A blog about Wirral Council, Wirral Council's councillors & officers
A blog about Wirral Council's public meetings, Wirral Council's councillors, Bidston & St. James ward and other public bodies on Merseyside
Who wants to leave Wirral Council (at a cost of £146,666)?
This is a follow up article to What is Wirral Council trying to cover up now? which also ties in to this Freedom of Information request (first refused on s.43 (commercial interests) grounds, then at internal review on s.22 grounds (information intended for future publication).
Continue reading “Who wants to leave Wirral Council (at a cost of £146,666)?”
Is Wirral Council’s budget sustainable or is it being propped up by one-off sales of land and buildings?
This is a collaborative piece with The Bureau of Investigative Journalism who we would like to thank for all their help.
Tonight (if you’re reading this on the day of publication) Wirral Council councillors decide at a public meeting on their 2019-20 budget (which includes a recommendation to put peoples’ council tax up).
Continue reading “Is Wirral Council’s budget sustainable or is it being propped up by one-off sales of land and buildings?”
Why was Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service’s Kieran Timmins (former Deputy Chief Executive/Treasurer and in charge of the Saughall Massie fire station plans in 2014 & 2015) paid £144,500 for “compensation for loss of office” when he was made redundant in 2015?
The author of this piece is an Appellant in a First-tier-Tribunal (Information Rights) case in which Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority is the Second Respondent.
Below are three invoices (for £3,000 each consisting of £2,500 + VAT so £9,000 in total) from a Todd and Ledson LLP to Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service for the Saughall Massie fire station project.
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (on behalf of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority) have submitted two planning applications associated with this project.
The most recent dated 20th July 2016 is for a screening opinion which if I’m correct Wirral Council as Local Planning Authority have to make a decision on within 3 weeks of the application, this is SCR/16/00994.
The related planning application to the above submitted on the 15th July 2015 is APP/16/00985 which is described as, “A single storey two bay community fire station incorporating operational and welfare accommodation, offices and meeting space, external drill and training facilities and associated car-parking. | Land adjacent to SAUGHALL MASSIE ROAD, SAUGHALL MASSIE ”.
The land is currently owned by Wirral Council, who are constructing a Youth Zone on land next to Birkenhead Fire Station.
Below are two invoices to Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service from their solicitors Weightmans LLP connected to that.
Although at one stage a “land swap” was suggested by former Deputy Chief Executive of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service Kieran Timmins (that is a swap of the land held by Wirral Council for the land adjacent to Birkenhead Fire Station), Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service state that no such land swap with Wirral Council was agreed follow Mr Timmins’ proposal. In an event Mr Timmins left the employment of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service in 2015 having been made redundant and he received £144,500 in redundancy payment in compensation (see note 30 to the accounts (Officers’ Remuneration) on page 66 of the 2015-16 accounts for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority).
The officer at Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service in charge of land matters following Mr. Timmins’ departure from the organisation in August 2015 is Deputy Chief Fire Officer Phil Garrigan.
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What are the details of the recommendation to Wirral councillors about a senior management restructure at Wirral Council (1 redundancy, 5 promotions, 4 posts created and 4 vacant posts deleted)?
Councillors on Wirral Council’s Employment and Appointments Committee will decide on changes to Wirral Council’s senior management next week on Monday 25th July 2016. If approved by councillors the restructure will take effect from November 2016.
This senior management restructure had been put on hold until Eric Robinson’s appointment by councillors as Chief Executive of Wirral Council in February 2015.
However these are the changes recommended to councillors and you can read the full details on Wirral Council’s website.
Redundancy (1)
There is a recommendation that one senior manager (the Head of Housing and Community Safety Ian Platt) be made redundant, offered early retirement and his post is deleted. However the recommendation from officers is that his name and the financial details of how much this will cost are kept out of the public domain before the public meeting and that councillors decide on whether to release the information about Ian Platt after the meeting has been held.
For comparison the early retirement of Kevin Adderley last year cost ~£49k in redundancy plus ~£207k in pension costs for early retirement but as Ian Platt is on a lower salary grade I estimate the costs to Wirral Council are roughly ~£30k in redundancy and ~£127k in pension costs total £157k.
Promotions (5)
The following senior managers are recommended to receive a promotion:
Tom Sault (who has been acting up to the s.151 officer role will be permanently appointed to it)
Surjit Tour (who has been Monitoring Officer since shortly after Bill Norman was suspended in 2012 will now receive extra pay for being Monitoring Officer too in addition to his other job)
Mark Smith (promoted from Head of Environment and Regulation to Strategic Commissioner for Environment)
Alan Evans (promoted from Investment and Business Manager to Strategic Commissioner for Growth)
Sue Talbot (promoted from Schools Commissioning Manager to Lead Commissioner for Schools)
Vacant posts deleted (4)
Strategic Director for Regeneration and Environment (formerly Kevin Adderley)
Director of Resources (formerly Vivienne Quayle)
Head of Neighbourhoods and Engagement (formerly Emma Degg)
Head of Business Processes (formerly Malcolm Flanagan)
Posts deleted because postholder being promoted (3)
Investment and Business Manager (current postholder Alan Evans)
Schools Commissioner Manager (current postholder Sue Talbot)
Senior Manager (current postholder unknown)
Posts created (if approved by councillors) 4
Transformation Director (grade HS2 (£68,011 to £75,567))
Assistant Director: Commissioning Support (grade HS2 (£68,011 to £75,567))
Assistant Director: Community Services* (grade HS2 (£68,011 to £75,567))
Assistant Director: Adult and Disability Services* (grade HS2 (£68,011 to £75,567))
*Note new posts marked with * are recommended to be recruited internally from existing Wirral Council employees.
Penna will be advising Wirral Council’s Employment and Appointments Committee &Wirral Council officers on appointments to these four posts at a cost of £thousands per each post. If the creation of the new posts is agreed by councillors, councillors will also decide who the successful applicants are.
The councillors on Wirral Council’s Employment and Appointments Committee (although the councillors below can send a deputy in their place if they can’t make a particular meeting) are:
Cllr Adrian Jones (Chair) (Labour)
Cllr Phil Davies (Vice-Chair) (Labour)
Cllr George Davies (Labour)
Cllr Ann McLachlan (Labour)
Cllr Moira McLaughlin (Labour)
Cllr Jeff Green (Conservative)
Cllr Lesley Rennie (Conservative)
Cllr Phil Gilchrist (Liberal Democrat)
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There was a protest outside Wallasey Town Hall before Wirral Council’s Cabinet meeting on Monday morning. One of the decisions at that Cabinet meeting was to recommend to a meeting of all councillors (which will be on the 3rd March 2016) a budget for Wirral Council for 2016-17. The protest was about a proposal to recommend to close Girtrell Court. Pictures of the protest are below (each photo should link to a higher resolution image).
