Members are asked to consider whether they have personal or prejudicial interests in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state what they are.

Members are reminded that they should also declare, pursuant to paragraph 18 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules, whether they are subject to a party whip in connection with any item(s) to be considered and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of the whipping arrangement.

Members were asked to consider whether they had personal or prejudicial interests in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state what they were.

Members were reminded that they should also declare, pursuant to paragraph 18 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules, whether they were subject to a party whip in connection with any item(s) to be considered and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of the whipping arrangement.

Councillors George, Hale, Knowles, Moseley and Wilkins declared their personal interest in agenda item 2 (Transforming Wirral – Strategic Asset Review) (see minute 58 post) insofar as they were members of various management committees that could be affected by the outcome of the Strategic Asset Review.

At its meeting on 15 January, 2009 (minute 325 refers), the Cabinet agreed the following resolution following a public consultation on the Strategic Asset Review.

“Cabinet welcomes the high level of public participation in this consultation as set out in the Cabinet report. Cabinet notes that residents also made it clear that they were prepared to pay more to keep facilities open;

Cabinet acknowledges that residents on a peninsula believe it is particularly important that their children have the opportunity to learn to swim and take part in swimming activities and that there have been representations from the public and from the health community on the importance of swimming as a way of tackling obesity;

Cabinet noted the often passionate support of what were felt to be local community facilities and recognised the considerable time and effort put in by a number of correspondents who sought to provide detailed arguments for the retention of a particular facility;

Cabinet is particularly grateful for the hard work that went into the detailed document submitted on the importance of Woodchurch Leisure Centre to the local community;

Cabinet also recognises the high regard in which Wirral residents hold their historic buildings and accepts the need to respect Wirral’s heritage;

It also recognises the clear commitment of staff, residents, local musicians and artists and young people to maintaining good cultural facilities and suitable performance venues on the Wirral and thanks those who submitted detailed reasons why these are important to the life of the community as a whole;

However, Cabinet is also mindful of the current economic climate and the hardship that will create for many Wirral people;

It is mindful as well of the fact that definite action is required to tackle Wirral’s budgetary problems and that the recession will also impact on the Council in a number of ways, increasing the need for firm financial control in order to protect Wirral’s Council Tax payers;

Bearing in mind the Council’s Corporate Priorities and in particular the need to do everything possible to tackle social exclusion and deprivation, Cabinet therefore resolves as follows, and recommends to Council that:

(1)  The Woodchurch Leisure Centre be retained;

(2)  Officers are asked to explore the possibility of persuading any of the Council’s strategic partners who may benefit from the use of the Leisure Centre to contribute towards the £374,000 subsidy currently paid by the Council to keep the Leisure Centre open and to investigate the level of current charges to swimming clubs, schools and other organisations across the borough to ensure that the Council Tax payers are receiving good value for money which should  be the subject of a report to Cabinet on February 5th as part of the budget setting process;

(3)  The Woodchurch Community Centre adjoining the Leisure Centre be considered for transfer to the Community within a two year time frame and the Leisure Centre and Community Centre be seen as the clear focus for community activities;

(4)  The two year time frame for community  ...  view the full agenda text for item 58.

At its meeting on 15 January 2009 (minute 325 refers), the Cabinet, having received a detailed breakdown of the consultation responses that had been received on the Strategic Asset Review (SAR) prior to the start of its meeting, considered a report of the Chief Executive, which summarised the response to the consultation and sought the Cabinet’s views on the way forward.

The Cabinet welcomed the high level of public participation and was also mindful of the current economic climate and the hardship it would create for many Wirral people. It was mindful as well of the fact that definite action was required to tackle Wirral’s budgetary problems and that the recession would also impact on the Council in a number of ways, increasing the need for firm financial control in order to protect Wirral’s Council Tax payers. Bearing in mind the Council’s Corporate Priorities and in particular the need to do everything possible to tackle social exclusion and deprivation, the Cabinet made a number of recommendations to the Council.

The Director of Law, HR and Asset Management set out those recommendations in full and reported that in accordance with the procedure adopted for other budget proposals agreed by the Cabinet, the minute had been referred to this Committee for consideration in order for its views to be presented to the Council on 9 February 2009.

At the request of the Chair, the following documents were presented for consideration –

·  The report of the Chief Executive to the Cabinet on 15 January 2009 ‘Transforming Wirral – Delivering the Strategic Asset Review – Consultation Response’

·  Appendix 2 to the Chief Executive’s report (summary of public responses)

·  Information presented to the Committee on 7 January 2009

o  Savings on Closure/Transfer of Assets

o  Consolidated schedules in respect of Library and Sports Centre closures

·  Statistical Analysis of Library Usage

In response to a request from the Chair by e-mail, for additional information, the Head of Asset Management presented a briefing paper, which sought to provide members with answers to a number of matters raised by the Chair. Those issues were in relation both to the decision of the Cabinet and to the previous resolution of the Committee (minute 44 (7 January 2009) refers). Members expressed the view that they were not able to see how the views of the Committee had either influenced or been reflected in the Cabinet resolution, apart from the reference to accelerate the process of making savings from the rationalisation of the Council’s office accommodation.

In response to comments from a member with regard to the capitalisation of the £6.2m for repairs, the Director of Finance indicated that the Authority was required to comply with the accounting regulations and he confirmed that spend could be classed as capital if it added value to, or enhanced the life of an asset. However, general repairs or maintenance and expenditure less than £10k was classed as revenue expenditure.

With regard to the office accommodation aspects of the SAR, the Head of Asset Management  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.