Category: Wirral Council

Cabinet (Wirral Council) 8th December 2011 Part 3 Corporate Plan

Cllr Steve Foulkes said he wanted to make an apology and it had not gone out on time, there were a number of reasons behind the delay, one was the issues raised by the Corporate Governance Committee/Anna Klonowski Associates report. He said these had to evolve in time enough to know where they were going. … Continue reading “Cabinet (Wirral Council) 8th December 2011 Part 3 Corporate Plan”

Cllr Steve Foulkes said he wanted to make an apology and it had not gone out on time, there were a number of reasons behind the delay, one was the issues raised by the Corporate Governance Committee/Anna Klonowski Associates report. He said these had to evolve in time enough to know where they were going. Cllr Foulkes said the Corporate Governance Committee was working well with a difficult subject matter, but they had stuck to the major themes inherited from the previous Corporate Plan. He referred to the Conservative Notice of Motion to next Monday’s full Council meeting and the new public health agenda and responsibilities that Wirral Council would have. They had launched the Child Poverty Strategy which he had said at Cabinet was a top priority. It had a slightly changed style to make it “interesting for ordinary members of the public to read” but was “true to the values of the authority”. It had to be agreed by a full Council meeting, previously it had always gone through first time. They were against deadlines to set the Budget for the Cabinet meeting of the 22nd February 2012.

It was a working draft, he didn’t predict massive changes but the Budget was linked to the Corporate Plan. He was willing to have a mini-refresh in the future but the draft Corporate Plan captured the essence and the issues that they had been criticised on surrounding corporate governance. He said it was worthy of support and might be subject to scrutiny. He asked if anyone had anything to add? They didn’t so he asked if they were happy to endorse it. They did and it was agreed.

Cabinet (Wirral Council) 8th December 2011 Part 2, Declarations of Interest, Minutes (24/11), Corporate Plan

The agenda and reports for the Cabinet meeting can be found by following the link.

Present:
Cllr Steve Foulkes (Chair)
Cllr Harry Smith
Cllr Chris Meaden
Cllr Ann McLachlan
Cllr Anne McArdle
Cllr George Davies
Cllr Adrian Jones
Cllr Brian Kenny
Cllr Phil Davies

Cllr Steve Foulkes welcomed people to the Cabinet meeting. A blanket declaration of interest was made for councillors who are school governors on the item on school admission policies.

Cllr Phil Davies declared an interest in item 22, Funding of Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector 2012/2013 as he is a non-executive director of the Wirral Multicultural organisation (Wirral Council appointment).
Cllr Brian Kenny declared an interest in item 22, Funding of Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector 2012/2013 as he is a non-executive director of the Wirral Multicultural organisation (Wirral Council appointment).
Cllr Brian Kenny declared an interest in item 18, Local Development Framework – Developer Contributions and the Community Infrastructure Levy as he is a member of the Planning Committee (Wirral Council appointment).
Cllr Anne McArdle declared an interest in item 22, Funding of Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector 2012/2013 as she is on the management board of Leasowe Community Homes (Wirral Council appointment).

The minutes of the meeting held on the 24th November 2011 were agreed.

Jim Wilkie, Chief Executive, introduced the first item on the revised Corporate Plan. He said it was a proposed Corporate Plan which set out the vision for Wirral Council and its set of proposed values highlighting the sections on health, well being and child poverty. Mr. Wilkie brought people’s attention to the five themes of the previous Corporate Plan, it set out the goals for the next few years as well as the next year, he was happy to answer any questions.

Cabinet (Wirral Council) 8th December 2011 Part 1 Motions (libraries, Autumn statement, 0% Council Tax increase)

There were three motions to Wirral Council’s Cabinet meeting. For each motion you can click on the images for a larger version. The motion on libraries strategy is below, which will mean libraries will be open on Wednesdays and at lunchtimes after the merge with the One Stop Shops is complete.

Libraries motion (Cabinet) Wirral Council 8/12/2011

The second motion is on the Chancellors’ Autumn Statement.

Autumn statement motion (Wirral Council) Cabinet 8/12/2011

The third motion was on the Budget and is across two pages. It signals the minority Labour administration’s desire to have a 0% Council Tax increase for 2012/2013.

Projected Budget Motion (Wirral Council) Cabinet 8th December 2011 Page 1 of 2


Projected Budget Motion (Wirral Council) Cabinet 8th December 2011 Page 2 of 2

Audit & Risk Management Committee (Wirral Council) 29th November 2011 Part 6 Internal Audit Update

Cllr Jim Crabtree asked if Cllr Ron Abbey had a question.

Cllr Simon Mountney said it was unfair to ask [Colin Hughes]. He said the question should be put to the Director of Law, Human Resources and Asset Management [Bill Norman] at the earliest opportunity.

Cllr Ron Abbey said the wanted his question minuted. He referred to item 4 section 4.3 (b)(i) and the audit undertaken of the Department of Adult Social Services Day to Day Procurement System. He said that the issues raised in the audit had not been addressed by the Department of Adult Social Services, but following the reorganisation responsibility now rested with the Department of Law, Human Resources and Asset Management. He wanted to know the timescale and when the committee would see it, even as an interim announcement between meetings sent to the Chair, Deputy Chair, spokespersons and the rest of the committee.

Colin Hughes said that he was sure they would their best to comply, but he was not familiar with it.

Cllr Ron Abbey said the Department for Adult Social Services actions had not been actioned and responsibility had been given to the Department of Law, Human Resources and Asset Management to resolve it following the reorganisation. He wanted timescales as to when it would be delivered and reported on in the interim period between meetings. It was important that recommendations were made into actions as speedily as possible rather than not actioned. Cllr Abbey said this issue went back months and months and months. He wanted them to be a bit more prompt and he said the critical report showed we’re “not good at dealing with anything as an organisation”.

Audit & Risk Management Committee (Wirral Council) 29th November 2011 Part 5 Internal Audit Update

Cllr Jim Crabtree said they would find someone.

Cllr Abbey said he had other questions on actions and timescales.

Cllr Simon Mountney said he was happy to talk, but the decision over not having a legal adviser because he had a meeting tomorrow he thought “a disgrace”. He repeated that he thought it was a disgrace.

Cllr Jim Crabtree said it was his decision, that Sarjit had asked and that had been his response.

Cllr Simon Mountney said he was delighted that Colin was here, but that Colin didn’t know about the items on the agenda. He wasn’t going to ask Colin to go away but he felt it was a waste of their time.

Cllr James Keeley said he was happy to move forward.

Cllr Ron Abbey said he wasn’t being disrespectful, but that [Cllr Crabtree] should have asked the committee who would’ve said no. He felt that the Department for Adult Social Service had kicked it into the long grass with no answer. He said was important for good governance and for advising Cabinet. He was mindful that there would be the holidays soon. They would soon be dealing with the Budget, after that would be the local elections, then things would be delayed to the Mayor Making. He was sorry to labour the point, but it was symptomatic of the way things were happening.

Cllr Jim Crabtree said would be appropriate for Bill Norman to write to members of the committee.

Cllr Ron Abbey suggested this was done by “pony express” not “snail mail”.