12th March 2015
Councillor Phil Davies shows off the Local Government Chronicle award Wirral Council received for being most improved council 12th March 2015

Moving to what was on the agenda, Cabinet recommended the draft pay policy statement to the next Council meeting, the revenue financial monitoring report for month ten was hardly commented on, however various councillors commented on various capital projects.

Kevin Adderley talks to the Property Development Framework report at Cabinet on the 12th March 2015
Kevin Adderley talks to the Property Development Framework report at Cabinet on the 12th March 2015

Kevin Adderley talked to the Property Development Framework report after which the Cabinet agreed the recommendations in the report.

Kevin Adderley talking to the Enterprise Zone report at Cabinet on the 12th March 2015
Kevin Adderley talking to the Enterprise Zone report at Cabinet on the 12th March 2015

Mr Adderley then talked to the Enterprise Zone report and again Cabinet agreed the recommendations.

Cabinet agreed a slight increase in the amounts paid to residential and nursing homes and the arrangements for the delivery and commissioning of social care.

Cllr Tony Smith tells Cabinet what the outcome of the consultation on Pensby High School was 12th March 2015
Cllr Tony Smith tells Cabinet what the outcome of the consultation on Pensby High School was 12th March 2015

Councillor Tony Smith told Cabinet what the results were of the consultation to merge Pensby High School for Boys with Pensby High School for Girls. Cabinet agreed to move to the next stage of publishing notices.

The draft admission arrangements for primary schools and secondary schools were also agreed.

Cllr Pat Hackett talks at a Cabinet meeting about the master plan for Birkenhead Town Centre
Cllr Pat Hackett talks at a Cabinet meeting about the master plan for Birkenhead Town Centre

Councillor Pat Hackett spoke to the report recommending a consultation on the masterplan for Birkenhead Town Centre. He referred to an “improved market” and the stage one lockout agreement that the Council had entered into with Neptune Developments Limited. The detail of the proposals were covered in an earlier blog post. Cabinet agreed that Neptune Development Limited were to consult with the public (as well as staff who work at Europa Pools) on the masterplan.

Kevin Adderley pointed out that the Mars Pension Fund had recently advertised the Grange and Pyramids shopping centre in Birkenhead as being for sale. The recommendation to have a consultation was agreed by Cabinet.

A slight increase from April in fees charged to scrap metal dealers was agreed. Cllr George Davies spoke on the report reporting the consultation on licensing of private landlords in four areas on the Wirral. Cabinet agreed to refer the proposals to the Council meeting on the 16th March 2015.

The nominations from Cabinet for Civic Mayor and Deputy Mayor for 2015/16 were as follows:

Civic Mayor: Cllr Les Rowlands
Deputy Mayor: Cllr Pat Hackett

Cabinet then excluded the press and public from the rest of the meeting.

If you click on any of these buttons below, you’ll be doing me a favour by sharing this article with other people. Thanks:

What was a £30,507.67 ex-gratia payment made by Wirral Council for?

What was a £30,507.67 ex-gratia payment made by Wirral Council for?

What was a £30,507.67 ex-gratia payment made by Wirral Council for?

                                                 

Each month Wirral Council publishes a monthly list of all payments over £500 made to suppliers and agencies and a particular entry from January 2015 caught my eye.

A £30,507.56 payment was made on the 30th January 2015 to a firm of solicitors called Jackson & Canter. So what you might say, doesn’t Wirral Council seek legal advice quite often?

It was the description of the payment that caught my eye as it was down as “Ex-Gratia Payments”. So what is an ex-gratia payment? Well it’s probably a voluntary payment to a former employee, by Wirral Council without Wirral Council admitting liability.

Back in April 2012 councillors agreed that “all Compromise Contracts except those to settle litigation and those requiring a payment of £30,000 or less” would be decided by councillors instead of officers. In addition to this a report on compromise contracts agreed was supposed to be brought to each meeting of the Employment and Appointments Committee.

The compromise contracts for both David Garry and Bill Norman happened in this way with councillors making the final decision on them.

The whole definition of a ex-gratia payment is that there’s no legal obligation to make it. This notice of motion agreed by Council shows when the change was made.

So, what’s this payment of £30,507.56 for (and let’s hope it’s not to pay someone to keep quiet about something)? Should councillors have agreed to it? Have constitutional changes made to Wirral Council’s constitution since 2012 meant that what was agreed by politicians 2012 is no longer the case and officers have the final say on such matters (if so when did that change get made and does it overrule what Council agreed)? If the payment was made to a senior officer (or a former senior officer) is there a public interest in the public knowing who it was made to?

If you click on any of these buttons below, you’ll be doing me a favour by sharing this article with other people. Thanks:

Why has Wirral Council spent £6,003,273.07 on temporary staff over the past 10 months?

Why has Wirral Council spent £6,003,273.07 on temporary staff over the past 10 months?

Why has Wirral Council spent £6,003,273.07 on temporary staff over the past 10 months?

                                              

I found out today that Wirral Council had won the “Most Improved” Council award.

However here are some eye-watering amounts that Wirral Council have spent on agency staff over the last year (the amounts in pounds are the fourth column):

April 2014

BADENOCH & CLARK 1473113 17/04/2014 2070 FINANCE F1100 Agency Staff
BADENOCH & CLARK 1473113 17/04/2014 2070 FINANCE F1100 Agency Staff
CIPFA 1474841 25/04/2014 15336 FINANCE F1100 Agency Staff
ERNST & YOUNG LLP 1469917 04/04/2014 58373.28 FINANCE F1100 Agency Staff
ERNST & YOUNG LLP 1469917 04/04/2014 112930.01 FINANCE F1100 Agency Staff
ERNST & YOUNG LLP 1473456 22/04/2014 62620.8 FINANCE F1100 Agency Staff
MATRIX SCM LTD 1473927 02/04/2014 129963.24 LAW HR ASSET MANAGEMENT A1100 Agency Staff
MATRIX SCM LTD 1470824 09/04/2014 127753.86 LAW HR ASSET MANAGEMENT A1100 Agency Staff
MATRIX SCM LTD 1468960 16/04/2014 128347.01 LAW HR ASSET MANAGEMENT A1100 Agency Staff
MATRIX SCM LTD 1473927 23/04/2014 124671.84 LAW HR ASSET MANAGEMENT A1100 Agency Staff
MATRIX SCM LTD 1471847 30/04/2014 110204.7 LAW HR ASSET MANAGEMENT A1100 Agency Staff
ODGERS INTERIM 1471492 10/04/2014 15846 FINANCE F1100 Agency Staff
ODGERS INTERIM 1474583 23/04/2014 19530 CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE E1000 Agency Staff
PERMANENT FUTURES LIMITED 1473210 22/04/2014 3300 EDUCATION – SCHOOLS E5520 Agency Staff
PERMANENT FUTURES LIMITED 1474959 11/04/2014 9900 EDUCATION – SCHOOLS E5520 Agency Staff
PERMANENT FUTURES LIMITED 1473212 22/04/2014 2640 EDUCATION – SCHOOLS E5520 Agency Staff

Continue reading “Why has Wirral Council spent £6,003,273.07 on temporary staff over the past 10 months?”

Should Eric Pickles intervene and stop Town Talk being delivered to Birkenhead households during the election?

Should Eric Pickles intervene and stop Town Talk being delivered to Birkenhead households during the election?

Should Eric Pickles intervene and stop Town Talk being delivered to Birkenhead households during the election?

                                        

Councillor Paul Doughty explains why he's had sleepless nights over Town Talk and won't agree to a further £5000
Councillor Paul Doughty explains why he’s had sleepless nights over Town Talk and won’t agree to a further £5000

Last year, Wirral Council’s former Chief Executive Graham Burgess would’ve received this letter from DCLG about publicity issued by Wirral Council.

To summarise the letter it reminds Wirral Council to comply with the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Government Publicity and if they don’t reminds them that the Secretary of State has a legal power to direct local councils to comply.

Since this new power came into force about a year ago, you can read here various letters written by the Secretary of State to councils that weren’t complying with the code.

Continue reading “Should Eric Pickles intervene and stop Town Talk being delivered to Birkenhead households during the election?”

Will councillors tell the public what Neptune's plans for Birkenhead Market are?

Will councillors tell the public what Neptune’s plans for Birkenhead Market are?

Will councillors tell the public what Neptune’s plans for Birkenhead Market are?

                                                 

Indicative illustration of Neptune Development Limited's masterplan for Birkenhead Town Centre
Indicative illustration of Neptune Development Limited’s masterplan for Birkenhead Town Centre

Thursday’s meeting of Wirral Council’s Cabinet had a last-minute item added to its agenda titled “Birkenhead Town Centre – Masterplan Principles”. Neptune Developments Limited (the company behind the New Brighton Marine Point development) have a plan and want Cabinet to approve a consultation on it.

These are the elements of the masterplan:

  • Demolish Europa Pools
  • Build new leisure centre on the car park next to Conway Park train station
  • On the site of what was Europa Pools build a drive through restaurant, public bar/restaurant and seven units (probably cafés and restaurants) plus car parking
  • Reduce the car parking adjacent to Birkenhead Bus Station and put a café there
  • Remodel Birkenhead Bus Station to “remove service vehicles and avoid pedestrian/bus conflicts”
  • Remodel Birkenhead Market Hall
  • Possibly a hotel on the vacant plot on the corner of Conway Street and Europa Boulevard

There’s even a ten page leaflet with glossy photos about the proposals on Wirral Council’s website.

What probably won’t be reported by the rest of the press, as Wirral Council have chosen to keep much of these details out of the public domain is that according to this report (see 2.5) from 2013 Neptune Developments Limited have an interest in one of the pieces of land in Conway Street that would be needed for the scheme.

The report going to Cabinet on Thursday evening also states “No other options have therefore been considered as NDL has already secured an interest in the balance of the land that is needed to deliver the re-provided market.” If Cabinet agree to consult on these plans, Wirral Council will have to seek legal advice that including Europa Pools in the proposals won’t contravene procurement or state aid rules.

At the moment, there is uncertainty as to what the proposals mean for Birkenhead Market and hopefully some light can be shed on this element of the proposals at the Cabinet meeting this Thursday evening.

If you click on any of these buttons below, you’ll be doing me a favour by sharing this article with other people. Thanks: