Not content with trying to break into the newspaper industry Wirral Council has now resolved to become “more business-like to take advantage of commercial opportunities.”

“It is about having a private sector head with a public sector heart” says Cllr Ann McLachlan in her introduction to a cabinet report setting out how Wirral will manage this.

The deputy council leader goes on: “To get there requires a fundamental change in how we do business.

"Our approach to becoming more commercial is not about simply charging more for our services, it is not about becoming purely profit driven.

"It is about making our organisation more business-like, more able to take advantage of commercial opportunities which will benefit our borough, and our residents.

"It is on this principle that we will begin to change how the council thinks and behaves."

Wirral Globe:

Ann McLachlan, cabinet member for transformation, leisure and culture

The document says three main functions will support this new-found commercial approach: “Strategic leadership, business transformation and delivery re-design supporting the evaluation and development of commercial opportunities.”

It heralds the town hall’s commercial success to date in generating £200m annual income, the main sources being fees and charges 48m, council tax £120m and business rates £35m.

The local authority has now devised a helpful "vision" to enable it to act more like a business: “Wirral Council will take a customer focussed, innovative, commercial and entrepreneurial approach to secure the delivery of high quality and value for money services to support the Wirral Plan.”

Also on the cabinet agenda next week is how the town hall plans to launch a monthly newspaper competing for advertising with existing local media.

It says it aims to generate around £120,000 per year by 2019 which, combined with reducing its marketing spend, will cover the proposed £240,000 annual cost of the publication.

Wirral Globe:

Cabinet member for community engagement and communications Matthew Patrick, pictured above, says in the introduction to the proposal: “Wirral Council has a duty to keep its residents well informed about the community and the services available to them.

"At a time of such change in the public sector as a whole, this duty has never been more important."

Councillors will discuss both ideas a week on Monday.