Another senior officer has quit Liverpool City Council after chief executive Tony Reeves dramatically resigned from his job yesterday.
The ECHO understands that Claire Slinger, the assistant director for investment and development at the Cunard administration is leaving her role. The news comes after her boss, Mr Reeves, announced he would be departing with immediate effect.
The council has not released details on the details of Ms Slinger's departure, but the ECHO understands she is moving on to a new role elsewhere after a decade with the local authority. She will work her three months notice period.
Mr Reeves' resignation came as pressure intensified on him over the council's handling of an energy contract, with errors set to cost the city as much as £16m. His deputy chief executive and finance director Mel Creighton quit her post at the end of May, shortly after the revelations of the botched deal came to light.
READ MORE: Liverpool Council chief executive Tony Reeves resigns
The council is yet to appoint a permanent new finance director. There have also been struggles to hire a new director of neighbourhoods, with disagreements between the government commissioners and councillors over a shortlist of candidates. Culture director Claire McColgan is currently doubling up as an interim neighbourhoods boss.
The local authority has also failed to install a long-term replacement for Nick Kavanagh as regeneration director. Mark Bousfield initially replaced Mr Kavanagh, who was dismissed in 2021, with Mark Bousfield on an interim basis. He has now been replaced by Mark Bourgeois, also acting in a short-term capacity.
The resignations, vacancies and interim figures all contribute to a feeling of instability at the council at a time when it least needs it. The commissioners are soon to publish their second report since they began their intervention at the council and further action now feels inevitable.
Mr Reeves had been seen as the key figure in turning things around in the wake of the damaging Max Caller inspection report that highlighted a huge range of failures and wasted millions. But it appears that his relationship with the commissioners he helped to bring in had become untenable.
Reacting to his resignation, Liverpool Green leader Tom Crone said: "Tony Reeves' departure is another blow to this council in crisis. He was a breath of fresh air when he came in, and played an important part in uncovering the malpractice and the ongoing upheavals that followed. This is just the latest in a string of senior departures, leaving this council in crisis with no one at the wheel.
"We can't have paid officials being constantly forced out or quitting when the underlying problem is the failure of Labour's political leadership. Labour needs to recognise just how dire the situation is and the risk they are running of further Tory government intervention."
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