Just received this email from council and this suggestion is one of the ways of making cuts!


DESCRIPTION OF OPTION

This option proposes that the Council Kennels/Warden Service should consider being
part of the Merseyside consortium service for the collection and retention of dogs.
RATIONALE FOR SAVINGS
The council operates a collection service during office hours and a standby service
outside normal hours.
A Merseyside Consortium (Liverpool, Knowsley, Halton and Sefton) jointly pay a
private contractor to deliver both the out of hours and kennelling service.
The members of the Merseyside Consortium pay approximately £235,000 for this
service which operates from Halewood. This contract is due to be re-tendered and
should Wirral be included, would provide the potential to meet statutory requirements at
lower cost than the existing council service.
IMPACT
There are likely to be a number of logistical and practical hurdles to investigate if this
option was pursued and to meet its statutory obligations the authority. Five employees
are risk from this proposal, though Wirral may have to still employ one Dog Warden
supplementary to this contract (as in Sefton model)
Under these arrangements the kennels in Wirral would close and owners would need
to travel to Halewood to collect their pet. This could be a disincentive to such reclaims.
The capacity of any new arrangements would also need to be considered so as to
ensure that there is proper capacity to cope with demand and to retain animals for a
suitable period.
In terms of implications for voluntary, community and faith groups, the “Friends Group”
will have a particular interest in this proposal and should be specifically included in the
consultation.
In addition to the above, the transport of dogs to the site in Halewood would increase
carbon emissions from road transport.
This proposal could potentially have a one off saving of £100,000 in year 2014/15.
MITIGATION
There are additional options as to how this service could be delivered differently.
These include:
The potential to reduce the operating costs of the service through reducing the
availability of the acceptance point arrangements from 24 hr availability to a cut off at
10pm or later.
The Kennels operating through an RSPCA affiliated organisation at Cross Lane.
Discussions have taken place concerning co-operation between the council and that
organisation.

Why don't they just put the price of the dogs up to £300 or something?

No need to close the kennels.

Such a load of tosh.
There are so many dogs taken into kennels, Halewood would probably have to extend their kennels which would partly come out of Wirral the council budget anyway. £100,000 is a drop in the ocean compared to the savings that are needed. We need kennels here in Wirral not Liverpool and maybe a joint venture with RSPCA might be a possibility. RSPCA would never agree to loosing it's charity status, but maybe Wirral council could contribute towards kennel extentions for dogs and cats and maybe an annual subsidy for additional staffing.That might work out cheaper. We seem to be continuously given this idea of joining forces with Liverpool at various opportunities. The answer must be 'NO' before it is decided that Liverpool/Wirral become one Merseyside council because that is what they seem to have been driving towards for long enough. We don't want to be part of Merseyside Council because their population is greater than ours and we would end up with no voice at all. Shout it out loud, you lot out there!
NO!
We are now in the throws of having a Merseyside Police Commissioner. Wirral will become a suburb of Liverpool if the Wirral residents allow it.A number of yeas ago, Liverpool Council Tourism department had Wirral listed as a suberb of Liverpool. Since then Wirral Tourisam Dept. virtually folded and Liverpool Tourism promoted this side of the river. What cheek! Watch out Gremlins are on the move! A slow but sneeky programme.

A little added extra.

p.s. why should our jobs be lost and go to Liverpool residents?

http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/3928861.Wirral__should_promote_itself_as_Liverpool_/

This is an outrage.

We the Wirral people should make a stand!

Petition against closure of kennels

xx

Do online petitions actually work? Some say they don't because signatures are needed on petitions.

I signed it.I got my dog from there last year after she had been there 6 months we went back for the open weekend & they were pleased with the work I have done with her.my other akita spent a night down there when she escaped.We need this facility Halewood is too far for most people & would they have the room for the wirral dogs.

I agree we really need this kennel facility in Wirral, Ive been to Halewood a few times and they always appear to be 'full'. If hey want to save money, The council should stop the sponsoring tranmere rovers, get rid of some of the high earners who work at the council and shut that bloody call centre in Cheshire Lines, what a waste of money that was.

Not to mention parking fines.

Council services are being decimated across Wirral and the UK. It's not just the Birkenhead Kennels. We all need to get off our collective arses, turn of the TV and get out and organise. This government is destroying our public services. Just moaning about it on the internet will do sod all. Join a pressure group or start one of your own. There is an umbrella group called Wirral Against The Cuts. We were successful in 2008 and can be again in 2013.

Also, there is a government MP in Wirral West. Esther McVey should be bombarded with email and letters demanding a better settlement for Wirral.

[email protected]

In all honesty Touchstone, the cuts in Council Services started back in 2005/6 apart from other services, such as refuse collection and the maintenance of grass verges, tree lopping etc. going to Continental Landscapes which were outsourced before then. That was at a time when there was a Labour Council and at that point, 10yrs of Labour Government. More cut backs in 2007/2009. We should maybe a little more open as to what part bad management has played over the years within the Councils. Yes, things are much worse now but they are not all to be laid at the door of one political party.
If there are cuts and savings to be made, then it has to be and would ask where and how you think these should be put into place. It's no longer any good ranting over such things because those in position, will make up their own minds at the end of the day, only hope it doesn't affect yourself. The kennels are important to have here but closing and sending to Halewood is just another example of idiotic ideas coming from a Labour Council

Other Councils seem to be coping rather better than Wirral, I would say. How?

Very sound points you make, Granny!

Lets remember that animal homelessness is likely to increase once Bedroom Tax is introduced?!