EXCLUSIVE: 155 invoices paid by Wirral Council in 2013/14 for legal services, external audit, physiotherapy and psychological assessments

Below are 155 of the invoices I requested during the 2013/14 audit. They range from invoices to the Council’s external auditor Grant Thornton UK LLP, criminal work, a couple of judicial reviews, appealing an ICO decision notice to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights) as well as a lot of times Wirral Council have taken parents to court about their children. Some of these invoices I’ve previously written about on this blog, such as about the invoice about appealing the ICO decision notice. Turns out now I look at it more carefully there was a further invoice for £1,008 from February 2014 in that matter too.

Some of the others I’ve already on the blog as I received them in August 2014. However I didn’t publish them in August because I’ve had to go through a process of blacking out all the names (and partial names) of children and parents.

Added in green to many invoices are the representative (where known) from the list of payments in 2013/14 greater than £500. I’ve also added back in (on some) text which has been obscured by information blacked out on double-sided pages and bled through.

There is an index to all 155 invoices that can be downloaded here. I’ve tried to use the following file format when naming each file “Wirral Council invoice” followed by representative/organisation, amount, date, page number where there are multiple pages for the same invoice followed by invoice number.

Invoices 73 & 74 aren’t published here as they were cancelled and replaced by invoices 75 & 76. There is another batch of invoices I have yet to scan in, which is a mix of invoices for legal services and other general invoices. Below you should find all 155 invoices.

Wirral Council invoice Capita Health and Wellbeing Limited £520 Page 1 of 3 18th March 2013 1

Wirral Council invoice Capita Health and Wellbeing Limited £520 Page 2 of 3 18th March 2013 1

Wirral Council invoice Capita Health and Wellbeing Limited £520 Page 3 of 3 18th March 2013 1

Wirral Council invoice The Lucy Faithfull Foundation £699.31 28th March 2013 2

Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Buildings £10,344 page 1 of 2 15th March 2013 3

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings £1,320 18th March 2013 6

Wirral Council invoice Forepsych Limited psychological assessment report £688.35 3rd February 2013 11

Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Buildings £576 2nd April 2013 12

Wirral Council invoice Remy Zentar St Johns Buildings £1,800 27th March 2013 13

Wirral Council invoice Sharpe Pritchard £25,698 31st March 2013 Page 1 of 2 14

Wirral Council invoice Sharpe Pritchard £25,698 31st March 2013 Page 2 of 2 14

Wirral Council invoice Gail A Owen St Johns Buildings £2,928 9th April 2013 15

Wirral Council invoice Nicola Miles 7 Harrington St Chambers £2,130 9th April 2013 16

Wirral Council invoice Kate Burnell St Johns Buildings 9th April 2013 £792 17

Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Buildings 11th April 2013 £864 18

Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Buildings 16th April 2013 £720 19

Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Buildings 16th April 2013 £1,032 20

Wirral Council invoice Dr Jennifer Ashcroft JJ Ashcroft Clinical Psychology Services Ltd 7th April 2013 £900.75 21

Wirral Council invoice Gail A Owen St Johns Buildings 26th April 2013 £591.36 22

Wirral Council invoice Joanne Jade Abraham St Johns Buildings 20th April 2013 £600 23

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Bellamy St Johns Buildings 25th April 2013 £511.68 24

Wirral Council invoice Sara A Mann St Johns Buildings 26th April 2013 £528 25

Wirral Council invoice Tim D N Kenward 7 Harrington St Chambers 19th April 2013 Page 1 of 2 £900 26

Wirral Council invoice Tim D N Kenward 7 Harrington St Chambers 19th April 2013 Page 2 of 2 £900 26

Wirral Council invoice Remy Zentar St Johns Buildings 23rd April 2013 £936 27

Wirral Council invoice Susan Edwards St Johns Buildings 2nd May 2013 £672 28

Wirral Council invoice DMM Psychology Ltd 8th March 2013 £1660.80 29

Wirral Council invoice Sara A Mann St Johns Buildings 8th May 2013 £823.68 30

Wirral Council invoice Rebecca Smith St Johns Buildings 8th May 2013 £720 31

Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Buildings 9th May 2013 £1200 32

Wirral Council invoice Rebecca Smith St Johns Buildings 9th May 2013 £720 33

Wirral Council invoice Benjamin Lawrence St Johns Buildings 13th May 2013 £787.50 34

Wirral Council invoice Advanced Childcare Assessments Limited 30th April 2013 £2,641.20 35

Wirral Council invoice Joanne Jade Abraham St Johns Buildings 15th May 2013 Page 1 of 2 £528 36

Wirral Council invoice Joanne Jade Abraham St Johns Buildings 15th May 2013 Page 2 of 2 £528 36

Wirral Council invoice Louis Browne Exchange Chambers 15th May 2013 £3445.74 37

Wirral Council invoice Claire Grundy St Johns Buildings 14th May 2013 £1800 38

Wirral Council invoice Sharpe Pritchard 17th May 2013 £640 39

Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Building 17th May 2013 £1200 40

Wirral Council invoice Sara A Mann St Johns Building 17th May 2013 £528 41

Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Building 21st May 2013 £576 42

Wirral Council invoice Cerys Williams St Johns Building 22nd May 2013 £2454.72 43

Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Building 24th May 2013 £768 44

Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Building 28th May 2013 £811.29 Page 1 of 2 45

Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Building 28th May 2013 £811.29 Page 2 of 2 45

Wirral Council invoice Simon Maddison St Johns Building 23rd May 2013 £1260 46

Wirral Council invoice Sara A Mann St Johns Buildings 31st May 2013 £607.48 47

Wirral Council invoice Document Technology Limited 10th May 2013 £569.58 48

Wirral Council invoice Jennifer Lesley Scully St Johns Buildings 4th June 2013 £849.60 49

Wirral Council invoice Susan Edwards St Johns Buildings 10th June 2013 £993.60 50

Wirral Council invoice Ginette Fitzharris St Johns Buildings 11th June 2013 £799.68 51

Wirral Council invoice Joanne Jade Abraham St Johns Buildings 13th June 2013 £2,208.96 52

Wirral Council invoice Grant Thornton UK LLP 14th June 2013 £63,504 53

Wirral Council invoice Catherine Rimmer St Johns Buildings 17th June 2013 £504 54

Wirral Council invoice Stephen J Bedford St Johns Buildings 17th June 2013 £1,584 55

Wirral Council invoice Stephen J Bedford St Johns Buildings 19th June 2013 £1,584 56

Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Buildings 25th June 2013 £552 57

Wirral Council invoice The Association of Electoral Administration 14th May 2013 £3,556.25 58

Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Buildings 1st July 2013 £960 59

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 1st July 2013 £4,910.40 Page 1 of 2 60

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 1st July 2013 £4,910.40 Page 2 of 2 60

Wirral Council invoice Sara A Mann St Johns Buildings 1st July 2013 £523.20 61

Wirral Council invoice Tim D N Kenward 7 Harrington St Chambers 19th June 2013 Page 1 of 2 £3,660 62

Wirral Council invoice Tim D N Kenward 7 Harrington St Chambers 19th June 2013 Page 2 of 2 £3,660 62

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 3rd July 2013 £849.60 63

Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Buildings 28th May 2013 £3,264 Page 1 of 2 64

Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Buildings 28th May 2013 £3,264 Page 2 of 2 64

Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Buildings 12th July 2013 65 £1,440 65

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 12th July 2013 £552 66

Wirral Council invoice Gaynor Lloyd St Johns Buildings 12th July 2013 £1822.08 67

Wirral Council invoice Sharpe Pritchard 18th July 2013 £10,080 68

Wirral Council invoice Joanne Jade Abraham St Johns Buildings 25th July 2013 £696 69

Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Buildings 25th July 2013 page 1 of 2 £7344 70

Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Buildings 25th July 2013 page 2 of 2 £7344 70

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Manning Arden Chambers 26th July 2013 £1,800 71

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Manning Arden Chambers 26th July 2013 £1,800 72

Wirral Council invoice Helen Roberts Forensic Clinical Psychologist 1st August 2013 £821.10 75

Wirral Council invoice Helen Roberts Forensic Clinical Psychologist 1st August 2013 £590.50 76

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 7th August 2013 £1392 77

Wirral Council invoice Sara A Mann St Johns Buildings 5th August 2013 £639.36 78

Wirral Council invoice Gaynor Lloyd St Johns Buildings 12th August 2013 £1822.08 79

Wirral Council invoice Helen Wilson St Johns Buildings 12th August 2013 £2016 80

Wirral Council invoice Ginette Fitzharris St Johns Buildings 19th August 2013 £528 81

Wirral Council invoice Ginette Fitzharris St Johns Buildings 15th August 2013 £511.68 82

Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Buildings 22nd August 2013 £864 83

Wirral Council invoice Helen Wilson St Johns Buildings 21st August 2013 £703.68 84

Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Buildings 4th September 2013 £576 85

Wirral Council invoice Grant Thornton UK LLP 12th September 2013 £63504 86

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 11th September 2013 £687.36 87

Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Buildings 11th September 2013 £1992 88

Wirral Council invoice Jennifer Lesley Scully St Johns Buildings 16th September 2013 Page 1 of 2 £1296 89

Wirral Council invoice Jennifer Lesley Scully St Johns Buildings 16th September 2013 Page 2 of 2 £1296 89

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 16th September 2013 £1230.72 90

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 17th September 2013 £655.68 91

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 25th September 2013 £561.60 92

Wirral Council invoice Paul Burns Exchange Chambers 23rd September 2013 £930 93

Wirral Council invoice Jennifer Lesley Scully St Johns Buildings 30th September 2013 £720 94

Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Buildings 2nd October 2013 £912 95

Wirral Council invoice Benjamin William Jones St Johns Buildings 1st October 2013 £900 96

Wirral Council invoice Ginette Fitzharris St Johns Buildings 7th October 2013 £511.68 97

Wirral Council invoice Kate Burnell St Johns Buildings 10th October 2013 £1248 98

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 14th October 2013 £720 99

Wirral Council invoice Cater Walsh Media Services Ltd 25th October 2013 £528 100

Wirral Council invoice Sara A Mann St Johns Buildings 21st October 2013 £831.36 101

Wirral Council invoice Ginette Fitzharris St Johns Buildings 21st October 2013 £576 102

Wirral Council invoice Ginette Fitzharris St Johns Buildings 21st October 2013 £753.60 103

Wirral Council invoice Helen Wilson St Johns Buildings 30th October 2013 £3235.20 104

Wirral Council invoice Kate Burnell St Johns Buildings 30th October 2013 £1113.60 105

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 31st October 2013 £1128 106

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 30th October 2013 £528 107

Wirral Council invoice Mark Senior St Johns Buildings 1st November 2013 £864 108

Wirral Council invoice Jennifer Lesley Scully St Johns Buildings 11th November 2013 £993.60 109

Wirral Council invoice Susan Edwards St Johns Buildings 8th November 2013 £591.36 110

Wirral Council invoice David V Glasgow 30th October 2013 £740.37 111

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 13th November 2013 £576 112

Wirral Council invoice Helen Wilson St Johns Buildings 18th November 2013 £753.60 113

Wirral Council invoice Christine Johnson Atlantic Chambers 22nd November 2013 £2940 114

Wirral Council invoice Paul Burns Exchange Chambers 22nd November 2013 Page 1 of 2 £4210 115

Wirral Council invoice Paul Burns Exchange Chambers 22nd November 2013 Page 2 of 2 £4210 115

Wirral Council invoice Susan Edwards St Johns Buildings 25th November 2013 £696 116

Wirral Council invoice Robin Hopkins kbw 12th November 2013 £1872 117

Wirral Council invoice Wilkin Chapman LLP 16th October 2013 £1598.40 118

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 21st November 2013 £576 119

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 26th November 2013 £1272 120

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 11th December 2013 Page 1 of 2 £3473.28 121

Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 11th December 2013 Page 2 of 2 £3473.28 121

Wirral Council invoice Mark Senior St Johns Buildings 3rd December 2013 £2399.04 122

Wirral Council invoice Mark Senior St Johns Buildings 4th December 2013 £672 123

Wirral Council invoice Susan Edwards St Johns Buildings 27th November 2013 £504 124

Wirral Council invoice Grant Thornton UK LLP 12th December 2013 £51120 125

Wirral Council invoice Ruth Stockley Kings Chambers 19th November 2013 £607.50 126

Wirral Council invoice Cerys Williams St Johns Buildings 7th January 2014 £528 127

Wirral Council invoice Jennifer Lesley Scully St Johns Buildings 8th January 2014 Page 1 of 3 £5096.64 128

Wirral Council invoice Jennifer Lesley Scully St Johns Buildings 8th January 2014 Page 2 of 3 £5096.64 128

Wirral Council invoice Jennifer Lesley Scully St Johns Buildings 8th January 2014 Page 3 of 3 £5096.64 128

Wirral Council invoice Nigel Lawrence 7 Harrington Street Chambers 11th December 2013 £27185.90 129

Wirral Council invoice Tim D N Kenward 7 Harrington Street Chambers 7th January 2014 £2220 130

Wirral Council invoice Grant Thornton UK LLP 11th December 2013 £63504 131

Wirral Council invoice Damien Sanders St Johns Buildings 15th January 2014 £600 132

Wirral Council invoice Leona Harrison St Johns Buildings 15th January 2014 £1536 133

Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Buildings 15th January 2014 £672 134

Wirral Council invoice Catherine Rimmer St Johns Buildings 20th January 2014 £720 135

Wirral Council invoice Helen Wilson St Johns Buildings 21st January 2014 £912 136

Wirral Council invoice Joanne Jade Abraham St Johns Buildings 17th January 2014 £951.36 137

Wirral Council invoice James Gatenby St Johns Buildings 20th January 2014 £607.68 138

Wirral Council invoice Helen Wilson St Johns Buildings 23rd January 2014 £816 139

Wirral Council invoice Joanne Jade Abraham St Johns Buildings 23rd January 2014 £696 140

Wirral Council invoice Anthony Gill Kings Chambers 28th January 2014 £1860 141

Wirral Council invoice Sweet & Maxwell Ltd 2nd January 2014 £1041.60 142

Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Buildings 14th February 2014 £720 143

Wirral Council invoice Kate Burnell St Johns Buildings 18th February 2014 £511.68 144

Wirral Council invoice Peta M L Harrison St Johns Buildings 18th February 2014 £888 145

Wirral Council invoice Weightmans LLP 25th February 2014 £1360.80 146

Wirral Council invoice Damien Sanders St Johns Buildings 26th February 2014 £528 147

Wirral Council invoice Paul Burns Exchange Chambers 19th February 2014 Page 1 of 3 £1120 148

Wirral Council invoice Paul Burns Exchange Chambers 19th February 2014 Page 2 of 3 £1120 148

Wirral Council invoice Paul Burns Exchange Chambers 19th February 2014 Page 3 of 3 £1120 148

Wirral Council invoice Robin Hopkins KBW 10th February 2014 £1008 149

Wirral Council invoice Joanne Jade Abraham St Johns Buildings 5th March 2014 £543.36 150

Wirral Council invoice Weightmans LLP 30th January 2014 £4982.40 151

Wirral Council invoice Lexis Nexis Butterworths 3rd March 2014 £1659 152

Wirral Council invoice Mark Senior St Johns Buildings 10th March 2014 £528 153

Wirral Council invoice Mark Senior St Johns Buildings 10th March 2014 £600 154

Wirral Council invoice Sharpe Pritchard 31st January 2014 £6468 155

Wirral Council invoice Cerys Williams St Johns Buildings 13th March 2014 £816 156

Wirral Council invoice Mark Senior St Johns Buildings 18th March 2014 Page 1 of 2 £1296 157

Wirral Council invoice Mark Senior St Johns Buildings 18th March 2014 Page 2 of 2 £1296 157

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Wirral Council taking people to court who can’t pay Council Tax: £2,196
Paying for it using a Barclaycard in the name of M Burns: Priceless

As I’d better declare this interest at the start, I will state that my wife is the person in this household liable for Council Tax.

Just when the satirists must have thought that the filming ban of public meetings of Wirral Council would led to a deficit of quotable quotes from local councillors, below is a credit card statement from November 2013. Quite what the blacked out bit states or the other ten pages I’m not sure.

Now I’m not saying people shouldn’t pay Council Tax, however thanks to decisions made by Wirral Council’s Cabinet, households that hadn’t paid Council Tax before because they had got 100% Council Tax Benefit, suddenly had to pay a whopping 22% (this figure is from memory and applies (I’m massively simplifying here as there are people who don’t have to pay Council Tax too) to households of people of working age with nobody of state pension age and above). This led to an increase in people not paying, which led naturally to an increase in Magistrates’ Court cases filed by Wirral Council.

The Magistrates’ Court is of course where my father used to work before he retired and located just off Hamilton Square in Birkenhead and Tranmere ward, which by sheer coincidence is the ward where Wirral Council’s Leader of the Council/Cabinet Member for Finance Cllr Phil Davies represents.

At the time this change was planned and going out to consultation I warned Wirral Council in public meetings that this would need to lead to an increase in bad debt provision and their own costs!

Council Tax is one of the few taxes you can get locked up for in this country for not paying. Thus returning us to the concept of the “debtors prison” in Victorian England.

However the question is, how many people who literally couldn’t pay Council Tax, even if Wirral Council got a court order is Wirral Council going to the trouble of launching criminal cases over that costs the taxpayer money?

Bear in mind that this is a monthly invoice. Although the statement is in the name of LM Burns, it does somewhat remind me of the character of Charles Montgomery Burns in the Simpsons or as he would say “Release The Hounds!”

This is the court fee element, Wirral Council add this, plus their own internal legal costs to the outstanding Council Tax bill, which means by the end the Council Tax bill that they couldn’t pay before is even larger! Oh and thanks to Wirral Council, those who couldn’t pay end up at the end of the process with a criminal record, making it harder for them to get certain jobs to pay off their Council Tax debt!

Council Tax court cases Barclaycard invoice Wirral Council November 2013

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Tag: Magistrates Court