Members are asked to consider whether they have any disclosable pecuniary interests and/or any other relevant interest in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state the nature of the interest.

Members were asked to consider whether they had any disclosable pecuniary interests and/or any other relevant interest in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state the nature of the interest.

Councillor Ian Lewis declared a personal interest in agenda item 8, ‘Wallasey Bright Ideas Fund 2016/17’ and application WC95 by virtue of his membership of the Leasowe - Play, Youth and Community Association, WC96 by virtue of him being a Friend of Harrison Park and WC98 by virtue of him being a Friend of North Wirral Coastal Park.

Councillors Ron Abbey and Treena Johnson declared personal interests in agenda item 8, ‘Wallasey Bright Ideas Fund 2016/17’ and application WC95 by virtue of their membership of the Leasowe - Play, Youth and Community Association.

Councillor Tony Jones declared a personal interest in agenda item 8, ‘Wallasey Bright Ideas Fund 2016/17’ and applications WC70 and WC91 by virtue of him being a trustee of New Brighton Community Centre and a Director of Grosvenor Community Associates.

Councillor Adrian Jones declared a personal interest in agenda item 8, ‘Wallasey Bright Ideas Fund 2016/17’ and application WC72 by virtue of his close association with Seacombe Allandale Sports and Boxing Club.

Apologies had been received from Councillors Paul Hayes, Anita Leech, Lesley Rennie and Community Representative, Jenni Jones.

Councillor Lewis informed the Committee that Councillor Lesley Rennie had caring duties on a Thursday evening and that maybe future meetings or some meetings could be held on another evening other than Thursdays.

Resolved – That the minutes of the Wallasey Constituency Committee held on 28 September, 2016, be approved.

The Chair invited Inspector Paul Harrison to update the Committee on police matters.

He reported that from Monday, 30 January, 2017, Merseyside Police would be implementing a complete restructure, ‘neighbourhood policing’ would become ‘local policing’. There would be two teams on Wirral, with one covering Liscard and Egremont, Seacombe, New Brighton, Wallasey, Leasowe and Moreton but also Upton, Woodchurch, Greasby, Thingwall and Barnston, West Kirby. They would be split into three sectors of day, late and day off. There would be no dedicated Police Sergeant or Inspector for a particular area, staff would be allocated wherever there was a problem and this would be how policing would be managed in the future. The Police would continue to do the very best it could. Merseyside Police had lost £70m of funding since 2010 and would be losing another £25m in the next three years. The Police would not be able to do all the things it might have done in the past but they were here for the people of Wirral to do whatever they could.

In response to comments from the Committee, Inspector Harrison’s comments included the following:

·  The police would always do their very best and provide a first class service but it was important that people understood that they had reduced resources.

·  He was not putting a negative spin on the situation just stating the reality.

·  There was a patrol section to respond to emergency calls.

·  He did have access to a targeted team, 50 officers strong, who were a proactive arm and who could address problems in particular areas.

·  Police officers had retired and left the force but Merseyside Police was recruiting although a lot of experience had been lost and there was a lot to learn for new officers.

·  The restructure involved a system of strand policing with local policing being one strand and intelligence being another which was now centralised, there was no longer a self-contained basic command unit for Wirral and officers might come from Liverpool to answer calls on Wirral.

A Member thanked Inspector Harrison for the positive reassurances that the police would be doing their best with less and all the Committee appreciated the extremely difficult job that the police had.

The Chair informed the meeting that no relevant questions had been received in advance of the meeting.

The Chair then invited questions from the audience.

A resident asked Inspector Harrison how many first line officers would be on the beat in Wallasey and another resident asked about the recruitment of Special Constables.

In response, Inspector Harrison stated that within each neighbourhood sector there would be one sergeant, 4 constables and 7 Police Community Support Officers. Other officers would be available but not necessarily on foot. There were a lot of resources out in the community but not all on the beat as demands changed day by day. With regard to the recruitment of Special Constables this was ongoing and they were recruited regularly. They were a great asset but as they generally had other employment they were not always available.

Rev. Father Leon Ostaszewski and another resident asked about the road surfaces on Belvidere Road and Seaview Road and also the need for line markings at the 409 bus stop on Wallasey Road.

In response, Councillor Abbey stated that responsibility for the poor road surfaces lay with the contractor and that they had admitted a failure with the surface bonding. This would be replaced in the summer at the contractor’s expense. He asked if Fr Leon would contact him direct with regard to the bus stop markings which were the responsibility of the Council and he would look into this matter to see if he could get an answer.

A resident asked about the need for better skate parks in Moreton.

In response, Councillor Blakeley stated that there was one in Lingham Park, with young people having contributed through fundraising events and the Council also providing some funding. He was not aware of any plans to build anymore skate park facilities as the Council didn’t have that level of funding available. The Council could try and work with young people if they were to fundraise towards possible further facilities.

Resolved – That the questioners be thanked and also Inspector Harrison for his attendance and responses.

The Chair invited Sarah Spoor to give an update on behalf of the Community Representatives.

Sarah Spoor reported that questionnaires which were filled in at the last meeting would be looked at with the Constituency Engagement Officer the following week. There were now only two Community Representatives as Muriel Wilkinson was stepping down. It was hoped that a young person’s community representative could be appointed soon, as interest had been expressed and she had met with a potential representative.

She stated that her main concern, speaking on behalf of the community, was regarding proposals around car parking charges and asked about consultation around the proposals.

The Chair responded that consultation was currently taking place and it was not for this Committee to be discussing the issue whilst it was out for consultation. All ward councillors would have been approached by constituents on the matter. The Chair thanked Sarah Spoor for her update to the Committee.

The Constituency Manager introduced a report which provided an evaluation of projects funded by Wallasey Constituency Committee through Your Wirral (Wallasey) 2015/16 funding. 25 projects had been funded to an amount of £50,000. Groups had been required to deliver projects within one year of receipt of the funding and submit an evaluation report of their completed projects on or before 15 November 2016. An appendix provided a collation of the evaluation reports submitted by each group and included the summary of each project as originally outlined by the respective applicant.

The evaluation report required all groups to provide a full breakdown of spend and provide receipts for each and every transaction. The Constituency Engagement Officer had reviewed spend on all projects to ensure that they were within the parameters agreed by the Committee (i.e. in line with each original application) and had cross-referenced the receipts provided.

A short slide show presentation took place, detailing the outcomes of individual projects with photographs of team members and facilities that had benefitted from both funds.

The Chair then introduced Claire Owens, Ian Calder and Darren Widdowson, who provided the Committee with verbal updates on the following projects:

·  Next Chapter (NW) CIC - Best Foot Forward project

·  Wallasey Sea Cadets – installation of a new Jib Crane at the Cadet’s boathouse, Wallasey Docks

·  New Brighton Community Centre – installation of publicly accessible defibrillators

Claire Owens introduced three of the peer mentors who each gave testimony to the way in which their involvement in the project had helped them.

Members expressed their appreciation of the projects which had been funded and to those who had spoken and also the fact that a small amount of funding could provide such enormous benefits to communities.

A Member commented that he hoped Cabinet could be convinced not to withhold £50,000 of funding from the Constituency Committee in the next municipal year as it had been shown how much this funding benefitted the community.

The Chair thanked the groups for their presentations and invited all groups present to receive a certificate acknowledging the success of their projects.

Resolved – That the reports and presentations be noted.

The Constituency Manager introduced a report which set out details of applications made to the Wallasey Bright Ideas Fund. £20,000 had been set aside by the Committee for the Fund (minute 14 refers). A total of 34 applications had been received, though two applications were ineligible. A very small number of applications contained requests for elements of funding that were not eligible as outlined in the terms and conditions; these applications had therefore been reduced in the amount they sought and these revisions had been agreed with the respective applicants. A total of £29,389.80 was sought by 32 applicants.

Each application had been objectively assessed against agreed criteria by both the Constituency Managers for Wallasey and Wirral West. Seventeen projects were recommended for funding in full based upon this assessment. Six projects were recommended for funding at a reduced amount with a proportionate amount allocated from the remaining Fund to these six projects, taking the total amount recommended for spend to £20,000. These six projects had all indicated that any shortfall could and would be sought elsewhere. Nine projects were therefore not recommended for funding based upon the scored assessment.

Representatives from the groups applying for funding had been invited to attend if the Committee had any queries regarding their respective applications.

Responding to comments from Members, the Constituency Manager stated that all previous funding had been committed. There were no current underspends and other funding was specifically ringfenced.

Some Members expressed disappointment that some of the projects would miss out on funding but understood that this was the system that was in operation for the allocation of the funding.

The Chair commented that all the applications had been through a fair and objective assessment and suggested that the Committee should vote en bloc on the recommended applications.

Resolved (12:0) (Two abstentions) –

(1)  That the 17 projects recommended for funding in full, be agreed as follows:

·  KH2 Community Link Services CIC -  £1,000.00

·  Friends of North Wirral Coastal Park -   £990.00

·  St Chad’s Church -   £492.98

·  Well on Wirral CIC -   £850.00

·  West Wirral Boys Club -   £988.80

·  St Vincent de Paul – Wallasey -   £1,000.00

·  Institute of Christ the King at Ss Peter, Paul and

Philomena’s Church (The Dome of Home) -  £1,000.00

·  Amy and Friends -   £1,000.00

·  New Brighton Baptist Church, Christians against

Poverty – ‘Life Skills’ -  £1,000.00

·  Belvidere Centre -   £744.10

·  The New Brighteners -   £985.44

·  Claremount Players -   £900.00

·  Wallasey Village in Bloom -   £1,000.00

·  Community Spirit Wirral -   £1,000.00

·  Seabank Road Tenants and Residents Association -  £1,000.00

·  Leasowe Play and Youth Community Association -  £998.98

·  The Mersey Ferries Preservation Trust -   £500.00

(2)  That the 6 projects recommended for funding at a reduced amount be agreed, so that the total spend of £20,000 is allocated, as follows:

·  New Brighton Community Centre -   £827.43

·  Black Pearl Pirates at Art -   £412.55

·  Momentary Art Project (MAP) -   £827.43

·  Friends of Rake Lane Cemetery -   £827.43

·  Leasowe Development Trust -   £827.43

·  Friends of Harrison Park -  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

The Constituency Manager introduced a report which set out details of proposals by elected members for spend from the devolved Transport Plan for Growth fund. The Committee had £32,500 available to allocate from the Transport Plan for Growth Fund in 2016/17. However, due to a number of schemes previously funded by the Constituency Committee from the devolved Integrated Transport Block (ITB) Capital Programme Fund, being completed at a cost lower than anticipated and budgeted for, £44,571.93 uncommitted spend had been carried forward into 2016/17; this was in addition to this year’s allocation of £32,500. A total of £77,071.93 was therefore available for the Committee’s re-allocation.

In addition, the Committee had set aside £10,000 from its core budget (11 December 2013, minute 11) for work to improve road maintenance and safety. Following the devolvement of the ITB Capital Programme Fund shortly after, this remained ring-fenced to deal with any potential overspends on individual schemes funded through the ITB Fund. Taking into account all of the above, the Committee was therefore able to agree all schemes proposed by elected members for 2016/17.

Councillor Blakeley asked if the underspend could be used towards the resurfacing of footways in Lingham Park, Moreton.

The Constituency Manager reported that no costings had been undertaken in respect of this scheme and the Chair agreed that once these had been obtained the matter could be brought back to the next Committee.

With regard to the proposed scheme for Newlands Drive and Winchester Drive, in Wallasey / Liscard wards a Member raised this matter as to what the full measures would be.

Councillor Lewis clarified that residents had expressed concerns over traffic speed as both roads were used as a cut through to avoid traffic lights at Belvidere Road; full traffic calming could involve speed humps or an alternative would be for 20mph zone with signage and markings. It was, however, unclear what option residents would prefer and he suggested that the highways section consult with residents as to their preference.

A  Member commented that he was not mindful to support schemes of a larger scale which would be taking a large percentage of the funds available.

The Chair suggested that as there was also some confusion over the size of schemes that could be put forward for consideration from this devolved budget a note be circulated to the Committee Members clarifying the types of project which could be brought forward.

Resolved (14:0) –

(1)  That the following schemes as detailed in appendix 1 to the report, be funded:

Leasowe and Moreton East

·  Hopfield Road -   £1,875

·  Wilkes Avenue -   £950

Moreton West and Saughall Massie

·  Various (for traffic surveys) -   £2,650

·  Various (road safety schemes – based upon

outcome of surveys -   £3,350

New Brighton

·  Kings Parade (Model Boating Lake) -   £3,950

Wallasey

·  Belvidere Road / Meadway -   £2,200

·  Green Lane to Harrison Drive -   £3,750

·  Greenleas Primary School -   £5,950

·  Hoseside Road / Elleray Park Road -   £2,200

·  Prospect Vale / Belvidere Road -   £2,200

·  Saltburn Road  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

Further to minute 14 (28/9/16), the Constituency Manager introduced a report which set out details of proposals by elected members for spend from the devolved community budget, which, following the last meeting had £7,000 remaining.

Three proposals had been put forward in respect of Leasowe and Moreton East and Liscard wards at a total cost of £2,414.06.

During the course of discussion on this item the Chair declared a personal interest in the proposal put forward for Liscard ward as a resident of one of the avenues to which a request for a staggered barrier at the end of the avenue had been made.

With regard to the underspend on this budget, the Constituency Manager stated that as and when issues arose in Members’ wards proposals could be costed.

Councillor Lewis informed the Committee that he had received a quote in respect of a replacement litter bin in St George’s Road, Wallasey for £338.41 and asked if it could be included for funding.

Resolved –

(1)  That the following four schemes, the first three of which were detailed in appendix 1 to the report, be funded:

Leasowe and Moreton East

·  New litter bin in Gardenside, Leasowe - £316.69

·  New  litter bin in Chapelhill Road, Moreton - £316.69

Liscard

·  Two staggered barriers for the ends of Bristol Avenue, Brompton Avenue and Chepstow Avenue, Liscard - £1,780.68

Wallasey

·  Replacement litter bin, St George’s Road, Wallasey - £338.41

(2)  Further proposals for spend from the remaining balance are submitted to the Constituency Manager for costing and collated for consideration at a future meeting/s of Wallasey Constituency Committee.

The Constituency Manager introduced a report which provided an update on Problem Solving Fund spend.

The Problem Solving Fund was set aside by the Committee for low spend items that would provide a quick response to issues and / or allow a new approach to be tested that might ultimately lead to improvements within the Constituency. The Chair of the Committee was authorised by the Committee to spend from the Problem Solving Fund in individual amounts of £500 or less (minute 14, 28/9/16 refers) with the decision being reported to the next Constituency Committee. 

Since the last meeting the following spend had been agreed:

·  Installation of exterior lighting in Marine Park, New Brighton to enable Shopmobility to operate during the hours of darkness, supporting the River of Light event and future large scale events in this tourist destination - £500

Councillor Blakeley suggested that given that the Committee might not have any funding next year and that other funding streams would still remain, if a community group required a small amount of money could it be taken from the Problem Solving Fund.

The Constituency Manager responded that she would be bringing a report back to the June / July Committee and that there might be an underspend on committed projects, which the Committee could take a view on at that time.

Resolved – That the report be noted.