The minutes of all committees which have met since 27 September up until 11 November, 2021 are attached, as below.

Members’ attention is drawn to one minute, 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 75 (Policy and Resources Committee (10/11/21)) – Household Support Fund, as projects needed to be funded immediately to ensure full spend of the grant.

Minutes of Committees 

·  Policy and Resources Committee – 7 and 25 October, and 10 November,  2021 (Pages 125 - 147)

·  Adult Social Care and Public Health Committee – 13 October, 2021

(Pages 149 - 157)

·  Children, Young People and Education Committee – 4 and 27 October, 2021 (Pages 159 - 165)

·  Economy, Regeneration and Development Committee – 29 September and 26 October, 2021 (Pages 167 - 178)

·  Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee – 20 October, 2021 (Pages 179 - 186)

·  Housing Committee – 19 October, 2021 (Pages 187 - 190)

·  Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee – 12 October, 2021 (Pages 191 - 194)

·  Audit and Risk Management Committee – 27 September, 2021 (Pages 195 - 198)

·  Constitution and Standards Committee – 30 September, 2021 (Pages 199 - 204)

·  Health and Wellbeing Board – 29 September and 3 November, 2021 

(Pages 205 - 217)

·  Partnerships Committee – 28 September and 9 November  2021 (to follow)

(Pages 219 - 223)

·  Planning Committee – 14 October and 11 November, 2021 (Pages 225 - 235)

The Civic Mayor introduced the minutes of the various Committees which had met from 27 September up until 11 November, 2021. He drew Members’ attention to minute 75 of the Policy and Resources Committee of 10 November, 2021 – Household Support Fund, 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 projects needed to be funded immediately to ensure full spend of the grant.

The Director of Law and Governance drew Members’ attention to minute 45 of the Economy, Regeneration and Development Committee of 26 October, 2021 and that at the fifth paragraph, the sentence beginning, ‘Councillor Tony Jones suggested….’ should read, ‘Councillor Tony Jones requested…’, this had been corrected at the subsequent meeting of the Committee.

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

Councillor Paul Stuart asked a question of Councillor Phil Gilchrist, in respect of minute 17 of the Constitution and Standards Committee, regarding the review of the Committee system and his continuing to chair the Committee given his stance taken at the recent Policy and Resources Committee when the External Assurance Reviews were considered and responded to. In response Councillor Gilchrist commented that a survey of all Members had been undertaken on the Committee system, the findings of which were yet to be shared but which he’d encouraged all Members to take part in. He regarded that in his role as Chair of the Committee he was defending the rights of backbenchers and ensuring everyone had all the information before them to make reasoned decisions and he was content to work in the best interests of all Members of the Council.

Councillor Andrew Hodson asked a question of Councillor Phil Gilchrist, in respect of minute 17 of the Constitution and Standards Committee, regarding the review of the Committee system and whether Members could have confidence in him as Chair of that Committee when he had voted against the recommendations before the Policy and Resources Committee at its meeting on 30 November, which included the proposal to reduce the number of committees. In response, Councillor Gilchrist commented that the LGA had been invited to look at how the Council operated and senior councillors had met with LGA members and had all committed to work for the best interests of Members. Whilst not happy with the decision Policy and Resources Committee had taken, Council had now taken a view on how to proceed and he would always work with all in the best interests of restoring and building up trust in democracy in the Borough ensuring there was transparency in decision making and that the Council had now committed to work together.

Councillor Tom Anderson asked a question of Councillor Phil Gilchrist, in respect of minute 17 of the Constitution and Standards Committee, regarding the review of the Committee system and what his plan was as Chair of that Committee to conduct the review of the committee system expeditiously and to come to conclusions which he had voted against. In response, Councillor Gilchrist commented that senior Members had met with the LGA, including Members of other peer authorities who gave advice in this private meeting. He did highlight his concerns about procedures and structures which were being requested. The Constitution and Standards Committee’s role was to look at the current number of committees, establish whether they should be reduced in the interests of Member workload and officer time; also to find a way so that information coming before committees was concise but informative enough to satisfy Members and to undertake this in time for it to be introduced, whilst also taking account of comments in the recent Members’ survey. A meeting of the Governance working party would be considering this survey on 14 December, 2021.

Councillor Jason Walsh asked a question of Councillor Kathy Hodson, in respect of minute 18 of the Audit and Risk Management Committee, regarding the target completion date of November for the financial audit, which had still not been received. Councillor Kathy Hodson responded that she did share Councillor Walsh’s frustration that the report had not yet been received and that she had been advised that the report was now in draft format pending outstanding final items with the hope it would be concluded by the end of this week and brought to the January, 2022 Audit and Risk Management Committee meeting.

Councillor Pat Cleary asked a question of Councillor Elizabeth Grey, in respect of minutes of the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee regarding a nature based solution to protecting sand overtopping the sea wall at Hoylake promenade by allowing the formation of sand dunes and was crucial to Wirral’s commitment in addressing the climate and biodiversity crisis and would help in protecting the financial wellbeing of the Council. In response Councillor Grey agreed that nature based solutions were a crucial part of the Council’s climate and biodiversity plans. Full costings of any options put forward for any public consultation would need to be provided for residents to see the full picture and for informed decisions to be taken.

Councillor Jo Bird asked a question of Councillor Jean Robinson, in respect of minute 26 of the Partnerships Committee, at which she had herself asked the Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner present at the meeting about the amount of money spent by Merseyside Police on protecting the Military Arms and Technology Fair held in Liverpool in October, to which she had received the answer of £25,232. She asked if Partnerships Committee could continue to have some scrutiny over this matter. Councillor Robinson, in response, commented that she would go back to the Police and Crime Commissioner and ask for further information on this.