Wirral council has made a big change to their constitution after a withering government assessment.
The schedule of elections and firming up of committee functions have been written into Wirral Council ’s constitution.
After Whitehall chiefs deemed the local authority’s “prevailing culture” was to duck big decisions and the adoption of a committee system of governance, a raft of changes have been made to Wirral’s constitution to toughen up how it best serves the people of the borough. Among the changes made to the document, which sets out how the council operates, is the rubber stamping of all-out elections in 2023.
Previously, a third of councillors would go up for election in votes which take place in three out of every four years. Next month’s ballots are the last of its kind.
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A meeting of the authority’s Constitution and Standards Committee was told by Philip McCourt, director of law and governance, that when the move was made to adopt a committee system, there was an element of “suck it and see” about the approach. Mr McCourt added that at that time in September 2020, it was the “fastest of any council our size” to make the move and as a result some “off the shelf” options were adopted.
Among the amendments to the document are the decision to not establish any overview and scrutiny committees, with decisions made by “full Council or by what are referred to as policy and services committees or by regulatory committees.” It is said that the policy and services committee will act as the “principal committee” of the council with a number of scrutiny functions woven within it.
The policy and services committee, along with the council’s other committee memberships, will be determined during a meeting of the full authority every year. An addition to the overarching framework was the adoption of a petitions scheme.
Both paper and e-petitions will be accepted by Wirral Council and those passing 5,000 signatures will be debated on the floor of the chamber during a full council meeting. The document said: “Petitions must relate to what the Council does or relate to an improvement in the economic, social or environmental well-being of the area covered by Wirral Council.”
Discussing the changes, Cllr Steve Foulkes said that on reflection the council “rushed into” the adoption of the committee model and “could have taken longer in the planning process.” The Labour Claughton ward member added that it showed how “tight and difficult” the process had been that decisions on the structure of the council for the next municipal year were only being finalised just days away from the elections.
The amendments to the constitution will be recommended to the full council for its final sign off.
