Wirral Council

A plan shaped by young people, for young people. Together, we’re building Wirral’s new Corporate Parenting Plan. At a recent event, councillors and staff from across Wirral Council came together with care-experienced young people to begin shaping our new Corporate Parenting Plan. The plan will set out how we, as corporate parents, support children in our care and care leavers. This plan is being co-produced with young people themselves to ensure it reflects their voices, their wishes, and what matters most to them. Corporate Parenting is the collective responsibility of the local authority, councillors, council officers, and partners, to provide the kind of care, support, and opportunities that any parents would want for their child. Being a corporate parent means more than providing services, it means taking on the role of a parent in every sense: offering stability, opportunity, and advocacy. It’s about doing everything we can to help children in our care, and those leaving care, to thrive. The event gave us an opportunity to reflect on feedback already gathered from children and young people across Wirral, and to begin turning that into real commitments. Colleagues worked side by side with care leavers to consider what young people want from their corporate parents and how we can better meet those needs in the years ahead. This plan is being written with young people, for young people, and their voices will be at the heart of every commitment make.

Wirral Youth Justice Service has been rated ‘good’ overall, with one area of work rated as outstanding, after a recent inspection from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP). A multi-agency team, co-ordinated by Wirral Council, Wirral Youth Justice Service is aims to reduce offending by young people. According to the report there is ‘much to commend’ the service for. The inspection involved a tour of the Wirral area – travelling from the service’s base at Solar Campus (Wallasey) through to Birkenhead and visiting the multi-agency Pilgrim Street, a vibrant hub offering creative activities and groups for young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND). Inspectors found that assessing activity to help children make positive changes had been prioritised and care had been taken to include the views of children, parents, and carers to shape service delivery. We’d like to share a huge well done to all of the community partners involved and a thank you to the families and children who shared their invaluable first hand feedback during the inspection. Together, we are making a difference in the lives of children who need our support. To read the full report, see the first comment ⤵️

Wirral Youth Market is coming to West Kirby! With around 40 young traders, live music all day, artisan food & drinks, and FREE activities for the little ones, it’s a perfect way to enjoy the long Bank Holiday weekend. 🛍️🍰☀️ So grab your friends and family and come along to celebrate Wirral’s young talent and have a great day out. 📢 For traders and performers: we're calling for more young traders aged 16 to 29 to apply for a FREE pitch - which includes tables and chairs under a smart gazebo, and for performers like musicians, bands, dance groups and choirs who'd like to take to the event stage and showcase their talent. Follow the link in comments to get started. 📅 Saturday 23 August 📍Outside The Concourse, West Kirby ⏰ 10am – 4pm

A mobile lung cancer screening bus will be returning to Wirral from the beginning of August. Current or ex smokers in a certain age group may be invited for a scan at this pioneering health service, which is already saving lives. Mike Fortune is a Social Action Lead at One Wirral CIC, a service aiming to improve the borough’s health and wellbeing. Mike’s role is to drive awareness around early cancer diagnosis and detection. We spoke to Mike, who has been promoting the service at roadshows across Wirral, to learn more about the Lung Cancer Screening Programme. Mike said: “Lung cancer can be hard to detect in the early stages, with symptoms often appearing later on. This programme is turning that round. Through the screening, the team are detecting people at stage 1 and 2 which has a high survival rate compared to stage 3 and 4.” Provided by Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital (LHCH) the service invites individuals who have ever smoked for free lung health checks to help them improve their lung health and diagnose lung conditions early. Those who are registered with their GP as a current or ex smoker will be invited to a telephone consultation with the lung cancer team who assess each individual’s background. After that, you could potentially be invited to a scan at mobile unit. Mike said: “The scanner is painless - it’s quick and delivers a low level radiation scan from the neck to the bottom of the chest taking no more than a couple of minutes to do and it is non-invasive.” The programme is targeting residents aged 55-74 who have a history of smoking, even if they haven’t smoked a lot or it was a long time ago. It has already been successful in detecting cancer early for hundreds of people. In the past four years Lung Cancer Screening (formerly known as Targeted Lung Health Checks) has found 660 lung cancers across Cheshire and Merseyside - including 33 people who live in Wirral. More than 500 of those were detected at an early stage, when treatment is easier and can be more successful. Mike, who has lost two much-loved family members to lung cancer in the past, would encourage anybody who is eligible, to take up the offer. Mike said: “I understand if people think they don’t need it. But prevention and early diagnosis is everything. So, let’s just make sure. If you’re invited into the programme, take advantage of it.” The lung cancer screening mobile unit will be returning to various locations in Wirral from 4 August 2025 until February 2026. If you’re aged 55-74 and are a current or ex-smoker, you should be contacted automatically. If you think you could be eligible, contact your GP practice and make sure your smoking status is up to date, otherwise you will not be invited. For more information about the programme, see the first comment ⤵️

Merseyrail is offering Wirral businesses the chance to promote themselves for free, with a pop-up activity at a railway station in September. 🚊🛍️ The Local Business Week initiative will give companies across the region the chance to take advantage of the footfall at rail stations to raise awareness of their products and services, as well as foster stronger connections with the local community. To qualify, businesses need to be located within a two mile radius of the station. Applications are open until this Friday 25 July and you can apply in the link below ⬇️

Last week members of the public and professionals attended a public health event to discuss ketamine use and how it affects our communities. The event, opened by Dave Bradburn, Wirral Director of Public Health, took place at Start Yard in Birkenhead, and brought together people who had been personally impacted, those supporting someone affected by ketamine use, and those who are working in a professional role in the treatment, recovery and associated services, with children, young people and adults. As an emerging issue nationally, the event highlighted ketamine use and associated harms, lived and living experience stories of recovery, and what support is available in Wirral to those affected. Speakers from a range of services shared stories and information about the impact of ketamine on Wirral communities. A brave local parent shared a personal and powerful story of their experience in supporting their child with ketamine harms. In feedback following the event, attendees found the session very worthwhile, with 96% of attendees who completed a feedback form stating they felt more informed. Closing the event, Councillor Tony Murphy, who was recently named as the borough’s Ketamine Champion by Wirral Council’s Adult Social Care and Public Health committee, passed on his appreciation and thanks to all partners and individuals who came along to the event to discuss this issue but in particular to those who had shared their invaluable thoughts and experiences. He hoped everyone left feeling more informed about the support available in our local area and more empowered to be ‘ketamine champions’ in their own communities.

It was great to see so many people at the Early Years Jobs Fair in Birkenhead yesterday – bringing together residents looking for work with local employers. Exit surveys indicated that 12% of people who came along were offered a job interview, 25% were offered a work placement and 33% were offered enrolment on a training course. 🎉👍 Watch this video to hear more from some of the people who attended and see the event in full swing.

🌿 Wirral’s parks and green spaces have done it again – scooping a record-breaking 37 Green Flag Awards! 🏆 Hilbre Islands Nature Reserve and Landican Cemetery have been recognised as Green Heritage Sites for the first time, joining Birkenhead Park and Wirral Country Park in celebrating their historic and cultural value. These awards are a tribute to the dedication of our council teams, volunteers and Friends groups who work tirelessly to keep Wirral’s green spaces beautiful, welcoming and well cared for. No other area in the North West received more awards, and our borough is now home to more than 13% of all Green Flag locations in the region. 👏 Thank you to everyone who helps make Wirral’s parks places to be proud of!

Thirty years ago today, 8,372 Bosnian Muslim boys and men were murdered in what the UN has described as the worst atrocity on European soil since World War Two. In 2018 we pledged to mark the anniversary of Srebrenica each year and to support efforts to tackle hatred and intolerance - to help build a better, safer society for everyone. The wider Bosnian War saw more than 100,000 killed, thousands of women raped, and more than two million people forced from their homes. Wirral Council joins organisations around the world to remember the innocent lives that were taken in the genocide on this Srebrenica Memorial Day.

At an event with dozens of key partners, council leader Cllr Paula Basnett has set out her key priorities: - Restoring Financial Stability to protect frontline services - Delivering Regeneration that is ambitious yet achievable, and ensures residents see the benefits - A Fair and Deliverable Local Plan that is sound, sustainable, reflects community and national priorities, and secures investment - Cleaner, Safer and more Inclusive Neighbourhoods through a renewed focus on neighbourhood-level priorities to ensure every ward sees real improvements   The Wirral Partnership event at Wallasey Town Hall brought together representatives from the public, private, voluntary and faith sectors, with the Partnership playing a unique strategic role in shaping Wirral - with a strong record of delivering results through collaboration including the local response to the Covid pandemic, the cost of living crisis, and to Health and Social Care reforms. Council leader Cllr Basnett said: “The next few months are crucial as we continue to drive forward our plans.  For us to achieve these ambitions, it is clear that we must work together with our residents, elected members and all of our partner organisations across Wirral and the wider region. “I look forward to hearing more about their plans and how we can all continue to support our residents, acknowledging that we can only achieve our goals by working together.”