MEDIA RELEASE
Issued by:
Councillor Phil Gilchrist
Date of Issue: December 12th 2011
Contact numbers:
0151 334 1923
Lib Dem office: 0151 691 8544

WIRRAL LIB DEMS CALL ON LABOUR LEADER TO COME CLEAN ON SHARING SERVICES

Senior Liberal Democrat Cllr Phil Gilchrist hits back at Labour claims that they haven't entered into talks about sharing services with Liverpool.

"It's time for Cllr Foulkes to come clean. Council Excellence - the committee that I Chair - received an update from the Director of Finance in November stating that there was ongoing consultation with other councils about shared services and 'collaborative contracts'.

“I have also been advised by senior officers of the Council that this has been extensively discussed in a range of arenas - by the Merseyside Chief Executives, by the Merseyside Improvement and Efficiency Partnership, and by the City Region Cabinet - of which Steve Foulkes is a member!

“Seven months ago we were given a positive spin on sharing services and cutting costs - Merseyside's Labour Leaders were ‘talking the same language', we were told. Control of the region by Cllr Foulkes' Labour Party would, we were assured, make life easier and better.

"Liverpool's Cabinet have already agreed to save money by sharing services. We need the details of this out in the open so that Wirral's people can be consulted on actions taken in their name. Any deals we do with any Council must be mutually beneficial, be in the interests of Wirral's residents, stack up financially, and stand up to open scrutiny. If Cllr Foulkes is talking to officers and other council leaders about sharing services, why isn't he talking to Wirral residents, when Liverpool are talking to theirs?"

Extract from Minute 58 from Council Excellence 17 Nov:
"In response to comments from Members in relation to shared services, the Director referred to ongoing consultation with other Councils in the Merseyside Region to promote the adoption of collaborative contracts which increased the potential for savings through aggregation. He proposed to circulate an update to Members direct on work undertaken within the City Region and agreed also to include an update with regard to a programme of training and workshops to improve Member awareness of procurement issues."

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