Southport MP's West Lancs plan dismissed as:- "nonsense"

A proposal to effectively move Southport from Merseyside and into West Lancashire has been described as:- "unworkable nonsense" after it was revealed that Council leaders had already dismissed the idea before it was made public. Earlier this week, Southport Conservative MP Damien Moore touted the plan as part of his ongoing campaign against Sefton Council, announcing he'd written to Secretary of State Michael Gove to appeal for Southport to merge with West Lancs. Local Conservatives had previously welcomed ongoing Boundary Commission proposals to carve Ainsdale out of Southport and replace it with 4 Conservative voting wards from South Ribble.

Sefton Council opposed the scheme after Southport Councillors Greg Myers and Mhairi Doyle filed a motion condemning the plan. They cited Ainsdale's far stronger ties with Southport than areas such as Hesketh with Becconsall or Rufford and were strongly supported by Councillors across the political spectrum, except for Conservatives with only 1 backing the motion. After a public backlash over the plan, the Town's MP has now declared that instead he wants to keep Ainsdale but take it with him to the politically safer ground of West Lancashire, citing his anger at Sefton's claimed:- "mismanagement."

It's a move that has been dismissed by Councillors Myers and Doyle as motivated by little more than political expediency on the part of the Southport MP. Cllr Myers explained:- "Here we have a group who were quite happy to see the back of Ainsdale, see it just carved off from the rest of Southport simply because it suited their narrow political interest. Now after uproar over it, they've apparently suddenly U-turned and decided 'no we'd better keep Ainsdale but let's try to carve Southport off from the rest of Merseyside instead.' Yet again, down to the same narrow political interest. It's all the more baffling when he has already been told by the leader of West Lancashire Borough Council that West Lancs have no interest in such a merger and do not think it viable for a number of reasons, 1 of which is the loss of free Merseytravel privileges for Southport's older residents."

Councillor Doyle continued:- "It's woolly headed unworkable nonsense. The MP knows he's on borrowed time here and is simply trying to shore up his position as best he can. Sadly, he doesn't seem to care what division he stokes up to try and achieve that. I'd rather see him and the Conservatives out of Southport; that's the change we really need locally."

West Lancashire Labour MP Rosie Cooper has also backed the plan over fears her area was in a:- "no man's land" between Manchester, Liverpool and Preston and needed to strengthen, but it appears to be a non-starter locally with little appetite for the proposal elsewhere.

West Lancashire BC Leader, Cllr Ian Moran, confirmed:- "West Lancs administration has no interest in merging with Southport. We do not see it as remotely financially viable. We are instead already pursuing a county devolution deal with our Lancashire partners which includes Chorley and South Ribble."

Sefton Labour leader Ian Maher added:- "Damien Moore and Rosie Cooper may well want to raise this again for their own reasons, despite it being rejected out of hand time and again for good reason. My own view on this is led by the question:- 'what is best for Southport residents?' And my conclusion is that this suggestion would potentially be disastrous for the people of Southport."

Residents have until 4 April 2022, to comment on the changes actually proposed for Southport by the Boundary Commission here.  You can also see our previous reports about this by clicking on this link.
 

Peter Capaldi returns to host national creative writing competition for care experienced children and young people

THE Actor Peter Capaldi will return to host the 7th Annual Edition of Voices, the national creative writing competition for children in care and young care leavers run by the charity Coram Voice and sponsored by UK management consultancy Cadence Innova. The competition is now in its final week for entries, closing on 14 April 2022, and the winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in London, on Saturday, 21 May 2022, co-hosted by Peter and former competition winner, Sophia Alexandra Hall. This year will see the 1st in person Voices Awards ceremony since 2019, with the previous 2 years hosted online due to Covid restrictions.  Coram Voice, a charity that ensures the voices of children and young people in and around the care system are heard, 1st launched the Voices competition in 2016 as a platform for care experienced young people to express their creative talents and to build understanding of their experiences.  Peter is a long term supporter of the competition, having hosted the awards since 2017. His co-host Sophia Alexandra Hall was the winner of the care leaver category in 2019 and has since gone on to write numerous articles for national media titles, now working as the Content Editor at Classic FM.

Peter Capaldi said:- "I'm delighted to host the Voices 2022 awards ceremony alongside 1 of the competition's former winners Sophia. After 2 years of Covid restrictions, it's fantastic that we can hold the awards in person once again and I'm looking forward to meeting this year's finalists and celebrating their achievements. I've supported the Voices competition for a number of years and am always blown away by the talent of the children and young people taking part. It's an honour to read their words and the competition is so important in helping us all to better understand their lives and experiences. I can't wait to read this year's entries and I wish all our writers the very best of luck!"

Sophia Alexandra Hall said:- "I am so excited to be co-hosting this year's award ceremony alongside the wonderful Peter Capaldi. It's so special to have a competition like this which encourages, platforms, and most importantly celebrates care-experienced people's voices. Growing up in care can so often feel like you're being silenced, or that even if you speak up, no one's listening. But in reality, there are so many incredible voices in our community, and they all deserve to be heard and listened to. Before I entered the competition, I never imagined I'd be able to have a career writing, but the awards gave me the confidence to develop my voice and now I work in my dream industry. I always view this competition as a really cool way of encouraging our community to explore their voice in a safe and nurturing way. I'm really looking forward to meeting all of the entrants to hear about why they write, and what they want to do next."

The theme of this year's competition is:- 'This is Me' and entries can be in any written form including poems, short stories, raps or newspaper articles, with a 500 word limit. There are 4 age categories:- Primary School (5 to 10), Lower Secondary School (age 11 to 14), Upper Secondary School (age 15 to 17) and Care Leavers (age 18 to 25). Prizes include up to ₤100 in shopping vouchers, bags and books, and entries will be judged by an expert panel of authors and poets, some of whom are care experienced.

Brigid Robinson, Managing Director of Coram Voice, said:- "We are delighted to have Peter and Sophia as hosts for our Voices 2022 Awards Ceremony; they are both a huge inspiration for the children and young people who take part and it is set to be a very special evening. It has been fantastic to see the entries coming in so far and as we approach the deadline, we'd encourage all young people to get writing for their chance to meet Peter when the winners are announced in April. Good luck!"

Entries can be submitted online until 28 February 2022, for more information please visit:- CoramVoice.Org.UK/Voices.