Issue - meetings

It was moved by: Councillor Wilson, seconded by: Councillor Carr:

That:

This Council notes that as part of the overall council tax precepts for this year, that in addition to Sefton Precept, the precepts agreed by both Lydiate Parish Council (8.67%) and Maghull Town Council (12%) are significantly in excess of inflation rates.

Parish and Town councils are now having to significantly increase the precept and adjust budgets because of the continued inequity in the funding of Parks within the Borough.

Unlike other areas of the Borough (Bootle, Crosby, Formby and Southport) there are no Sefton maintained Parks in Lydiate, Maghull and Aintree and these are paid for by separate Parish and Town Council precepts. This has been the case for many years and was initially accepted by the Parishes as all Councils were hit with Austerity measures. This can no longer be accepted without a challenge, as it is no longer sustainable.

Previously this inequity in Parks funding was accepted by the Council and Town/Parish Councils were given a financial rebate but this ended some years back. This rebate amounts to approximately £140,000 per year to Maghull and £46,000 to Lydiate

With a multi £Million-pound budget it is not beyond the wit of Council Officers and Members to make good this lost provision and right a wrong to the residents and Council Tax-payers of Lydiate, Maghull and Aintree

Accordingly, the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services be requested to look at this inequity and report back to Council in due course on proposals that will be a Fair Deal for Lydiate and Maghull as well as Aintree.

Following a debate on the Motion; and the requisite number of Members present requesting that the voting on the Motion be recorded in accordance with Rule 95 of Chapter 4 in the Constitution the Members of the Council present at the time voted as follows:

FOR THE MOTION

Councillors Bennett, Brodie-Browne, Brough, Carr, D’Albuquerque, Dutton, Irving, Jones, Lewis, McKinley, Prendergast, Pugh, Riley, Sathiy, John Sayers, Yvonne Sayers, Shaw, Lynne Thompson and Wilson. 

AGAINST THE MOTION

Atkinson, Bradshaw, Byrom, Carlin, Cluskey, Corcoran, Cummins, Dowd, Doyle, Fairclough, Friel, Grace, Halsall, Hansen, Hardy, Howard, John Joseph Kelly, Killen, Lappin, Christine Maher, Ian Maher, Moncur, Murphy, Myers, O’Brien, Page, Robinson, Roche, Roscoe, Spencer, Thomas, Tweed, Veidman, Waterfield and the Mayor.

The Mayor declared that the Motion was lost by 19 votes to 35.  

The Mayor reported that she had received notice that due to the non-attendance of Councillor Wilson, the proposer of the Motion, the Motion would be considered at the next meeting of the Council.