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. No such declarations were made.

The Conservative Group have called-in minute 129 of Cabinet on 24 September, 2009 regarding The Sail Project, West Kirby.  The reasons for the call-in are as follows:

It is clear from the amount of public concern expressed at local Area forums that the majority of residents are opposed to this particular scheme.  Many questions about the impact of this scheme on the local community remain unanswered.  Issues surrounding car parking provision have not been adequately addressed, the proposed scheme is not in keeping with the surrounding area and the proposal to include retail outlets would have a detrimental effect on surrounding businesses.

The scheme, as it now stands, is vastly different from that proposed at the consultation stage, and we are concerned that no instructions were given to the developer regarding the nature and extent of the required public consultation, which was entirely inadequate and the reporting of which to the Cabinet was misleading. We believe that the right way forward would be for an independently conducted consultation. We therefore believe that it would be in the public interest to have this minute scrutinised by the Economy and Regeneration Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

This matter is referred to the Scrutiny Programme Board’s in accordance with its terms of reference which are “to consider any call-in notices in relation to any executive functions and determine such notices or allocate them to one or more of the five themed overview and scrutiny committees as it consider most appropriate.”

The Director of Law, HR and Asset Management, reported that the Conservative Group had called-in minute 129 of Cabinet on 24 September, 2009 regarding The Sail Project, West Kirby.  The reasons for the call-in were as follows:

“It is clear from the amount of public concern expressed at local Area forums that the majority of residents are opposed to this particular scheme.  Many questions about the impact of this scheme on the local community remain unanswered.  Issues surrounding car parking provision have not been adequately addressed, the proposed scheme is not in keeping with the surrounding area and the proposal to include retail outlets would have a detrimental effect on surrounding businesses.

The scheme, as it now stands, is vastly different from that proposed at the consultation stage, and we are concerned that no instructions were given to the developer regarding the nature and extent of the required public consultation, which was entirely inadequate and the reporting of which to the Cabinet was misleading. We believe that the right way forward would be for an independently conducted consultation. We therefore believe that it would be in the public interest to have this minute scrutinised by the Economy and Regeneration Overview and Scrutiny Committee.”

This matter was referred to the Scrutiny Programme Board in accordance with its terms of reference which were “to consider any call-in notices in relation to any executive functions and determine such notices or allocate them to one or more of the five themed overview and scrutiny committees as it consider most appropriate.”

It was moved by Councillor H Smith and seconded by Councillor D Roberts:-

“That this call-in notice be allocated to the Council Excellence Overview and Scrutiny Committee.”

It was moved as an amendment by Councillor J Hale and seconded by Councillor D Knowles:-

“That this call-in notice be allocated to the Economy and Regeneration Overview and Scrutiny Committee.”

The amendment was put to the vote and lost (3:4)

The motion was put to the vote and carried (4:3)

Resolved (4:3) - That this call-in notice be allocated to the Council Excellence Overview and Scrutiny Committee.