The Leader of the Council was appointed on 24 May, 2010 for a four year period.

In accordance with Article 7.3 of the Constitution (Leader), the Council is requested to consider the following motion moved by Councillor S Foulkes and seconded by Councillor P Davies:

This Council recognises that, following the election on 5 May 2011, the Labour Group is now the largest group on the Council. It also recognises that, with over 46,000 votes, Labour has the largest share of the vote on Wirral, with the Conservative Party trailing nearly 10,000 votes behind as the second largest party.

In the light of these recent election victories, Council therefore moves:

1. That Councillor J Green be removed from the office of Leader of Wirral Council.

2. That the Leader of the Labour Group be appointed as Leader of Wirral Council.

The Leader of the Council was appointed on 24 May, 2010 for a four year period.

In accordance with Article 7.3 of the Constitution (Leader), the Council was requested to consider the following motion –

Proposed by Councillor P Davies

Seconded by Councillor A Jones

This Council recognises that, following the election on 5 May 2011, the Labour Group is now the largest group on the Council. It also recognises that, with over 46,000 votes, Labour has the largest share of the vote on Wirral, with the Conservative Party trailing nearly 10,000 votes behind as the second largest party.

In the light of these recent election victories, Council therefore moves:

1.  That Councillor J Green be removed from the office of Leader of Wirral Council.

2.  That the Leader of the Labour Group, Councillor S Foulkes, be appointed as Leader of Wirral Council.

AMENDMENT

Proposed by Councillor J Green

Seconded by Councillor Mrs L Rennie

Delete all after:

“This Council recognises that, following the election on 5 May 2011”

and replace with:

“no Party has overall control of the Council but that the parties which formed the Progressive Partnership in 2010-11 hold 36 seats and 51,065 votes in total.

Council welcomes the progress made by the Progressive Partnership to make Wirral Borough Council more open, more transparent and more responsive to the people we serve.

Council welcomes the actions taken to reduce the running costs by £58 million while protecting frontline services, freezing Council Tax and avoiding compulsory redundancies and, in particular, thanks those staff, organisations, partners and residents who have worked with the Partnership to deliver these achievements.

In particular, Council welcomes:

1.  The agreement to include Wirral within the new job-creating Enterprise Zone and the announcement of the new International Trade Centre at Wirral Waters.

2.  The action to tackle the neglect of our shopping areas including the abolition of car parking charges after 3pm, the ‘deep clean’ to remove years of grime and graffiti and money to bring empty shops back into use.

3.  The improvements underway in our library service, including an extra £1 million to tackle the backlog of repairs, purchase of new stock and the introduction of new services.

4.  The decision to reinstate Guinea Gap and Leasowe Recreation Centre to the Council’s base budget.

5.  The protection given to funding for community, voluntary and faith-based organisations which enhance the Borough’s civil society and provide services for some of our most vulnerable residents.

6.  The reintroduction of daytime coverage of the CCTV cameras and to appoint a permanent team of staff to tackle the minority of owners who do not clean up after their pets.

7.  The doubling of places available on the Apprenticeship Programme and the creation of the Wirral Jobs Commission.

8.  The recognition given to the Children and Young People’s Department by Ofsted and the work by that Department to further enhance opportunities and attainment through our schools, including support to schools seeking academy status.

9.  The Action already taken and the Plan put in place to tackle the failures within the Department for Adult Social Services following the independent CQC Report.

10.  The opening up of decision making beyond the Council to include people and organisations with expertise, knowledge and commitment to enhancing services in Wirral and the opportunity given to residents to take part in the decision making process.

Council believes Wirral is better placed now to face the challenges ahead than when Labour left office in May 2010 and endorses the plans the Progressive Partnership have put in place for 2011-12 that will:

1.  Protect children and young people from harm

2.  Support schools and offer settings to improve education provision and attainment

3.  Ensure children and young people can participate and achieve their potential

4.  Provide early intervention and support for vulnerable children and families

5.  Improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people

6.  Ensure vulnerable people in Wirral are safe and protected

7.  Ensure that the widest possible options for care and support are made available close to where people live

8.  Ensure that people can choose the care they need from a range of high-quality support services and options for care

9.  Ensure that vulnerable people and those in later life can get the care and support they need at an early stage to prevent problems getting worse

10.  Reduce Wirral’s carbon footprint

11.  Minimise waste by encouraging waste reduction and recycling

12.  Have high standards of environmental quality across Wirral Council

13.  Have a safe and well-maintained highway network for all users

14.  Provide and maintain high quality parks and open spaces in partnership with local communities

15.  Provide high quality, value for money leisure and cultural facilities for Wirral residents

16.  Respond to and recover effectively from incidents and emergencies

17.  Support vulnerable people in maintaining their independence in the community

18.  Prevent and alleviate homelessness

19.  Make best use of the existing housing stock across all sectors

20.  Provide new and affordable homes

21.  Reduce anti-social behaviour and improve community safety

22.  Rebalance Wirral’s economy and improve access to employment and skills opportunities and tackle barriers to work

23.  Market Wirral as a world class location for businesses and visitors

24.  Make Wirral Council one of the most business friendly and supportive councils in the country

25.  Delivering the Strategic Change Programme, improving the way the Council works and driving down the costs of running the Council

26.  Developing a well led, skilled and committed workforce working on behalf of Wirral residents and businesses

27.  Supporting the development of a bigger and stronger society

28.  Developing wider public sector partnerships for the improvement of services to Wirral residents”.

At 6.30pm the Council stood adjourned for 10 minutes.

Following a debate, the amendment was put and lost (26:30) (9 abstentions) with the Council dividing as follows –

For the amendment (26) – Councillors T Anderson, C Blakeley, E Boult, SL Clarke, W Clements, T Cox, DM Elderton, GJ Ellis, JE Green, J Hale, P Hayes, AC Hodson, M Hornby, PSC Johnson, P Kearney, I Lewis, D McCubbin, SR Mountney, C Povall, Mrs LA Rennie, SL Rowlands, A Sykes, S Taylor, GCJ Watt, S Williams and Mrs K Wood.

Against the amendment (30) – Councillors RL Abbey, JA Crabtree, G Davies, PL Davies, WJ Davies, D Dodd, P Doughty, S Foulkes, P Glasman, P Hackett, AER Jones, C Jones, BM Kenny, A McArdle, ARC McLachlan, M McLaughlin, Mrs CM Meaden, B Mooney, SAM Niblock, D Realey, DE Roberts, J Salter, H Smith, PA Smith, W Smith, JV Stapleton, J Walsh, S Whittingham, I Williams and KJ Williams.

Abstentions (9) – Councillors A Bridson, A Brighouse, PN Gilchrist, T Harney, M Johnston, SE Kelly, GD Mitchell, R Wilkins and Mrs PM Williams

Part 1 of the motion was put and carried (30:26) (9 abstentions)

Part 2 of the motion was put and carried (30:26) (9 abstentions) with the Council dividing as follows –

For the motion (30) – Councillors RL Abbey, JA Crabtree, G Davies, PL Davies, WJ Davies, D Dodd, P Doughty, S Foulkes, P Glasman, P Hackett, AER Jones, C Jones, BM Kenny, A McArdle, ARC McLachlan, M McLaughlin, Mrs CM Meaden, B Mooney, SAM Niblock, D Realey, DE Roberts, J Salter, H Smith, PA Smith, W Smith, JV Stapleton, J Walsh, S Whittingham, I Williams and KJ Williams.

Against the motion (26) – Councillors T Anderson, C Blakeley, E Boult, SL Clarke, W Clements, T Cox, DM Elderton, GJ Ellis, JE Green, J Hale, P Hayes, AC Hodson, M Hornby, PSC Johnson, P Kearney, I Lewis, D McCubbin, SR Mountney, C Povall, Mrs LA Rennie, SL Rowlands, A Sykes, S Taylor, GCJ Watt, S Williams and Mrs K Wood.

Abstentions (9) – Councillors A Bridson, A Brighouse, PN Gilchrist, T Harney, M Johnston, SE Kelly, GD Mitchell, R Wilkins and Mrs PM Williams.

Resolved (30:26:9) –

(1)  That Councillor J Green be removed from the office of Leader of Wirral Council.

(2)  That the Leader of the Labour Group, Councillor S Foulkes, be appointed as Leader of Wirral Council.