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.

No declarations of interests were made.

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

The Civic Mayor announced that apologies for absence had been received from Councillors Jo Bird, Chris Cooke, Judith Grier, Brenda Hall, Tony Jones, Daisy Kenny, Ruth Molyneux, Kieran Murphy, Tony Murphy, Amanda Onwuemene, Cherry Povall, Jean Robinson, Ewan Tomeny and Gill Wood.

Council is requested to consider the following recommendation from

the Regulatory and General Purposes Committee at its meeting on 23 November 2023 (minute … refers):

(1) In pursuance of the provisions of Section 249 (5) of the Local Government Act 1972 and in recognition of her dedicated service to the Borough, that Sue Higginson be admitted as Honorary Freewoman of this Borough at an Extraordinary Council Meeting to be held on 04th December 2023

(2) The Head of Democratic and Member Services be requested to take all the necessary actions associated with (1) above and arrange for a small civic reception for Sue Higginson and invited guests on a mutually agreeable date following the Extraordinary Meeting of Council.

Minute and report attached.

The Council considered a report from the Director of Law and Governance in respect to a proposal to admit Sue Higginson, as an Honorary Freewoman of the Borough.

The recommendation was in pursuance of the provisions of Section 249 (5) of the Local Government Act 1972 and in recognition of her dedicated service to the Borough, that Sue Higginson be admitted as Honorary Freewoman of this Borough.

Several Councillors spoke of Sue’s achievements, particularly her role as Principal of Wirral Met College for 11 years and the success of the college under her stewardship including the growth in its roll to 10,000 students and the impact it had on the borough. Councillors also spoke of the impact Sue had made in Wirral outside of her role with the college, including her involvement in raising funding for the Mayor’s Charities, the introduction of the wellbeing garden at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and her work with the Public Health team during the pandemic. It was reported to Council that Sue had been made an Officer of the British Empire in 2022 in recognition of her contribution to education.

Following the speeches from Councillors, it was –

Resolved (unanimously) – That in pursuance of the provisions of Section 249 (5) of the Local Government Act 1972, that Sue Higginson be admitted as Honorary Freewoman of this Borough.