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

Documents for Standards Hearing Panel meeting into complaint about Mr. Denis Knowles. Agenda Page 1 of 1 Standards Hearing Panel Date: Tuesday, 24 January 2012 Time: 9.30 am Venue: Committee Room 3 – Wallasey Town Hall Contact Officer: Shirley Hudspeth Tel: 0151 691 8559 e-mail: shirleyhudspeth@wirral.gov.uk Website: ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————— AGENDA 1. MEMBERS’ CODE OF CONDUCT – DECLARATIONS … Continue reading “Standards Hearing Panel 24th January 2012 Member complained about: Denis Knowles Complainant: Denis Knowles Part 1”

Documents for Standards Hearing Panel meeting into complaint about Mr. Denis Knowles.

Agenda
Page 1 of 1

Standards Hearing Panel

Date: Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Time: 9.30 am

Venue: Committee Room 3 – Wallasey Town Hall

Contact Officer: Shirley Hudspeth
Tel: 0151 691 8559
e-mail: shirleyhudspeth@wirral.gov.uk
Website:

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————

AGENDA
1. MEMBERS’ CODE OF CONDUCT – DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Members of the Panel are invited to consider whether they have a personal or prejudicial interest in connection with any of the items of business on the agenda and, if so, declare it and state the nature of such interest.

2. EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC
RECOMMENDATION:
That, under section 100 (A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined by the relevant paragraphs of Part I of Schedule 12A to that Act. The Public Interest test has been applied and favours exclusion at this time, however, the Panel will consider the continuation of the exclusion at the meeting.

3. COMPLAINT AGAINST A MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL (Pages 1 – 24)
To hear and make a determination on allegation that a Member of the
Council has failed to comply with the Members’ Code of Conduct.

Agenda Item 3 Report of the Monitoring Officer Page 1 of 7

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Appendix 1 (7 pages)

Standards for England guidance on blogging (online version)

Page 1

Appendix 2 Page 1 of 2 Email from Marianne Duncan on behalf of Bill Norman to Rosemary A Lyon (16/9/2010 13:43) and email from Cllr Denis T Knowles to Bill D Norman (30/3/2010 17:48)

NOT FOR PUBLICATION Page 1 of 1

Appendix 2 TO INVESTIGATING OFFICER’S REPORT

Lyon, Rosemary A.
——————————-
From: Duncan, Marianne on behalf of Norman, Bill D.
Sent: 16 September 2010 13:43
To: Lyon, Rosemary A
Subject: FW: Code of conduct
Importance: High
Sensitivity: Confidential

——————————-
From: Knowles, Denis T. (Councillor)
Sent: 30 March 2010 17:48
To: Norman, Bill, D.
Subject: Code of conduct
Importance: High
Sensitivity: Confidential

Hi Bill,

I am truly appalled and horrified to have possibly brought the council into disrepute by something that I have posted on a social network site and for my own piece of mind I would like to give you notification that I intend to report myself to the Standards Committee for investigation.

I will email you my official request in the morning.

Yours sincerely,

Denis

Councillor Denis Knowles
Conservative Councillor for Seacombe Ward
Wirral Borough Council
Tel: 0151 639 7104
Mob: 07796 684428
Email: denisknowles@wirral.gov.uk
Blog: www.seacombe.info

16/9/10 Page 24

Page 2

Appendix 2 Page 2 of 2 Email from Marianne Duncan on behalf of Bill Norman to Rosemary A Lyon (16/9/2010 13:44) and email from Cllr Denis T Knowles to Bill D Norman (31/3/2010 16:32)

NOT FOR PUBLICATION

Lyon, Rosemary A.
——————————-
From: Duncan, Marianne on behalf of Norman, Bill D.
Sent: 16 September 2010 13:44
To: Lyon, Rosemary A
Subject: FW: request

——————————-
From: Knowles, Denis T. (Councillor)
Sent: 31 March 2010 16:32
To: Norman, Bill, D.
Subject: request

Dear Mr. Norman,

You will probably be aware of the furore surrounding a comment I made on my Facebook site which, to my total dismay, appears to have spiralled out of all proportion. I removed said comment immediately as soon as I became aware that it could be construed as offensive.

I also immediately posted an apology for any distress I may have caused. You will also be aware that I have been suspended locally by my political party, pending an investigation.

I feel that it is important to protect myself and Wirral Council from any breeches of the code we work to and specifically in relation to equality matters, which my lapse might bring to and a charge of disrepute against me.

I would therefore ask you to accept my request to report myself to the Councils Standards Committee for assessment. I will gladly submit myself to the Committee for advice and support in this matter including a willingness to undergo further training, if required, to help alleviate any further embarrassment or lapses on my part.

I sincerely regret the undesirable bad publicity that has accrued to date in connection with my comments.

Yours sincerely,

Councillor Denis Knowles
Councillor for Seacombe Ward
Wirral Borough Council
Tel: 0151 639 7104
Mob: 07796 684428

16/9/10 Page 24

Licensing, Health and Safety and General Purposes Committee (Wirral Council) Item 4 Hackney Carriage Vehicle Supply and Demand Survey – Outcome of Public Consultation Part 1

report to Committee.

Audio (11m 04s) of representation made by trade and committee discussion followed by decision to go for option 2.

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Partial transcript 00:00 to 01:00

meetings about this, we have expressed that our favourite option is number two and still is to is to this day.

Err a long ????mat. However errm because we got some figures through on Thursday from the Licensing Department, stating that, even though they’ve issued four hundred licences, it looks like from their figures that about another hundred and fourteen have been returned.

I don’t know whether it’s … late … taxis. Do you know what you’re doing? And they say …that’s what we’re doing and …ag all the pens.

Now it’s patently obvious that currently to train without doing homework, sorry without doing formal work. And this is what we … impact in May

Happy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year!

Black Boxes – Anna Klonowski – Appendix 9 – Notes of the Charging Policy Working Group 22/8/2005

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL  – NOT FOR PUBLICATION

Appendix 9

Notes of the Charging Policy Working Group

Charging Policy Consultation

Notes of a meeting held on 22nd August 2005

Westminster House, Birkenhead

Present

XXXXXXXXXXXX(older people’s representative)

XXXXXXXXXX(service user/carer representative)

XXXXXXXXXXXX(service user/carer representative)

A representative of Wirral MIND gave apologies

XXXXXXXXX– Advocacy Services

Councillor Pat Williams(Lib Dem)

Councillor               (Lab)

Councillor            (Con)

XXXXXXXXXX(Assistant Director Finance & Support Services)

XXXXXXXXXXX(Business & performance Manager)

XXXXXXXXXX(Client Financial Services Manager)

Purpose

The purpose of the meeting was to consult with party spokespersons and a number of representatives of users and carers on Wirral’s charging policy for social care services delivered to people in their own homes. It is intended the outcome of this and other consultations will be presented to the Health and Social Care Select Committee prior to recommending to Cabinet any revisions to the Charging Policy as directed by Cabinet in March 2005.

Process

XXXXXXXXX (XXX) gave a presentation (attached) which outlined the type of services the Council charges for and how they are calculated. The presentation

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL – NOT FOR PUBLICATION

55

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL – NOT FOR PUBLICATION


went on to explain why the Council believed the changes to the policy were necessary and what options might be considered.

The Group asked questions during the presentation and these are recorded in the attached table. The Group did not intend to make any specific recommendations to Council but agreed to review these notes and make subsequent representations as were considered appropriate.

It was recognised that not all client groups were adequately represented and XXX gave assurance there would be other processes to ensure as many people as possible were consulted prior to Cabinet making a decision on future charges.

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL  – NOT FOR PUBLICATION

56

Economy and Regeneration Overview and Scrutiny Committee 16/1/2011 Part 3 Peel presentation on Wirral Waters

English: Liverpool Lime Street
Image via Wikipedia

Cllr Denise Realey asked if it was true they would have tidal power by 2020?

Mr. Mawdsley said that was incorrect, they had finished the feasibility study, settled on a location, technology and costed it. The total cost came to £3.5 billion for 720 MWh of power. It would last for one hundred and twenty years, but financial models only went over twenty-five years and this had a break even point at the thirty year mark. He said pension funds would have to take a long-term view, it was a green project, but they were sitting on their hands waiting for government and overseas investors. It was now over to government if it happened….

Cllr Andrew Hodson said he had done really well and he’d found the presentation interesting. Would there really be occupation next year?

Mr. Mawdsley from Peel said the remediation would run from March to November. The site needed cleaning up as it was a remnant of the industrial heritage. They also needed to investigate the geotechnical conditions. Once this was done they would build the first phase, however they needed tenants as well as to secure a loan for 50% of the capital costs.

Cllr Andrew Hodson asked if they had got the money to start construction?

Mr. Mawdsley said they had got 50% and were hoping to get the other 50% in a bank loan.

Cllr Hodson asked if they could start with just 50%?

The person from Peel said it was a joint venture and they had already put in £5-£6 million. It was difficult getting a loan from a UK bank, so they were speaking to the Bank of China.

Cllr Hodson referred to Peel’s assets of £6 billion. Cllr Stuart Kelly said he never failed to be impressed by the sheer scale, but he had his eye on the fact he’d like to see bricks and building of this long-term project. He said the other issues were there’d be a shift in the business and retail centre on the periphery. Chinese and Far East companies would have good links to the rest of the country, but was there anything they should be doing about infrastructure? High Speed 2 wasn’t enough in our direction and there was the whole mess that is the M6.

Peel responded by saying that the International Trade Centre would be a springboard into the UK and Europe. The fact it was close to the port was essential, where it was, was pretty good with the motorway and public transport. What was important was connections to London, ideally there would be a direct mainline station to Euston, but that was not going to happen. However you could get from Liverpool Lime Street to the Wirral quickly and it was very well-connected. If it was connected to Lime Street through a disused tunnel to the dock there could be a feeder service.

Cllr Tony Cox asked about the proposed automotive and rail businesses and whether they were close enough to their target market for example Vauxhall Motors?

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