Expense claim forms for Councillor Mike Hornby (Wirral Council) 2013 to 2014
Expense claim forms for Councillor Mike Hornby (Wirral Council) 2013 to 2014
Councillor Mike Hornby is a Conservative Party councillor for Greasby, Frankby & Irby (which sounds like three wards but is actually one). Eleven pages of claim forms were given to me relating to him (which at least shows that unlike some other councillors who aren’t sticking to the rules as some councillors were putting many months of expenses on the same set of forms, he is at least doing these on a monthly basis making them far easier to understand).
The eleven pages of claim forms submitted by Councillor Mike Hornby are below including what looks like some corrections to the original entries that have been corrected.
Cllr Mike Hornby expenses claim 2013 2014 page 1Cllr Mike Hornby expenses claim 2013 2014 page 2Cllr Mike Hornby expenses claim 2013 2014 page 3Cllr Mike Hornby expenses claim 2013 2014 page 4Cllr Mike Hornby expenses claim 2013 2014 page 5Cllr Mike Hornby expenses claim 2013 2014 page 6Cllr Mike Hornby expenses claim 2013 2014 page 7Cllr Mike Hornby expenses claim 2013 2014 page 8Cllr Mike Hornby expenses claim 2013 2014 page 9Cllr Mike Hornby expenses claim 2013 2014 page 10Cllr Mike Hornby expenses claim 2013 2014 page 11
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Merseyside’s Chief Fire Officer Dan Stephens answers councillor’s questions about proposed closures of Wirral’s Fire Stations
Merseyside’s Chief Fire Officer Dan Stephens answers councillor’s questions about proposed closures of Wirral’s Fire Stations
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service’s Chief Fire Officer Dan Stephens Answering Wirral’s Councillors Questions About Fire Service Cuts On Wirral
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Dan Stephens, Chief Fire Officer for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service gave a presentation to Wirral Council’s Regeneration and Environment Committee on his “least worst operational response options”. He explained that due to budget cuts, if they could get the land (and money from government) to build a new fire station in Greasby that this would lead to the closure of fire stations at West Kirby and Upton.
He described in detail the various options to save money instead of station mergers, which ranged from only crewing stations during the day to just having firefighters on call (which would lead to a further five-minute delay in responding to emergencies and less time for training).
Dan Stephens in his presentation said that on fire station closures “as much as this is a very unpalatable option it may be inevitable especially in light of forecasted cuts until 2020”. During his presentation at each point he mentioned cuts to the fire service’s budget by the government Cllr Harry Smith (who wasn’t on the committee but just there to watch) heckled with a loud one word heckle of “criminal”.
The Chair asked Dan Stephens a question about how response times would be affected if they closed Upton and West Kirby stations and built a new one in Greasby. Dan Stephens said that it was difficult to predict, but there would be a slight increase in average response time to both areas. Some areas would see a faster response time and other areas would see a longer response. He believed the average response time would increase by an extra ten seconds to five minutes twenty-five seconds.
The Chief Fire Officer was then asked by the Chair about the likelihood of getting capital funding for a new fire station at Greasby. Dan Stephens answered that Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service would be bidding for the money along with other fire authorities, however the bids would be judged on projected efficiencies.
Cllr Steve Foulkes thanked Dan Stephens for his presentation. Cllr Steve Foulkes asked why the cuts to Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service were more than the cuts to other fire authorities and asked what percentage change in the precept would be needed to prevent the need for any cuts.
Dan Stephens said it would take a thirty-seven percent increase in the precept to prevent the need for cuts. He said that for every one percent increase in the precept they would raise an extra 67 pence per a Merseyside household.
On Cllr Foulkes’ other question he said that after World War II, the fire service moved from central government control to the control of local authorities. At this time they set national standards of fire cover. In the 1950s there had been lots of heavy industry on Merseyside for example docks. Call outs to industrial areas required a response of two fire engines within five minutes and one within eight minutes. The Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service was therefore designed to combat the risk that existed back in the 1950s. The Merseyside population in the 1950s was 1.7 million, now was only 1.385 million.
In 2004 the old Fire Service Act was repealed and the standards of fire cover went too. Population based funding came in, which made Merseyside very expensive per a head of population. Although Merseyside got extra funding based on deprivation this didn’t totally offset the loss of funding.
Cllr Brian Kenny (not a member of the committee but Cabinet Member for Environment and Sustainability) thanked Dan Stephens and asked when they would make final decisions on the cuts. Dan Stephens answered that the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority would set its 2014/15 budget at its budget meeting on the 22nd February 2014. He explained that although the changes to Wirral’s fire stations wouldn’t happen until 2015/16 that they needed to start now on implementation as it would take between eighteen months and two years to build a new fire station. Dan Stephens said that they needed to look into whether they could secure land in Greasby, once this was established they would go to public consultation.
The Chief Fire Officer estimated that they would know within three months whether they would be able to buy the land for a new fire station in Greasby. After public consultation if a decision was made to go ahead, then it would take a year to build a new station. He said that they were working with Wirral Council to try to secure land.
Cllr David Elderton said that if the two fire stations at Upton and West Kirby were merged at Greasby that he was concerned about the effect on response times to call outs to Hoylake. Dan Stephens said that “Greasby is the best operational location” and explained how some of the alternatives to a merger would also impact response times.
Cllr Steve Foulkes asked what the impact of the cuts would be on fire prevention such as fitting free smoke alarms. Dan Stephens said they had cut ninety jobs which included those in advocacy roles. He explained that with agreement with the Fire Brigade Union that they had changed shift patterns. The savings from this offset the total savings they needed to make. He said they would maximise the amount of time they could spend on fire prevention but that there would still be cuts to this area.
The Chair thanked the Chief Fire Officer Dan Stephens for answering questions from councillors.
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West Kirby and Upton Fire Stations face axe in Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority savings proposals
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West Kirby and Upton Fire Stations face axe in Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority savings proposals
Last weeks Regeneration and Environment Policy and Performance Committee spent nearly thirty-four minutes discussing Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service cuts without mentioning the specifics of what has been already been agreed by the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority. The debate starts about two minutes into the meeting.
On 3rd September Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority (Wirral Council’s represented on this body by Cllr Denise Roberts, Cllr Lesley Rennie, Cllr Steve Niblock and Cllr Jean Stapleton) agreed the following recommendations:
1) The Authority must identify strategic mergers that allow operational response to be maintained whilst improving community and firefighter facilities and reducing costs.
Having assessed the location of the newer stations and the operational response needs of the service the Chief Fire Officer has identified that the two key geographic options where strategic mergers should be considered following consultation are:-
a) Wirral:
Merging West Kirby and Upton to create a much improved station with extensive community facilities at Greasby, which would allow response standards to be maintained whilst improving the capability for community partnerships.
In addition, consideration might be given to the opportunities for the future development of Heswall. This site is commercially attractive and working with private/public partners may create opportunities to improve facilities or relocate services.
….
(ii) Request the Chief Fire Officer to report back with detailed proposals on:-
(a) Options for Station mergers in Wirral
I presume by report back it means to the next meeting of the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority on the 22nd October 2013. The Regeneration and Environment Policy and Performance Committee did agree to invite Chief Fire Officer Dan Stephens to a future meeting to “highlight the potential impact of the Government proposals on the residents of Wirral” but ultimately the decision on Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service’s budget for next year is in the hands of the local councillors on Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority (current composition fifteen Labour, two Lib Dem and one Conservative). Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority could decide to raise Council Tax to offset the need to make these kinds of cuts to Wirral’s fire cover. If Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority propose (when they set their budget in February 2014) raising the amount of Council Tax spent on fire services by more than 2% compared to last year (which is not enough to offset the decrease in government grant) then it would trigger a Council Tax referendum of Merseyside residents. Currently an assumed 2% rise is in their financial calculations so it seems likely that the proposed cuts on Wirral will go ahead unless savings are found elsewhere.
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The Chair of the Planning Committee Cllr Elderton welcomed people to the Planning Committee meeting and invited people to take their seats. He explained to the members of the public present that the councillors on the left and right wings would be making the decisions. He also introduced the officers which would be making presentations, the committee clerk and the legal officer.
The minutes of the meeting held on 19th July 2011 circulated separately on paper only (not on the council’s website with the agenda for this meeting) were agreed. Cllr Mitchell and Cllr Elderton both said they agreed with the minutes.
There were no declarations of interest made.
Cllr Kenny requested a site visit for item 5 (APP/11/00561 – 98 BIDSTON ROAD, OXTON – Refurbishment and extension to existing building into 21 no. apartments with associated hard and soft landscaping) and Cllr Keeley (deputising for Cllr Clements) made a request for a site visit for item 9 (APP/11/00613 – 2 DINGWALL DRIVE, GREASBY – First floor rear extension). Both requests for site visits were accepted.
The committee then moved onto consider item 7 – the erection of a two storey rear extension in Greasby. The officer said the main objection had been from a neighbour at number 6. The objection had led to the relocation of the bathroom window which was now obscurely glazed. She referred to the site visit the day before.
Cllr Gardiner (ward councillor for Greasby) thanked councillors for coming to the site visit and said there had been a great deal of concern regarding the extension. She said it was by far the biggest in the area. She said it would lead to loss of light and that it was a large and over dominant building. She also said it was out of keeping and worried that it set a precedent.
Cllr Elderton said he’d been not able to attend the site visit and asked to see a site plan. He was shown a ground floor plan. Cllr Mitchell said the site visit was very beneficial and that the application was within guidelines. He said it was difficult to find reasoned arguments to turn the application down. He moved approval which was seconded by Cllr Realey. All councillors voted in favour of approval.
