There is “cause of cautious optimism” for the future of Liverpool Council according to the third report by government appointed commissioners.
More than halfway into their stay at the Cunard Building, the team of five Whitehall-mandated officials have given a more positive outlook on the progress of the city council. The team, led by Mike Cunningham, was put in place at Liverpool Council back in June 2021 after the scathing Caller Report.
In their last submission to the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities back in August, Mr Cunningham and officials tore into the council’s performance, saying it had not adopted the “sufficient pace, urgency or grip.” In their February report, released this evening, the commissioners said there had been determination to improve “at pace” from the council leadership and if it can “maintain the focus, energy and commitment” shown of late, they have confidence “required progress will be made.”
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The 25-page report, submitted to Secretary of State Michael Gove, said while there “remains much to be done to meet the challenges of the next 18 months” credible options had been developed at pace to meet its significant budget gap.
The commissioners said “the journey to get to this point has not been straightforward” but the situation at Liverpool Council has changed, with marked improvements in leadership. They said: “There has been a step change in the urgency and grip demonstrated to tackle the challenges facing the council.
“There is now a shared understanding between commissioners, the officer leadership, and the elected members of the scale of the challenge and the need for transformative change.” In addition, senior decision making had improved, the commissioners said, who singled out interim chief executive Theresa Grant and Mayor Joanne Anderson for praise.
The commissioners wrote how Ms Grant had delivered “transformational leadership” and her appointment had been the “key factor in the sustained shift” they had witnessed. They also said the change in approach demonstrated by council officers fixing the internal workings at the Cunard would “not have been possible without the political leadership shown by the Mayor.”
The report added: “Both aspects of executive leadership are now united in recognising the scale of change required.” Mr Cunningham’s team said a “robust” transformation programme had been established and is working to reduce costs and improve quality of services, while tactical improvements are starting to show such as increased collection of income tax.
It was acknowledged how the next six months “represents a period of profound change for the council.” Citing the appointment of a new chief executive and the city’s all-out elections in May, the commissioners wrote: “This is a period of great opportunity, but changes of this magnitude inherently carry risk.”
The report said: “There remains much to do to address the issues identified in the Best Value inspection report that triggered this intervention and the issues identified by Commissioners during the course of our work. It is essential that Liverpool Council sustains and embeds this momentum if the necessary changes are to be made within the intervention period.”
The number of officials in interim roles remained a concern for the commissioners, who said it was key the council developed a plan to reduce this number and “set a course to ensuring a permanent senior team.” Reference was also made to handling of information and highlighted the delays around freedom of information requests including the ECHO's requests made around councillors' parking tickets and the Beautiful Ideas Company (BICo) as high-profile examples of poor practice.
The officials said they were now hopeful the council was taking steps to overhaul its processes. Further work is also needed around culture change across the whole organisation, the report found.
It said: “Foundational work has been undertaken by the council to better understand the pervading culture as well as rebuilding trust with staff across the council,” but this needed to be placed on a “more formal footing.”
The improvement trajectory of the highways and transport department - which was highlighted in the initial Best Value inspection in 2021 - “is clear and making good progress” but has yet to meet all its specified goals, the commissioners said. The officers said it was essential the council “sustains and embeds” the momentum it had gained since the last report if it was to make the necessary changes.
The report said: “Success for service area improvement depends on the proper management of these risks.” The commissioners are expected to deliver their fourth report in September.
They said: “While the officer and political leadership will transition, we will remain in place, and provide stability to help the Council to manage this challenge. The priority for the next phase of the intervention is to ensure that the pace and momentum that has been developed by Liverpool Council in recent months is maintained through a period of potential instability.
“The council is demonstrating that positive change is entirely possible with the focus and energy provided by the political and officer leadership; Commissioners will continue to work with Liverpool Council to ensure the positive trajectory continues.”
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