The Chair welcomed Members of the Tourism, Culture and Leisure Committee, Officers and viewing members of the public to the online, virtual meeting.

A roll call of Councillors was undertaken by Colin Hughes, Senior Solicitor. All Members of the Committee recorded as present.

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 what they were.

No declarations of interest were received.

Colin Hughes, Senior Solicitor informed the Tourism, Culture and Leisure Committee that no petitions, public questions, or requests to make a statement had been received.

Councillor Andy Corkhill tabled an urgent question on behalf of residents and athletics groups in his Ward concerning access to the outdoor running track at the Oval, Bebbington.

The Chair responded, and provided an update on the status of this particular site and other facilities on the Wirral (currently used for Covid-19 testing), and that two of the Wirral facilities were scheduled to reopen on 24 October 2020. The Chair further informed Members of the committee that officers were working on the re-instatement of access to and use of the Oval, and other facilities by the public, at the earliest opportunity. A written summary of the proposed opening dates will be circulated to Members.

Councillor Lesley Rennie introduced the report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services that set out the findings and recommendations arising from the overview & scrutiny review, chaired by Councillor Rennie, into the management of campervans in Wallasey and New Brighton. The review was commissioned as part of the Business Overview & Scrutiny Committee’s work programme in 2018/19 in response to a number of resident concerns around overnight parking of campervans in Wallasey and New Brighton.

Councillor Rennie informed that how, in 2018, the Business Overview & Scrutiny Committee requested that the ‘Effective Management of Campervans at Coastal Locations in Wirral’ be added to the Committee work programme. She further informed that since 2014, a range of complaints had been received by residents of New Brighton and Wallasey Wards in regard to overnight parking of campervans and similar vehicles in the area, primarily along the Kings Parade and Coastal Drive areas of New Brighton. In November 2018, a Task & Finish Panel was established to undertake a detailed review of these issues.

The Tourism, Culture and Leisure Committee were apprised that the initial review scope also set out to assess the commercial opportunities available and potential for a dedicated campervan site to be established on Wirral, the objectives of the Panel were adjusted over the course of the review as it had become clear that that was a much bigger piece of work and should involve a wider group of stakeholders; as a result, the Panel looked only to review immediate resident concerns and to evaluate the effectiveness of the initial Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) on Kings Parade and subsequent ETRO on Pilot’s Way, New Brighton that had been put into place.

Initial evaluation of the effectiveness of the Experimental Traffic Regulation Order along Kings Parade and Coastal Drive showed that the prohibition of overnight parking in this area was proven to be a successful resolution to previously reported concerns. The Panel therefore recommended that the order be made permanent following cessation of the initial 18 month temporary order in May 2020. This order was subsequently made permanent following a decision of the Cabinet Member for Community Services effective from 11 June 2020.

The report also informed that an informal meeting was held with local New Brighton and Wallasey Ward Members on 14 July 2020, chaired by the Cabinet Member for Community Services. The outcome of this meeting was that no consensus could be reached on provision of a suitable short-medium term site for campervans/motorhomes in these wards due to the recent increase in demand in coastal locations as a result of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. The meeting agreed that a Borough-wide ‘Task and Finish’ study into commercial opportunities for sites with facilities, reporting into the new committee structure, would be the best way forward.  This work had been picked up by the Council’s Commercial Team.

The Tourism, Culture and Leisure Committee noted that following introduction of the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) a relocation of problem parking to Sandcliffe Road, Wallasey and Sea Road, Wallasey  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Chair introduced a report of the Director of Law and Governance that informed how, at Annual Council on 28 September 2020, Elected Members had approved the new constitution and endorsed the appointment of Member Champions in order that the council could benefit from the experience, knowledge and interests of Members, in particular thematic areas. 

The report informed that it was agreed that Council and Committees may approach individual Members to take on a specific role to highlight and enhance an area of that Committee or the Council’s terms of reference, namely:

• The Council or Committee holding the corresponding functions within its terms of reference may appoint a Member Champion from one of their number. This may be the Chair or any other member of the Committee; or

• Where the subject of a Member Champion covers functions across the terms of reference of more than one Committee, the Committees may jointly appoint the Member Champion from either of their Committees’ number.

It was:

Moved by Councillor Tom Anderson.

Seconded by Councillor Paul Stuart.

‘That Councillor Jerry Williams be appointed as Heritage Member Champion for the current Municipal Year 2020/21’

No other nominations were received.

RESOLVED – That Councillor Jerry Williams be appointed Member Champion in relation to matters concerning the Borough’s heritage – Municipal Year 2020/21.

Following his appointment, Councillor Williams provided Members with a short update on key areas of current heritage-based operations on the Wirral, namely:

• Heritage Strategy
• Blue Plaques
• Funding Opportunities
• Battle of Brunneburh
• Street Naming
• Local Listings

Nicola Butterworth, Director of Neighbourhoods introduced her report that provided the Committee with a summary of the process for budget setting as a transition year for 2021/22 and described the financial position for 2021/22 as at Quarter 1 (deficit of £45m) and the actions being put in place to mitigate the gap.

The report informed that the actions included a phased approach of 5 stages and included a timeline for the 2021/22 budget setting process of when budget proposals were to be presented to the Policy and Services Committees for the recommendation to Full Council in the setting of the 2021/22 budget.

Members noted that as this was a transition year, proposals had been identified and were to be presented to the Committee by Officers due to the tight timescale to approve the budget.  However, the Committee was encouraged to identify its own proposals for Officers to work up, and if within the timescale, to be included for the 2021/22 Budget. 

The Director of Neighbourhoods apprised the Tourism, Culture and Leisure Committee of 3 key considerations, namely:

The deficit breakdown.

·   17m of unachievable original savings from the 2020/21 budget as a result of delays in progression caused by Covid.  These are:

o  £5.0m new Council model and structure

o  £4.55m Contract reviews and renegotiations

o  £3.75m Adult Social Care reviews and efficiencies

o  £1.27m Children’s Looked After Children reductions

o  £2.5m New investments and refinancing

o  £0.64m Zero Based Budgeting pilot

·  £6m residual income losses after an assumption for compensation from the government scheme for sales, fees and charges losses

·  £2m of unachievable capital receipt sales as a result of delays in progression caused by Covid

·  -£3m of forecast savings as a result of vacancies

Mitigation.

To mitigate this, the Council had requested permission from MHCLG to apply to HM Treasury on the Council’s behalf for a capitalisation directive.  This meant that the Council could charge any unmet 2020/21 and potentially 2021/22 deficits specifically incurred as a result of Covid to the capital programme; and

Options Programme.

Since June, the Strategic Leadership team had been identifying options to mitigate the overall deficit and were working through a programme of immediate actions that could be actioned immediately, and longer term actions to ensure the budget was sustainable for the future. The ‘twin track’ approach ensured that any immediate quick wins would not be implemented at the detriment of any longer terms proposals that would generate future income or result in future cost avoidance.

Following presentation of her report, Members questioned the Director of Neighbourhoods on a number of matters as highlighted in her report. The Director responded accordingly.

RESOLVED - That the Council’s current financial position and process for the 2021/22 budget in this transition year be noted.

Nicola Butterworth, Director of Neighbourhoods introduced her report informing that through the development of Wirral Council’s new Governance arrangements and the approval of the Wirral Plan 2025 (currently being refreshed to reflect strategic priorities, as a result of Covid-19) the Authority had committed to developing a budget and performance monitoring framework, which honoured the Council’s dedication to a more accountable, transparent way of conducting business, policy formation and decision making.

Members were apprised of the proposal that the Performance Framework was modelled on the Covid Dashboard set up at the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, enabling clear and accessible data to be presented in a timely and meaningful way. Aligned with this is the Wirral Plan 2025. The Plan was currently being refreshed to reflect the Covid-19 situation and emerging Recovery Plans. This Plan would set out what the Council wanted to achieve, working together with partners, communities, and businesses to improve the quality of life for Wirral residents.

Following receipt of the report, and brief discussion on the matter, a further recommendation was:

Moved by Councillor Tom Anderson

Seconded by Councillor Cherry Povall

‘that the formal budget proposals be presented to this committee prior to submission to Policy and Resources Committee.’

RESOLVED – That

1)  the proposals outlined in the report for shaping future Performance monitoring reports be noted;

2)  further discussions take place with the Committee Chair and Group Spokesperson in early November to enable the construction of monitoring reports for the purposes of Committee reporting; and

3)  the formal budget proposals be presented to this committee prior to submission to Policy and Resources Committee.

The Chair introduced the report of the Director of Law and Governance that set out the proposed Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee Work Programme 2020/21 as detailed in the appendix to the report.

The report informed that the Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee, in co-operation with the other Policy and Service Committees, was responsible for proposing and delivering an annual committee work programme. This work programme should align with the corporate priorities of the Council, in particular the delivery of the key decisions which are within the remit of the Committee.

It was envisaged that the work programme was to be formed from a combination of key decisions, standing items and requested officer reports. The report provided the Committee with an opportunity to plan and regularly review its work across the municipal year. The work programme for the Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee was attached as Appendix 1 to the report.

RESOLVED - That the proposed Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee work programme for the remainder of the 2020/21 municipal year be noted.