Proposed by Councillor David Elderton

Seconded by Councillor Tom Anderson

(1)  Council notes with disappointment Cabinet’s decision to ignore the views of the Council’s Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee and abandon the Parks & Countryside Procurement Exercise  

(2)  Council notes that this abandonment will result in the following Corporate Plan target not being met:  ‘Successfully deliver the Parks and Countryside Services Procurement Exercise to enable proposed contract benefits to be achieved by January / February 2012.’

(3)  Council expresses its serious concern that when reviewing the Cabinet’s decision, the Council’s Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee found:

·  ‘No mention or discussion took place regarding stakeholder management or the views of key stakeholders about the benefits of clear quality improvements that were built into the procurement exercise. In fact, other than the views of the Council Trades Unions, the results of consultation and the views of park users and user groups were not even mentioned by a single Cabinet Member at the meeting’.

·  ‘No mention was made of the training and development programme for staff and volunteers or the three to six new apprentices to be created as part of PACSPE’.

·  ‘Insufficient account appeared to be taken of the reduction from costs of £8.1 million per year to £7.4 million per year already achieved by the PACSPE process with the potential to reduce costs by a further very large sum’. 

·  And that it was ‘hard to understand how the Leader of the Council characterised the potential savings as marginal’.

(4)  Council is therefore drawn to sharing the conclusions of the Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee that ‘the decision to refuse to award the PACSPE contract will see the ever decreasing quality of a service starved of investment by this administration which is already characterised by going for the quick fix instead of making the difficult but necessary strategic decisions in the interests of Wirral residents.

Amendment submitted in accordance with Standing Order 7(2)

Proposed by Councillor Chris Meaden

Seconded by Councillor Chris Jones

Delete all. Replace with:

Council re-iterates the position outlined in the resolution carried by the Cabinet on November 3rd (Minute 173) and reminds members again of:

·  The seriousness of the qualification by the District Auditor of the Council’s Value for Money Statement.

·  The warning that members should be aware of the increased risk of letting a ten year contract if there is only very limited information on the costs and activity levels of the existing service against which to monitor whether or not the new contract provides Value for Money.

·  The fact that the cost of contractual inflation over a period of three years at current CPI levels would erode any savings delivered by outsourcing the contract and in subsequent years could increase costs to the Council.

Council believes that it is now time to look forward.

It welcomes the fact that the Managers and workforce within the Parks and Countryside Service are working together to deliver a new improved service for the people of Wirral and that so far timescales contained within the business plan have been met. Plans are in place for the transfer of staff from Continental Landscapes back to the Council and there is universal determination to demonstrate that the Council can provide true Value for Money and an excellent service in the future.

Having applied the guillotine in accordance with Standing Order 7(8) the Council did not debate this matter.

The amendment was put and lost (29:35) (One abstention).

The motion was put and carried (35:29) (One abstention).

Resolved (35:29) (One abstention) –

(1)  Council notes with disappointment Cabinet’s decision to ignore the views of the Council’s Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee and abandon the Parks & Countryside Procurement Exercise  

(2)  Council notes that this abandonment will result in the following Corporate Plan target not being met:  ‘Successfully deliver the Parks and Countryside Services Procurement Exercise to enable proposed contract benefits to be achieved by January / February 2012.’

(3)  Council expresses its serious concern that when reviewing the Cabinet’s decision, the Council’s Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee found:

·  ‘No mention or discussion took place regarding stakeholder management or the views of key stakeholders about the benefits of clear quality improvements that were built into the procurement exercise. In fact, other than the views of the Council Trades Unions, the results of consultation and the views of park users and user groups were not even mentioned by a single Cabinet Member at the meeting’.

·  ‘No mention was made of the training and development programme for staff and volunteers or the three to six new apprentices to be created as part of PACSPE’.

·  ‘Insufficient account appeared to be taken of the reduction from costs of £8.1 million per year to £7.4 million per year already achieved by the PACSPE process with the potential to reduce costs by a further very large sum’. 

·  And that it was ‘hard to understand how the Leader of the Council characterised the potential savings as marginal’.

(4)  Council is therefore drawn to sharing the conclusions of the Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee that ‘the decision to refuse to award the PACSPE contract will see the ever decreasing quality of a service starved of investment by this administration which is already characterised by going for the quick fix instead of making the difficult but necessary strategic decisions in the interests of Wirral residents.