Licensing, Health and Safety and General Purposes Committee (Wirral Council) 23/1/2012 Part 3

Licensing, Health and Safety and General Purposes Committee (Wirral Council) 23/1/2012 Part 3 Continues from Licensing, Health and Safety and General Purposes Committee (Wirral Council) 23/1/2012 Part 2. Kate said they had visited the Masonic Hall this afternoon and it was a suitable venue. It cost £350 for hire. Surjit Tour talked about Between2Worlds. He … Continue reading “Licensing, Health and Safety and General Purposes Committee (Wirral Council) 23/1/2012 Part 3”

sign reading Polling Station
sign reading Polling Station

Licensing, Health and Safety and General Purposes Committee (Wirral Council) 23/1/2012 Part 3

Continues from Licensing, Health and Safety and General Purposes Committee (Wirral Council) 23/1/2012 Part 2.

Kate said they had visited the Masonic Hall this afternoon and it was a suitable venue. It cost £350 for hire. Surjit Tour talked about Between2Worlds. He said there were statutory purposes for polling stations and the front entrance at the Masonic Hall was unsuitable for disabled access. However there was no certainty for hire costs with Between2Worlds as it would have to be negotiated.

Cllr Ian Lewis commented. He understood the point made by Cllr Darren Dodd, his concern was that they were looking at maps whereas in practice it was the effect on votes. Wherever it moved, people wouldn’t vote as they’d go to the wrong polling station as it had previously been the YMCA. He said elderly people who had used the YMCA might not find out as not everyone was sent a polling card. He said his personal preference was to accept the Masonic Hall as opposed to the YMCA car park.

Cllr Patricia Glasman said he agreed with Cllr Ian Lewis on the whole, she also wanted the Masonic Lodge, however there was no provision for tellers.

Kate said that other polling stations that were entered directly had no provision and tellers could remain outside.

Cllr Bill Davies asked about the disabled access.

Kate said yes in answer to his question. There was a side exit at the Masonic Lodge used as a fire exit, unfortunately a ramp over the front steps was not practical.

Cllr Chris Jones asked about the past history of problems about using a Masonic Lodge as a polling station.

Cllr Bill Davies said he didn’t have the details in front of his, but to his recollection each time Masonic Lodges had been proposed as polling stations it had been turned down.

Cllr Ian Lewis said it would be nice if polling stations were suitable for tellers and wouldn’t inconvenience political activists. He still saw the Masonic Lodge as the least inconvenient.

Cllr Steve Niblock proposed, seconded by Cllr Chris Jones that the polling station for WE.

Cllr Sue Taylor proposed and Cllr Kate Wood seconded that the Masonic Lodge be used as the polling station for polling district WE.

There was a vote first on the amendment.

For: Cllrs Taylor, Wood, Lewis, Anderson and Glasman (5)
Against: Cllrs Davies, Williams, Niblock and Jones (4)

Abstention: None (0)

The amendment was carried by one vote (5:4:0).

The Chair said if possible because of the time scale, could they make a decision quickly on alternative polling stations?

Cllr Steve Niblock said there was a fall back of Between2Worlds, but he was happy if it was agreed by the party spokespersons.

Cllr Bill Davies said he wanted to advise the committee that with the timing of the local elections, if possible could it wait till March? Cllr Bill Davies proposed and Cllr Sue Taylor seconded that if alternative polling stations needed to be found that it would be agreed by the spokespersons.

This was agreed by the Committee.

Licensing, Health and Safety and General Purposes Committee (Wirral Council) 23/1/2012 Part 2

Licensing, Health and Safety and General Purposes Committee (Wirral Council) 23/1/2012 Part 2

                                       

Present:

Conservative

Cllr Kate Wood
Cllr Sue Taylor
Cllr Ian Lewis
Cllr Tom Anderson

Labour

Cllr Bill Davies (Chair)
Cllr Irene Williams
Cllr Steve Niblock
Cllr Chris Jones
Cllr Patricia Glasman

Lib Dem

Absent

Cllr Bill Davies said he would make a start to the meeting and deal with the polling stations and Wirral Award first. He asked for any declarations of interest.

Cllr Steve Niblock declared a personal interest in item 5 as he knew the nominees and one of those nominated.

Cllr Ian Lewis declared a personal interest in item 3 as he is a councillor for Leasowe and Moreton East specifically in relation to polling district TC.

Cllr Ian Lewis also declared a personal interest in item 5 as two of the nominees were known to him.

Cllr Patricia Glasman declared a personal interest in item 3 as it mentions New Brighton ward.

Cllr Sue Taylor declared a personal interest in item 3 as it mentions New Brighton ward.

The minutes of the meeting held on the 10th November 2011 were agreed.

Cllr Chris Jones said she wanted to declare an interest, she declared a personal interest as she is a councillor in Seacombe ward.

Cllr Patricia Glasman declared an interest in item 5 as she knew one of the nominees.

The Committee then considered the report on Polling Districts and Polling Places. Surjit Tour said it was an update to the polling stations, which has been reviewed. Issues had been raised with polling districts WE and TC as they had required further work. The options related to the work.

For polling district TC the current polling place was Sacred Heart RC Primary School. Yew Tree Online Centre had been suggested as an alternative. Yew Tree Online Centre had previously been classed as unsuitable, however it had moved on and was now a suitable venue.

In Liscard ward, polling district WD Between2Worlds was an option or the YMCA. There were other alternative options that had been looked into too such as the Masonic Hall or Liscard Primary School.

The Chair said the panel had met on Friday and got feedback from ward councillors regarding the Yew Tree online centre.

Kate said they had received no feedback over the Yew Tree Online Centre, but Cllr Darren Dodd had sent them correspondence about Between2Worlds. Cllr Keeley wished to speak on this issue.

Cllr Steve Williams proposed that they agree the Yew Tree Online Centre as the polling station for polling district TC (Leasowe and Moreton East Ward). This was seconded by Cllr Patricia Glasman. All nine councillors voted in favour.

Cllr Keeley said he wanted to be brief, he was disappointed and felt that the polling station should be in the polling district. They had lost the YMCA which was a “crying shame”. He wanted a location that was good for drivers and on a bus route. As much as possible he wanted the committee to find a polling station as close as possible. He suggested the option of the Masonic Hall as it had a bus stop outside and a large car park.

The Chair thanked him for his comments.

Continues at Licensing, Health and Safety and General Purposes Committee (Wirral Council) 23/1/2012 Part 3.

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Standards Hearing Panel 24/1/2012 Denis Knowles Part 4

When Denis Knowles, Rosemary Lyons and the public returned the Chair thanked them. He said after “careful consideration” and receiving legal advice they had reached a decision.

Stella Elliott said that had carefully listened to the representations by Denis Knowles, but it was the final view that counts. She said it was “unacceptable” and they are thankful. In regards to respect, disrepute and the equality enactments. They had noted he had undergone training and his contrition. He had learned his lesson and they also took on board his prompt actions and self-reform as well as his full cooperation.

The panel had decided not to sanction him.

The Chair thanked the panel, officers and others and closed the meeting.

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Standards Hearing Panel 24/1/2012 Denis Knowles Part 3

Continued from Standards Hearing Panel 24/1/2012 Denis Knowles Part 2

The Chair asked him if he had any other questions?

Denis Knowles said he had no questions as the report was mostly clear and accurate, he was happy to accept its findings apart from the minor issue.

The Chair said that was gracious. He pointed out that the Code of Conduct covered blogging, but he was not going to discuss potential remedies or people’s private capacity as there was a dividing line there.

Denis Knowles said he was grateful. The Chair thanked Denis Knowles. He asked Cllr Les Rowlands if he had any questions. Cllr Les Rowlands said no. He asked Stella Elliott if she had any questions. Stella Elliott said no. He asked Cllr Bill Davies if he had any questions. Cllr Bill Davies said no.

The Chair asked Denis Knowles if he had any other representations he wished to make?

Denis Knowles said “no, not really”, he said he had made an error of judgement and posted an apology and referred himself to the Standards Committee. He said he was horrified to think that he could cause offence and that it would bring the Council into disrepute, which was what he feared most. He had mixed with the people who were offended and he could see their views, he had even made some very good friends with people he would not normally associate with. It had been a political off the cuff jibe which was apparently offensive. Since it had happened he had received supportive emails which outweighed the people who had been offended. If he had offended one person it was bad enough. He had jumped the gun and done the right thing.

The Chair mentioned that Denis Knowles had been on diversity training and a course, he was willingly contrite and he felt he had learnt. He said his actions may or may not be different next time.

Denis Knowles said he had learnt by his mistake, which was not always easy. He had been suspended by the Conservative Party straight away, which was a political act, this had to led to him being “taken away”. He had learnt a huge lesson and hopefully would stand as a candidate for councillor again. If people never made mistakes they would be God-like. He was humble enough to accept and learn thing. The day people knew everything they would be in heaven.

Cllr Patricia Williams asked Denis Knowles what he hoped the outcome would be?

Denis Knowles said he hoped they realised he accepts the guilt and would accept any advice over his future conduct. It had been over his head for nearly two years and was a “black cloud” for so long. It was stressful for him but he had his head held high. He looked forward to the judgement and expected to be set on the right path.

At this point the Standards Review Panel asked Denis Knowles, Rosemary Lyon and the public to leave, but return when they had made a decision.

Continue to Standards Hearing Panel 24/1/2012 Denis Knowles Part 4

Standards Hearing Panel 24/1/2012 Denis Knowles Part 2

Continued from Standards Hearing Panel 24th January 2012 Member complained about: Denis Knowles Complainant: Denis Knowles Part 1

Present:

Standards Hearing Panel (5)

The Standards Hearing Panel
Independent Members
Mr. Ken Harrison (Chair)
Mrs Stella Elliott (Vice-Chair)
Councillors
Conservative
Cllr L Rowlands
Labour
Cllr B Davies
Liberal Democrat
Cllr P Williams

Wirral Council Officers
Surjit Tour, (Head of Legal and Member Services) representing Monitoring Officer (Bill Norman)
Shirley Hudspeth, Panel Clerk (Democratic Services Manager)
Rosemary Lyon, Investigating Officer

Subject of complaint
Denis Knowles, person complained about

Public/Press
John Brace (press)
Leonora Brace

The Chair asked for any declarations of interest. Cllr Les Rowlands declared an interest as he was a member of the Conservative Party and so was the person complained about. He asked for advice about if it was a prejudicial interest.

Surjit Tour said that Cllr Les Rowlands was there representing his political group.

The Chair agreed that the meeting was quorate. He said they would decide not to exclude the public from proceedings. He asked for a summary of the report.

Rosemary Lyons said she had been asked by the Monitoring Officer (Bill Norman) on a self-referred complaint which related to a comment on the Facebook site. She said Members had to comply with the Code of Conduct, if they claimed to act as a representative of the Authority or certain other types of business. She referred to Standards Board for England guidance, a copy of which was provided as appendix 2 to the report. The guidance was on blogging and social networking.

She realised that the Member meant no gratuitous offense by the comment and the timing of the comment was on the 27th March 2010. She had interviewed Cllr Knowles. She said that Cllr Knowles had put details of his councillor’s surgeries on his Facebook site. She said he had been completely honest and helpful. In conclusion she said it was in reference to leaflets delivered in Seacombe ward and could amount to a personal jibe due to the use of the phrase “limp wristed”. The relevant paragraphs of the Code were on respect, conduct bringing the Authority into disrepute, there was also a subset that said Members mustn’t do anything that could breach the Equality Act 2010. She mentioned the local elections in Seacombe ward in 2010 and said that it could be argued that Denis Knowles was acting in his capacity as a Member. She said he was quick to alert and the emails in appendix 2 set out the self referral. He had undergone training and activities, which he had not had before making the comments. Denis Knowles had accepted the findings of the draft report.

The Panel had to decide whether there had been a failure or not been a failure. She said there had been substantial mitigation in the form of an apology and removing the comment, she was happy to ask any questions?

Denis Knowles said he had no questions and had been as open and honest as he could be. He said he had been unaware of the Code of Conduct. He said the claim that he had surgery dates on the Facebook site was untrue. He said on second thoughts he realised his surgery dates were on the WordPress site and on the Wirral Council website. On reflection they had not been on Facebook. It was clear to him that Facebook was not being used by him for political purposes but for social purposes.

He said the WordPress blog was outside the jurisdiction of the complaint covered by the Panel. He said this dispute over whether the Facebook site had his councillor’s surgery details on was the only disagreement he had with the report.

Continue to Standards Hearing Panel 24/1/2012 Denis Knowles Part 3