The Chair commented that members of the public were already aware that the proposal to close libraries in Wirral has been abandoned.  In expressing pleasure that Hoylake Library will remain open, he thanked people in the room this evening and local community groups who organised campaigns to achieve that objective.

Councillor Green added his personal thanks to everyone who had made the arguments etc.  Sue Charteris was clearly impressed by the residents of Hoylake and across Wirral who had made the case for the libraries to remain open.  Her report was presumably so devastating that the programme has stopped, but the victory is due to the efforts and response by members of the public.

A question was asked who paid for the report produced by Sue Charteris?  I wonder if the leading members of the Council are not guilty of misusing funds because this report was totally unnecessary and that is a waste of public funds.

Cllr Green responded that the Government paid for the report, which has not been made public.  Wirral Council hired a barrister to present its case.  The cost of the barrister has not been revealed, but it has been suggested that the cost of the barrister was about the same as the total cost of the abortive report, which was not necessary in the first place. 

The Chair continued that the other part of the SAR is concerned with the handing over of a number of community halls.  Ian Brand, the Council’s Head of Asset Management has been invited to give a progress report on the asset transfer process.

Ian Brand recalled that there had been an initial progress report on where the asset management transfer process was up to in terms of community centres at the June meeting.  There are 19 community centres identified to transfer, each of which has a joint management committee in place.  Two of these centres are in the West Wirral area forum.  In addition, there is a total of 31 premises identified for transfer through the Asset Management review process, of which about 13 have a joint management committee.  The Council has put a policy in place to deal with all community asset proposals on a consistent basis across the Borough.  The immediate focus is to transfer the 19 community centres with joint management committees and Council Officers have met the joint management committees of all 19 centres.  One of the issues is about timetabling.  There is no hard and fast timescale, except that the transfers should be completed by January 2011.  The Council is committed to ensuring that each property is in a fit and proper condition to transfer and where it is clear that the transfer is going forward, the Council will commission an external firm to undertake a full survey.  Condition surveys have been undertaken for the three premises in this area.

The Chair invited the Chairs of three management committees to outline their experience in the process so far. 

The Chair of the Hoylake Community Centre described talks with the West Kirby and Greasby Community Centres, the efforts made devise a business plan and to attract new users to boost income generation.  David Ball had visited the centre when the opportunity had been taken to draw his attention to the slow progress made in the transfer process.

Mr Williams concluded his report by describing the arrangements for the survey of the building as ‘total incompetence’, adding that there has been no support whatsoever. 

John Smith, Greasby Community Centre, and Ray Davies of Westbourne Community Centre, stated that their experiences were similar to those of Hoylake.  The general feeling was that the transfer of these centres cannot go ahead until the management committees are assured that the Council has done what it has said it will do, and the management committees know exactly what they are taking on.

A member of the public said it was a matter of regret that Wirral Council’s Chief Executive is not here this evening to hear people’s concerns. 

Councillor Green replied that Jim Wilkie who is present is a senior Officer of the Council, he is Deputy Chief Executive, and as such, he is accountable for the programme of Asset Transfer.  It appears from the discussion this evening that there has been a degree of incompetence.  He asked the questions, ‘Who is accountable for this work?’ and ‘What have they done in the past six months’.

Jim Wilkie explained that he was present this evening as Lead Officer for the West Wirral Area Forum.  It is clear that people have raised a series of ‘concerns’ this evening.  He apologised for any delays, and for people being given undertakings about things that clearly have not happened. 

Jim Wilkie gave a personal undertaking that the Chairs of the three Community Centres would be contacted on the following day, and that within a week, they would be invited to a meeting where they would be told where things stand at present, what Council officers undertake to do and what has been done so far to honour the commitments given.

Councillor Green asked for an appropriate project plan to be produced which shows who is responsible for resolving the particular issues, with target dates and a proper timescale.

Councillors commented:

At a recent meeting David Ball had given assurances that things would happen quickly, and everyone would be kept fully informed.  Things have not happened quickly.

The survey report on Hoylake Community Centre was highly unsatisfactory – although some items had been listed and accepted other, more important items, such as the condition of the roof and roof space, were ignored.

The high cost of the survey cannot be justified in terms of the results.

The first step is to carry out a detailed and competent survey of the buildings, with costs, and how it can be undertaken.  Until this is done no-one has any understanding of what is required to make the buildings fit for purpose and what problems they are likely to encounter in the future.

Why have these organisations been give the names of people who clearly have failed to do the job?

A competent professional company should be appointed to do that straight away.

The first step is to find competent professional surveyors to carry out the survey on what needs doing, because of the time lost, that needs doing as a matter of extreme urgency.  Start the process immediately.

Ian Brand stated that it clear from the feedback received that people have many misgivings and there is an issue here.  The community centres themselves are unhappy and one of the things he would be doing would be to speak personally to the various Chairs to clarify the process, so that things can move forward within the timescale.  Clearly, there is a need to rebuild confidence and to do that by delivering better than officers have been perceived to be doing so far.  The surveyors were procured through Council processes and they are all qualified and competent architects or surveyors.  There are a number of things that will run in parallel.  Condition surveys is one element.  Other things could be getting statistics done and providing a business plan.  He expressed confidence that all these things would happen within the timescale given for affecting those transfers.  Generally, there is clear dissatisfaction, and there is a need to address that.

Councillor Green commented that the people who are running those centres understand and know how they work.  The progress made so far can only be described as ‘laughable’ but the Officers are now saying that everything will be fine.  The person who is responsible seems to be spending a lot of time doing other things.  It would be nice for Officers to engage with those people who are doing it for nothing.  Officers are paid officials, and they should engage with the people that have a point and not flip away from the fact that people have real concerns. He hoped that there is a plan in place for the groups with leases to receive the same support as for other community centres. 

In bringing the discussion to a conclusion, the Chair stated that the fact that Jim Wilkie has agreed to talk to personnel is a positive move forward.

Jim Wilkie added that it is clear that people are dissatisfied with what has happened.  If he could have the telephone numbers for the three Chairs of Management Committees, he will endeavour to have a meeting set next week, not just with himself but with relevant officers.

He acknowledged the huge effort by the volunteers who make a large investment of time and he was not complacent about that.