Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1 - Wallasey Town Hall. View directions

Contact: Anne Beauchamp  Committee Officer

Items
No. Item

15.

APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR

Minutes:

On a motion by Councillor A Hodson and seconded by Councillor A Leech  it was –

 

Resolved – That Councillor P Stuart be appointed Chair for this meeting.

16.

MEMBERS' CODE OF CONDUCT - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members of the Committee are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non pecuniary interests, in connection with any application on the agenda and state the nature of the interest.

Minutes:

Members of the Committee were asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non pecuniary interests in connection with any application on the agenda and state the nature of the interest.

 

Councillors A Hodson and P Stuart declared a personal interest in item 4 – Wirral Award 2017 by virtue of being Members of the Wirral Award Working Party.

17.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 71 KB

To approve the accuracy of the minutes of the meeting held on 22 November 2017.

Minutes:

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 22 November 2017 be approved.

18.

Changes to polling places and polling stations pdf icon PDF 73 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Electoral Services Manager introduced a report which provided details of changes in relation to Polling District YA within Moreton West and Saughall Massie Ward and sought Members’ approval of a suitable alternative.

 

Moreton West & Saughall Massie Ward – Polling District YA

 

The Electoral Services Manager advised that further to the last meeting of this Committee held on 22 November 2017, it had been resolved that the decision to move the polling place from Christchurch C of E Primary School, Upton Road to Christ Church Parish Centre, Upton Road be adjourned in order for Electoral Services to further investigate the matter.

 

It was reported that the Electoral Services Manager had visited the school to carry out a further inspection as to whether the suggestion to erect barriers by Councillor Blakeley would be feasible.

 

The Electoral Services Manager reported that in order for barriers to be erected this would require someone to be on duty at all times to prevent any breaches as the playing area would be in use.  Issues had also been raised in respect of parking and the headteacher had expressed concern in respect of safeguarding risks.  It was therefore concluded that should the school remain as the designated polling place then the status quo would continue to be the most suitable arrangement in that the school closes on polling day, however, if the school was to remain open it was recommended that the polling place be relocated to Christ Church Parish Centre, Upton Road, for all future elections/referenda.

 

Councillor Chris Blakeley, Ward Councillor, attended the meeting and reiterated his concerns in respect of the alternative venue in that this may disadvantage voters as they would have further to travel in order to cast their vote.  He believed the school could remain open whilst continuing to be used as the polling place and did not consider that someone would have to be on duty at all times.

 

Members considered Councillor Blakeley’s concerns and discussed the possible alternative venue and the disadvantages to parents should the school continue to close on polling day.

 

On a motion by Councillor R Abbey, seconded by Councillor J McManus, it was –

 

Resolved – That the polling place be relocated to Christ Church Parish Centre, Upton Road for all future elections/referenda.

19.

WIRRAL AWARD 2017 pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Minutes:

The Assistant Director:  Law and Governance (Monitoring Officer), requested that the Committee agree that the Wirral Award 2017 be conferred on the nominees recommended by the Wirral Award Working Party held on 14 December 2017. The Wirral Award was intended to confer civic recognition upon individuals or organisations resident or located in Wirral for an outstanding achievement within the previous twelve months, or for distinguished service to the Borough over a period of twenty years or more.

 

It was reported that once nominations were agreed, a presentation ceremony would be arranged which would be attended by The Mayor of Wirral, the Leader of the Council, Group Leaders or their nominees, the Chair and spokespersons of the Licensing, Health and Safety and General Purposes Committee or their nominees, the Chief Executive and the award nominees plus one guest each.

 

Resolved - That the Wirral Award 2017 be conferred on the recipients recommended by the Wirral Award Working Party, and that the suggested arrangements be agreed.

20.

INDEPENDENT SURVEY OF THE SUPPLY AND DEMAND FOR HACKNEY CARRIAGE VEHICLES IN WIRRAL pdf icon PDF 92 KB

Minutes:

The Managing Director for Delivery requested that Members consider the conclusions and recommendations of the independent study of supply and demand for Hackney Carriage Vehicles (taxis) carried out by CTS Traffic and Transportation Ltd.

 

Ian Millership, CTS Traffic and Transportation Ltd, the author of the report, attended the meeting and gave a presentation to Members on the findings of the survey.  He advised that the aim of the survey was to identify any significant unmet demand and provide evidence in respect of the current position regarding unmet demand.  He reported upon the activity at ranks and the results of the public, stakeholder and trade consultations.  He informed Members that the key conclusion was that there was no significant unmet demand at present for Hackney Carriage Vehicles.  He did advise Members however that there were significant issues within the licensed vehicle industry that needed to be addressed for the overall benefit of the economy of Wirral and gave details of his personal experience of finding it difficult to access a licensed vehicle when visiting Wirral on business.

 

The recommendations put forward by Mr Millership were that the Committee may continue the policy of limiting Hackney Carriage Vehicle numbers or remove the limit policy to allow further future development of the fleet when required.

 

Members thanked Ian Millership for his report and he responded to questions from Members of the Committee.

 

Mark Hazelhurst, Unite the Union, addressed the Committee.  He welcomed the report and gave his views on the limit of the number of Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licences and the fact that as there were only 258 vehicles currently licensed he believed the limit should be reduced.  He further advised that cab drivers were currently working 53 hours per week which was in excess of the European directive and welcomed another survey in three years’ time.

 

Resolved –

 

(1)  That the conclusions and recommendations of the independent study of supply and demand for Hackney Carriage Vehicles (taxis) carried out by CTS Traffic and Transportation Ltd be noted.

 

(2)  That Members have regard to the report when determining any future policies in respect of private hire and hackney carriage vehicle licences.