MEDIA RELEASE
Issued by:
Councillor Simon Holbrook
Date of Issue: December 9th 2009
Contact numbers:
07824 431295
Lib Dem office: 0151 691 8544

WIRRAL LIB DEM LEADER QUESTIONS VALUE FOR MONEY OF GOVERNMENT WATCHDOG

The Audit Commission today published its Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) for Wirral. Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) is a new assessment of how all local public bodies work together to meet the needs of local people. It evaluates how public bodies, including the Council, the PCT, community & voluntary sector, police and fire & rescue services, are working together in each local authority area in the country.

The Comprehensive Area Assessment in Wirral has found that real progress is being made against the main local priorities. Liberal Democrat Cabinet Members for Environment and Streetscene welcomed the report's acknowledgement that the Council has a good track record of improving the quality of the environment and that it provides strong leadership on environmental sustainability, with continued to investment in this area to ensure it has a high profile.

Liberal Democrat Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Gill Gardiner, said, “The Council has already done much work to improve the energy efficiency of its buildings, which helped it to meet its target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent, two years ahead of schedule. We have also signed up to 10:10 aiming for a further 10% reduction in 2010 and recently launched CRed Wirral which aims to help local people to reduce carbon emissions by encouraging them to make pledges using a new interactive website - wirral.cred2.co.uk “.

“We have also significantly improved the amount of waste being recycled, having recently introduced a multi-material recycling service for flats and schools and, in the New Year, will be extending our on-street recycling to Hoylake, West Kirby, New Brighton, Oxton and Moreton.”

Liberal Democrat Cabinet Member for Streetscene & Transport Services, Cllr Jean Quinn, said, “The Council has also reduced littering and graffiti in the more deprived areas and the CAA report states that local people are now happier with standards of cleanliness in the borough than people living in many other places. Whilst there is always more work to do, the CAA report clearly shows that we are progressing well.”

“Wirral's road safety record has improved considerably in the last two years because of the development and implementation of a detailed road safety action plan and the CAA report does indeed note that road safety has improved at a very good rate compared with other councils.”

However, Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Leader of the Council, Cllr Simon Holbrook, has expressed serious concerns over the CAA process. He said, " Whilst it is always welcome to receive recognition for the positive achievements that Liberal Democrats have worked hard on to improve Wirral's environment, I do have serious reservations about the value for money of the process used to reach this judgement. The costs for the council alone are estimated at £110,000. Partner organisations are likely to face similar figures, not to mention the costs of the Audit Commission themselves.”

“There is little here that provides any added value for our taxpayers. All we have got is a very limited narrative that I suspect any competent management consultant could have written, in a fraction of the time, from just a cursory review of the council's Corporate Plan and performance reports, at a fraction of the cost."

Further information about Comprehensive Area Assessment and Wirral's Report can be accessed on the Audit Commission website:

http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/localgov/audit/CAA/pages/oneplace.aspx