Proposed by Councillor Phil Gilchrist

Seconded by Councillor Tom Harney

(1)  Council notes with interest Liverpool City Council’s Budget consultation with residents, stakeholders and service users on quantified options for cost savings, which includes savings arising from the sharing of services between the five Merseyside authorities (including Wirral).

(2)  Council further notes with dismay that whilst Liverpool residents were being consulted at an early stage on sharing services with Wirral, Wirral residents were not given the opportunity of being consulted on sharing services with Liverpool or any other of the Merseyside authorities.

(3)  Therefore, Council instructs the Chief Executive to make publicly available all material relating to discussions and negotiations that have taken place with the other Merseyside districts in relation to sharing services, including any assessment of the implications for services and service users as well as quantifying the level of savings that can be achieved.

(4)  This Council believes that the current Labour Administration;

(i)  has, to date, failed to comply with the Council’s own unanimously agreed policy (Council, 15th Feb 2010, Minute 103) “to ensure that major policy decisions include more robust processes of public consultation, as appropriate, before decisions are taken”;

(ii)  has, despite stating they would set out to use You Choose and build on last year’s detailed ‘Wirral’s Future’ consultation, done too little and may have left it too late to carry out any meaningful consultation on next year’s budget, leaving the authority at risk of legal challenge, and;

(iii)has, despite the willingness of overview and scrutiny committees to engage with the process, failed to provide any information or set out a single option or proposal in relation to next year’s Budget for members to scrutinise.

(5)  Council, therefore, calls on the Leader to publish, as a matter of urgency, his draft Budget proposals, so that what little time which remains can usefully be applied to public consultation to mitigate the risk of legal challenge.

Amendment submitted in accordance with Standing Order 7(2)

Proposed by Councillor Steve Foulkes

Seconded by Councillor Jean Stapleton

Delete everything and replace with the following:

Council notes that both the Chief Executive and the Acting Director of Adult Social Services has confirmed that no officer has been involved in any discussions with Liverpool City Council regarding the sharing of adult social care services between the five Merseyside authorities.

The principle of shared services has been discussed at a City Region level for a number of years, however, to date no agreement has been reached on any specific proposals.

During this municipal year the Labour Administration has put in place a wide-ranging and inclusive consultation process around key priorities for the Council. This has three elements:

(i)  Neighbourhood Plans for each Area Forum have been developed via a questionnaire, focus groups and meetings with local organisations such as residents associations – the results were reported to Cabinet on the 24th November.

(ii)  The ‘You Choose’ Budget Simulator, which was recommended by the Local Government Association and is used by a wide range of local authorities – the results were reported to Cabinet on the 8th December.

(iii)All Overview & Scrutiny Committees were given the opportunity of putting forward suggestions of areas of the budget which could yield savings.

The above have been used to inform a refresh of the Corporate Plan which was submitted to Cabinet on the 8th December.

Council thanks all individuals and organisations who have engaged in the consultation exercise described above.

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 interest Liverpool City Council’s Budget consultation with residents, stakeholders and service users on quantified options for cost savings, which includes savings arising from the sharing of services between the five Merseyside authorities (including Wirral).

(2)  Council further notes with dismay that whilst Liverpool residents were being consulted at an early stage on sharing services with Wirral, Wirral residents were not given the opportunity of being consulted on sharing services with Liverpool or any other of the Merseyside authorities.

(3)  Therefore, Council instructs the Chief Executive to make publicly available all material relating to discussions and negotiations that have taken place with the other Merseyside districts in relation to sharing services, including any assessment of the implications for services and service users as well as quantifying the level of savings that can be achieved.

(4)  This Council believes that the current Labour Administration;

(i)  has, to date, failed to comply with the Council’s own unanimously agreed policy (Council, 15th Feb 2010, Minute 103) “to ensure that major policy decisions include more robust processes of public consultation, as appropriate, before decisions are taken”;

(ii)  has, despite stating they would set out to use You Choose and build on last year’s detailed ‘Wirral’s Future’ consultation, done too little and may have left it too late to carry out any meaningful consultation on next year’s budget, leaving the authority at risk of legal challenge, and;

(iii)has, despite the willingness of overview and scrutiny committees to engage with the process, failed to provide any information or set out a single option or proposal in relation to next year’s Budget for members to scrutinise.

(5) Council, therefore, calls on the Leader to publish, as a matter of urgency, his draft Budget proposals, so that what little time which remains can usefully be applied to public consultation to mitigate the risk of legal challenge.