To receive reports about and receive questions and answers on decisions made by Committees since the week of the publication of the last ordinary Council agenda.

The minutes of all committees which have met since 23 November, 2020 are attached, as below.

Members’ attention is drawn to three minutes, in accordance with Part 4, Section 4, paragraph 9 of the Constitution, in that a decision was taken, which was regarded as urgent by the Committee, as follows:

·  Minute 32 (Policy and Resources Committee (18/12/20)) – Draft Revenue Budget 2021/22 – Consultation Proposals, as consultation needed to start immediately.

·  Minute 43 (Policy and Resources Committee (21/12/20)) - Acquisition of Property in Birkenhead, as the acquisition needed to be completed without delay.

·  Minute 20 (Economy, Regeneration and Development Committee (26/1/21)) – Birkenhead Town Deal – Funding Request, as the submission needed to be completed without delay.

Minutes of Committees:

·  Policy and Resources Committee – 18 and 21 December, 2020, 20 January and 17 February, 2021 (Pages 83 - 118)

·  Adult Social Care and Public Health Committee – 18 January and 2 March, 2021 (Pages 119 - 137)

·  Children, Young People and Education Committee – 1 December, 2020 and 28 January, 2021 (Pages 139 – 157)

·  Economy, Regeneration and Development Committee – 26 January and 4 March, 2021 (Pages 159 - 176)

·  Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee – 3 December, 2020 and 1 February, 2021 (Pages 177 - 193)

·  Housing Committee – 26 November, 2020 and 27 January, 2021

(Pages 195 - 201)

·  Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee – 23 November, 2020, 21 January and 3 March, 2021 (Pages 203 - 223)

·  Partnerships Committee – 13 January, 2021 (Pages 225 - 230)

·  Audit and Risk Management Committee – 23 November, 2020, 11 and 25 January, 2021 (Pages 231 - 242)

·  Constitution and Standards Committee – 25 November, 2020 and 24 February, 2021 (Pages 243 - 257)

·  Pensions Committee – 2 February, 2021 (Pages 259 - 265)

·  Planning Committee – 17 December, 2020, 14 January and 11 February, 2021 (Pages 267 - 289)

·  Regulatory and General Purposes Committee – 19 January, 2021

(Pages 291 - 293)

The Civic Mayor introduced the minutes of the various Committees which had met since the week of the publication of the last ordinary Council agenda up until 4 March, 2021. He drew Members’ attention to three minutes in particular, in accordance with Part 4, Section 4, paragraph 9 of the Constitution, in that a decision was taken, which was regarded as urgent by the Committee, these were:

·  Minute 32  of the Policy and Resources Committee held on the 18 December 2020 – Draft Revenue Budget 2021/22 – Consultation Proposals, as consultation needed to start immediately.

·  Minute 43 of the Policy and Resources Committee held on 21 December 2020 - Acquisition of Property in Birkenhead, as the acquisition needed to be completed without delay.

·  Minute 20  of the Economy, Regeneration and Development Committee held on 26 January 2021 – Birkenhead Town Deal – Funding Request, as the submission needed to be completed without delay.

He then asked for questions to Committee Chairs on any of the minutes being received.

Councillor Elizabeth Grey asked that it be noted in respect of the item on the Economy, Regeneration and Development Committee of 4 March, (minute 33) that there was also a vote on Active Travel Cross Party Member Working Group, which featured in the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee of 16 March, though not on the agenda for this meeting as it post-dated the publication of this agenda, and that these two votes would need to be referenced together.

Councillor Janette Williamson made a comment in respect of the meeting of Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee of 16 March, and the very poor level of debate from some Members, and that she would disassociate herself as Leader from the kind of language used at that meeting and that people refrain from the use of such language in future.

Councillor Stuart Whittingham asked a question of Councillor Tom Anderson in respect of minutes 17 and 20 of the Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee, and whether he would commit to both Woodchurch Leisure Centre and Upton library remaining open. In response, Councillor Tom Anderson stated that the Committee had approved a strategy for leisure and libraries which would be coming in the new municipal year. The Committee was working together across political parties to ensure that all leisure centres and libraries served the best interests of the residents. Woodchurch Leisure Centre was currently operating as a vaccination centre and would be for the foreseeable future. It would be for the Committee appointed in the next municipal year to decide on how they proceeded with the Leisure and Libraries Strategies. He commented that he did not support closing any individual community libraries as they served a great purpose for their communities.

Councillor Julie McManus asked a question of Councillor Tom Anderson in respect of minute 24 of the Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee, regarding the Visitor Economy Board. In response Councillor Tom Anderson stated that the last meeting had been rescheduled and would be taking place on 22 April, so he could provide an update following that meeting.

Councillor Pat Cleary asked a question of Councillor Stuart Kelly in respect of the minutes of the Planning Committee of a more general nature in respect to what plans were in place to provide better web-based systems that would make the planning service more user friendly and a more efficient use of officer time. In response, Councillor Stuart Kelly commented that the Council had procured a new IT management system, to be used in a number of service areas including planning. Planning and building control were working towards the end of the year for the new system to go live.

The new system provided an opportunity for revisiting existing systems and processes, and work was currently ongoing around the planning service, which would include a review of the planning pages on the website and what information was available on it presently and in the future. He expressed his disappointment that there didn't seem to be a plan to involve Members, developers, residents and amenity groups to ask them what the web pages should contain and involve users in its design.

He further reported that he was aware that officers were in discussion with other authorities, using the same IT system, to ensure the benefits to the customer could be maximized and to ensure the supplier developed the product to meet Wirral’s needs. He understood that the key benefit from officers’ point of view, was as a cloud based system it would make remote working easier. Officers were setting up user groups with other authorities to see if they could work collaboratively when requesting any further development priorities for the software. Councillor Kelly expressed the opinion that it didn't sound to be too hopeful in getting a real step change in user friendliness for the Wirral planning portal, and he suspected that, unfortunately, Wirral would be stuck with a below par IT system for the foreseeable future, which would be of no benefit to developers, amenity groups, residents or Members. He suggested that this might be something which Policy and Resource Committee Members or the IT working group, would want to look into in some detail.

Resolved – That all the Committee minutes be received and the three minute decisions regarded as urgent be noted.

At 7.47pm, the Mayor adjourned the meeting for a short break.

The meeting resumed at 8.03pm.