Labour downgrades scrutiny again

The Labour Party which runs Sefton Council is afraid of anyone challenging their decisions. The following article explaining the situation was written by Cllr Iain Brodie Browne, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Sefton Council. Iain is a councillor in Birkdale.

By Cllr Iain Brodie Browne

None of us were surprised when the ruling Bootle Labour Party started to downgrade the routes that allowed scrutinising of their actions.

Firstly they took the chairs of all the scrutiny committees and filled them with their placemen and women - they even took the chair of Audit which even in 'one party states' is usually chaired by an opposition councillor.

Then they reduced the number of Area Committee meetings - you can see their nervousness because they do not have an overall majority on some of them.

Then the denigrate question time at Full Council by giving mono-syllabic answers or not answering at all (As a past cabinet member I am well aware that Officers will have prepared answers to the questions asked - and yes I know what to do, it is in hand). What contempt for the rights of ordinary voters whose elected representatives ask perfectly proper questions on their behalf.

The Area Committee issue is very important. Sefton is a dog's breakfast of an Authority where the towns and villages have very little to do with each other and often look to towns outside the boundaries of the borough. To cope with these issues Area Committees were introduced. When the Boundary Commission last looked at the desire of Southport residents to break away from the borough one of the 'trump cards' played against the proposal was that these differences would be better managed in future because -under our leadership- the council was moving to a 'devo max' solution giving the Area Committees responsibility for their communities. No more, the Bootle Labour party clings to all the power.

In Sefton Central the merging of Formby, Crosby, and the Eastern Parishes - centred on Maghull - into one committee is nonsense. There is no community of interest between Melling and Formby - and no transport links between them if the public wanted to attend. So now in this area instead of 18 meetings a year where effective accountability could have been exercised that has been axed to just 4 meetings. They don't like accountability.

The Labour Leader played his 'get out of jail' card. It is the wicked coalition that has made us save money . Now the saving is small and could easily be found. Let me suggest two ways; hold joint meetings with the Parish Councils and secondly let's look at the allowances paid to the Labour members chairing Scrutiny and Review. They cancel meetings at the drop of a hat and one calculation I saw last year suggested that their allowance amounted to nigh on £1000 a meeting. Cut the cost of Labour patronage and democracy and accountability will flourish.

This article was first published on the Birkdale Focus blog.

Labour Cabinet cancels meeting

Sefton's ruling Labour Cabinet have cancelled their meeting that was due to take place next Thursday. The reason given is that there are only two information items for consideration.

With large-scale cuts in the offing, including the threat to close Churchtown Library, there should be plenty for the Cabinet to discuss. We have to ask what are they trying to hide?

Lib Dem councillor Mike Booth, who represents Kew Ward, has done some digging. This is what Mike has to say:

"It seems to be the season for cancelling meetings. Sefton's website informed me this morning that the following meetings have been cancelled:

Site Visit for Overview and Scrutiny on 14th January CANCELLED

Licensing & Regulatory Committee on 14th January CANCELLED

Crosby Area Committee on 16th January CANCELLED

CABINET on 17th January CANCELLED

Sefton East Parishes Area Committee on 24th January CANCELLED

Most of the above committees only meet every 2 months. I find it hard to believe that members and officers cannot summon up enough business to fill an agenda.

I'm told that the Sefton East Parishes Area Committee has been rescheduled at a later time.

Area Committees are the only real forum where residents can raise questions and have them answered on the night. It's bad enough that they are now held every 2 months rather than the original monthly meetings. Cancelling such meetings without an explanation gives a poor representation of Sefton's apparent wish to consult with their residents."

Latest Meols FOCUS newsletter

Here is the latest FOCUS newsletter from Meols Ward Liberal Democrats, which was delivered to the streets of Churchtown, Crossens and Marshside recently.

Bootle Labour takeover even worse than we thought

After the May local council elections the Liberal Democrats spoke out against the Bootle takeover of the Council. We said:

"Following Labour's success in the local elections in winning seats in Sefton Central and Bootle, although none in Southport, Sefton Labour Leader Cllr Peter Dowd has announced his new Cabinet  - and every Cabinet member is a Bootle Labour councillor."

A further look at things shows that the grip of Bootle Labour is even stronger than we thought. Out of the 66 councillors on Sefton Council, 14 are in a position of power, all of them are Labour and 12 of the 14 live in the Bootle Constituency.

The list below details the Committee Chairs outside the Cabinet. All of them are Labour councillors. It makes interesting reading:

Audit Committee Chair – Labour, lives in Bootle

Performance Scrutiny Committee Chair – Labour, lives in Bootle

Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee Chair – Labour, lives in Bootle

Licensing Committee Chair – Labour, lives in Bootle

Planning Committee Chair – Labour, lives in Bootle

Environmental Scrutiny Committee Chair – Labour, lives in Maghull

Health Scrutiny Committee Chair – Labour, lives in Formby

Row over speed humps continues

A recommendation to leave the speed humps in Crossens unchanged has been strongly attacked by Liberal Democrat councillor John Dodd.

Councillors at Southport Area Committee in May had unanimously supported Cllr Dodd's proposals to remove speed cushions on Rufford Road between Drewitt Crescent and North Road, and to reduce the height of the remaining cushions.

The three Meols Ward councillors, Lib Dems John Dodd, David Rimmer and Nigel Ashton have all expressed their shock and disappointment that Sefton Council officers are trying to overturn the decision of the Area Committee.

The final decision rests with the Labour Cabinet member for Transportation, Councillor John Fairclough. But a report to Cllr Fairclough from Council officers recommends leaving the controversial speed humps as they are.

Cllr Dodd said "The decision of the Southport Area Committee in May to my proposals was agreed by all the town's councillors, both Lib Dem and Conservative. To say I am disappointed with this turn of events is putting it mildly."

Cllr Dodd added "I have sent an e-mail to Cllr Fairclough, appealing to him to disregard the Sefton officers report and uphold the decision made at the Southport Area Committee, whose councillors represent the people of Southport".

Cllr Nigel Ashton said "If the Cabinet member chooses to dismiss the opinion of the residents of Crossens and surrounding areas, we will call that decision in to Sefton Council's Scrutiny & Review Committee."

Labour councillors offered a 67% pay rise

The news of a recommendation to give seven Sefton Labour councillors pay rises of between 25% and 67% has understandably provoked fury. Liberal Democrats have condemned the proposal as completely unacceptable.

Sefton Council’s "Independent Remuneration Panel" proposed the massive increases at its first meeting held since Labour took overall control of Sefton Council in the May local elections.

Many councillors had expected the Panel to propose a cut in the level of additional Special Responsibility Allowances (SRAs) paid to senior councillors. In fact they did exactly the opposite.

The Panel has recommended that the Chairs of five Sefton Council Committees should each receive a 67% pay rise taking their total pay from £12,780 to £21,300.  In addition, they propose that the Chairs of the Planning and Licensing Committees should be awarded a 25% pay rise – up from £17,040 to £21,300.

This follows last month’s decision by the Labour Party to seize all the Overview & Scrutiny Chairs. In other councils these important posts are normally shared between the political parties, on the basis that these committees exist to scrutinise the actions of the Cabinet.

In Sefton Council the decisions of the 100% Labour Cabinet are being scrutinised by committees 100% controlled by Labour. All seven councillors proposed to receive the massive pay rises are Labour.

Lib Dem councillor Nigel Ashton said "These huge pay rises for a select group of Labour councillors are totally unacceptable. At the annual budget meeting before the elections Lib Dems proposed a cut of 10% in the pay of senior councillors. We were outvoted by Labour and Conservatives voting together.

"This is a time when many households are under real financial pressure, and many workers have their pay frozen for a second year. For councillors to be offered more pay at this time is beyond belief."

New Lib Dem Leader attacks Bootle Labour takeover

Councillor Iain Brodie Browne, newly elected leader of the 20-strong Lib Dem opposition group on Sefton Council, has spoken out against the Bootle takeover of the Council.

Following Labour's success in the local elections in winning seats in Sefton Central and Bootle, although none in Southport, Sefton Labour Leader Cllr Peter Dowd has announced his new Cabinet  - and every Cabinet member is a Bootle Labour councillor.

"I am appalled at the lack of geographical balance in the all-powerful Cabinet," said Cllr Brodie Browne. "Before Labour gained overall control of the Council the Cabinet comprised 4 councillors from Southport, 2 from Sefton Central and 4 from Bootle. It is now 100% from Bootle."

"More than a third of the Labour Group comes from Sefton Central - places like Crosby, Maghull and Formby, but not a single one of those has been appointed to the Cabinet. When people in those places voted Labour in early May, did they realise they were handing over complete control to Bootle Labour councillors?"

Former Lib Dem leader, now deputy leader, Cllr Tony Robertson also voiced his concern: "Is it simply 'Old Labour', as they like to call themselves, looking after long serving Bootle members? Yes, I am sure it was but that's no way to run a diverse Borough like Sefton. All those Sefton Central Labour councillors clearly have no clout when up against the Bootle Comrades."