The Chair welcomed Members, Officers and any members of the public viewing the meeting.

Apologies were received from Councillors Bruce Berry, David Brennan, Ivan Camphor and Alison Wright.

Councillor Mary Jordan was in attendance as a deputy for Councillor Bruce Berry.

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 the agenda and, if so, to declare them and state what they were.

No declarations were made.

To follow.

Members were invited to approve the accuracy of the minutes of the previous meeting.

Resolved – That the accuracy of the minutes of the meeting held on 1 March 2022 be agreed.

Notice of question to be given in writing or by email by 12 noon, 7 March 2022 to the Council’s Monitoring Officer (committeeservices@wirral.gov.uk) and to be dealt with in accordance with Standing Order 10.

The Chair reported that a public question had been received from Frank McEntaggart, asking when the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee would meet. In response, the Chair outlined that the existing provision for Joint Health Scrutiny was used as and when it was required, but that authorities across Cheshire and Merseyside were discussing the establishment of standing Joint Health Scrutiny Committee to scrutinise the ongoing development of the ICS, with a further update to be provided to the relevant Wirral Committee once more details were known.

Notice of representations to be given in writing or by email by 12 noon, 7 March 2022 to the Council’s Monitoring Officer (committeeservices@wirral.gov.uk) and to be dealt with in accordance with Standing Order 11.1.

Petitions may be presented to the Committee. The person presenting the petition will be allowed to address the meeting briefly (not exceeding one minute) to outline the aims of the petition. The Chair will refer the matter to another appropriate body of the Council within whose terms of reference it falls without discussion, unless a relevant item appears elsewhere on the Agenda. Please give notice of petitions to committeeservices@wirral.gov.uk in advance of the meeting.

The Chair confirmed no statement or petitions had been received.

Questions by Members to be dealt with in accordance with Standing Orders 12.3 to 12.8.

The Chair confirmed that no questions from Members had been received.

The Chief Officer, Wirral NHS Clinical Commissioning Group introduced the report which detailed a proposal to re-purpose the in-patient dermatology beds as part of the new dermatology clinical model that had been developed for Wirral.

The proposal had been recommended by Healthy Wirral partners and included elements of self-management, improved education and training in community pharmacies and primary care settings, the establishment of an Enhanced Dermatology Service and the eventual re-purposing of the small dermatology inpatient ward at Clatterbridge Hospital. The timeline for consultation and engagement was outlined, with a public consultation due to launch after the local election in May 2022.

The Committee scrutinised the proposals in detail, where it was confirmed that the repurposing of the inpatient dermatology ward would not affect the access to inpatient care for dermatology, instead dermatology patients would be planned like a general admission which would make better use of the beds which were currently only used Monday to Thursday. The level of engagement with GPs was queried where it was confirmed that the clinical lead was a practicing GP and GPs had attended the development workshops as well as undertaking multiple individual interviews, with the proposal being endorsed through the Primary Care governance groups and Health Wirral Partners. Members sought assurances that the service across Wirral would not become unbalanced as a result of the proposal.

Resolved – That the report be noted and the proposed next steps for communication and consultation with key stakeholders, patients, carers and clinicians on the proposals for the re-purposing of the dermatology in-patient beds in Wirral be endorsed.

The Senior Manager for Flood and Coastal Risk Management introduced the report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services which summarised the governance arrangements in place to oversee the activities of the Council acting as Lead Local Flood Authority and reports on key flood risk management activities in 2020/21 and 2021/22.

Members engaged in a detailed discussion in relation to the duties of the Council and other relevant agencies such as United Utilities. Following questions, it was confirmed that the flood risk modelling accounted for any increased rainfall caused by climate change. It was reported that the Flood Risk Strategy was last updated in July 2016, but that the Environment Agency had delayed the publication of its strategy due to Covid-19 which had delayed the production of a local strategy. The Environment Agency had subsequently published its strategy in July 2020, and following further delays due to local flooding events, the review of the strategy had now begun.

Resolved – That the report be noted and the action taken with respect to flood risk management during 2020 and 2021 be endorsed.

The Assistant Director for Neighbourhoods, Safety & Transport introduced the report of the Director of Neighbourhoods which provided an update from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

The report followed on from the last time RNLI had presented to the Committee in June 2021 following its annual report. It was reported that visitor numbers to the six beaches in Wirral were estimated at 442,000 for 2021, with preventative action taken to stop upwards of 731,000 incidents. There were reportable incidents, with 2672 people aided most of which were at New Brighton and West Kirby. 2021 was reportedly a difficult year due to Covid-19, however all of the required lifeguards were recruited, and all beaches remained operational, with beach use having increased during the pandemic. The Committee was advised that the recruitment for 2022 had already begun, with units being installed and induction sessions starting that week.

Members expressed their extreme gratitude to the work that RNLI undertook, and urged Council officers to action all of the recommendations detailed within the RNLI’s end of season report.

Resolved – That the report be noted and the Committee’s thanks be expressed to RNLI.