The Chair, Councillor Cherry Povall, welcomed forum members and 10 members of the public to the neighbourhood forum being hosted at the Women’s WI. 

Mark Smith read Neighbourhood Working Statement:-

A report proposing a new approach for Neighbourhood Working was recommended by Cabinet in January, and will now be voted on by all Councillors in the coming weeks.

The new Neighbourhood Working Approach will create four neighbourhood teams in Wirral and devolve decision making and budgets directly to local communities.

It aims to tackle issues at source and target resources based on the needs of individual areas. Budgets and decision making would be devolved to local areas, to be designated according to need.

Multi-agency teams, made up of public services including the local authority, police, and health, would be based in communities.

The move will result in the abolition of the existing 11 Area Forums.

Instead, local committees, chaired by Councillors and working with residents, would have a key role in drawing down and allocating resources, based on a neighbourhood plan which would have strong input from local people.

The benefits of joining up services and sharing knowledge are already well documented, reducing costs, promoting good practice, and enabling early intervention to reduce the demands on public services. Not only can they result in better, more effective services, but they are the way forward in terms of working more closely and effectively with Members, partners, and local people.

Wirral’s budget deficit is well documented, and initial reports that this new way of working can not only reduce costs, but also result in better outcomes for local people, can only be welcomed.

Wirral still has a way to go in finalising plans for neighbourhood teams, but it is proposed that a neighbourhood team will be established in each of Wirral’s four Parliamentary constituency areas, with staff and services being located within them.

Each team will be report to its own Public Service Board, which includes public services such as the Council, Police, Health and Education. This team will co-ordinate the delivery of a Neighbourhood Plan.

The Neighborhood Plans will be produced by each area’s Constituency Committee, to be chaired by a Councillor and including councillors, community representatives, voluntary and community sector representatives, and - by invitation - the local MP. This plan will outline each area’s needs and priorities.

An over-arching Wirral Together Public Service Board wlll have overall responsibility for the successful implementation of the scheme and for the Neighbourhood Plans.

Should the proposal be agreed, teams will begin working in communities from May 1.

Q: Can you tell where exactly you will be based?

A: Mark Smith – my understanding is a clear intention to have neighbourhood hubs based in local communities but we are not yet at the stage where we have identified particular assets. 

Q: You are coming before us today to say this is going to happen but there is no meat on the bones – what is the cost?

A: Mark Smith – it would be inappropriate for Council Officers to comment on this until it has gone through full council.

Q: As a Council Officer your job is to put full details of what the cost of plan will be.  We are trying to save money moving to a system that has not yet been fully costed.  You can’t say what savings have been made.

A: Mark Smith – in terms of absolute detail fill costs have not been mapped but there is evidence across the UK that this will work better.

A: Cllr Jerry Williams – I am confident things will move forward OK.

Q: When is a detailed plan of this to be available?

A: Mark Smith – the first big step is Council approving this.  We are looking at fine tuning and then we can put this in place very quickly within the next couple of months. 

A: Tracey Smith – we are saying the 1^st May and something should be available for the public. 

Q: We, the people have no say!

A: Cllr Jerry Williams – this is the most detailed consultation we have ever had.  It has been really good and we have had extensive consultation.

A: Cllr Christine Muspratt – we have to look at different reasons as to why we are moving forward which is to get the community more involved.  The staff involved have some good ideas but until it goes through Cabinet we cannot say – its democracy.

A: Cllr Cherry Povall – the attendance here is not a full representation of this area.

A: Cllr Walter Smith – 7,000 people responded to the consultation which were the people who were interested.  It is not that people are not interested but this is why we need to expand and get them involved.  There are more people on top table than there are on the floor.