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News Report Page 18 of 18
Publication Date:- 2018-24-03
News reports located on this page = 6.

Have your say on car park plans

LIVERPOOL City Council is inviting residents to have their say over plans for a new car park to replace the burnt out multi storey at King's Dock. The Liverpool Waterfront Car Park at the Echo Arena was left devastated when fire broke on New Year's Eve, 2017. Investigations into the blaze by various authorities are underway.

In the aftermath of the blaze, the Council created a 600 space open car park as a temporary replacement. Now, plans have been drawn up for a number of proposals for a permanent replacement at Monarch's Quay, King's Dock.

Other options include the rebuilding of the car park on the existing site. The decision on the permanent replacement car park will be subject to discussions with the insurance company.

The event will consider the principle of a new park and more detailed proposals will follow. However, the Council will use the opportunity to take on board any recommendations to come from Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service's report into the fire on New Year's Eve. The Council will look to implement any proposed safety improvements as part of any new car park construction.

The consultation event will take place at the Liverpool Arena Exhibition Centre, on Wednesday, 21 March 2018, between 1pm and 7pm.

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson, said:- "We are considering a new multi-storey car park on the site and the proposals relate to the size and scale of the building, the number of storeys and capacity. The views of the people of Liverpool are really important, so we would like as many residents as possible to come along to the consultation event, look at the plans and tell us what they think."


Online access to ancestry and archives

A long term project to digitise carefully and accurately all of the electoral registers for the City of Liverpool, from 1832 to 1970, held by Liverpool Record Office, within the Central Library and Archive, has just come to fruition. This has resulted in over 671,000 high quality images and more than 8 million records being searchable online for the 1st time via the Ancestry website.

Previously, people researching their family tree would have had to visit the Record Office in person and consult the fragile originals. They would also have needed to know the addresses where their ancestors lived and then look up the relevant polling district which changed frequently through time. The simple search is now possible online and is free at all of Liverpool's public libraries as well as Central Library.

Councillor Wendy Simon says:- "This transforms access for everyone to such a vital series of records which is so useful for family and local history in so many ways. By opening up this major resource it will fascinate many and lead to lots of interesting discoveries and connections being made, which previously was very difficult and time consuming if not impossible.  We are very grateful to the dedication and patience of all of the experienced and knowledgeable Liverpool Record Office team in seeing this project through from conception to completion and to the excellent support, skill, and investment of the Ancestry team. The originals will be preserved permanently in the state of the art repository of Liverpool Record Office under the expert care of the Conservation team."

Senior UK Content Manager Miriam Silverman says:- "Electoral registers are such an essential resource for people researching their family history and these newly digitised Liverpool records will certainly be a huge help to the local community, as well as people all around the Country. We're really happy to have been a part of the project and to continue bringing interesting and useful records to Ancestry members".


Litter fines to be used to make Liverpool cleaner and greener

INCOME from some of the fines issued to people for dropping litter in Liverpool are set to be used to help make the City cleaner and greener. A ₤20,000 fund to help community groups make improvements in their neighbourhoods is being funded using a slice of the income from the penalty notices handed out by Kingdom enforcement staff.  Bids for Environmental Initiatives Fund grants of up to ₤500 are now being made available for organisations including community groups, Schools and small businesses, enabling them to play a more active role in improving their local environment.

Councillor Steve Munby, Cabinet member for City services, said:- "The money raised from litter fines is already being reinvested in helping keep the City clean, whether it's putting in additional cleansing or tracking down flytippers. What we are doing here is taking a slice of the fines for environmental improvement projects.  While the grant to each group may not be a large amount of money they will still have an impact on making neighbourhoods greener and cleaner and will help to get communities working together to improve their neighbourhoods. It could include schemes such as:- community gardens, engaging children in gardening projects or community clean ups."

Applications can be made by completing the application form available at online.  The deadline for applications is Friday, 27 April 2018, at 12 noon.


People with deafness and hearing loss still don't enjoy full access to healthcare

A new report by charity Action on Hearing Loss entitled Good Practice? has found that people with deafness and hearing loss still don't enjoy equality of access to healthcare.

Despite the Accessible Information Standard having come into effect in August 2016, which legally requires all providers of NHS care and publicly funded adult social care to record and meet the communication needs of people with disabilities and sensory loss, the report has found that many GP surgeries are still falling short. The report found that 64% of people who are deaf or have hearing loss still feel unclear about their health advice after their GP appointment, at least some of the time.

A key area of concern for patients with deafness and hearing loss was booking urgent same day appointments, with more than of survey respondents having experienced difficulties. Of these, 19% of survey respondents said they had experienced difficulties because they were offered a same day phone appointment by their GP surgery, even though they cannot use the phone.

Roger Wicks, Director of Policy and Campaigns at Action on Hearing Loss, said:- "These findings show that in many GP surgeries, the requirements of the Accessible Information Standard are not routinely being met. Importantly, the Standard requires that 'one or more communication or contact methods which are accessible and useable by the patient' and our survey in fact found that almost a third of our respondents had had to ask a family member, friend or carer to call their GP surgery or NHS service for them. It's not acceptable that people with deafness and hearing loss are in some cases still being denied the personal autonomy over their health and wellbeing that many of us take for granted. The Accessible Information Standard has represented a huge step forward and has put the communication needs of people with invisible conditions like deafness and hearing loss on the agenda, but its clear more needs to be done to ensure that there is no postcode lottery in terms of accessibility. We must remember that the NHS was founded on the principle of free high quality health care for all, this report shows that 70 years on people who are deaf or have hearing loss still don't enjoy equal access to health care. We urge GP surgeries, NHS England, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to work together to ensure the requirements of the Standard are properly implemented and enforced"

The report also found that just 1 in 10 respondents had been asked if they needed support contacting GP services, despite the Standard requiring that all patients be asked, and 45% said staff at their GP surgery let them know it was their turn to be seen verbally rather than via a visual display screen. NHS England estimates that the cost of people with hearing loss missing appointments; because they didn't hear their name being called in the waiting room; could be as high as ₤15m every year.

To read the full report, please visit on the Action Hearing Loss website, you can Also to find out more about the Accessible Information Standard on the website.


Liverpool feels the benefit

Council team claims millions for those who need it most. 10 million pounds… That's how much a Liverpool City Council service is on target to bring in to help struggling individuals and families in the City this financial year.

The 17-strong members of the Benefit Maximisation Service have worked tirelessly to help local residents claim back the 8 figure sum over the past 12 months.

The team specialises in helping people claim everything they are entitled to. The support they offer can be anything from a comprehensive benefit check through to organising urgent assistance for those in financial crisis.

Working in partnership with other Council departments and partners such as the Citizen's Advice Bureau, the team also provides support in helping local people to challenge decisions by the Department of Work and Pensions, including representing them at tribunal.

Contact with the Benefits Maximisation Team usually starts with a phone call but can have a transformational effect on people's personal circumstances.

As well as doing business over the phone team members are also out and about around the City, visiting residents to assess their needs.

It's a service that's very much in demand. By the end of February team members had completed 4,500 benefits checks, which has netted the ₤9.4M and helped around 2,000 people. By March 31 it is anticipated the team will have topped the 10 mill.

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson, said:- "This is an amazing result for the Benefit Maximisation Service. The team has helped thousands of people, many of whom are in dire financial circumstances. The impact of the work of the team on the lives of people is significant - it has helped to keep food on the table and a roof over people's heads."

Mayor Anderson added:- "In an ideal world the Benefits Maximisation Service wouldn't exist but given we live in an environment where money is extremely tight and many people struggle to make ends meet, it's a good thing the service is here to support them."

Residents of Liverpool can ask for a benefits check by using the online form or by calling:- 0800 028 3697.


New Regional Adoption Agency to start work

A Regional Adoption Agency covering:- Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton and Wirral will become operational from 1 April 2018. It follows a successful bid to the Government by Local Authorities on Merseyside to create a new shared service to get more children with a plan for adoption placed successfully and as quickly as possible.

The new agency; AIM (Adoption in Merseyside) brings together a team of around 50 staff from across the 4 Councils who have been seconded into the new organisation on their existing terms and conditions.

Responsibilities include recruitment, approval and ongoing support for adopters, tracking, linking and matching of children and the training and development of staff.

Although the Regional Adoption Agency has a centralised hub in Halewood, staff will continue to have a presence in each of their Local Authority areas to ensure they retain close links with social work staff.

Every year, the 4 Local Authorities approve around 100 adopters each year and place approximately 140 children for adoption.

Colette Dutton, Knowsley's Executive Director (Children), said:- "Adoption really can change a child's life so I'm delighted that the Regional Adoption Agency could offer greater opportunities for children in our Region. Having shared resources, expertise and processes will provide enormous benefits to our children and young people, as well as the Local Authorities taking part."

Councillor Barry Kushner, Cabinet member for children's services in Liverpool, said:- "AIM will mean we are able to provide a better service for children and adopters. At the moment each Local Authority is effectively competing with each other for adopters and there is a great deal of duplication of effort. By creating a regional agency, we are able to widen the net of potential adopters, share expertise and ideas and make sure adopters and children get a consistent level of support, regardless of where they live. This shows the potential of working across authorities and further collaboration on residential care, fostering and leaving care."

Councillor John Joseph Kelly, Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Safeguarding at Sefton Council, said:- "We know that we often receive enquiries from across the Liverpool City Region, so it makes sense that we are collaborating with our neighbours to meet the challenges we face together and increase the potential for our vulnerable children to find a forever family. I'm looking forward to this new regional adoption agency making the process for would be adopters quicker and more effective, as both they and children in Sefton and the wider Region are matched so they begin their new family life."

Councillor Bernie Mooney, Cabinet member for Children and Families in Wirral, said:- "It is vital we are able to offer fast and safe support to those children who need to be adopted. Working with our partners throughout the City Region should mean we are able to offer more support to more children, through a quicker and more efficient service."

 
      
 
   
 
 
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