Members of the Council are asked to consider whether they have any disclosable pecuniary interests and/or any other relevant interest, in connection with any matter to be debated or determined at this meeting and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of such interest.

Members of the Council were invited to consider whether they had any disclosable pecuniary and/or any other relevant interest in connection with any matters to be determined at this meeting and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of such interest.

Councillor Chris Meaden declared a personal interest in item 3 – Ofsted Inspection Reportby virtue of her daughter's employment within the CYPD. She remained in the meeting and took part in the discussions.

Councillor Louise ReeceJones declared a personal interest in item 3 – Ofsted Inspection Report by virtue of her children being in receipt of Social Care. She remained in the meeting and took part in the discussions.

To receive the Civic Mayor's announcements and any apologies for absence.

The Civic Mayor noted that apologies had been received from Councillors Bruce Berry, John Hale, Tony Jones, Tracey Pilgrim and Warren Ward.

The Mayor informed that Council would be considering the recently published Ofsted Inspection Report on Wirral Council’s Children’s Services. He further informed that the Council Agenda pack included copies of the requisition notices from the Labour and Conservative political groups and Notices of Motion from all three political groups.

Prior to consideration of the Ofsted Inspection Report it was:

Proposed by Councillor Blakeley– that Standing Order 12(7) be suspended (limiting the time allowed for speakers during the debate).

Seconded by Councillor Phil Gilchrist.

Prior to the vote, Councillor Jeff Green and sixteen Conservative Members rose to request that a ‘card vote’ be recorded in respect of the vote.

A ‘card vote’ was then taken on Councillor Chris Blakeley’s’ motion and the Council divided as follows:

For the amendment (23) Councillors T Anderson, C Blakeley, E Boult, A Brighouse, D Burgess-Joyce, C Carubia, P Cleary, Mrs W Clements, D Elderton, G Ellis, P Gilchrist, J Green, P Hayes, A Hodson, K Hodson, S Kelly, I Lewis, D Mitchell, L Rennie, L Rowlands, A Sykes, G Watt and S Williams.

Against the amendment (35) Councillors R Abbey, P Brightmore, A Davies, G Davies, P Davies, W Davies, S Foulkes, T Johnson, A Jones, C Jones, B Kenny, A Leech, A McLachlan, M McLaughlin, J McManus, C Meaden, B Mooney, C Muspratt, T Norbury, M Patrick, D Realey, L Reecejones, D Roberts, T Smith, W Smith, C Spriggs, J Stapleton, P Stuart, M Sullivan, T Usher, J Walsh, S Whittingham, I Williams, KJ Williams and J Williamson.

The motion was therefore lost (23:35) (One abstention).

The Mayor informed that three Notices of Motion had been received in respect of this item. He stated that all would put before Council and debated together, with a vote taken on each motion, after the debate.

The three Motions which had been circulated in advance of the meeting were submitted in accordance with Standing Order 12(1) and (9), as follows:

Labour Group Motion

Proposed by Councillor Phil Davies

Seconded by Councillor Tony Smith

“1.   Council accepts OFTSED’s report on services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers, and the 19 recommendations for improvement and agrees that there needs to be radical change across the service, the council and partnership. The details will be proposed to an Improvement Board comprising key stakeholders including an independent chair, an advisor appointed by the Department for Education and members from the main political groups on the Council.

2.   Council acknowledges the difficult circumstances Wirral’s children’s services operate under - the growing demand for care from struggling families, the complexity of the cases being managed, and the cruel impact Government policy and funding decisions continue to have on families and residents in Wirral.

3.   Keeping our children safe is our highest priority and there is no excuse for failing to deliver the highest quality services to vulnerable young people in Wirral. The key priority now is to develop an effective improvement plan with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.