This report seeks approval to accept the offer £1,460,900 of grant funding fromthe Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) and to enter into aGrant Funding Agreement with the LCRCA to enable the transfer of funds to theCouncil. Thegrant isto facilitatethe implementationof essentialpre-development worksin support of the aim and objectives of the Birkenhead 2040 Framework, specificallyin relationto theBirkenhead CentralGateway transportand publicrealm works.

That the Director of Regeneration andPlace:

(1)  Accepts the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority offer of grant aid inthe sum of up to a maximum of £1,460,900 to be secured by way of aGrant Funding Agreement on terms outlined in paragraphs 3.2 to 3.5 of thereport.

(2)  Approves the commencement of the necessarypre-development work outlined in paragraph 3.1 of the report.

Resolved – That the recommendation in the report be approved and the Director of Law and Governance, in consultation with the Director of Regeneration and Place, be authorised to finalise the associated legal documentation.

Resolved –

That

(1) the proposed procurement process and strategy for the construction of the West Kirby Flood Alleviation Scheme set out at paragraph 3.7 of this report be approved; and

(2) authority be delegated to the Director of Neighbourhood Services to award the advanced Engineering Construction Contract and also the main construction phase Engineering Construction Contract.

RESOLVED: That

(1) the tenders for the Wirral Highway A1.1, A1.2, A1.3, A1.4, A1.5 and A2 Term Service Contracts, December 2021 to November 2025, submitted to Wirral Council on 8 October 2021 be accepted;

(2) the tender for the Wirral Highway A3 Term Service Contract, December 2021 to March 2026, submitted to Wirral Council on 8 October 2021 be accepted;

(3) the award of all seven contracts be approved, subject to contract and subject to expiry of the relevant standstill period without challenges, to the following suppliers:

Resolved – That,

(1)  this Committee gives retrospective ratification to the indicative allocations and spend of the Household Support Fund as outlined below:

(2)  it be agreed that this decision is urgent and therefore not subject to review.

Resolved – That,

(1)  the revised Wirral Growth Company stage 2 Site Development Plan for Birkenhead Town Centre (Appendix 4), be approved;

(2)  the Director of Regeneration and Place be authorised to progress directly to a permanent market;

(3)  the Director of Regeneration and Place be authorised to award the Wirral Growth Company LLP a development agreement to undertake the design and cost modelling to RIBA Stage 5 for the new permanent market and negotiate terms with WGC in accordance with the outline terms and specification attached at appendices 2 and 3 to the report, including any associated infrastructure and demolition works to support the new market facility on the site of the former House of Fraser building, adjacent to St Werburgh’s Square;

(4)  the Director of Regeneration and Place be authorised to engage with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and agree, if required, any necessary changes to the grant funding agreement consequent to the inclusion of a new market on the House of Fraser site;

(5)  the Director of Regeneration and Place be authorised to adopt the preferred option, to demolish, design and develop the former House of Fraser site, the cost of which to be met from within the planned Future High Street Fund and Wirral Growth Company Surplus resources allocated.

Resolved – That,

(1)  the Director of Resources, be authorised, in consultation with the Director of Law and Governance to approve financial support to be provided to the company over the forthcoming financial year, in the form of Covid related funding support grant of £643,000 and an interest bearing loan of £857,000 as set out in the report and its appendices;

(2)  the Director of Resources, be authorised, in consultation with the Director of Law and Governance to provide a letter of comfort to Edsential confirming the agreed financing and support.

The Director of Resources introduced a report on pre-budget setting which provided the Committee with an update on recent budget setting activity and described the context in which the budget for 2022/23 was being set. The report highlighted the key issues faced by the Council and the intended approach to budget setting, including the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders. The significant financial challenges facing the Council were set out against a range of potential scenarios, which clearly showed that the current provision of service by the Council was unaffordable from 2022/23.

Specific items addressed in the report included:

·  Operational context of Council activity leading up to budget setting.

·  A timetable for forthcoming budget setting activity and the approach to be adopted.

·  Financial strategy and principles which underpinned the budget process and decision-making, with its links to the Wirral Plan.

·  A review of the financial landscape the Council might be operating within, including budget gap analysis and the assumptions that had been incorporated in producing optimistic / mid-ground / pessimistic outlooks for consideration.

·  The budget consultation approach.

The Director responded to a number of comments from Members, clarifying how the timetable for consultation and workshops would work. She agreed to bring information on the funds still available in the Covid budget, and that if these weren’t required for Covid support would have to be used to reduce the exceptional financial support under the capitalisation agreement with the former MHCLG. She would also ensure that the public consultation did include the range of scenarios possible, not just the most pessimistic one.

The Sub-Committee would be able to meet in a working group capacity as well as in a formal arrangement, and the Director agreed to supply information to the Sub-Committee on the cost and use of consultants in the Council and on the issue of Government grants and which were one-offs and which would be renewed. 

The Director agreed to add timelines to the budget proposal workstreams appendix and would also look at how the Treasury Management team had arrived at a figure of 3% in respect of possible inflation figures when the Bank of England was forecasting a rate of 4%. She did meet regularly with other Merseyside Council finance director colleagues including those of the Fire, Transport and Waste Authorities and did push for quicker notification of their respective levies. With regard to these levies she would find out more details as to how they were worked out in respect of populations, which on Wirral had been decreasing.

Both the Directors of Resources and of Law and Governance sought to assure the Committee of the consultation timetable with regard to both the

public and Policy and Service Committees and their respective workshops’ involvement and for this Committee’s overall governance oversight of the process, with necessary adjustments to the timetable if required, prior to this Committee recommending a budget to Council at the end of February, 2022.

The Director of Resources agreed to provide Group Leaders with a lucid flowchart of the budget process.

With an addition to part 2(c) of the recommendation, as suggested by

Councillor Phil Gilchrist of further opportunity for consultation and an opportunity for committees to consider before final recommendation, as required, it was moved by the Chair, seconded by Councillor Yvonne Nolan, and then -

Resolved –

(1)  That the current operational context and improvement plans being developed and delivered within service areas amidst budget setting activity, inclusive of policy and service committee budget workshops that have taken place recently, as set out in the report, be noted.

(2)  It be agreed that:

(a)  the budget assumptions that have been made in developing a range of budget scenarios ahead of consultation;

(b)  the proposed budget timetable to reflect the timing of the Government’s funding announcements and the statutory requirements for determining the Annual Budget and Council Tax level, inclusive of the provision for member amendments as set out at Appendix 2;

(c)  the approach to budget consultation outlined in section 3.10 of the report, with a further consultation and opportunity for committees to consider before final recommendation from this Committee, as required;

(d)  the guiding principles that will inform the budget setting process and underpin the revised Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), which is currently being developed, be, (i) Organisational Leadership (ii) Accountability (iii) Financial management (iv) Professional standards (v) Assurance and (vi) Sustainability; and

(e)  budget plans addressing the scenario shown in the papers as ‘pessimistic’ until such time as more accurate information is known and the Committee can be updated.

(3)  That the Committee establish a Finance Sub-Committee for the 2021-22 municipal year:

(a)  to operate, as a formal sub-committee or working group as the sub-committee desires, with terms of reference identified at paragraph 1.5 of Part 3(B) of the Council’s Constitution and key considerations as identified at Appendix 6;

(b)consisting of seven members of the Policy and Resources Committee, subject to political balance; and

(c)  be appointed by the proper officer upon receipt of the wishes of the Leaders of Political Groups in accordance with rules of the political balance.