Why did Wirral Council councillors vote for a just over 4.5% council tax rise?
Why did Wirral Council councillors vote for a just over 4.5% council tax rise?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Cllr Phil Gilchrist (right) (Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group of councillors on Wirral Council) speaking at the Budget meeting of Wirral Council (6th March 2017)
It’s been misreported in the press that both Wirral Council and Liverpool City Council agreed a 4.99% council tax rise.
What was in the 5 A4 page witness statement of Andrew Roberts (Wirral Council) about a Freedom of Information request for the minutes of a meeting of the Headteachers’ and Teachers’ Joint Consultative Committee (EA/2016/0033)?
At the outset I will make four declarations of interests.
1) I am the Appellant in this case (EA/2016/0033).
2) My wife was my McKenzie Friend in case EA/2016/0033.
3) I made the original Freedom of Information request on the 29th March 2013.
4) I am referred to by name (Mr. Brace) in paragraphs 1, 4 and 5 of the witness statement of Andrew Roberts.
Line breaks are indicated by a double horizontal line break. A picture of Andrew Roberts at a meeting of Wirral Council’s Schools Forum from the 3rd December 2014 is below so people reading know who I’m referring to. I have included his signature at the end of the witness statement as an image.
I have added a links from his witness statement below to decision notice FS50596346 referred to in paragraph 1 of his witness statement as this has been published on ICO’s website. I also link to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 also referred to in paragraph 1.
Where paragraphs cross over multiple page I have added the paragraph number on the second page to preserve formatting and to aid with comprehension.
The witness statement of Andrew Roberts was sent to me by post to the incorrect address (Wirral Council decided to delete the road and property number) for service (recorded signed for mail) by Wirral Council on 31st May 2016. It was received by myself on the 2nd June 2016.
Andrew Roberts at a public meeting of Wirral Council’s Schools Forum 3rd December 2014
What were the 6 A4 pages of partially redacted minutes of a Headteachers’/Teachers’ Joint Consultative Committee meeting and the name of a LGA Associate Tutor that Wirral Council disclosed voluntarily in response to a First Tier-Tribunal (General Regulatory chamber) hearing (case number EA/2016/0033) about a Freedom of Information request first made in March 2013?
What were the 6 A4 pages of partially redacted minutes of a Headteachers’/Teachers’ Joint Consultative Committee meeting and the name of a LGA Associate Tutor that Wirral Council disclosed voluntarily in response to a First Tier-Tribunal (General Regulatory chamber) hearing (case number EA/2016/0033) about a Freedom of Information request first made in March 2013?
Liverpool Civil & Family Court, Vernon Street, Liverpool, L2 2BX (the venue for First-Tier Tribunal case EA/2016/0033)
I will start by declaring an interest as I was the Appellant in case EA/2016/0033. I am also married to my McKenzie Friend in this matter Mrs Leonora Brace.
Court | Room: Tribunal Room 5, 3rd Floor, Liverpool Civil and Family Court Hearing Centre, 35 Vernon Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, L2 2BX
Oral Hearing
On: 16th June 2016
Time: 10.15am
First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber)
Case Ref: EA/2016/0033
Parties Mr | John Brace (Appellant) ICO (First Respondent) Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council (Second Respondent)
Before: Mr. David Farrer QC Tribunal Judge Mr. Michael Hake Tribunal Member Dr Malcolm Clarke Tribunal Member
Those with long memories will remember that the reason given for closing Lyndale School by Wirral Council officers was that funding for special schools would change starting in the 2016-17 academic year. Officers confidently stated that instead of funding being based on place numbers it would instead be based on how many pupils were at a school. In their view this meant that Lyndale School not being financially viable as the large (and increasing) difference between pupils and places at Lyndale School would result in a shortfall in funding.
A report to yesterday’s Wirral Schools Forum states (EFA stands for Education Funding Agency) “In respect of High Needs Funding (funding for special schools, bases, non-maintained special schools, independent special schools, alternative provision, EMAP and the Hospital School) the EFA have indicated the allocation for place funding and other high needs funding will remain at the same level as 2015-16.”
This was confirmed in the operational guide which states in a section on high needs funding starting on page 30, “The full year 2016 to 2017 allocation will therefore be based on the 2015 to 2016 academic year place numbers, and for the remainder of the high needs allocation there will be no change to what was allocated for 2015 to 2016.”
More detailed reports about the changes for special schools funding were published in September.
Sadly this news arrives too late to make any difference to the Cabinet decision to close Lyndale School at the end of the 2015/16 academic year.
If you click on any of these buttons below, you’ll be doing me a favour by sharing this article with other people. Thanks:
At the weekend I scanned in the rest of the pages that define terms used in the contract (which come to a further 38 pages). This is from page 7 onwards. The next page after that deals with third-party rights.
The Wirral Schools Forum meets tomorrow evening to discuss where to find the ÂŁ2.3 million of savings to its budget to pay for it. This is not because the price of the contract is going up considerably year on year, but because Wirral Council have decided to stop making a ÂŁ2.3 million contribution to it each year. In total the annual contract payments are ~ÂŁ11 million a year. Wirral Council receive an annual grant of ÂŁ5.472 million towards this and a further ÂŁ2.972 million from schools for the services under the contract (such as cleaning, caretaking et cetera). This leaves ÂŁ2.586 million that in earlier years Wirral Council has paid, but next year has decided to cut its contribution by ÂŁ2.3 million on top of a further ÂŁ600,000 reduction this year.
Below are the definitions (from page 7 onwards) and the next page after that deals with third-party rights. Wirral Council plan to publish the complete contract by 31st December 2014 under a new transparency regime (imposed by central government).
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 7 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 8 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 9 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 10 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 11 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 12 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 13 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 14 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 15 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 16 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 17 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 18 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 19 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 20 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 21 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 22 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 23 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 24 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 25 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 26 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 27 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 28 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 29 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 30 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 31 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 32 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 33 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 34 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 35 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 36 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 37 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 38 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 39 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 40 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 41 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 42 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 43 definitionsWirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 44 1.3 Third Party Rights
If you click on any of these buttons below, you’ll be doing me a favour by sharing this article with other people. Thanks: