EXCLUSIVE: 155 invoices paid by Wirral Council in 2013/14 for legal services, external audit, physiotherapy and psychological assessments
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 1Wirral Council invoice Capita Health and Wellbeing Limited £520 Page 2 of 3 18th March 2013 1Wirral Council invoice Capita Health and Wellbeing Limited £520 Page 3 of 3 18th March 2013 1Wirral Council invoice The Lucy Faithfull Foundation £699.31 28th March 2013 2Wirral 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 11Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Buildings £576 2nd April 2013 12Wirral Council invoice Remy Zentar St Johns Buildings £1,800 27th March 2013 13Wirral Council invoice Sharpe Pritchard £25,698 31st March 2013 Page 1 of 2 14Wirral Council invoice Sharpe Pritchard £25,698 31st March 2013 Page 2 of 2 14Wirral Council invoice Gail A Owen St Johns Buildings £2,928 9th April 2013 15Wirral Council invoice Nicola Miles 7 Harrington St Chambers £2,130 9th April 2013 16Wirral Council invoice Kate Burnell St Johns Buildings 9th April 2013 £792 17Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Buildings 11th April 2013 £864 18Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Buildings 16th April 2013 £720 19Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Buildings 16th April 2013 £1,032 20Wirral Council invoice Dr Jennifer Ashcroft JJ Ashcroft Clinical Psychology Services Ltd 7th April 2013 £900.75 21Wirral Council invoice Gail A Owen St Johns Buildings 26th April 2013 £591.36 22Wirral Council invoice Joanne Jade Abraham St Johns Buildings 20th April 2013 £600 23Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Bellamy St Johns Buildings 25th April 2013 £511.68 24Wirral Council invoice Sara A Mann St Johns Buildings 26th April 2013 £528 25Wirral Council invoice Tim D N Kenward 7 Harrington St Chambers 19th April 2013 Page 1 of 2 £900 26Wirral Council invoice Tim D N Kenward 7 Harrington St Chambers 19th April 2013 Page 2 of 2 £900 26Wirral Council invoice Remy Zentar St Johns Buildings 23rd April 2013 £936 27Wirral Council invoice Susan Edwards St Johns Buildings 2nd May 2013 £672 28Wirral Council invoice DMM Psychology Ltd 8th March 2013 £1660.80 29Wirral Council invoice Sara A Mann St Johns Buildings 8th May 2013 £823.68 30Wirral Council invoice Rebecca Smith St Johns Buildings 8th May 2013 £720 31Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Buildings 9th May 2013 £1200 32Wirral Council invoice Rebecca Smith St Johns Buildings 9th May 2013 £720 33Wirral Council invoice Benjamin Lawrence St Johns Buildings 13th May 2013 £787.50 34Wirral Council invoice Advanced Childcare Assessments Limited 30th April 2013 £2,641.20 35Wirral Council invoice Joanne Jade Abraham St Johns Buildings 15th May 2013 Page 1 of 2 £528 36Wirral Council invoice Joanne Jade Abraham St Johns Buildings 15th May 2013 Page 2 of 2 £528 36Wirral Council invoice Louis Browne Exchange Chambers 15th May 2013 £3445.74 37Wirral Council invoice Claire Grundy St Johns Buildings 14th May 2013 £1800 38Wirral Council invoice Sharpe Pritchard 17th May 2013 £640 39Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Building 17th May 2013 £1200 40Wirral Council invoice Sara A Mann St Johns Building 17th May 2013 £528 41Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Building 21st May 2013 £576 42Wirral Council invoice Cerys Williams St Johns Building 22nd May 2013 £2454.72 43Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Building 24th May 2013 £768 44Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Building 28th May 2013 £811.29 Page 1 of 2 45Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Building 28th May 2013 £811.29 Page 2 of 2 45Wirral Council invoice Simon Maddison St Johns Building 23rd May 2013 £1260 46Wirral Council invoice Sara A Mann St Johns Buildings 31st May 2013 £607.48 47Wirral Council invoice Document Technology Limited 10th May 2013 £569.58 48Wirral Council invoice Jennifer Lesley Scully St Johns Buildings 4th June 2013 £849.60 49Wirral Council invoice Susan Edwards St Johns Buildings 10th June 2013 £993.60 50Wirral Council invoice Ginette Fitzharris St Johns Buildings 11th June 2013 £799.68 51Wirral Council invoice Joanne Jade Abraham St Johns Buildings 13th June 2013 £2,208.96 52Wirral Council invoice Grant Thornton UK LLP 14th June 2013 £63,504 53Wirral Council invoice Catherine Rimmer St Johns Buildings 17th June 2013 £504 54Wirral Council invoice Stephen J Bedford St Johns Buildings 17th June 2013 £1,584 55Wirral Council invoice Stephen J Bedford St Johns Buildings 19th June 2013 £1,584 56Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Buildings 25th June 2013 £552 57Wirral Council invoice The Association of Electoral Administration 14th May 2013 £3,556.25 58Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Buildings 1st July 2013 £960 59Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 1st July 2013 £4,910.40 Page 1 of 2 60Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 1st July 2013 £4,910.40 Page 2 of 2 60Wirral Council invoice Sara A Mann St Johns Buildings 1st July 2013 £523.20 61Wirral Council invoice Tim D N Kenward 7 Harrington St Chambers 19th June 2013 Page 1 of 2 £3,660 62Wirral Council invoice Tim D N Kenward 7 Harrington St Chambers 19th June 2013 Page 2 of 2 £3,660 62Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 3rd July 2013 £849.60 63Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Buildings 28th May 2013 £3,264 Page 1 of 2 64Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Buildings 28th May 2013 £3,264 Page 2 of 2 64Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Buildings 12th July 2013 65 £1,440 65Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 12th July 2013 £552 66Wirral Council invoice Gaynor Lloyd St Johns Buildings 12th July 2013 £1822.08 67Wirral Council invoice Sharpe Pritchard 18th July 2013 £10,080 68Wirral Council invoice Joanne Jade Abraham St Johns Buildings 25th July 2013 £696 69Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Buildings 25th July 2013 page 1 of 2 £7344 70Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Buildings 25th July 2013 page 2 of 2 £7344 70Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Manning Arden Chambers 26th July 2013 £1,800 71Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Manning Arden Chambers 26th July 2013 £1,800 72Wirral Council invoice Helen Roberts Forensic Clinical Psychologist 1st August 2013 £821.10 75Wirral Council invoice Helen Roberts Forensic Clinical Psychologist 1st August 2013 £590.50 76Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 7th August 2013 £1392 77Wirral Council invoice Sara A Mann St Johns Buildings 5th August 2013 £639.36 78Wirral Council invoice Gaynor Lloyd St Johns Buildings 12th August 2013 £1822.08 79Wirral Council invoice Helen Wilson St Johns Buildings 12th August 2013 £2016 80Wirral Council invoice Ginette Fitzharris St Johns Buildings 19th August 2013 £528 81Wirral Council invoice Ginette Fitzharris St Johns Buildings 15th August 2013 £511.68 82Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Buildings 22nd August 2013 £864 83Wirral Council invoice Helen Wilson St Johns Buildings 21st August 2013 £703.68 84Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Buildings 4th September 2013 £576 85Wirral Council invoice Grant Thornton UK LLP 12th September 2013 £63504 86Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 11th September 2013 £687.36 87Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Buildings 11th September 2013 £1992 88Wirral Council invoice Jennifer Lesley Scully St Johns Buildings 16th September 2013 Page 1 of 2 £1296 89Wirral Council invoice Jennifer Lesley Scully St Johns Buildings 16th September 2013 Page 2 of 2 £1296 89Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 16th September 2013 £1230.72 90Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 17th September 2013 £655.68 91Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 25th September 2013 £561.60 92Wirral Council invoice Paul Burns Exchange Chambers 23rd September 2013 £930 93Wirral Council invoice Jennifer Lesley Scully St Johns Buildings 30th September 2013 £720 94Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Buildings 2nd October 2013 £912 95Wirral Council invoice Benjamin William Jones St Johns Buildings 1st October 2013 £900 96Wirral Council invoice Ginette Fitzharris St Johns Buildings 7th October 2013 £511.68 97Wirral Council invoice Kate Burnell St Johns Buildings 10th October 2013 £1248 98Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 14th October 2013 £720 99Wirral Council invoice Cater Walsh Media Services Ltd 25th October 2013 £528 100Wirral Council invoice Sara A Mann St Johns Buildings 21st October 2013 £831.36 101Wirral Council invoice Ginette Fitzharris St Johns Buildings 21st October 2013 £576 102Wirral Council invoice Ginette Fitzharris St Johns Buildings 21st October 2013 £753.60 103Wirral Council invoice Helen Wilson St Johns Buildings 30th October 2013 £3235.20 104Wirral Council invoice Kate Burnell St Johns Buildings 30th October 2013 £1113.60 105Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 31st October 2013 £1128 106Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 30th October 2013 £528 107Wirral Council invoice Mark Senior St Johns Buildings 1st November 2013 £864 108Wirral Council invoice Jennifer Lesley Scully St Johns Buildings 11th November 2013 £993.60 109Wirral Council invoice Susan Edwards St Johns Buildings 8th November 2013 £591.36 110Wirral Council invoice David V Glasgow 30th October 2013 £740.37 111Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 13th November 2013 £576 112Wirral Council invoice Helen Wilson St Johns Buildings 18th November 2013 £753.60 113Wirral Council invoice Christine Johnson Atlantic Chambers 22nd November 2013 £2940 114Wirral Council invoice Paul Burns Exchange Chambers 22nd November 2013 Page 1 of 2 £4210 115Wirral Council invoice Paul Burns Exchange Chambers 22nd November 2013 Page 2 of 2 £4210 115Wirral Council invoice Susan Edwards St Johns Buildings 25th November 2013 £696 116Wirral Council invoice Robin Hopkins kbw 12th November 2013 £1872 117Wirral Council invoice Wilkin Chapman LLP 16th October 2013 £1598.40 118Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 21st November 2013 £576 119Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 26th November 2013 £1272 120Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 11th December 2013 Page 1 of 2 £3473.28 121Wirral Council invoice Jonathan Taylor St Johns Buildings 11th December 2013 Page 2 of 2 £3473.28 121Wirral Council invoice Mark Senior St Johns Buildings 3rd December 2013 £2399.04 122Wirral Council invoice Mark Senior St Johns Buildings 4th December 2013 £672 123Wirral Council invoice Susan Edwards St Johns Buildings 27th November 2013 £504 124Wirral Council invoice Grant Thornton UK LLP 12th December 2013 £51120 125Wirral Council invoice Ruth Stockley Kings Chambers 19th November 2013 £607.50 126Wirral Council invoice Cerys Williams St Johns Buildings 7th January 2014 £528 127Wirral Council invoice Jennifer Lesley Scully St Johns Buildings 8th January 2014 Page 1 of 3 £5096.64 128Wirral Council invoice Jennifer Lesley Scully St Johns Buildings 8th January 2014 Page 2 of 3 £5096.64 128Wirral Council invoice Jennifer Lesley Scully St Johns Buildings 8th January 2014 Page 3 of 3 £5096.64 128Wirral Council invoice Nigel Lawrence 7 Harrington Street Chambers 11th December 2013 £27185.90 129Wirral Council invoice Tim D N Kenward 7 Harrington Street Chambers 7th January 2014 £2220 130Wirral Council invoice Grant Thornton UK LLP 11th December 2013 £63504 131Wirral Council invoice Damien Sanders St Johns Buildings 15th January 2014 £600 132Wirral Council invoice Leona Harrison St Johns Buildings 15th January 2014 £1536 133Wirral Council invoice Michael J Kennedy St Johns Buildings 15th January 2014 £672 134Wirral Council invoice Catherine Rimmer St Johns Buildings 20th January 2014 £720 135Wirral Council invoice Helen Wilson St Johns Buildings 21st January 2014 £912 136Wirral Council invoice Joanne Jade Abraham St Johns Buildings 17th January 2014 £951.36 137Wirral Council invoice James Gatenby St Johns Buildings 20th January 2014 £607.68 138Wirral Council invoice Helen Wilson St Johns Buildings 23rd January 2014 £816 139Wirral Council invoice Joanne Jade Abraham St Johns Buildings 23rd January 2014 £696 140Wirral Council invoice Anthony Gill Kings Chambers 28th January 2014 £1860 141Wirral Council invoice Sweet & Maxwell Ltd 2nd January 2014 £1041.60 142Wirral Council invoice Andrew Haggis St Johns Buildings 14th February 2014 £720 143Wirral Council invoice Kate Burnell St Johns Buildings 18th February 2014 £511.68 144Wirral Council invoice Peta M L Harrison St Johns Buildings 18th February 2014 £888 145Wirral Council invoice Weightmans LLP 25th February 2014 £1360.80 146Wirral Council invoice Damien Sanders St Johns Buildings 26th February 2014 £528 147Wirral Council invoice Paul Burns Exchange Chambers 19th February 2014 Page 1 of 3 £1120 148Wirral Council invoice Paul Burns Exchange Chambers 19th February 2014 Page 2 of 3 £1120 148Wirral Council invoice Paul Burns Exchange Chambers 19th February 2014 Page 3 of 3 £1120 148Wirral Council invoice Robin Hopkins KBW 10th February 2014 £1008 149Wirral Council invoice Joanne Jade Abraham St Johns Buildings 5th March 2014 £543.36 150Wirral Council invoice Weightmans LLP 30th January 2014 £4982.40 151Wirral Council invoice Lexis Nexis Butterworths 3rd March 2014 £1659 152Wirral Council invoice Mark Senior St Johns Buildings 10th March 2014 £528 153Wirral Council invoice Mark Senior St Johns Buildings 10th March 2014 £600 154Wirral Council invoice Sharpe Pritchard 31st January 2014 £6468 155Wirral Council invoice Cerys Williams St Johns Buildings 13th March 2014 £816 156Wirral Council invoice Mark Senior St Johns Buildings 18th March 2014 Page 1 of 2 £1296 157Wirral Council invoice Mark Senior St Johns Buildings 18th March 2014 Page 2 of 2 £1296 157
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Wirral Council spent £2,451.60 with Weightmans LLP on legal advice after reading something about themselves in the press
Wirral Council spent £2,451.60 with Weightmans LLP on legal advice after reading something about themselves in the press
I will first start by declaring an interest in that I am a member of the press, however I am unsure if it is anything I’ve written about Wirral Council (or something in the local newspapers) that led to the matter I’m writing about below.
Last year Wirral Council received an invoice dated 26th June 2013 from a Liverpool based firm of solicitors called Weightmans LLP. Nothing unusual in that you might say! The invoice was for £2,451.60. So what was this invoice for? It was for “To our professional charges in advising in relation to press comment”.
Oh dear did Wirral Council read something in the press they didn’t like again? Did they not have anybody available to provide internal legal advice on the “press comment” and had to rack up nearly 16 hours of time charged at either £160/hour or £120/hour over this?
I hope it wasn’t about something I wrote on this blog! So what was written in the press at around this time about Wirral Council? Anyone care to enlighten me?
The committee is down as “FIN” which I presume means it was something related to financial matters. Sadly Wirral Council black out the names of the five people (or job descriptions) at Weightmans LLP that provided them with this expensive advice. Anyway reading press articles at £120/hour or £160/hour is nice work if you can get it isn’t it?
The invoice is included below.
Weightmans invoice Wirral Council press comment £2451 60 26 June 2013
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Wirral Council spent £465,497.06 with six different firms of solicitors in the last financial year
Wirral Council spent £465,497.06 with six different firms of solicitors in the last financial year
Below is a list of what Wirral Council spent on solicitors in the last financial year (2013-14) which comes at just under half a million pounds. Wirral Council also employ fourteen in-house solicitors. Each amount is a total for the 2013-14 by firm of solicitors and is derived from the lists of invoices over £500 that Wirral Council publish. It is possible the amounts are higher if there are invoices paid that were less than £500. I’ve done a similar list for barristers in another blog post.
Anthony Collins Solicitors £17,570 DLA Piper UK £700 DWF LLP £11,584.38 Eversheds £236,990.13 Forshaws Davies Ridgway LLP £609 Weightmans LLP £198,043.55
Total £465,497.06
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Outrageous 20 Page Wirral Council Contract over Secret Hourly Legal Rates
Outrageous 20 Page Wirral Council Contract over Secret Hourly Legal Rates
Before Bill Norman left Wirral Council’s employment he said during a public meeting that Wirral Council had much less in-house solicitors than the previous Council that had previously employed him. Currently Wirral Council has sixteen fifteen people in-house to give legal advice (David Abraham, Ali Noman Bayatti, Louise Kate Bragg, Gregory Oghenebrume Eyitene, Angela Mary Green, Colin John Bennett Hughes, Victoria Michelle Leece, Rosemary Ann Lyon, Elizabeth Macgregor, Anne Frances Quirk, Cecilia Mary Rathe, Sally Jayne Rotherham, Joanne Elizabeth Rutherford, Lucy Victoria Shaw, Surjit Tour and Karen Christina White).
As a result of having more legal work than people employed to do it, work gets outsourced. Some of this is through the North West Legal Consortium that have a website here. Basically it’s a collaboration between a number of local Councils and others (such as Merseytravel, The Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside and The Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire) for legal services from firms such as Weightmans LLP and Eversheds LLP. The “outrageous” clause in my opinion in the contract is this though:-
17. Confidentiality
The Consortium has entered into agreement with Solicitors Firms and Barristers Chambers in relation to discounted fee rates. Each of these rates is commercially confidential to that Firm or Chambers and as such should not, without the prior written consent of that Firm or Chambers be disclosed to any other Firm or Chambers or any other third party outside of the Consortium. Authorities should use reasonable endeavours to ensure either by themselves their servants or agents that they treat such Confidential Information as confidential and safeguard it accordingly; and they hereby agree to use reasonable endeavours not disclose such Confidential Information to any other person without the Solicitors Firm or Chambers prior consent.
With this level of redaction (which extends to the invoices themselves too), how can the Wirral public know they’re getting value for money at these “discounted fee rates”? What’s the rate they’re classed as discounted from anyway? Links to the whole North West Legal Consortium contract are provided below.