Agenda

If a member requires advice on Declarations of Interest, he/she is advised to contact the Legal and Democratic Services Manager in advance of the meeting.  (For the assistance of members a checklist for use in considering their position on any particular item is included at the end of this agenda sheet.)

To receive as a correct record, the minutes of the previous meeting held on

All Member Briefing – New Political Governance Arrangements 

Question from Councillor David Whittington

To receive the minutes of the following meetings, to confirm, if appropriate, such of the minutes as require confirmation and to pass such resolutions as the Council may deem necessary:

To consider the report of the Corporate Director of Transformation, Housing & Resources.

To consider the report of the Head of Finance, Procurement & Commercial Services.

(Relevant Portfolio Holder: Councillor R Molloy)

To consider the report of the Head of Finance, Procurement & Commercial Services.

(Relevant Portfolio Holder: Councillor R Molloy)

To consider the report of the Head of Finance, Procurement & Commercial Services.

(Relevant Portfolio Holder: Councillor R Molloy)

To consider the report of the Head of Finance, Procurement & Commercial Services.

(Relevant Portfolio Holder: Councillor N Pryce-Roberts)

To consider the report of the Corporate Director Transformation, Housing & Resources.

To consider the report of the Chief Operating Officer.

To consider the following Motions included on the agenda at the request of the Members indicated:

This Council commits to being a Diverse Council. We agree to:

1. Provide a clear public commitment to improving diversity in democracy.

2. Demonstrate an open and welcoming culture to all, promoting the highest standards of behaviour and conduct.

3. Set out a local Diverse Council Action Plan ahead of the next local elections. Including:

• Appoint Diversity Ambassadors for each political group on the council to work with each other and local party associations to encourage recruitment of candidates from under-represented groups.
• Encourage and enable people from under-represented groups to stand for office through the provision of activities such as mentoring and shadowing programmes and information and learning events for people interested in standing as official candidates.
• Proactive engagement and involvement with local community groups and partner organisations supporting and representing under-represented groups
• Ensure that all members and candidates complete a candidates’ and councillors’ survey distributed at election time.
• Set ambitious targets for candidates from under-represented groups at the next local elections

4. Work towards the standards for member support and development as set out in the LGA Councillor Development Charter and/or Charter Plus.

5. Demonstrate a commitment to a duty of care for councillors by:

• providing access to counselling services for all councillors having regard for the safety and wellbeing of councillors whenever they are performing their role as councillors.
• taking a zero-tolerance approach to bullying and harassment of members including through social networks.

6. Provide flexibility in council business by:

• regularly reviewing and staggering meeting times
• encouraging and supporting remote attendance at meetings
• agreeing recess periods to support councillors with caring or work commitments.

7. Ensure that all members take up the allowances and salaries to which they are entitled, particularly any reimbursement for costs of care, so that all members receive fair remuneration for their work and that the role of member is not limited to those who can afford it.

8. Ensure that the council adopts a parental leave policy setting out members’ entitlement to maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption leave and relevant allowances.

9. Ensure that councillors from under-represented groups are represented whenever possible in high profile, high influence roles.

The Charter for Families Bereaved through Public Tragedy was written by the former Bishop of Liverpool to ensure the suffering endured by families bereaved following the 1989 Hillsborough disaster is not repeated after future disastrous events.

Liverpool City is one of our great neighbours, we have had many families directly and indirectly affected by the Hillsborough Tragedy itself. I believe West Lancashire Borough Council should stand shoulder to shoulder with all bereaved families who have suffered loss and that we ensure that West Lancashire Borough Council do not make the same mistakes in the aftermath of any future disasters.

West Lancashire Borough council therefore resolves to

Adopt The Charter for Families Bereaved Through Public Tragedy

In adopting this charter, West Lancashire Borough Council commit to ensuring that West Lancashire Borough Council learns the lessons of the Hillsborough disaster and its aftermath, so that the perspective of the bereaved families is not lost.

We commit to West Lancashire Borough Council becoming an organisation which strives to:

1. In the event of a public tragedy, activate its emergency plan and deploy its resources to rescue victims, to support the bereaved and to protect the vulnerable.

2. Place the public interest above our own reputation.

3. Approach forms of public scrutiny – including public inquiries and inquests – with candour, in an open, honest and transparent way, making full disclosure of relevant documents, material and facts. Our objective is to assist the search for the truth. We accept that we should learn from the findings of external scrutiny and from past mistakes.

 4. Avoid seeking to defend the indefensible or to dismiss or disparage those who may have suffered where we have fallen short.

5. Ensure all members of staff treat members of the public and each other with mutual respect and with courtesy. Where we fall short, we should apologise straightforwardly and genuinely.

6. Recognise that we are accountable and open to challenge. We will ensure that processes are in place to allow the public to hold us to account for the work we do and for the way in which we do it. We do not knowingly mislead the public or the media.

Council notes that:

·       In the 1995 Pensions Act, the Government increased State Pension age for women from 60 to 65, with a further increase to 66 in the 2011 Pensions Act. 

·       The change was not properly communicated to 3.8m women born in the 1950s until 2012, giving some only one year’s notice of a six year increase in their anticipated retirement age.  Affected women are in our own authority area.

·       The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has found that the Department for Work and Pensions was guilty of maladministration in its handling of the State Pension Age increase for women born in the 1950s. 

·       The All Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality for Women has concluded that “the impact of DWP maladministration on 1950s-born women has been as devastating as it is widespread.  The APPG believes that the case for category 6 injustice is overwhelming and clear.  Women have had their emotional, physical, and mental circumstances totally obliterated by a lack of reasonable notice.”

·       Research commissioned by campaign group WASPI has found that by the end of 2022, more than 220,000 1950s born women will have died waiting for justice since the WASPI campaign began in 2015. 

·       WASPI’s figures show that over the course of the two year COVID pandemic, 1 in 10 women who died was affected by these uncommunicated changes and lost both their state pension income and the opportunity to make alternative retirement plans. 

·       Despite the Ombudsman’s findings and the rapid death rate of those affected, the government is choosing to wait for further reports before taking any action. 

Council believes this injustice has not only had a profound effect on the individuals involved but on the wider community in West Lancashire and on local government, not least because:

·       Women who would have looked after older relatives or partners are unable to afford to do so, with a knock-on impact on local social care

·       Women who would have retired and engaged in caring responsibilities for grandchildren are having to continue working, increasing the childcare burden on the state locally

·       Women who have been left in poverty are struggling to meet their housing costs, with a knock-on impact on local housing stock

·       There is a broader impact on voluntary services of all kinds locally, which are missing out on able, active volunteers who would otherwise have been able to retire from full-time work as planned

·       Our local economy is negatively affected by the reduced spending power and disposable income the uncommunicated State Pension Age changes has brough about among women born in the 1950s

Council supports: 

·       The conclusion of the All Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality that women born in the 1950s have suffered a gross injustice, affecting their emotional, physical and mental circumstances in addition to causing financial hardship.

·       A swift resolution to this ongoing injustice before more and more women die waiting for compensation.

·       The WASPI campaign for an immediate one-off compensation payment of between £11,666 and £20,000 to those affected,  ...  view the full agenda text for item 15c