A firm was brought in to independently review the council earlier this year
16:37, 16 Oct 2025Updated 16:37, 16 Oct 2025
Wirral Council’s offices at Alice Ker Square in Birkenhead(Image: Liverpool Echo)
People in Wirral will not discover the findings of a probe into major multi-million regeneration schemes for another month. A firm was brought in earlier this year to look at Wirral Council’s delivery of key projects and to identify problems.
In July, Wirral Council appointed regeneration consultants Aughton Lane to look at a number of projects over the last three years. The up to £95,000 review was to see whether the council needs to rethink its approach to regeneration as well as the delivery status of a number of key developments.
The public have been promised major change in Birkenhead in recent years with computer graphics and artist illustrations showing how the town could be transformed. The local authority has been successful in bringing money in, with more than £150m in government grants.
However several schemes have since been scrapped, changed, and with some no progress seems to be taking place. Projects like Birkenhead Market and works in the town centre have also been incredibly controversial.
A review of the regeneration programme was prompted following Wirral Council leader Cllr Paula Basnett’s election in May. She said too many schemes remained stuck and an independent review was needed of all major projects promising “no more delays and no more excuses.”
More recently, she said she proposed the review because of genuine concerns about the council’s delivery and the local authority could not afford to get it wrong. However the daily costs of the review have been criticised by one Conservative councillor as “appalling.”
The ECHO understood the review was going to be published ahead of a policy and resources committee on October 22. The committee is made up of senior councillors of all political parties.
When this was not the case, the ECHO approached the local authority to explain the delay. Council leader Cllr Paula Basnett said: “The draft review of Wirral Council’s regeneration programme has been circulated to all group leaders.
“Before it goes to the Policy and Resources committee and to encourage more collaborative working across committees, I have proposed a joint meeting of the Economy, Regeneration and Housing and Policy and Resources committees with Aughton Lane, who conducted the review.
“This will allow members to discuss key issues and recommendations ahead of publication. To facilitate this, I’ve asked officers to defer the review’s presentation from October to November’s Policy and Resources committee meeting.”
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