Video graphically shows impact of council cuts

At the beginning of July Wirral Council drastically reduced its expenditure on collection rubbish. The council blames government cuts but the self-confessed "bad financial management" has played a huge role in inflicting cuts across Wirral that are far worse than in many other areas.

As well as reducing its capacity for general rubbish collection the alleyways that sit between most of the terraced streets in Tranmere are now only cleared once every 12 weeks. Previously they were cleared once every four weeks. Residents are really noticing the difference and it is no exaggeration to say that I am now flooded with complaints about the state of the streets and alleyways.

One resident has kindly taken the time to produce a short video showing the state of the alleyway behind his house. It makes for depressing viewing and stands as a graphic illustration of the impact the cuts are having.

For years now I have highlighted Wirral Council's failure to deal with this issue at source by prosecuting those responsible for fly-tipping. Now that the safety blanket of regular collections is being withdrawn the full impact of this failure is there for all to see in this video.

Wirral Council: profiting from the poor

As thousands of our poorest residents face court summons for council tax arrears the response of Wirral’s council leader Phil Davies in last week’s Wirral Globe simply beggars belief. Shrugging your shoulders and blaming the government simply isn’t good enough.

In reality, this assault on Wirral’s poor is about much more than government cuts. It has been sharply compounded by the calamitous failure to manage Wirral’s resources over many years; what Cllr Davies himself calls “bad financial management”.

When the government handed responsibility for council tax benefit to local authorities in April it also cut the funding by 10%. Many councils took the sensible decision to absorb this cost as the sums involved were so small they did not warrant collection.

However, despite Cllr Davies’ own commitment to “protect the most vulnerable” Wirral chose to charge residents previously entitled to council tax relief at a rate of 22%. This is one of the highest rates in the whole of England. Our council took a 10% cut in funding and implemented a 22% increase in charges on Wirral’s poorest residents.

However, rather than accepting responsibility for this social injustice Cllr Davies takes the easy way out and blames the government.

St Annes Close/Kinmel Close

The Council has agreed that the vegetation running between Kinmel Close
and St Annes Close needs cutting back.

Hopefully this will be addressed over the coming months.

Dropped kerbs

Some of the street infrastructure around Birkenhead and Tranmere really is poor. Today I spoke with an officer at Wirral Council and requested dropped kerbs for the bottom of Craven Street leading onto Conway Street and also for the network of paths leading from Victoria Road to Milton Road East.

The programme is full for this year but hopefully they will be given due consideration and included next year. If the funding hasn't been cut that is!

If there are other areas you would like to see addressed please let me know.

Bedroom Tax: Advice & Resources

The Green Party firmly opposes the so-called "bedroom tax" and its pernicious impact on many vulnerable people. We have prepared material to inform and assist people affected by this attack on their homes and livelihood. This is Wirral specific and a very valuable resource for anyone affected.

All of the details are on the Wirral Green Party website:

http://www.wirralgreenparty.org.uk/

New charge will kill garden waste collections

The new £35 charge for garden waste collections will kill this hugely popular scheme. Our Labour council knows perfectly well that most people can't or won't pay for a service they rightly expect to be provided as part of their council tax.

The inevitable outcome will be less waste converted to valuable compost, an increase in fly-tipping and higher charges as more waste is sent to landfill.

This is yet another example of how everyone in Wirral is paying the price for our council's self-confessed "bad financial management" and our government's misguided austerity programme.

No more litter bins for Wirral?

Looks like Wirral won't be getting any new litter bins this year based on this message I've just had from the council:
-------------------------------

Good afternoon Mr Cleary

Thank you for your recent enquiry requesting the installation of a litter bin on Church Road between Beech Road and the new retail centre.

At present, all non essential expenditure has been frozen to enable the necessary savings to be made for the budget year 2013/14. This includes the purchase and installation of litter bins. It is therefore unlikely that any new litter bins will be available for installation within the next twelve months.

At present, officers are monitoring the usage of litter bins at various locations to determine if they are fully utilised. If a bin is identified as not being required at a particular location then the location you have requested will be given due consideration when determining where it is to be resited.

I trust this clarifies the Council's position on this matter

Regards