The rate of recorded new coronavirus cases in Southport has sunk to its lowest point in 12 months. 50 to 60 patients a week are now being diagnosed with Covid-19 in the Southport area. However, the figures must be treated with caution due to the end of free testing. Similar figures were last seen in June 2021, when Britain was exiting the third national lockdown. In the first week of January 2022, the local “new cases in 7 days” rate surpassed 2,000 for the first and only time. Between 23 May 2022 and 29 May 2022, 18 people went into…
Author: James Cave
Sefton Council has asked other local councils for assistance in dealing with a backlog of green bin collections. Internal paperwork issued by Halton Borough Council, and seen by OTS News, says that Sefton Council has “asked for some support from Halton and other local authorities” collecting green waste from South Sefton. Overtime at 1.5x rate will be offered to HBC staff, with pickups set to begin from 25th June. The cost implications of this external assistance are unknown, and it is unclear whether the internal memo refers to a confirmed arrangement or a preliminary enquiry. OTS understands that these external…
Southport MP Damien Moore has published his strongest condemnation yet of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but again stopped short of directly calling for new leadership of the Conservatives. It was confirmed this morning the Parliamentary Conservative Party will hold a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson later today. The Southport MP has not confirmed how he intends to vote. Mr Moore says that he has “never supported anyone blatantly breaking that Covid rules […] that the current Prime Minister broke”. He has never publicly called for the Prime Minister to resign, nor divulged whether he has dispatched a letter…
Damien Moore has said that he has expressed the “total disapproval of my constituents and I” to Prime Minister Boris Johnson regarding social gatherings that occurred in 10 Downing Street during coronavirus lockdown restrictions. Mr Moore also said “I worry whether this can be resolved” but stopped short of specifically calling for the Prime Minister to resign. When asked by OTS News, representatives from Damien Moore’s office refused to confirm or deny whether the Southport MP has submitted a letter to the 1922 Committee. The Prime Minister is facing renewed pressure from both within his own party and across the…
Killer Mitchell Quy, who murdered his partner Lynsey in 1998, has been denied parole for the third time. Following his recent parole hearing, the Parole Board has decided that there will be “no direction for release and no recommendation for a transfer to open conditions.” Quy murdered his wife, mum-of-two Lynsey in 1998, receiving a life sentence in 2001. He was ordered to serve a minimum of 17 years, a term which expired in June 2017. Quy initially claimed Lynsey had run away from home and abandoned her children. After Lynsey, 21, disappeared over Christmas 1998, Quy had kept up…
The closure of St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School is set to be confirmed at a Council Cabinet meeting next week. In October, the council detailed that the primary school retained just 15 pupils, with 5 nursery pupils and was facing a £103,000 budget deficit. The school has faced significant difficulties since receiving a poor Ofsted report in 2016, despite since being rated “good”. The closure will take place in August, if confirmed. Pupils displaced by the closure will transfer automatically to Our Lady of Lourdes. The council estimates is will cost £190,000 to close the school. The future of the…
Cllrs Terry Jones and Sinclair D’Albuquerque have blamed “a lack of clarity, direction and a weakness in the leadership” of the local Conservative association for their decision to form a new breakaway group. The pair announced on Friday they would step down from the Conservatives on Sefton Council and instead form the “Southport Councillor Group”. Mike Prendergast, Leader of the Conservative Group on Sefton Council, said he did “not recognise the interpretation of events provided” by the councillors. In a new statement announced this morning Cllrs Jones and D’Albuquerque said: “When we stood in our respective elections, we told our…
Two Sefton councillors have left the Conservative Group this morning. Ainsdale’s Terry Jones and Cambridge’s Sinclair D’Albuquerque will form what they are calling “The Southport Councillor Group”. OTS News contacted both Cllr Jones and Cllr D’Albuquerque for comment, who replied that a full statement will be issued on Monday. The full reasons behind the group’s departure are as yet unclear. Following Cllr Dutton’s defeat last week at the local elections, the Conservatives have moved from 8 seats on the council to 5 in the space of a week. Cllr Jones, who has been a councillor since 2007, was formerly head…
Local Liberal Demoncrat leader John Pugh has said that the resignations of Cllrs Jones and D’Albuquerque, along with the recent resignations of five Labour Councillors on Sefton, are a product of “an age of intolerance where politics is becoming more polarised and tribal.” Cllrs Jones and D’Albuquerque this morning announced their intention to step down from the Sefton Conservative Group and instead sit as the “Southport Councillor Group”. John Pugh, said: “The public might get the impression that it’s mayhem on Sefton Council with councillors moving places like a game of musical chairs. “However, the truth is sadder than that.…
Children’s services supplied by Sefton Council have been rated ‘inadequate’ in a scathing review published by Ofsted today, with the report finding: “both serious and widespread failures in core areas”. The assessment, conducted earlier this year between February and March, found that: “The council and senior leaders have not sufficiently understood [earlier] failures or taken the necessary actions to improve services for children.” Representatives of Sefton Council have said they acknowledge the findings, that they will “learn and improve” and highlight that £10m was allocated toward children’s social care in 21/22 in an effort to improve, while calling for more…
Following a sometimes dramatic but ultimately anti-climactic evening at Dunes Leisure Centre on Thursday, not a single Southport Sefton Council seat changed hands. Each one of the seven Southport seats up for grabs was successfully defended by their respective parties. Labour held their two seats in Kew and Norwood, the Liberal Democrats retained Birkdale and Meols, while the Conservatives held Ainsdale, Cambridge and Dukes. However local Conservative leader Tony Brough held his Ainsdale seat by just 23 out of 4202 votes, while Mike Morris successfully defended his seat by 25 votes having been kept waiting until nearly 2:30 in the…
Ticket holders for planned UB40 and Comedy in the Park events this summer have been told they will not receive their money back, after the promoter announced it had closed down due to financial difficulties. M&B Promotions Ltd and sister company Simple Ticketing Ltd have claimed on their website that it is “no longer viable for us to continue trading.” However OTS can reveal both companies have connections to another promoter, Showtime Promotions that went bust in 2019, also leaving thousands out of pocket with social media users now claiming the events were a “scam” and money has been “stolen”.…
9 companies headed up by former Southport FC board member Phil Hodgkinson have been placed into administration. A statement on the PURE Business Group website confirms that Pure Business Group Limited, Pure Legal Limited, Pure Claims Support Services Limited, Pure Technology Systems Limited, Pure Reporting Services Limited, Pure Claims Limited, Pure Costs Budget Limited, Connect Costs Limited and Astute Business Management Consultants Limited have all collapsed. It remains unclear how the group’s collapse will affect Southport FC, whose Haig Avenue ground is currently named ‘The PURE Stadium’ as part of a sponsorship agreement. News of the financial difficulties first broke…
Southport came back from behind to defeat Spennymoor 3-2 in the Emirates FA Cup at Haig Avenue, setting up a mouth-watering tie against familiar foe Altrincham. Having drawn 0-0 in the initial game at Spennymoor, Southport went ahead moments after Marcus Carver missed an opening penalty, only for the visitors the score two goals in three minutes, ending up ahead by halftime. Spennymoor found themselves down to ten men on the stroke of halftime following a red card for Stephen Thompson, with goals from Jordan Archer and Marcus Carver in the second half securing a deserved win for the Yellows.…
Conservative councillors from Southport have rubbished claims from Sefton Council that “hundreds of thousands of cycle journeys have been made on the town centre cycle scheme.” Sefton Council made the claim yesterday in a press release detailing the start of refurbishment works for some of the town’s existing cycle lane measures. But local campaigners and senior members of Southport Conservatives have questioned the data, with Cambridge councillor Mike Morris calling the figures “flawed” and “nonsense”. Active Travel Route Monitoring figures published by Sefton Council suggest that there were 129,000 cycle journeys taken on Chapel Street and the ‘town end’ of…
Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust Chair Neil Masom has confirmed to staff that the trust will enter into “a partnership” with St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals from 20 September. In an email to staff, Masom says that an “agreement for long-term collaboration, which has the backing of NHS England, was unanimously approved” by the Trust Board this week. Any specific changes to hospital operations are not detailed in the email, though Masom says that the partnership agreement will “Sustain the delivery of improved outcomes for patients” and enable the trust to share “the benefits and experiences of a trust…
Southport & Ormskirk NHS Trust’s departing CEO Trish Armstrong-Child has confirmed in a letter to MP Damien Moore that “there are no proposals or plans which would see Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals closing in the future”. The letter comes as the “Save Ormskirk & Southport Hospitals” group plans to host a “Stop the closure of Southport Hospital” public meeting this Saturday. Damien Moore MP said: “I am disappointed and concerned to learn that a local group has been delivering leaflets and sharing social media posts indicating that Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals are set to close. “I want to reassure residents…
The last time Southport played Gloucester City on the opening day, the Yellows lifted the Conference North trophy. Like 2009, Southport today found themselves 1-0 down in the opening ten minutes, with Matt McClure’s effortntaking a wicked deflection as it sailed past Southport keeper Cam Mason. And like 2009, Southport equalised shortly after going behind. Moments after scoring, McClure’s essentially handed Southport an equaliser, handling the ball with raised arms in the area, allowing Marcus Carver to send the Gloucester keeper the wrong way. After an opening flurry of goals however, it was Gloucester who started to take control of…
Trish Armstrong-Child, the chief executive of Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust, is stepping down having accepted the role of chief executive at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The HSJ, a news service that covers policy and management in the NHS, says that the departure could pave the way for Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust to be taken over by St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. The HSJ says in a piece published this morning: “SOHT has long been deemed unsustainable as a standalone provider. Well-placed sources in the region said Ms Armstrong-Child’s departure should pave the…
Sefton’s councillors have voted to oppose changes plans that would see Ainsdale removed from the Southport political constituency. A motion filed by Labour councillor Greg Myers moves “that Sefton Council rejects in the strongest possible terms the Boundary Commission’s plan to remove Ainsdale from the Southport constituency” and that the Council “writes to the Commission making clear our opposition.” In June as part of its 2023 Review, the Boundary Commission unveiled plans move Ainsdale into Sefton Central, while Southport would gain North Meols, Rufford, Tarleton and Hesketh-with-Becconsall, which are currently part of the South Ribble constituency. South Ribble has elected…
A council motion filed by the Liberal Democrats that would have delayed the consultation and potential implementation of cycle lanes in Southport has been defeated. At a full council meeting in Crosby on Thursday evening, Cllr John Pugh submitted a motion to delay the plans until they were considered by a cross-party working group. Cllr Pugh introduced his motion suggesting that he was offering the Council a way out of their “dilemma” over cycle lanes. Cabinet member John Fairclough warned the room of the dangers of global warming, citing that Sefton Council lost 13m of coastal land due to climate…
Southport FC have won an appeal against the National League over “misleading” the league on the covid status of players but have lost a second over failing to fulfil fixtures. Southport was one of eleven clubs that appealed against punishment handed down by the National League for failing to fulfil fixtures during the coronavirus pandemic. The eleven clubs, including Southport, have been ordered to pay costs (£1,200-£1,600 per club) and their appeal fee (£250) will not be returned, but the club will be refunded £1,200 for its successful appeal. Two seperate fines of £2,000 were levied against the Sandgrounders by…
Southport Football Club has launched their season ticket sale ahead of the 2021/22 campaign. Access to the club’s 21 home Vanarama National League North campaign can be secured for as little as £144.50 for an adult ticket, and the price reduces further still for anyone who had a season ticket or membership last season. Junior season tickets remain just £50. Entry prices for individual matches have also been frozen. Southport FC said: “This last 12 months has certainly been a period during which some difficult decisions have had to be made. We have however been heartened by the amount of…
Learner drivers looking to take a test from the Southport Driving Test Centre on Part Street will have to wait six months. The coronavirus pandemic has caused a backlog of nearly half a million test nationwide. Cancellations website driving-test-cancellations-4all.co.uk says that the current waiting time for a driving test at Southport is 23 weeks. OTS reporters trying to book a test were unable to find a date before October. The situation has been made worse this week after the DVSA confirmed that two examiners were unavailable this week, causing the cancellation of a number of tests, only for learners to…
Documents published by Sefton Council have revealed a £1.4m repair bill to fix “significant health and safety concerns” at Splashword amid warnings that “further funding may be required to complete the entire scheme.” A report to Sefton Council’s Cabinet has now been published detailing the full scale of the works. The report recommends the award of a tender and appointment of a contractor to enable essential repairs. The document details that the facility was closed in 2019 from failures on the pool tile surfaces coming away from backing. At the time, it was publicised that the full refurbishment would take…
The report for an unannounced CQC inspection of Southport hospital has been published this morning. Inspectors visited Southport & Formby District General Hospital in February “following information of concern received from the public.” The CQC says: “We received information about patients absconding from wards and that patients and their families had not always been involved in decision making regarding the application of Do Not Attempt Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR).” In a 2019 assessment, the Trust was told by the CQC that improvements were required in several areas. In the report published today, the CQC said: “During this inspection on the…
Southport & Ormskirk NHS Trust has confirmed surgical care for inpatients previously based at Ward 11A in Southport will continue to be provided from Ormskirk. The move means that Ward 11A at Southport & Formby District General Hospital on Town Lane will no longer accomodate surgical patients. The team responsible for the running of the ward will be disbanded and redeployed throughout the Trust. Staff on 11A were informed of the changes on Tuesday. Until the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Ward 11A at Southport & Formby DGH was used for patients preparing for and recovering from surgery, but was…
Less than 24 hours after his election, new Conservative Councillor for Cambridge Sinclair D’Albuquerque is supporting residents of Knob Hall Lane in a long-standing dispute over the upkeep of the road. Knob Hall Lane is an “unadopted” road meaning the residents, rather than the Council, are responsible for its upkeep. However Mr D’Albuquerque says the Council are using the road for access to building developments, leaving residents to foot the repair bill of the road’s heavy useage. Sinclair said: “The fact that the Council granted planning permission to two large residential developments and continue to grant permission for properties to…
Local resident Rueben Naidoo is looking to raise £1,000 for Alzheimer’s Society by climbing Ben Nevis next month. Rueben sadly lost his grandmother to Alzheimer’s and will be climbing Scotland’s highest mountain on 7 June, the date of his grandmother’s birthday. Rueben said: “I lost my Nan very recently to Alzheimer’s and I would like to try and make a difference by raising money for this great cause to help people in the future be able to cope with the tremendous stress not only for the person suffering but their families too. “I am grateful for any kind of help…
Labour have secured a Sefton Council seat in Birkdale for the first time in history while the Liberal Democrat vote collapsed in Southport, with the party losing four seats across the town. Votes have now been counted and declared in the 2021 local elections for Sefton Council, with Sefton’s Labour group bucking the trend in a difficult day for the national party. Elsewhere the Conservatives gained two seats in Southport, their total gains across the entire Council. The Conservatives also won the totalled popular vote across the 7 Southport wards. Sinclair d’Albuquerque unseated Liberal Democrat Pat Keith in Cambridge ward…