Tag: Cllr Chris Blakeley

Standards Hearing Panel (Wirral Council) 21st November 2011 Part 1

Standards Hearing Panel (Wirral Council) 21/11/2011 9:15am Present: Independent (2) Ken Harrison Stella Elliott Councillors (3) Cllr Chris Blakeley (Conservative) Cllr Bill Davies (Labour) arrived at 9:18am Cllr Pat Williams (Lib Dem) arrived at 9:20am Officers present: Surjit Tour, Deputy Monitoring Officer representing Bill Norman (Monitoring Officer) Shirley Hudspeth, Committee Services Officer & Clerk Rosemary … Continue reading “Standards Hearing Panel (Wirral Council) 21st November 2011 Part 1”

Standards Hearing Panel (Wirral Council) 21/11/2011 9:15am

Present:
Independent (2)
Ken Harrison
Stella Elliott

Councillors (3)
Cllr Chris Blakeley (Conservative)
Cllr Bill Davies (Labour) arrived at 9:18am
Cllr Pat Williams (Lib Dem) arrived at 9:20am

Officers present:
Surjit Tour, Deputy Monitoring Officer representing Bill Norman (Monitoring Officer)
Shirley Hudspeth, Committee Services Officer & Clerk
Rosemary Lyons, Investigating Officer

Press/Public:
Denis Knowles
John Brace (press)
Leonora Brace

The meeting started late (instead of at 9.15am) due to not all of the panel being present and some councillors (who were late) missing extra paperwork handed out which was handed out to those who were late along with an explanation.

The meeting started with Ken Harrison saying “Good morning” and explaining that as Vice-Chair of the Standards Committee he would be chairing the panel. He explained there was a problem which would mean the meeting would be deferred to a further date Ed – which turned out to be two months later on 24th January 2012. This was because of further paperwork which they needed time to act upon and digest, otherwise it would not be fair to Mr. Knowles and the public. Ken Harrison apologised for the waste of time, which he had no control over.

Denis Knowles asked if this was further evidence that Ken Harrison had referred to?

Cllr Chris Blakeley said it referred to reference material, specifically appendix 1 and 2. He said it was “outrageous”.

Surjit Tour said in answer to Denis Knowles’s question, “No”.

Cllr Chris Blakeley said they had “acted terribly”, that three minutes before the meeting was to start paperwork had been handed out. He said he would be writing to Bill Norman [Monitoring Officer] about the Legal Department’s approach.

Denis Knowles said he was “only a pawn”, that he “fully understands”, that it was “not fair on you” and that he was “happy to come back”.

A member of the panel misheard what Denis Knowles said as prawn.

The meeting was adjourned to a later date.

Wirral Council 17th October 2011 Part 1

Here’s the first twenty or so minutes of the full Council meeting on the 17th October 2011. Apologies for the sound quality in advance, but nearby Tweeters in the public gallery on their mobile phones unfortunately caused interference with the sound recording and with a full public gallery there was plenty of rustling of papers and coughing too.

Subtitles are included for the first minute or so of the meeting. It covers apologies for Cllr Bridson and Cllr Mountney & Mayor’s Communications, Declarations of Interest, petitions, minutes of the last meeting (18th July 2011), questions (one withdrawn and another from a councillor about foxes) and then part of item 5 (Leadership of the Council).

People that can be seen on the right in the video are, Mayor (Cllr. Moira McLaughlin), Deputy Mayor (Cllr. Gerry Ellis), Mayor’s Consort (Anna McLaughlin).

Also on the Conservative benches: Cllr Chris Blakeley, Cllr Jeff Green, Cllr Lesley Rennie and a few others.

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Standards Committee 29/9/2011 Part 14 Urgent Business – Correspondence Received by the Chair

Continued from Standards Committee 29/9/2011 Part 13

Cllr Chris Blakeley said it “needs more than five minutes to understand the ramifications” and asked when the next meeting was.
The answer given by Mrs. Shirley Hudspeth was the 30th November [2011].

Cllr Les Rowlands said there were no time issues.
Cllr Chris Blakeley said this needed to be conveyed to Mr. Morton.
Cllr Dave Mitchell said it was not fair on councillors.

Surjit Tour said the process was explained in the middle of August. However the letter had been delivered on the eve of the committee. The process had been communicated to individuals in the middle of August. There had been delay, Standards for England had decided in the middle of August (17th August).

Cllr Chris Blakeley said he was happy to consider it if he had the time to read it and digest it and give him justice.

The Chair Brian Cummings asked if everyone wanted a copy?

Surjit Tour said they should consider whether to make it exempt or not.

RESOLVED:  That Mr Morton’s correspondence be considered at the next meeting of the Committee scheduled for 30 November 2011 and he be informed of this decision.

The meeting finished.

Standards Committee 29/9/2011 Part 4

Cllr Chris Blakeley said that when Bill Norman joined Wirral Council he was aware of the resources, that he uses as an excuse. He said that Bill Norman says we should adopt the protocol, so that they can be held to account. There had been “poor performance” and “no improvement” for years.

Cllr Pat Williams asked Bill Norman if he would like to respond.

Bill Norman said he was aware of the resource deficiencies that he should report, however there was the current financial climate. It was a judgement about prioritisation, this had not received adequate prioritisation and there was no clear performance standard. If there was he would make sure it was adhered to.

Cllr Bob Wilkins asked how the new way was different to the past?

Bill Norman said what he presented in January had not been approved. There were timescales and further paragraphs. All complaints should be dealt with within 6 months, if they weren’t the chair and spokespersons would be informed of likely timescales. Other stuff would have to be dealt with less quickly, if this was prioritised to a greater degree.

Cllr Pat Williams said she shared her colleague’s views that they should’ve been told before and made aware of any problems. She said it was extremely important and serious. She said it was difficult if there was a long period between the complaint being made and being recorded accurately as we’re “not all blessed with wonderful memories”. She said “views can change after the event” and it was “very difficult to prove”. She said it was hard for the person making the allegation who had a vested interest in exaggerating. She said they all know it will improve, but it would be helpful if the spokespersons were kept aware.

Standards Committee 29/9/2011 Part 3

Bill Norman said he accepted the timescales were unacceptable, however the scale of resources that Legal & Member Services had been modest. He had come from the authority of Torbay in Devon. Torbay had half the population of Wirral, but more solicitors. This was a part explanation, but it didn’t justify the delay. The revised protocol (if endorsed) detailed timescales. They couldn’t undo the past, but he will do better and could be held to account to the timescales. He referred to the Localism Bill and changes to future changes to the standards regime. He thought it was best to suggest formal performance targets. There would then be standards of performance.

Cllr Les Rowlands mentioned the Standards Board for England.

Somebody arrived and started talking to Bill Norman.

Cllr Les Rowlands said it was “not a good excuse” that they had “not enough staff”. He asked why there hadn’t been a report to Standards Committee on this and why he had not said it in the past. He said they should stick to the times even if they haven’t got enough staff. He agreed with Cllr Chris Blakeley that it was appalling and the money that had been spent on this. He used the word failure and said it was a “horrendous amount of money”. He said it left a bad taste and they were supposed to be in the 21st century. He said they had been a long, long time trying to tackle this and said it was a failing of Bill Norman.