To receive the Civic Mayor's announcements and any apologies for absence.

The Civic Mayor noted that apologies had been received from Councillors Tony Cox, Sam Frost, Liz Grey and Tony Norbury.

The Civic Mayor informed the Council that Steve Baker, Executive Head Teacher at Kilgarth School, had been invited to address the Council in respect of Notice of Motion No. 6, ‘Remembering Srebrenica’.

The Civic Mayor commented on the 77 engagements which he and the Mayoress had undertaken over the first seven weeks of his Mayoralty and referred to a number of highlights, including the reception at Birkenhead Town Hall for the Tranmere Rovers Football Club on their return to the Football League, the events for the Tall Ships on the River Mersey and the Wirral Coastal walk, which the Mayoress had undertaken with Councillor Ian Lewis and Councillors Cherry Povall and former Councillor Sheila Clarke for part of the walk.

The Civic Mayor also referred to the recent visit of children from Riverside Primary School, one of seven Wirral primary schools awarded School of Sanctuary status making a welcoming environment for refugees and asylum seekers. Some pupils from the Riverside school, with their teachers, then gave a short musical performance to the meeting in celebration of ethnic diversity and welcoming refugees.

The Civic Mayor then invited Councillor Warren Ward to read out a personal statement as follows:

“Mr Mayor - Thank you for the opportunity to address full council this evening.

I have had the honour and privilege to serve this borough over the past 2 years and it is with great regret that I announce that this evening’s full council will be my last duty as an elected member in this chamber.

I have always been a believer in dedicating 100% of time and effort into everything that I do. It is this reason why I have taken the decision to resign.

I have a new role at the Chamber of Commerce supporting the local economy and supporting the creation of more enterprises here in Wirral. This is an important and demanding role which requires my full attention.

Mr Mayor - I was elected to this council aged 18, the youngest elected councillor in this borough’s history and one of the youngest in the country. I knew that being a young councillor was always going to be difficult with many hurdles along the road, but I hope that I have been able to inspire other young people to get involved in local politics to make a difference and to change their communities. 

Though I am leaving politics for now, I will remain active in the local community and in particular, I will remain in post as Chairperson of the New Ferry Town Team. 

I am absolutely passionate about supporting the New Ferry community. It’s my home town, and I am so proud of what we have been able to achieve together over the past two years. Nobody could have ever imagined that the community would be at the centre of a major explosion we still continue the carry on and fight for funding. 

New Ferry and Port Sunlight has an exciting future. I look forward to leading its growth and re-incarnation, not as a politician, but as a young lad who cares about his town’s future. 

My final words in this chamber have to be to thank all of our dedicated officers, the people of Bromborough, Port Sunlight and New Ferry and to all of our elected members.

But most importantly, I want to thank my partner, Steven McCulloch, my parents, Andy & Clare and all of my family. It is those closest to us who make the biggest sacrifices for our public service.”

The Leader of the Council expressed his thanks to Councillor Warren Ward for his service to the people of Bromborough and New Ferry over the last two years and paid tribute to him and his ward colleagues for all their work in the aftermath of the explosion in New Ferry and wished him all the very best for the future.

Councillors Ian Lewis and Dave Mitchell added their tributes to Councillor Ward echoing the sentiments expressed by the Leader.