"Fit for purpose" - word games at Wirral Council

By Lorna Hughes on Nov 6, 09 01:17 PM

BUSINESS and company speak is full of meaningless phrases that say so much and deliver very little - "Blue sky thinking" anyone?

Then there are words and sentences which are wheeled out so many times that you wonder (a) what's behind the rhetoric and (b) whether it means anything at all.

Newspapers are as guilty as anyone else - there are only so many ways you can describe a situation in a way that fits three lines and 100 words.

And Wirral Council is no exception. If I had a pound for every time I've heard an officer or a councillor use "fit for purpose" I'd be shopping in Prada rather than Primark.

After hearing it being used repeatedly during the libraries crisis, it brings to mind only one thing - cuts.

I first remember hearing it in September last year, when leader of Wirral Council Steve Foulkes toured adult social services facilities, saying: "We are committed to putting care and choice at the heart of our services; people want and have a right to expect modern services that are fit for purpose."

Then in October, consultants Strategic Leisure revealed a long-awaited report (paid for by the council) on the strategic development of Wirral's leisure and cultural services.

The report said the borough had "too many built facilities in poor condition, some in the wrong place and not fit for purpose".

And later the same month, here's Councillor Bob Moon's take on the Strategic Asset Review: "What is exciting about the new vision for cultural services is that it sets out a plan for how we can take positive steps to deliver modern, fit for purpose, safe and accessible cultural facilities that give real value for money for the council tax payer."

On to April this year, when cabinet members were about to decide on the next stage of a review of special education.

Councillor Phil Davies had this to say: "These are very good schools operating in buildings that in many cases are no longer fit for purpose."

In the wake of the libraries saga, opposition councillors and readers have been quick to pick up on this and use it against the council and the ruling Labour/Liberal Democrat cabinet.

I've lost count of the number of meetings I've been to and letters I've read this year where it's been suggested that they're..you guessed it - "not fit for purpose".

And this week it was back, this time in a report from David Green, director of technical services, on Parking Strategy Development.

He said "In order to develop a parking strategy for Wirral, it will be crucial to ensure that it is 'fit for purpose' and based on robust data and evidence of future need".

Strategy? Fit for purpose? I've got a headache.