Wirral Council’s Standards Committee agrees recommendation on changes to notices of motion procedural rules

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Surjit Tour explains to councillors the effect of proposed changes to procedural rules at a meeting of Wirral Council's Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee 23rd November 2015

Wirral Council’s Standards Committee agrees recommendation on changes to notices of motion procedural rules

                                                            

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Wirral Council’s Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee meeting held on the 23rd November 2015

Surjit Tour explains to councillors the effect of proposed changes to procedural rules at a meeting of Wirral Council's Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee 23rd November 2015
Surjit Tour explains to councillors the effect of proposed changes to procedural rules at a meeting of Wirral Council’s Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee 23rd November 2015

One of the changes agreed by councillors at last night’s meeting of Wirral Council’s Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee was a change to the protocol for dealing with referred notices of motion. Referred notices of motion are notices of motion that have been sent by Wirral Council’s Mayor to one of Wirral Council’s committees to debate instead of being debated at a Council meeting.

The changes to time limits on speeches for the proposer (5 minutes) and right of reply (3 minutes) were to bring the time limits in line with new time limits proposed for Council meetings.

However an extra category of speaker has been added. This is described in the new rules as "any other person" and they will have three minutes to speak. "Any other person" is described as "at the discretion of the Chairperson, other persons with expertise on the subject of the Motion may be invited to attend the meeting at which it is to be considered"

These new rules won’t apply to next week’s high-profile Notice of Motion Proposal for a fire station on green belt land in Saughall Massie to be discussed by councillors on Wirral Council’s Regeneration and Environment Policy and Performance Committee at a public meeting starting at 6.00pm on the 2nd December 2015 in Committee Room 1, Wallasey Town Hall. This is because the recommendation by the Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee (if agreed by Council on the 14th December) won’t come into effect until the 15th December 2015. At a previous meeting of the Regeneration and Environment Committee councillors wanted to ask questions of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service officers about why they wanted to build a new fire station in Saughall Massie.

Instead the rules agreed earlier in the year by the Coordinating Committee will apply (the part on referred notices of motion starts at the top of page 6).

Hopefully this won’t cause a decision on the issue to be deferred yet again!

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Author: John Brace

New media journalist from Birkenhead, England who writes about Wirral Council. Published and promoted by John Brace, 134 Boundary Road, Bidston, CH43 7PH. Printed by UK Webhosting Ltd t/a Tsohost, 113-114 Buckingham Avenue, Slough, Berkshire, England, SL1 4PF.

20 thoughts on “Wirral Council’s Standards Committee agrees recommendation on changes to notices of motion procedural rules”

  1. Okay, okay, but what about Thynne Part II ?

    The public are fed up waiting.

    Personally, I think it’s about time a respectable official broke into the council dormitory, tipped these slumberers out of their cossetted featherbeds, grabbed the nearest fire hose and sent their loathesome, potbellied forms spinning across the floor, limbs flailing, in torrents of ice cold water.

    1. This year they denied me the chance to even look at their expenses for 2014/15 despite a request exercising my legal right to do so!

      Anyone would think that … the councillors don’t want me to write stories about their expenses!

      The public have a right of inspection to councillors’ expenses at Wirral Council, actually getting to see them though is a task indeed!

  2. G’day John

    Wirral In It Together is right John where is that Rosemary and Thymme Report.

    When she spoke to me she told me of the urgency of it.

    I bet she got paid urgently.

    A bit like Wirral “Funny” Bizz four and a half years later.

    Then she told me she was deaf.

    Then I never got back to her because I knew “Phil the Very Very Deluded Dill”, “Ankles” and Phil the Dill’s Ugly Twin Brother with the Comb Over from Hell” are better protected than koala bears.

    The rest of the muppets in Labor will just tolerate any old dross at the top for the cause.

    They act just as you would expect with the winners getting them to sign their souls away to DEVILution.

    They should just stand down and do the cause a favour.

    Ooroo

    James

    Wirralgate Wirral”Funny”Bizz Wirralgate Wirra”Funny”Bizz

    1. Everything is urgent until people get told by their boss to drop it and hope the person goes away.

      For example a crime is reported to a police officer. They investigate, find the guilty party, but have to refer it up the command chain for charging and involving the CPS.

      Then their sergeant tells them to drop it, so the criminal gets away with it (and no doubt plots their revenge against the person that dobbed them in).

      Repeat a hundred or even thousands of times with the rest of the public sector and you’ll soon understand why society is the way it is…

  3. G’day John

    Just thinking about the invoices you get them to dig up.

    When I went with “Highbrow” the lower level employees were very keen to help us and it seemed they wanted us to find the crud to dob in people like AdderleyDadderlyDooLally.

    Correct me if I am wrong but in your lot I can’t remember seeing any that shows them wining and dining the parasites from overseas.

    So is it because they do all their fine dining at places like the Birkenhead Chinese Buffet and or the casino and charge all the sins to….say “The Chamber Pot” for example or some other little unknown pot out of the viewing publics eyeline.

    Just asking.

    Ooroo

    James

    They must reciprocate places like Shanghai and Reno or else they wouldn’t be invited and it certainly wouldn’t just be for their intelligence, wit and charm.

    1. Oh I have a lot of invoices I haven’t published and this year (rather unlawfully) about 90% of the invoices I requested were refused and now they refuse to respond to emails on the subject (sound familiar?)

      I picked the invoices from the published list of payments over £500. If it’s a small group or restaurant bill I would suggest it is highly likely for the final bill to come in under £500.

      Also invoices you refer to may fall into the 90% they’re keeping a big secret (like my request to view councillors’ expenses for 2014/15).

      However Wirral Council (after ICO intervened with a decision notice) did cough up a two page fee note for ~£48k of legal expenses with a barrister yesterday because not to do so would be contempt of court.

      If you read the thread of that FOI request you’ll see it takes ~8 months of arguing and intervention from the regulator (along with a positive decision notice) to do what from a FOI perspective should just take 20 days.

      I’m sure Nigel Hobro can tell you a similar story about Wirral Council and FOI.

      So I’m sure you can understand how getting information out of Wirral Council is about as welcome as a dentist coming along and telling them he (or she) needs to take some teeth out!

  4. Lads, watch the film footage generated by the hand of John. It’s a wonderful watch and one which’ll have you all levitating with joy.
    Pay particular attention to the Chairman who has gifted the audience with a remarkably proficient display in the old art of Gurning.

  5. Happily John I can report that Gurning in Hereford is as popular as ever. Unlike many other rural pastimes such as catching the Ewe and ********* it in front of a large public audience or cozying up to the Natterjack Toad and attempting to **** with it, we in Hereford are second only to Cumbria in our enthusiasm to pull faces and gurn.
    Wonderful piece of film footage John. I would have missed it had it not been for the Leaks who were good enough to bring this to our attention.

  6. G’day John and Bobby

    It is truly remarkable footage of the finest old goats Wirral has on offer apart from “The Pretend Friend”.

    The super director only lasted 12 minutes no wonder she didn’t fancy him.

    “The Shyster” looked a lot more comfortable in this arena, probably because they are all deaf and senile, rather than when he is in court with his cheap biro and expensive barrista.

    Would luv to see him debate Wirral “Funny” Bizz Lockwood/Harbac with “Highbrow”.

    I know you defend him over some issues but he should go John he was there when it was all happening, for him to say he didn’t read stuff or wasn’t there is about as good as Clinton.

    Cardigans, chewing gum, the “Raving Loony” and I haven’t even watched it yet.

    Ooroo

    James

    I’ll have a better look later Bobby keep up the great work.

    1. If I was doing Mr. Tour’s job, I’m sure you would criticise me too James.

      Put it this way, who was better at the job, Mr. Tour or Bill Norman?

      Be careful what you wish for…

        1. I make mistakes like everyone else does though.

          At Wirral Council middle managers and lower level employees can set up senior management to fail by undermining them by not telling them the truth (which they then repeat).

          Look what happened to the last honest person at Wirral Council though, Martin Morton!

          Suspended because he kicked up a stink on behalf of the vulnerable (which was part of his job), then sidelined, bullied and hounded out of a job he was good at to save the reputations of the people who screwed up (who were then paid £millions to leave).

          Maybe that’s my problem, I’m too honest and not subject to bribery!

          But then it’s hard to state what kind of Monitoring Officer I would make… if I ever at some future point did that role.

          1. A much better job than the buffoon that is in position.

            Can you believe the tripe that he doesn’t advise, read/hide reports or stay schtum.

            Clean the joint up Ecca.

            The alternate word for my schtum according to my electonic computer is scrotum.

            1. I just wrote a long reply imagining a meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Committee with Australian politicians, I hope you find it entertaining to read.

              Oh there are people who criticise me too James, they say I’m pompous, bossy, 101 other things too. I’m not perfect and I’m sure there are probably people out there that could do this job better than me.

              There are others that refer to me as a legend. Sadly I seem to be a legend in his own time that has had to also write 90% of the legend!

              I had a member of the Lib Dems once have an entire meeting about me as their complaint was I was too “political” and political parties aren’t for political people!

              I have 1,001 political stories I could tell and maybe I should settle down at Christmas and write some interesting anecdotes or a e-book about FOI.

          1. It’s always interesting to know I am read in far flung and exotic places like Hereford.

            I notice today so far there have also been readers from the United States, Canada, India and Jamaica.

            Yesterday there were visitors from Oman, Mexico, Ireland, the Netherlands, India, France (the list goes on).

            Hereford is rapidly sounding less exotic isn’t it?

Comments are closed.