Election Result (Wirral Council, 2017): Claughton: Labour hold (Gillian Wood)

Election Result (Wirral Council, 2017): Claughton: Labour hold (Gillian Wood)

Election Result (Wirral Council, 2017): Claughton: Labour hold (Gillian Wood)

                                 

Polling station 4th May 2017 resized
Polling station 4th May 2017 resized

Please note we would have been happier reporting from the count centre about half a mile away but Wirral Council were not happy with the press being there.

Election Result (Wirral Council, 2017): Claughton: Gillian Wood (Labour Party)

Claughton Ward (2017)
 
Name of candidate     Description (if any)  Votes   %
Wood
Gillian
 Labour Party  1,761   52%   Elected
Evans
David Robert Cynlais
 Liberal Democrats  740   22%   Not elected
Sinclair
Barbara Vera  
 Conservative  567   17%   Not elected
Heydon
Liz
 Green Party  136   4%   Not elected
Jones
Beryl Rosina
 UK Independence Party   130   4%   Not elected
Wheddon
Leon Allen
 Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition   27   1%   Not elected

There were 11 rejected ballot papers, the electorate was 11,336 and the turnout was 30%.

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What’s in the nomination papers of the 6 candidates wanting to be a councillor for Claughton? (Wirral Council)

What’s in the nomination papers of the 6 candidates wanting to be a councillor for Claughton? (Wirral Council)

What’s in the nomination papers of the 6 candidates wanting to be a councillor for Claughton? (Wirral Council)

                              

Ballot Box
Ballot Box by NAS of the Noun Project provided under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States (CC BY 3.0 US) licence Original has been resized and converted to a .jpg file

In the interests of openness and transparency in the Claughton byelection, I am publishing the nomination papers of each candidate during the election rather than after.

These are open to public inspection until 3rd May 2017 (the day before the poll).

Each form contains the candidates’ address, date of birth and the names of ten electors in Claughton who support their candidacy (referred to as proposer, seconder and eight assentors).

Each candidate has to sign to state they accept the nomination.

In addition to the nomination paper and candidates’ consent to nomination, candidates standing on behalf of a political party have to submit extra paperwork around the use of descriptions and party logos on ballot papers. This paperwork is not included here.

In order to be fair, the list is alphabetical by candidate surname (which is the order they will be on the ballot paper).

There is no deposit required to stand as a candidate for local councillor.

Please note each file below is a multi-page TIFF bitmap file.

EVANS, David Robert Cynlais (Liberal Democrat)
HEYDON, Liz (Green Party)
JONES, Beryl Rosina (UK Independence Party)
SINCLAIR, Barbara Vera (Conservative Party Candidate)
WHEDDON, Leon Allen (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition)
WOOD, Gillian (The Labour Party)

If for whatever reason a candidate’s nomination paper is invalid* a Returning Officer (in this case Eric Robinson) can disqualify that candidate before the result is declared.

*There are 101 reasons it could be, but some have been corrected to correct errors.

I’d like to thank Wirral Council for the time involved in supplying the above information.

Polling day for the Claughton byelection is Thursday 4th May 2017.

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Why did a councillor refer to NHS Plan for cuts as a “PR disaster”?

Why did a councillor refer to NHS Plan for cuts as a “PR disaster”?

Why did a councillor refer to NHS Plan for cuts as a “PR disaster”?

Before I write about what happened at Monday’s People Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Cllr Phil Davies shut down any debate and ruled that he wasn’t allowing the public to speak at an earlier public meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board (which he chairs) on the Sustainability and Transformation Plan.

Protest outside Wallasey Town Hall side door 28th November 2016 38 Degrees Wirral West over NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plan
Protest outside Wallasey Town Hall side door 28th November 2016 38 Degrees Wirral West over NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plan
Protest outside Wallasey Town Hall 28th November 2016 Green Party over NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plan
Protest outside Wallasey Town Hall 28th November 2016 Green Party over NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plan

Prior to the People and Overview Scrutiny Committee starting there were two protests at ways in to Wallasey Town Hall (photos above). Apologies for the poor quality of the photos!

The Sustainability and Transformation Plan is published on the Wirral CCG website or alternatively you can watch the video of the meeting (which contains a long presentation by the NHS followed by discussion by councillors).

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Video of the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Wirral Council) NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plan starting at the 6m35s point)

I’ll try to sum up what this means in a nutshell. If you look beyond the fancy words, glossy brochures in essence it’s a plan for NHS cuts (that is if the plan is implemented people will lose their job).

In addition to that with such a radical reorganisation of how NHS services are delivered locally proposed, services to the general public are also likely to be altered too.

Before a decision is made there will have to be a formal consultation with the public.

I’ve been asked to decipher what decision the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee made on the STP Plan.

However councillors do have a scrutiny role over matters such as this. To give an example, the move of some of the functions of Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology to a new hospital in Liverpool from 2019 was rubber stamped by a scrutiny committee made up of councillors from the affected areas. The impact on thousands of Wirral patients and the consultation was reported previously on this blog.

This is what was agreed by councillors (although some voted against) at the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee (followed by my analysis of what it means).


  • The People Overview and Scrutiny Committee thank Phil Meaken for attending the meeting and presenting the key points of the Sustainability and Transformation Plan.

  • The Committee is concerned that elected Members [councillors] have had no opportunity to feed into the development of the STP, nor have they been given the opportunity to see the plan before it was published on the 23rd of November.

  • The Committee is also concerned by any lack of meaningful consultation with the public of Wirral prior to the publication of the Plan.

  • As a result of the failure by authors of the Plan to engage with local authorities in Cheshire and Merseyside Committee is concerned at the high level of anxiety and speculation of the implications for the future delivery of health services on the Wirral which the Plan has generated.

  • The Committee further notes that though there is very little detail included, many of the proposals would represent a significant variation in service delivery and would therefore need to be presented for scrutiny to this Committee and possibly a pan-Merseyside and Cheshire Committee before any proposals could be implemented.

  • The Committee does not believe that Wirral Council can agree to the STP without absolute clarity on the proposal and a meaningful process of consultation, that engages with elected Members [councillors] and local residents.



My analysis is briefly this, consultation on the Plan was going to happen and if the result of the Plan is to change how local services are delivered, the pan-Merseyside and Cheshire Committee would happen too any way. For whatever reason politicians are agreeing to steps that would happen in any event.

Obviously there is a lot of concern as to what the impact will be for staff and patients of the NHS.

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What were the top 10 most popular stories on this blog last month in June 2016?

What were the top 10 most popular stories on this blog last month in June 2016?

What were the top 10 most popular stories on this blog last month in June 2016?

                              

Below are links to the ten most popular stories read on this blog last month (June 2016). Eight involve Wirral Council, one Liverpool City Council and the other Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service/Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority. All except one (the one about the regeneration of Birkenhead Town Centre) were published in June 2016. Two are on the topic of the recent First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) public hearing involving myself and Wirral Council.

I’m surprised the EU Referendum stories didn’t feature higher up in the list, but as the EU Referendum was held in the last week of June, those stories have had less time to be read than articles published nearer the start of June.

Councillor Steve Foulkes (left) at a Merseytravel Committee meeting (7th January 2016)
Councillor Steve Foulkes (left) at a Merseytravel Committee meeting (7th January 2016)

1. Why has Wirral Council sunk deeper into the quagmire of poor corporate governance surrounding a complaint about Cllr Steve Foulkes? (published 29th June 2016)

2. Secrets about Wirral Council’s Birkenhead Town Centre Regeneration revealed (published 27th December 2013)

3. Labour councillors reject Green Party proposal to reduce Mayor of Liverpool’s Allowance by £89,000 over a 4 year period (published 1st June 2016)

4. Surjit Tour asks Wirral councillors to agree to changes to how complaints about councillors are dealt with (published 3rd June 2016)

5. £206,000 extra for Wirral’s potholes, £170,000 for selling “ornamental pleasure gardens” and a land swap to a body that doesn’t exist! (published 13th June 2016)

6. What did Surjit Tour answer to questions about a Freedom of Information request to Wirral Council at the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) hearing (EA/2016/0033) (continued)? (published 22nd June 2016)

7. Disclosure of 46 pages of PFI contractor’s banking details by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service described as “oversight” (published 14th June 2016)

8. What was in the 11 A4 page witness statement of Surjit Tour (Wirral Council) about a Freedom of Information request for the minutes of a meeting of the Headteachers’ and Teachers’ Joint Consultative Committee (EA/2016/0033)? (published 17th June 2016)

9. Where is your polling station (for Wirral voters) for the 2016 EU Referendum vote? (published 23rd June 2016)

10. Liberal Democrat Leader Cllr Phil Gilchrist calls for cross-party unity on Wirral Council on issue of EU funding withdrawal (published 27th June 2016)

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Who are the 103 candidates in the 2016 Wirral Council elections?

Who are the 103 candidates in the 2016 Wirral Council elections?

                                             

Polling card Bidston and St James ward 2016 front
Polling card Bidston and St James ward 2016 front
Polling card Bidston and St James ward 2016 back
Polling card Bidston and St James ward 2016 back

The nomination period for anyone wishing to stand as a candidate in the elections to become a councillor at Wirral Council has been closed for some time. As usual elections in each of the twenty-two wards on Wirral are all being contested (ranging from two candidates in Seacombe ward to seven in Liscard ward).

All wards except Liscard will be electing one councillor, Liscard will elect two councillors.

Continue reading “Who are the 103 candidates in the 2016 Wirral Council elections?”