Labour Chair of Pensions Committee Cllr Pat Glasman bans filming at public meeting
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In extraordinary scenes tonight, Labour councillors at Wirral Council (where else?) chose to ban filming during a public meeting of the Pension Committee. The Pension Committee has eleven Wirral Council councillors on it, along with a councillor from each other Merseyside local authority and a trade union representative. Wirral Council are the administering authority for the £4.7 billion Merseyside Pension Fund, which at its last valuation had a £1.3 billion deficit. Quite what are the real reasons behind this move we’re not entirely sure, although it makes the public wonder what they’ve got to hide (agenda and reports on Wirral Council’s website here)?
I quote from this letter from their previous Director of Law, Bill Norman dated 22nd July 2011 “Finally, I can confirm that, since Monday 28 February 2011, blogging, Tweeting and the use of video cameras have all been permitted during meetings of the Council. Indeed, a number of people were using some of these technologies in the meeting on 1 March. Wirral Council was the first local authority in Merseyside to respond to the request by the Government to take this step to allow greater public scrutiny of meetings and decisions.”
(2) Reaffirms its commitment, made last year by the previous Conservative Liberal Democrat administration, to ensure that any member of the public who wishes to film or broadcast from a public Council meeting is encouraged to do so.
A report of the Licensing Act 2003 Committee of Wirral Council of the 7th November 2012, Interest Declarations, Minutes (25th July 2012), Result of consultation on draft statememt of principles (Gambling Act 2005), classification of Small Creatures (Light Cinema, New Brighton)
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Licensing Act 2003 Committee (Wirral Council) 7th November 2012
Present
Cllr Bill Davies (Chair), Labour
Cllr Rob Gregson (Labour)
Cllr John Salter (Labour)
Cllr Harry Smith (Labour)
Cllr Steve Niblock (Labour)
Cllr Denise Roberts (Labour)
Cllr Mike Hornby (Conservative)
Cllr Adam Sykes (Conservative)
Cllr Dave Mitchell (Liberal Democrat)
Council officers
Anne Beauchamp (Committee Officer)
Margaret O’Donnell (Licensing Manager)
Ken Abraham (Legal adviser)
Unknown officer (male)
In attendance
Cllr Geoffrey Watt
Press/public
John & Leonora Brace
The meeting started with Cllr Dave Mitchell (Lib Dem) giving apologies for Cllr Pat Williams (Lib Dem). The meeting was interrupted by the tune of an ice cream van, which the Chair, Cllr Bill Davies made a joke about, he went on to say that there were a number of meetings going on of different committees and that a number of councillors had sent their apologies. Apologies had been received from Cllrs McCubbin, Davies (George), Leech and Williams (Pat). He said he had a quick Any Other Business and asked if he could sign the minutes?
Agenda Item 1 Declarations of Interest 1:09 to 1:30
Cllr Niblock asked if he could declare a personal interest as a member of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority in item 3.
Cllr Denise Roberts also declared a personal interest as a member of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority in item 3.
Agenda Item 3. DRAFT STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES UNDER THE GAMBLING ACT 2005 1:50 to 8:20
The Chair asked Margaret O’Donnell (Licensing Manager) to talk about this item. She said the Committee had agreed a draft statement in July which had gone out to consultation, which had closed on the 31st October [2012].
At this point a Council Officer arrived.
Margaret O’Donnell continued that they had received one response which was attached at appendix 3, there were no specific direct comments so no amendments had been made to the draft since July, she said the purpose of the evening was to seek approval, then it would go to full Council on 17th December [2012] and was to be revised no later than January 2013.
Cllr Niblock referred to page 15 3.3 in the reference to “Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service Authority” which should read Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority. He pointed out a minor error where a full stop should be a comma and asked a question about page 31 about bingo being played in a member’s club.
Margaret was about to answer his points but Cllr Niblock went on to point out page 36, 21.2 apologising and saying he meant 27.3 and the phrase “will be decided on a case by case individual basis”, which he thought should either be case by case or individual.
Cllr Harry Smith agreed with him.
Cllr Niblock went on to point out that certain proper nouns such as Licensing Authority needed to be capitalised but were all in lower case.
Margaret O’Donnell said she would ask it to be looked at.
Cllr Harry Smith said, “Who are we going to shoot?”
Cllr Hornby asked a question about CRB checks and qualifications for door supervisors?
The Chair said that they used to interview door supervisors.
Margaret O’Donnell said that [door supervisors] were covered by the Security Industry Agency and they had to go through a process to be licensed.
Cllr John Salter asked if they had consulted the Chief of Police and if the Police had made comments?
Margaret O’Donnell confirmed the police had made no comments.
The Chair commented about training, the three meetings on tonight and that they were looking for alternative dates. As there were no further questions, the recommendation to the Council meeting of the 17th December of the Draft Statement of Gambling Principles was agreed.
4. ANY OTHER URGENT BUSINESS ACCEPTED BY THE CHAIR 8:20 to 24:04 Classification of unclassified film “Small Creatures” (Light Cinema, New Brighton)
The Chair said there was one item of Any Other Business which Margaret would explain.
Margaret thanked the Chair for allowing this item of Any Other Business. She said it was in respect of the classification of a film in accordance with guidance issued by the British Board of Film Classification, as they had a cinema in New Brighton called the Light Cinema which wanted to show an unclassified film. She said they were obliged to protect children from harm. She said she received an email on the 6th November from a gentleman who wanted to show it during anti-bullying week (the week starting the 19th November), she said it had been classified by Liverpool Licensing Authority, she said the film related to anti bullying, an individual called Martin Wallace wanted to show the film Small Creatures and had submitted a synopsis and was classified as a 15 by Liverpool City Council screening at FACT. She read out a synopsis about the film. She said there was discrimination of a homophobic nature, on-screen cannabis smoking, no horror in the film, reference to two instances of self-harm, but brief, it had strong occasional language, no nudity but occasional references to sex, crime and occasional violence (a school fight on a field) and a stabbing on camera.
Cllr Harry Smith asked if there was a moral ending?
Margaret O’Donnell said the film was about 89 minutes long.
Cllr Harry Smith referred to possible abuse.
Margaret O’Donnell suggested it could be delegated to a subcommittee, who would then have the chance to view the film.
Cllr Harry Smith asked again if there was a moral ending?
Margaret said that the 14-year-old boy ignored the advice of his teachers and gets involved in knife crime, there’s then a stabbing.
Cllr Harry Smith said he was “disappointed with the ending of the film”.
Margaret said the key thing was the classification and if people should be permitted to go see it.
Cllr Niblock asked if Liverpool City Council had just classified it based on a synopsis, as what it looked like might not be like what’s written on paper. Margaret O’Donnell responded. She said they hadn’t been able to establish how Liverpool City Council had come to its decision.
Cllr Sykes referred to the guidance, Margaret O’Donnell responded by reading out what the British Board of Film Classification see as a 15 classification, during this Cllr Andrew Hodson arrived at 5:47pm for the 6pm meeting. Another councillor arrived at 5:48pm for the 6pm meeting.
Cllr Sykes asked if it would be shown as part of anti-bullying week? Margaret nodded.
Cllr Gregson made some comments.
Cllr Salter wanted something written down.
Cllr Gregson asked about the Liverpool decision.
Margaret O’Donnell said she was seeking the “general view of the Committee” and that she was more than satisfied to report back. She said the email had put them in a difficult position, if it hadn’t been for the meeting she’d have suggested setting up a subcommittee, which would depend on the availability of councillors, she said she would report back the comments made this evening and it was a matter for the applicant if they wanted to pursue it further.
Cllr Hornby said it depended on how the film was directed, which can be misunderstood. He said, “I don’t like the idea of we giving carte blanche to something because someone else across the river said, “It’s OK.”” Cllr Hornby said it was his view it had to be done through a subcommittee.
Cllr Harry Smith said he was really worried there was no moralising end to it and referred to what happened to the baddies at the end of Grange Hill.
Cllr Hornby referred to direction.
Cllr Mitchell agreed that it should be delegated to a subcommittee, who would get the information prior to the meeting, she said it’s to coincide with anti bullying week.
Cllr Roberts asked if the Liverpool councillors seen the film? She said it was no worse than books for teenagers.
The Chair said at his discretion a member of the public has indicated they wish to say something and that he will allow it.
Declaration of interest: The member of the public is my wife and writes and edits for this blog.
Mrs. Brace thanked the Chair for letting her speak. She said that similar types of films had been banned, but if it did go ahead she thought that only people aged over 18 should go and watch it.
The Chair thanked Mrs. Brace for her comments.
Shirley Hudspeth arrived.
The Chair said he thought a decision had been made and it would go to a subcommittee. It was agreed to delegate the decision to a subcommittee.
Shirley Hudspeth arrived.
The Chair closed the meeting and said that the Licensing, Health & Safety and General Purposes Committee would start in five minutes.
Donnie said that was an interesting point and that the ten-year life of houses on Bidston Rise had been increased to thirty years. He wondered if there would be arguments for one or two bedroom bungalows.
Cllr Foulkes said that an important point was the ability of the registered social landlords to borrow money as there would be much less money coming in and they would have difficulty collecting the rent, which would terrify the banks. He said that they were a worse bet than they had ever been in history as a developer, but he had been told by some politicians that this change had been popular in the South-East.
A person introducing herself as Jill Smith, a project support officer with the Women’s Centre said that they were a small charity, but women were coming in were in an absolute crisis over fear of what was going on. She said it would have a big impact, that they received no statutory funding, but that the problem was only going to get bigger. Jill Smith said that they worked with women with mental health or emotional problems.
Cllr Foulkes said they were seeing more people in their surgeries.
Cllr Harry Smith referred to the lady who runs the food bank.
Jill Smith said that all charities would be put under pressure.
Reverend Jenny Gillies from St. Oswalds said that they should be creative over letting people know. She said they never used to have people wander off the streets, but there was confusion over Housing Benefit. Jenny said that Area Forums needed to think creatively over inviting the voluntary sector.
Cllr Foulkes said the demand on the third sector, was going to turn into a flood. They were asking people who had the opportunity in the consultation as to what services they should or could provide. However he wasn’t in Paddy’s camp as he didn’t like protests and leading people down cul-de-sacs.
Paddy said they should campaign to educate people to make rational decisions.
Cllr Foulkes withdrew his remark about Paddy.
Paddy accepted the apology.
Cllr Roberts asked for presentations from the partners.
Jim Thompson (Community Safety) said that Wirral was a safe borough, crime was falling, but despite the recession, crime hadn’t shot up due to vigilance. He said that people shouldn’t leave their houses in darkness when they go out or their windows open, he encouraging people to lock their doors and if they got people knocking on doors asking people to give them £200 for insulation, they were to ignore them and ring Trading Standards or the police on 101.
Jim Thompson said that if it sounds too good to be true, it normally is. He said that nobody comes from Wirral Council and says they’ll take you to the cashpoint, well not yet (he joked) and that if people were concerned to ring the 101 number. They had a multi agency team looking at crime and disorder and information was shared so they could identify hotspots from the calls and prioritise.
A member of the public said they had called 101 when cars had been spray painted and that the police had been helpful and that they had been given the number for crime prevention, but after three days they hadn’t had an answer.
Jim Thompson said that the four crime prevention officers no longer existed, but if she wanted advice to ring 666 5443 and they would find somebody who could answer her query.
The member of the public said that if someone called from the police would the number be withheld?
Jim Thompson said the police and Council did call from withheld numbers and suggested that people don’t leave their house in darkness. He said the burglary rate was now less than twenty per a thousand whereas when he’d started it was forty-five.
Steve Preston said that 80% of burglaries were opportunistic, but this was no consolation for the 20% that weren’t.
Jim Thompson said that if it looks occupied they’d just walk past.
Paul Murphy, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said they were looking at a £9.2 million cut, but that the Chair was on the Fire Authority. Their target of 13,000 Home Fire Safety Checks (which would still be free) and he was asking if people knew of any vulnerable households to tell them, but that they were working with the Safeguarding Adults Board to identify people.
From the 22nd October they would be removing debris in the lead up to Bonfire Night, he gave out statistics on accidental dwelling fires, last year there had been eleven, so far this year there had been five. They had completed 622 Home Fire Safety Checks since the start of the year. On deliberate secondary fires there had been 222 last year and 74 so far this year. He referred to the tragic road traffic fatality in Claughton, but that road traffic collisions were low compared to other Merseyside authorities. He gave the phone number of 0800 731 5958 which could be used for Home Fire Safety Checks or from 22nd October to report rubbish that needed to be cleared. He said that Birkenhead Fire Station was due for completion in 2013.
Cllr Harry Smith asked if they would be based with the ambulance station?
Paul Murphy answered that in Croxteth they shared the same building. Cllr Roberts said there were no plans to merge.
Donnie asked a question about the ring fenced road safety funding for Area Forums?
Cllr Roberts asked if he was referring to road traffic accidents?
Donnie said he was referring to the bus hitting the car and the tragic fatality, but also the 20mph zones?
Cllr Foulkes said that the money allocated locally was a small fraction of the Highways Department budget, but that money would be put sadly where there had already been accidents.
Cllr Harry Smith referred to hotspots.
Cllr Foulkes said that after a major accident or fatality there was an investigation to see if it could have been prevented, such as the lights being purposely staggered slower but that he wouldn’t preempt the investigation.
George Thomas said he was frustrated by the cuts and drew attention to November 15th when it would be voting day for a Police Commissioner. He said it was “Tory ideology” and costing £100 million to create the position. He said the Chief Constable would be paid £155,000 and the Commissioner £85,000 but that independents couldn’t afford to run as they needed a deposit of £5,000.
Cllr Roberts said yes, yes.
Cllr George Davies said it was a waste of money.
Cllr Foulkes said he believed in democracy and pleaded with people to get out and vote.
Cllr Harry Smith said he wanted people to vote for the Labour candidate.
Jim Thompson said that Home Office funds, currently £122,000 were given to the local authority, as well as £150,000 to £160,000 from the Area Based Grant, however from April 2013 this would be given to the Police and Crime Commissioner instead.
Cllr George Davies disagreed with Jim Thompson over the change. He said he objection was that the change to a Police and Crime Commissioner was that it was one person compared to seventeen on the police authority.
Anna said they had a positive event to report as a person was coming to the library to talk about Viking remains.
A member of the public commented on the road conditions and said they were pleased that in the last four months it had been seen to.
Cllr Roberts said as there were no further questions, she would close the formal part of the meeting, the next one would be Tuesday 5th February 2013 in the Bidston ward.
Michelle Gray said she would advertise the venue and write to people.
Cllr Foulkes said that the tactic of government was to save money to pay off the deficit and that they had to save £3.2 million or find it elsewhere. He said that he didn’t invent the figure, but if they believed in Council Tax Benefit for certain groups it would be implemented.
Paddy said that just because people had mortgages and things were tight didn’t stop them eating and that the changes could cripple people. He said it could be done over a longer period of time and that the deficit was going up.
Cllr Foulkes said it didn’t support it and agreed [with Paddy]. He said he was a Labour councillor and that the way to get out of the depression was to stimulate the economy.
Cllr Harry Smith said that as well as the possible cuts to Council Tax benefit and the issue of spare bedrooms affecting Housing Benefit, that service charges were going to be removed from Housing Benefit and that the current Wirral Partnership Homes service charge for sheltered accommodation was about £13/week. He said that this would affect the poorest in society.
Cllr Foulkes said that rents were no longer going to be paid directly to landlords and that landlords would have to collect the rent, which would be a massive change.
A member of the public asked a question about Council Tax Benefit/Housing Benefit and the means testing system.
The officer said that they wouldn’t get more money next year for new claims, but they would try and divide it as best they can, these decisions were being consulted on as to whether people wanted Council Tax to go up or the debt to fall on the most vulnerable people.
Cllr Foulkes asked if they would still administer Housing Benefit?
The officer said that they would, but there would be changes to reductions for excess rooms, one room would result in 14% less, two rooms 25% less.
A member of the public asked about a family of four who needed this income who were on tax credits and how it couldn’t be looked at in isolation.
The officer said there would be a discretionary fund.
Cllr Foulkes said that people were “blissfully ignorant” and they had “not got a clue” what was coming round. He suggested that they ask all Area Forums to have an expert give a demonstration to tell people what was coming round the corner. He suggested there was a knowledge gap and that an expert making a presentation explaining what it meant for certain families would be useful.
Donnie said that Wirral Partnership Homes had done that with a mailing about the bedroom tax, which had a four page breakdown about what it meant to people.
Cllr George Davies said that pensioners were exempt from the changes, but referred also to the change to Universal Credit.
An officer said they could give six or seven worked examples.
Donnie said that people were not understanding the changes.
Cllr Foulkes said that it was different for tenants with organisations with resources such as Wirral Partnership Homes, but private tenants, community groups and church groups were up a creek and needed to have a semblance of understanding to mitigate the impact of the changes. He also said the appeal and claim process would be made more difficult and if the benefit was lost it would take “ages and ages” to appeal.
Paddy said it was important people had enough “bread and two potatoes” to eat, but what are people going to do? He said it was life and death with people starving and that “we are the plebs”, whereas government ministers were more concerned with what they have with their Beaujolais. He again referred to the crisis loans.
Cllr Harry Smith referred to people having to downsize because of the bedroom situation, but that Wirral Partnership Homes didn’t have enough one-bedroom homes.
Bidston & Claughton Area Forum Bidston Avenue Primary School
Here
Cllr Denise Roberts, Chair, Claughton
Cllr Jim Crabtree, Bidston & St. James
Cllr Steve Foulkes, Claughton
Cllr Harry Smith, Bidston & St. James
Michelle Gray, Community Engagement
Jim Thompson Community Safety
Paul Murphy Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service
Ian Brand, Lead Officer (Asset Management)
Jim Parson, Community Representative
plus about thirteen members of public
The Chair, Cllr Denise Roberts welcomed people to the Area Forum and asked those on the panel to introduce themselves. She then asked the Lead Officer, Ian Brand (Head of Asset Management) to make a statement.
Ian Brand said he was making a statement on funding, which was a standard statement that would be read to all Area Forums. In September the Director of Finance had reported to Cabinet. Due to a projected overspend, immediate action was taken to freeze non-essential spending and release a [£7 million] reserve, which meant the suspension of the Neighbourhood Funding grants program. He said that this doesn’t mean it is cancelled or removed, but suspended until there is a recommendation as to how to move forward. Mr Brand said that by end of the year they would know the status of applications.
Cllr Roberts said that Kay Smith, from VCAW Wirral was also here to talk about how Healthwatch would replace LINKS.
Michelle Gray gave an update on items discussed at the last Area Forum. On Buttermere Avenue, she said the work has been completed, but she had not been down to see it.
Cllr Harry Smith said that Cllr George Davies had had a site meeting and was satisfied, but another issue raised had been raised at the last Area Forum. He said that the siting of the telegraph pole was down to the developers Rowland Homes, however no one would move into the property unless work completed. On the subject of speeding traffic on Budworth Road, Cllr Smith said that in the program of works it wasn’t identified as priority, but there would be more information at the next Area Forum.
The Chair, Cllr Roberts asked for an officer to give an update on the Budget consultation.
Michelle Gray said she would give a brief update in two stages. The consultation was launched on the 10th September [2012] and would be running until the 19th October [2012] . They had visited Aldi, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons as well as community groups and resident’s groups. Once the consultation was finished all the feedback would be collated and there would be a full report, done around November or December time. The plan was to save £100 million over three years. The consultation would also feed into the three-year Corporate Plan and at the end the Budget would be cut by about a third. She gave out some statistical information and said that they has visited ninety-six events and distributed thirty-seven thousand of the questionnaires. So far three thousand six hundred had been completed online and there were more coming in daily.