To deal with questions from councillors and from members of the public, in accordance with Standing Order 11.

Note: Questions from members of the public must be submitted in writing or by email by no later than 5.00pm on Friday 4 February 2011.

(A)  Mr R J Jones, having given the appropriate notice in accordance with Standing Order 11, submitted the following question relating to problems with flooding in Birkenhead Park:

Birkenhead Park has had £11.5 million spent on it and is now a beautiful park and a genuine gem for all taxpayers of Wirral.

Since 2006 I have raised and given photographic evidence to the Cultural Services Department concerning the problems with flooding... However after clearing drains it is quite obvious that the problem is with the Main Culvert and as such we should call into question the contractor or Cultural Services for not maintaining the drainage properly.

My three Claughton Ward Councillors have all been extremely helpful but now I feel frustrated and feel that I have hit a brick wall and as a Council Tax payer I ask Wirral Borough Council to address this serious problem as in my lifetime I do not se any further monies coming from English Heritage, Lottery Grant or any other organisation.

Councillor David Elderton, Cabinet Member for Culture, Tourism and Leisure, responded as follows:

Thank you for this question – which relates to Birkenhead Park, our valuable, much loved, unique cultural asset. Most of the flooding problems in the park originally identified by Mr Jones in 2006 have now been resolved. The problems that do remain are the result of surface water from external adjacent streets overflowing into the park. One particular section of the carriage side drain near the grand entrance - which is at the lowest part of the park - still does not drain as quickly as it should do or needs to.

However, the historic main culvert running the length of the park is running well and the problem is with the culverts and drains connecting to the roadside gulleys.

During March this year, whilst we have drainage contractors on site carrying out improvements to the cricket fields, we will undertake further investigations to identify the location of any bottlenecks and remove them.  Work continues with Streetscene to resolve the external problems relating to excess surface water discharge from adjacent roads.

(B)  Mr P Brightmore, having given the appropriate notice in accordance with Standing Order 11, submitted the following question regarding the Educational Maintenance Allowance:

The introduction of Educational Maintenance Allowance by Labour was of vital importance to families on moderate and low incomes, ensuring all young people have equal access to education.

Youth unemployment is worryingly high, and as a result of the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition policy to abolish EMA there is real fear the situation could be further exacerbated. Students from poorer families may not be able to afford to attend further education and obtain the skills they need to find a job.

In response to the scrapping of EMA, can the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People explain what provision, if any, Wirral Council will be making for students  who, prior to the cuts, were entitled to EMA, so ensuring  youth unemployment does not increase and the local economy suffer as a result.?

Councillor Sheila Clarke, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and Lifelong Learning, responded as follows:

In the 2011/12 academic year Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) will be replaced by an enhanced learner support fund which will be managed directly by local schools, colleges and training providers. (The methodology for allocating funds has not been announced by the Department for Education to date).

The Coalition Government is increasing the funds paid for young people that live in the most deprived areas of England and those who are disadvantaged by other circumstances. An additional £150 million is being made available nationally in the 2011/12 academic year.

The Young Peoples Learning Agency (YPLA) state that funds will be redirected using the disadvantage uplift and Additional Learner Support elements of the funding formula (YPLA, 2010). The Department for Education (DfE) and YPLA are currently talking to representatives from the sector, and others (such as the NUS, Centrepoint, YWCA), on the detail of the new arrangements. 

The YPLA plan to allocate the enhanced funding in line with the timetable for overall 2011/12 funding allocations. This means that the additional funding will be announced to schools, colleges and private training providers by the end of March 2011.

It is expected that decisions will be made on the basis of a local assessment of the personal circumstances of individual students, and that funding can be more closely targeted to those in the greatest need.

Further information regarding 16-19 funding can be accessed via the YPLA website at: http://www.ypla.gov.uk

Mr Mayor, the Cabinet is committed to doing everything possible to reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training and to encourage more young people from low income families to attend university.

Mr Brightmore then asked a supplementary question to which Councillor Clarke responded accordingly.

(C)  Councillor Peter Reisdorf, having given the appropriate notice in accordance with Standing Order 11, submitted the following question regarding the future of the Pacific Road Theatre and Tramway:

     "What is the future of f the Pacific Road Theatre and Tramway following the recent decision by the Merseytravel Board, taken against officer advice following lengthy negotiation, to block the transfer of these facilities to Merseytravel?"

Councillor Simon Holbrook, Cabinet Member for Corporate Resources, responded as follows:

Following Merseytravel’s decision Council officers are reviewing options for the future of Pacific Road, the Transport Museum and tramway, and a report on these options will be brought to Cabinet for consideration in due course. In the meantime both facilities remain open for ‘business as usual’. In particular, activities and performances were programmed through 2011 at Pacific Road and interest in the venue remained high. He also gave an assurance that sufficient money would be included in the Budget to ensure both facilities could remain fully operational throughout the next financial year.

(D)  Councillor Phil Gilchrist, having given the appropriate notice in accordance with Standing Order 11, submitted the following question regarding the backlog of works to United Utilities’ sunken manhole covers:

“Based on the Council’s unanimous support, in April 2010, for work to ensure that United Utilities tackle the backlog of works to their sunken manhole covers, what steps have been taken, and what steps are in hand to get this long running problem resolved?”

  Councillor Lesley Rennie, Cabinet Member for Streetscene and Transport Services, responded as follows:

Following the Notice of Motion received earlier this year and approved by the Council, the Director of Technical Services met with the Chief Executive of United Utilities to review the situation and discuss a way forward. The current position is as follows:

  We estimate that there are approximately 47,000 U.U. manholes located in the highway network in Wirral.

  Since the beginning of June 2010 we have reported 190 defective manholes to U.U. and they have issued orders to their contractors to repair 134 which is approximately 70%. The cost of lifting and resetting manhole covers and frames in the reported locations we consider to be in the region of £11,000 not including the costs of any necessary signing and coning which on principal routes would be considerable. Adding traffic management costs would increase the figure to more than £30,000.

  Since David Green and myself met representatives of UU in November 2009 to discuss the problems with their apparatus and agree a possible service level agreement the network manager who attended the meeting has now retired from U.U. He was aware at that time that he would be leaving but they have only recently appointed a successor.

  At that meeting UU agreed to deal with 30 manholes per month which they considered to be a reasonable number to repair within the resources available to them and this is the figure we report to them monthly with our estimated timescale for repair depending on our assessment of the impact of the defect to the highway network.

  I have spoken to Scott Green the new Network Manager and advised him of the agreed monthly total and our requirements for a measurable SLA, he is now discussing this with his colleagues and I will be meeting him on 3 March 2011 to hopefully formalise the arrangements.

  I also reminded him of the commitment made by their Chief Executive to David Green in writing to undertake any necessary repairs reported to them by the Council to defective apparatus owned by them within the limits of the highway.

  I will also ask for Scott Green to report back to the Flood Working Group meetings with updates of their performance in line with our SLA requirements.