John wishes to add the following amendments:
1.It was pointed out at the meeting that Sefton do NOT set any Business Rates, that is a matter for Central Gov’t.
2. Jean Gould is NOT a trainer at Carers UK, she is used by them when necessary to access legal opinion.
3. Para. after item 6 where Celia etc. was this done outside the meeting?, as I seem to remember she offered her apologies for non-attendance.
Chair's note on point 3 -
Celia was not in attendance but the chair and secretary were copied in to correspondence before Celia went away on holiday so reported back what had been discussed. The minutes could be clearer so I propose they be changed to read "Kat reported that Celia has spoken to..."
SACC meeting Monday 7 February 2011
Minutes
1. Posters and leaflets are available to distribute to advertise the Margaret Carney meeting.
2. Questions will be submitted in advance. She will answer additional questions from the floor but may not have the necessary details to answer fully. She will also do a 5min presentation at the start which she may forward to us ahead of the event. You can submit questions even if not coming to the meeting. There will be a right to reply and a session of 20-30 minutes at the end so people can ask questions from the floor.
3. We are going to go out on the streets to talk to people about the meeting and sell tickets.
Security: Do we need to think about security on the night? It was felt that it was unlikely to be a problem.
4. John Pugh/Bill Esterson not attending, in official capacity at least. MC must be politically unbiased and this meeting is not party political.
5. Questions to ask: What are the council doing to oppose the government’s cut to the allowance?
Has the council considered the human rights impact of the cuts?
Have the council officers’ pay and expenses been looked at?
How is the Early Intervention Grant being spent?
How do the cuts fit in with the Big Society?
How are you making the case for Sefton with central govt?
Have you carried out Equality Impact Assessments for each cut?
Are you following the COMPACT guidelines? (Solicitor and Carers UK legal trainer Jean Gould may have some useful case law.)
How have you approached the cuts? What criteria have you used to identify where cuts and savings can be made? How are you consulting the public?
Why are business rates so high in this area compared to Liverpool and Preston?
Why was there no consultation with staff at the children’s centres and Botanic Gardens before they were told they were to close?
6. All contributors are asked to write to community secretary Eric Pickles to ask him to meet with us to explain the cuts to Sefton’s allowance.
7. Celia has spoken to the solicitors who dealt with a recent successful judicial review case, where a judicial review was won by voluntary and community sector organisations into the decision by London Councils to impose cuts of £10m onto the sector. The judicial review was granted on the grounds that the Councils’ consultation process had not been carried out correctly and that they had failed to adhere to their statutory duties. The person Celia spoke to said the case was brought using legal aid because some of the people affected were eligible for legal aid. If we wanted to use the same process we also would have to involve people eligible for legal aid. Edwards & Co solicitors in the Wirral could help with such a case in future.
8. There is a libraries consultation going on now, with forms in libraries to ask what new opening hours people would be happy with. Is it advertised widely enough? Is it covering enough ground eg not asking how people feel about libraries closing/hours shortening. Does it count as consultation?
9. We need to split into a committee to mirror the council Cabinet meeting which will help tackle legal stuff cut by cut.
10. Meet at Kat’s house on Gordon St at 10.30am Saturday to go out on the streets to speak to people about the Margaret Carney meeting. Lillian, Kat, Megan and Liz confirmed. Tom and Phil are maybes.
