Agenda item

MOTION: FAILURE TO ACT

Minutes:

Proposed by Councillor Tom Harney

Seconded by Councillor Dave Mitchell

 

(1)  Council is extremely concerned that many actions approved by Council as part of the current year’s (2011-12) Budget Resolution, many of which also form part of the current (2011-14) Corporate Plan, have not been carried out.

 

(2)  These failures to implement include (Council Minute 104, 1/03/2011 refers):

 

a)  "Wirral’s Future consultation identified anti-social behaviour as a key concern to Wirral residents and it is vital that we provide the most effective action possible. We will conduct a full review of the Council’s and partner organisation approach, including the implementation of our commitment to community justice in this vital area. Therefore we will provide funding to the ASB team for a further twelve months to enable this review to take place: £290,000"

 

b)  “A thorough evaluation of the results and economic impact of our ‘Keeping It Local Initiative’ will be reported to an appropriate meeting of Cabinet."

 

c)  "Wirral’s Future be a part of it' has been a huge success enabling Wirral people to get involved in reshaping Council services and deciding what is after all, their Council’s priorities. We therefore request that the interim Chief Executive takes all necessary steps, within current resources, to initiate the next phase of 'Wirral’s Future' consultation programme for 2011/12 to further embed our Administration's approach of listening, engaging and consulting with our residents."

 

d)  “We are committed to making our roads safer in residential areas and outside our schools by implementing statutory 20 mph speed restrictions in non-major routes in residential areas throughout Wirral. Any of the £275,000 committed to this project last year and still not spent will be rolled forward and added to a further £275,000 in 2011-12.

 

e)  "Our employees are the Council’s most valuable resource as it is they who oversee or deliver services to the people we serve. It is therefore vital that we continue to improve the way we communicate with each other. We will therefore ensure all staff have an e-mail address and access to a computer. It is noted that this can be achieved at no additional cost to the Council"

 

(3)  Council believes that failure to carry out these actions (or failure to seek elected member approval for alternative courses of action) represents examples of current and continuing failures of corporate governance.

 

(4)  Council recognises that any change of Council Administration is likely to result in a change of priorities and of policies. However, Council believes that it is incumbent on the incoming Administration to seek the support of Full Council for changes to the Budget and Policy framework of the Council and notes that this has not been done.

 

(5)  Council condemns the current Administration for their failures to act on the current Budget and Policy Framework.

 

(6)  Council also condemns the lack of transparency by the current Administration for failing to set out or seek approval for their policies and spending priorities.

 

(7)  Council believes that this shows a cavalier disregard by the current Administration for good corporate governance and the principles of transparency and accountability.

 

(8)  Therefore, it is the view of Council that the Labour Party has learnt nothing from the issues reported to Cabinet in September on Corporate Governance.

 

Amendment submitted in accordance with Standing Order 7(2)

 

Proposed by Councillor Brian Kenny

Seconded by Councillor Jean Stapleton

 

Remove everything and replace with the following:

 

Council recognises that:

 

(1)  The Neighbourhood Planning initiative, championed by the Labour administration and involving Area Forums, local residents and community groups, has identified anti-social behaviour as a key priority. The outcomes from neighbour planning will inform the forthcoming budget.

 

(2)  The previous administration failed to earmark resources to undertake an evaluation of the ‘Keeping it local initiative’. Consideration therefore needs to be given as to how such an evaluation can be funded so that continuation of this initiative is based on clear evidence of any benefits.

 

(3)  Last year’s ‘Wirral’s Future – be part of it’ exercise was fundamentally flawed in a number of aspects, notably, its failure to involve elected members via the scrutiny process in discussions about the future provision of Council services, and the failure to establish a mechanism to require members of the various Task Forces which were set up to register an interest if the organisation which employed them was likely to benefit from any recommendations.

 

(4)  The failure of the Conservative/LibDem coalition government to publish the necessary regulations has prevented the Council from introducing 20 mph speed restrictions across Wirral. The Labour administration is however determined to make progress on this and will be making an announcement shortly.

 

(5)  It is hypocritical for the Liberal Democrats to criticise the current administration for lack of transparency when they were part of an administration which during the last municipal year suspended the Council’s constitution to prevent scrutiny committees from questioning their budget proposals.

 

(6)  This administration will also take no lessons from the Liberal Democrats about good corporate governance when they were part of an administration with the Conservatives which agreed to nearly 1200 posts being deleted from the Council without any reorganisation plans being published and no analysis of the impact of such a massive reduction in posts on Council services.

 

(7)  This administration supported all of the recommendations put forward by Anna Klonowski in her report on improving corporate governance and has developed an improvement plan to deliver ten key lines of enquiry based on the five work streams set out in the AKA report. All members of the Council have been invited to contribute to this work. Council thanks those members who have engaged.

 

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

 

The amendment was put and lost (29:36) (One abstention).

 

The motion was put and carried (36:29) (One abstention).

 

Resolved (36:29) (One abstention) –

 

(1)  Council is extremely concerned that many actions approved by Council as part of the current year’s (2011-12) Budget Resolution, many of which also form part of the current (2011-14) Corporate Plan, have not been carried out.

 

(2)  These failures to implement include (Council Minute 104, 1/03/2011 refers):

 

(a)  "Wirral’s Future consultation identified anti-social behaviour as a key concern to Wirral residents and it is vital that we provide the most effective action possible. We will conduct a full review of the Council’s and partner organisation approach, including the implementation of our commitment to community justice in this vital area. Therefore we will provide funding to the ASB team for a further twelve months to enable this review to take place: £290,000"

 

(b)  “A thorough evaluation of the results and economic impact of our ‘Keeping It Local Initiative’ will be reported to an appropriate meeting of Cabinet."

 

(c)  "Wirral’s Future be a part of it' has been a huge success enabling Wirral people to get involved in reshaping Council services and deciding what is after all, their Council’s priorities. We therefore request that the interim Chief Executive takes all necessary steps, within current resources, to initiate the next phase of 'Wirral’s Future' consultation programme for 2011/12 to further embed our Administration's approach of listening, engaging and consulting with our residents."

 

(d)  “We are committed to making our roads safer in residential areas and outside our schools by implementing statutory 20 mph speed restrictions in non-major routes in residential areas throughout Wirral. Any of the £275,000 committed to this project last year and still not spent will be rolled forward and added to a further £275,000 in 2011-12.

 

(e)  "Our employees are the Council’s most valuable resource as it is they who oversee or deliver services to the people we serve. It is therefore vital that we continue to improve the way we communicate with each other. We will therefore ensure all staff have an e-mail address and access to a computer. It is noted that this can be achieved at no additional cost to the Council"

 

(3)  Council believes that failure to carry out these actions (or failure to seek elected member approval for alternative courses of action) represents examples of current and continuing failures of corporate governance.

 

(4)  Council recognises that any change of Council Administration is likely to result in a change of priorities and of policies. However, Council believes that it is incumbent on the incoming Administration to seek the support of Full Council for changes to the Budget and Policy framework of the Council and notes that this has not been done.

 

(5)  Council condemns the current Administration for their failures to act on the current Budget and Policy Framework.

 

(6)  Council also condemns the lack of transparency by the current Administration for failing to set out or seek approval for their policies and spending priorities.

 

(7)  Council believes that this shows a cavalier disregard by the current Administration for good corporate governance and the principles of transparency and accountability.

 

(8)  Therefore, it is the view of Council that the Labour Party has learnt nothing from the issues reported to Cabinet in September on Corporate Governance.