Tag: Liberal Democrats

Wirral Schools Forum hears of U-turn on schools funding school crossing patrols

Wirral Schools Forum hears of U-turn on schools funding school crossing patrols

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Wirral Schools Forum meeting of 30th April 2014 in the Council Chamber at Wallasey Town Hall

Wirral Schools Forum hears of U-turn on schools funding school crossing patrols

                            

Andrew Roberts talks at the Wirral Schools Forum meeting of 30th April 2014 about school crossing patrol funding
Andrew Roberts talks at the Wirral Schools Forum meeting of 30th April 2014 about school crossing patrol funding

The Chair of the Wirral Schools Forum Richard Longster said that there were a couple of matters arising, the first being school crossing patrols.

Andrew Roberts (Senior Manager – School Funding and Resources) said, “The delivery of the saving of the school crossing patrols savings option was withdrawn at Council but the rest is part of the budget for 2014-15.”

However this was what was in the Schools Budget report when it was agreed at Budget Council on the 25th February 2014:

“There are a number of budget savings options for 2014-15 arising from working in partnership with schools. These have been progressed in discussions with schools and as part of this budget as follows:
…
– School Crossing Patrols £415,000
This option has been discussed with Headteacher groups with a view to it being funded by schools from their delegated budgets. The crossings would continue to be managed and staffed by Streetscene, but schools individually would meet the costs of the service.”

and it was also in the Labour budget resolution that was agreed:

“Schools Crossing Patrols

Cabinet believes the safety of children is paramount. In December Cabinet agreed to ask schools to take over the funding of school crossing patrols. Given the concerns expressed by a minority of schools, officers are instructed to continue discussions with schools with a guarantee that no funding is removed where agreement cannot be reached.”

So I wonder why an officer now states the savings option for school crossing patrols has been “withdrawn”?

In January the Chief Executive stated he had received legal advice that schools funding school crossing patrols was legal but Councillor Stuart Kelly disagreed giving Regulation 7 of the The School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2013 as the reason why it wasn’t lawful for school crossing patrols to be funded from the schools budget.

So what happened behind the scenes over school crossing patrols to force such a U-turn? Did the headteachers refuse to fund it from their school’s budgets? Did Wirral Council’s legal department change their advice? Or did something else happen?

The Chair referred to the other matter arising relating to the minimum funding guarantee application to the Education Funding Agency to be exempt from the minimum funding guarantee.

Andrew Roberts replied, “OK, this is just to update the application for the LEA’s exemption was withdrawn to the EFA after the meeting on the 27th.”

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Who are the 83 candidates in the 2014 election for 8 Members of the European Parliament for North West England?

Who are the 83 candidates in the 2014 election for 8 Members of the European Parliament for North West England?

Who are the 83 candidates in the 2014 election for 8 Members of the European Parliament for North West England?

                         

My polling card for the 2014 election (North West Region)
My polling card for the 2014 election for Members of the European Parliament (North West Region)

The voting system at the European elections is different to the local elections. In the European elections eleven political parties (An Independence from Europe, British National Party, Conservative Party, English Democrats, Green Party, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, No2EU, Pirate Party UK, Socialist Equality Party and UK Independence Party (UKIP)) have each nominated a list of candidates. Each political party has put forward a list of eight candidates apart from the Pirate Party UK which has only put forward three.

People vote for a political party and once the polls close the total votes for each party are added up. The party with the highest number of votes is given the first Member of the European Parliament seat. You can read an explanation of how the voting system decides on who gets the other seven seats here. The voting system is a proportional representation system. This means the seats for Members of the European Parliament depend on what each party’s share of the vote is.

The list of candidates and their home addresses can be downloaded from this blog. The table below is of each political party and the candidates that party is putting forward in the European elections. If a political party wins a seat (or more than one seat) in the election then the first candidate for that political party is given the first seat, second the second etc. Some political parties also have descriptions on the ballot paper. Any descriptions used are included in the table below the name of the political party.

Political Party & Description Party List of Candidates
An Independence from Europe
  1. Helen Bashford
  2. Gill Kearney
  3. Pauline Penny
  4. Kay Bashford
  5. Faye Raw
  6. Lorna Markovitch
  7. Jennie Ransome
  8. Jill Stockdale

British National Party

Re-elect Nick Griffin
  1. Nick Griffin
  2. Dawn Charlton
  3. Clive Jefferson
  4. Eddy O’Sullivan
  5. Simon Darby
  6. Kay Pollitt
  7. Derek Adams
  8. David O’Loughlin

Conservative Party

For real change in Europe
  1. Jacqueline Foster
  2. Sajjad Karim
  3. Kevin Beaty
  4. Deborah Dunleavy
  5. Joseph Barker-Willis
  6. Daniel Hamilton
  7. Chris Whiteside
  8. James Walsh

English Democrats

Putting England First!
  1. Stephen Morris
  2. Paul Rimmer
  3. Derek Bullock
  4. Paul Whitelegg
  5. Steven McEllenborough
  6. Laurence Depares
  7. Valerie Morris
  8. Anthony Backhouse
Green Party
  1. Peter Andrew Cranie
  2. Gina Dowding
  3. Laura Bannister
  4. Jillian Barbara Perry
  5. John Anthony Knight
  6. Ulrike Zeshan
  7. Lewis Coyne
  8. Jake Laurence Welsh
Labour Party
  1. Theresa Griffin
  2. Afzal Khan
  3. Julie Ward
  4. Wajid Khan
  5. Angeliki Stogia
  6. Steve Carter
  7. Pascale Lamb
  8. Nick Parnell
Liberal Democrats
  1. Chris Davies
  2. Helen Foster-Grime
  3. Jo Crotty
  4. Qassim Afzal
  5. Jane Brophy
  6. Sue McGuire
  7. Gordon Lishman
  8. Neil Christian

NO2EU

Yes to Workers’ Rights
  1. Roger Bannister
  2. George Waterhouse
  3. Jacqueline Grunsell
  4. John Metcalfe
  5. George Tapp
  6. Mark Rowe
  7. James Healy
  8. Kevin Morrison

Pirate Party UK

The Pirate Party UK
  1. Maria Aretoulaki
  2. George Walkden
  3. Jack Allnutt

 

 

Socialist Equality Party

Join the fight for social equality!
  1. Chris Marsden
  2. Julie Hyland
  3. Robert Skelton
  4. Lucy Warren
  5. Mark Dowson
  6. Ajitha Gunaratne
  7. Danny Dickinson
  8. Joe Heffer
UK Independence Party (UKIP)
  1. Paul Andrew Nuttall
  2. Louise Bours
  3. Steven Marcus Woolfe
  4. Shneur Zalman Odze
  5. Lee William Slaughter
  6. Simon John Noble
  7. Peter Johnston Harper
  8. John Brian Stanyer

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4 Nomination Papers for Candidates in Upton By-election | Davies (LD), Gubb (Con), McGinley (Green) and Patrick (Lab)

4 Nomination Papers for Candidates in Upton By-election | Davies (LD), Gubb (Con), McGinley (Green) and Patrick (Lab)

4 Nomination Papers for Candidates in Upton By-election | Davies (LD), Gubb (Con), McGinley (Green) and Patrick (Lab)

                           

As readers of this blog will know I’m a great believer in openness and transparency. Elections are already pretty open and transparent processes with many of the major documents published as a matter of course throughout the election period. One of them that isn’t though is a candidate’s nomination papers. Each candidate in a local government election for a councillor has to fill out a nomination paper, get the signatures of ten electors in the ward they’re standing in, sign another piece of paper saying they agree to the nomination (including having this witnessed) and include with their nomination papers three pieces of legislation that detail reasons why a person could be disqualified from being a councillor (and sign a declaration to say they’re not disqualified).

During the election period from when the last date for nominations has passed to polling day any member of the public can ask to inspect the nomination papers (during working hours) and ask for copies. During this period I emailed Wirral Council’s Returning Officer Graham Burgess with such a request and ten days later (on polling day) received them. Each file has a copy of each candidate’s nomination papers, candidate’s consent to nomination and the various pieces of legislation that they’re required to include.

Oh and before anyone and asks if I’m related to the proposer and one of the assentors on the Lib Dem candidate’s papers as their surname is also Brace, I am. They’re my parents. The links to the nomination papers are listed alphabetically by surname. If you see anything crossed out and initialed by the candidate, the election office at Wirral Council will (if requested) check to see if the candidate has filled it out correctly and it’s a valid nomination. If they suggest a change, the candidate is usually asked to initial it to show it hasn’t been altered by anyone else. Candidates are also required to include their date of birth on the candidate’s consent to nomination as there’s a minimum age limit that a candidate can be.

Alan Davies (Liberal Democrat candidate)
Geoffrey Ian Gubb (Conservative Party candidate)
James Bernard McGinley (Green Party candidate)
Matthew John Patrick (Labour Party candidate) now Cllr Matthew Patrick

During the election campaign there are strict limits on what each candidate can spend on their campaign, included in the limit are amounts spent by third parties such as the political party that nominated them. The limit if memory serves me correctly is set at £600 + 5p per an elector and candidates (and their agents) have about a month after the election to submit a detailed election expenses claim of money spent and where it came from. I’m not sure how much interest there would be in how much each candidate spent and the source of their funds. Once an election expenses claim has been submitted they are open to public inspection at Wallasey Town Hall for up to two years, although if you want copies Wirral Council can charge. If you’d like me to write in the future about the election spending in the Upton by-election and the source of the funds for each candidate then please leave a comment.

The winning candidate is also required to also state the source of the funds for their election campaign in the Register of Interests which is published on Wirral Council’s website in answer to the question “The name of any person, other than a relevant authority, who has made a payment to you in respect of your election or any expenses incurred by you in carrying out your duties?”. If anyone reading knows what is meant by “relevant authority” please leave a comment as I presume it is meaning that councillors don’t have to include in answer to this question the allowances they get for being a councillor? I think councillors are allowed up to a month after their election to answer the questions in the register of interests as currently (on the 12th November) Cllr Patrick’s page on Wirral Council’s website has no link to a register of interests page.

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Delivery of nomination papers – Independent candidate Bidston & St. James ward

Well today, myself and my election agent delivered my nomination papers to the Town Hall for the election of a councillor for the Bidston & St. James ward, with polling day held on 3rd May 2012. They were checked and found to be OK and my agent should get official notification through the post.

I’ll find out who the other candidates are at the end of the nomination period (I am assuming this election will be contested as it would be highly unlikely for it not to be), but I’m expecting there will be at least Labour candidate, a Conservative candidate and a Lib Dem candidate.

So thank you to the ten people who proposed, nominated and assented to my nomination. Oh and thanks to my election agent Leonora Brace too, who also proposed my nomination (which I accepted).

Certainly it was easier filling out the nomination papers this year as I didn’t have to get a Designated Nominating Officer’s signature or decide on emblem/description and local people seemed to be somewhat disillusioned with one (or more) of the mainstream political parties.

Birkenhead County Court: An Interesting Afternoon | Mr John Brace v Cllr Alan Brighouse on behalf of Birkenhead Liberal Democrats and Liberal Democrats (the Federal Party) on behalf of Liberal Democrats

Birkenhead County Court: An Interesting Afternoon | Mr John Brace v Cllr Alan Brighouse on behalf of Birkenhead Liberal Democrats and Liberal Democrats (the Federal Party) on behalf of Liberal Democrats

Birkenhead County Court: An Interesting Afternoon | Mr John Brace v Cllr Alan Brighouse on behalf of Birkenhead Liberal Democrats and Liberal Democrats (the Federal Party) on behalf of Liberal Democrats

                          

I had an interesting afternoon at Birkenhead County Court as I was there for a case. Lady Luck seemed to be smiling on me as I was the first case (application hearing) starting at 2 p.m. in front of that particular judge.

Neither of the two defendants (Cllr Alan Brighouse on behalf of Birkenhead Liberal Democrats or Liberal Democrats (The Federal Party) on behalf of Liberal Democrats bothered to turn up and the Judge graciously granted the court order I requested. A thank you goes also to my McKenzie Friend, Leonora Brace for her help.

If only life was always this easy….

Edit: 11/11/2013 The above blog post didn’t contain much detail as it was an ongoing legal matter at the time that had not concluded. The application hearing related to who the defendants were. After the case had been filed the Liberal Democrats (the Federal Party) on behalf of Liberal Democrats (a David Allworthy replied on their behalf) had tried to get both defendants changed to Chris Fox (at the time this application was heard Chris Fox was a former Chief Executive of the Liberal Democrats).

However my application was to restore the original defendants in this case which were Cllr Alan Brighouse on behalf of the Birkenhead Liberal Democrats and Liberal Democrats (the Federal Party) on behalf of the Liberal Democrats. The Judge agreed to do this in an unopposed application.

The matter went to a final hearing at the Birkenhead County Court on the 18th April 2012. Cllr Alan Brighouse appeared on behalf of the Birkenhead Liberal Democrats (accompanied by Roy Wood). Deputy District Judge Ireland agreed with the plantiff (myself) that the defendants (Cllr Alan Brighouse on behalf of the Birkenhead Liberal Democrats and Liberal Democrats (the Federal Party) on behalf of Liberal Democrats had breached s.7 of the Data Protection Act 1998 c.29 and a court order issued under s.7 ss.9 of the Data Protection Act 1998 c.29 was issued by the Birkenhead County Court in my favour ordering the defendants to comply.