The Mayor introduced the summary reports from the Leader, Cabinet Members and Policy and Performance Committee Chairs and asked for questions on any of the reports.

Councillor Blakeley asked questions of the Chair of the Families and Wellbeing Policy and Performance Committee, the Leader of the Council, the Cabinet Members for Housing and Communities, Resources: Finance, Assets and Technology and Transport, Technology Strategy and Infrastructure.

In response, comments included:

Councillor McLaughlin

·  The Families and Wellbeing Budget Scrutiny workshop had been well attended with 13 Members out of 15 in attendance, all of whom had contributed to the discussion which she stated had not been curtailed.

Councillor George Davies

·  680 new homes would need to be built each year on brownfield sites per year over the next five years.

·  The Local Development Plan would be published before the end of the year.

Councillor Adrian Jones

·  In respect of the timetable for the disposal of Foxfield School he would respond in writing.

Councillor Stuart Whittingham

·  A written response would be provided in respect of the Liverpool City Region ‘pipeline’ of transport schemes and whether the Town Meadow station was one of the 19 schemes put forward for consideration in the assessment process.

Councillor Phil Davies

·  With regard to the proposed closure of Girtrell Court he stated that he did not believe it would remove choice. The issue was that all the funding for respite was tied up in one building whereas one size did not fit all. This was about offering people greater choice.

Councillor Jeff Green asked a question of the Leader of the Council.

Councillor Phil Davies’ comments in response, included:

·  The 2020 pledges had been agreed by every member of the Council and the Council was working on the basis that everyone was signed up to those pledges.

·  The Council was absolutely focussed on delivering the outcomes of the 2020 Plan, protecting the most vulnerable, driving economic growth and improving the local environment.

·  He had no need to apologise for the recent publication of the LGA Peer Review, the final version of which had only just been agreed.

·  An action plan had also been provided outlining the action being taken to address the points raised in the peer review.

·  The Peer Review report and Action Plan would be considered by the Policy and Performance Coordinating Committee at its meeting on 23 March, 2016.

Councillors Janette Williamson, Phil Gilchrist and Chris Spriggs asked questions of the Cabinet Member for Resources: Finance, Assets and Technology.

Councillor Adrian Jones’ comments in response, included:

·  Any Authority needed to have reserves in place to deal with unexpected events, such as extreme weather events, and it would be neglectful of the Council not to do so.

·  Most Councils around the country also had short term investments which yielded a return for the Authority.

·  With regard to Acre Lane, Morris Homes had undertaken site investigations and officers were negotiating the final position with the developer and full details of the negotiating position would be made available.

·  He provided an outline of the issues which had led to the IT outage which had occurred across the Council network on Thursday, 10 March, 2016.

Responding to comments from Councillors Geoffrey Watt, Phil Gilchrist and Eddie Boult, Councillor Stuart Whittingham’s comments included:

·  The list of street lights for repair had been updated for March on the Council’s website.

·  He thanked the staff of the Council and BAM Nuttall for all their work on the street lighting scheme.

·  He provided details of the four stage process involved in the selection of the Liverpool City Region ‘pipeline’ of transport schemes.

·  In respect of the number of licences granted to utility companies to dig up roads in the last year, he would provide a written response.

Responding to comments from Councillor Pat Cleary, Councillor George Davies’ comments included:

·  The Selective Licensing programme was working well in Wirral and although he couldn’t put a timeframe on it he hoped that the programme would be extended within the next two years.

Responding to comments from Councillor Lesley Rennie, Councillor Chris Jones’ comments included:

·  She would provide in writing details of the integrated care agenda.

·  With regard to Members’ visits to Care Homes the Chair of the Families and Wellbeing Policy and Performance Committee was responsible for this and she was looking into the matter.

Resolved – That

(1)  each of the Cabinet Portfolio Holders’ Summary reports be noted; and

(2)  the report of the Policy and Performance Committee Chairs be noted.