Wirral Council leaders considered quitting over libraries report

Nov 11 2009 by Liam Murphy, Heswall News

WIRRAL Council’s leadership was on the verge of resigning over the Government report into its library closure plans, a senior member of the administration has admitted.

Deputy leader of the council Simon Holbrook said senior cabinet members had “considered our positions at some length” during the crisis meeting in the town hall a day before the expected publication of a critical report by inspector Sue Charteris.

According to an email sent by the authority’s director of law Bill Norman to Tory leader Jeff Green, the council had been told an announcement was “70% likely” on October 1.

This was communicated to the council’s press office on Tuesday September 29.

As reported last month, a meeting was held at the town hall later that night to consider the implications of the report into the controversial plans to shut 11 libraries as part of wider plans to review all council assets.

Mr Norman had written to Cllr Green answering a series of questions about how the draft report – given to the council in July for fact-checking and comments – was handled within the authority.

Asked if they had considered resignation at the meeting, Cllr Holbrook said: “We considered our positions at some length.

“We tried to think through the range of options we had in front of us and came to the view that the best thing to do would be to withdraw the plan – and we were all agreed on that.” Last night Conservative group leader Jeff Green said “that was another decision they got wrong when they decided not to resign”.

He also denied he and council leader Steve Foulkes pre-empted the Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw, saying that “we do not know what his decision is going to be”, and adding that “it would not be unknown for the Secretary of State to take a different view on what an advisor tells them”.

Other sources have suggested that the report by Sue Charteris made for “grim” reading for the council.

In his email to Cllr Green, who has been furious that the Conservative group has not been made part of the fact-checking process, the council legal director Bill Norman said Ms Charteris had accepted some and rejected other changes to her report put forward by the council.

But he said in his opinion “no major changes were made to the draft Report”.

Ms Charteris’ report and decision by the Secretary of State are expected before or at the same time as a wider review of library provision being carried out by the Culture department, which is currently expected before the end of the year.