Agenda and minutes

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Items
No. Item

12.

Members' Code of Conduct - Declarations of Interest / Party Whip

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 are reminded that they should also declare 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.

Minutes:

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

 

Members were reminded that they should also declare whether they were subject to a party whip in connection with any items to be considered and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of the whipping arrangement.

 

No such declarations were made.

 

13.

Called-in Business - Delivery of the Environmental Enforcement Contract pdf icon PDF 55 KB

To consider the decision of the Cabinet Member for Environment made on 18 June 2018 relating to the Delivery of the Environmental Enforcement Contract which has been called-in in accordance with Council Procedure Rule / Standing Order 35.

 

The following papers are attached -

·  Call-in meeting procedure;

·  The Call-in Notice;

·  The Decision Notice;

·  The report considered by the decision maker.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair referred to the Cabinet Member, Environment decision of 18 June, 2018 in respect of the approval of appointment for a contract to undertake environmental enforcement services.

 

The decision had been called-in by Councillors Phil Gilchrist, Allan Brame, Chris Carubia, Stuart Kelly, Dave Mitchell and Pat Cleary, on the following grounds:

 

“We hereby give notice that we wish to Call-In the Cabinet decision dated 18 June 2018 to approve the appointment of Kingdom Environmental Services for the delivery of the Environmental Enforcement Contract for a period of 3 (three) years with the option to extend the contract (conditional) for a further 3 (three) years.

 

Call In deadline date: 25 June 2018

Submitted: 25 June 2018

 

Reason(s) for Call In:

The process has been concluded so close to the expiry of the current contract that this has presented a very limited opportunity for Members to consider the scope and extent of the contract.

 

Members have had also had insufficient opportunity to explore the scope and specification of the revised contract so that they can be satisfied the contractor will meet requirements that Members might reasonably expect.

 

Members need to be satisfied that there is a proper balance between changing the behaviour of the public and the generation and share of income from the fines. In particular, we have concerns about the financial model within the bid being predicated on a “per ticket” share of income.

 

The published documentation provides little information on the financial arrangements, costs and income generation, the process of setting targets and the spread of activity throughout Wirral. Members wish to be fully apprised of the way in which priorities are set, resources are targeted and employees are directed and supervised.

 

Members believe that the approach to litter enforcement approved by Council needs to be undertaken in a way that secures public support and understanding. They, therefore, wish to be satisfied that the aim of reducing litter is not undermined by suspicions that the ease of generating cash from some crackdowns and fines leads to the prioritising of some activities rather than others.

 

Members seek formal recognition that as section 4.2.1 of the ‘invitation to tender’ states that ‘The Service Provider shall deliver the Services in accordance with both overarching Legislation and the standards set by the Council...’ and this includes ‘Operational and Statutory Guidance’, the DEFRA Guidance https://www.gov.uk/guidance/enforcementofficers-issuing-fixed-penalty-notices (issued on 23 March 2015 and last updated 15 February 2017) shall be properly followed in all circumstances.”

 

Explanation of Call-in by the Lead Signatory – Councillor Phil Gilchrist

 

Councillor Gilchrist summarised the reasons for Call-In regarding the Decision taken by the Cabinet Member, Environment in relation to the appointment for a contract to undertake environmental enforcement services. He explained that being part of a ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ generation, raised to take their rubbish home, or dispose of it in a bin, clear and sensible guidelines should in a perfect world be sufficient to educate. He acknowledged that enforcement services were required, but given the volume of anecdotal  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.