The failure to extend “high value” and “high impact” contracts “marks a low point” for Liverpool Council, according to the commissioners appointed to oversee the beleaguered local authority.
The government appointed officials monitoring Liverpool Council have delivered a withering verdict on its failure to promptly renew a dozen contracts ranging from its IT services to adult and social care, which could end up setting it back up to £20m. A 13th contract - for card payment processing - has since been identified in the council’s own cabinet report which expired almost three months ago.
This will add another £1.6m to the overgrowing bill for the cash-strapped council. Now the team of commissioners have had their say on the situation Mayor Joanne Anderson said the council “needs to get a grip of”.
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In a tweet this morning, the Mayor said: We are angry and frustrated but determined on behalf of our residents to sort out these issues. We have already begun this work through ordering several measures to improve contract management.
"Our communities have a right to demand the best possible services." Within the cabinet report, to be discussed next Friday, on the contracts to be renewed, the commissioners said the recognised it was a “more open and honest recognition of the systemic failures that now require a number of high value, but more critically, high impact contracts, to be extended, so late in the day.”
However, this marks a “low point for the council” and in most cases “does not allow for best value to be tested”. They added: “In particular, it does not allow for any fair price negotiations nor, importantly, controlled discussions about service improvement outcomes, especially for very vulnerable customers.
"This approach also prohibits the application of Social Value consideration, a statutory requirement, and therefore the delivery of one of the Mayor's triple lock goals.” The commissioners said they also have concerns about some of the extensions of contracts, with a number being stretched over two years and the “rationale and evidence that doing so will deliver Best Value.”
The report added: “There needs to be a clear audit trail, for each contract, to understand whether the extension terms are available, whether the historic pricing model can still deliver the outcomes required, probity guaranteed, and how Best Value will be tested and tracked over the life of each contract and reported robustly to Cabinet and relevant scrutiny Committees on a regular basis.” The council “should not have found itself in this position” the commissioners said, and “fundamental improvement is required in the way that the Council delivers its commissioning, procurement, and contract management functions. It is inadequate at present.
“It has taken too long to prioritise this work, but we are now more confident that this, and other recent procurement issues, might be the trigger for action.” In its own strategic improvement plan, also to be discussed next week, the council has acknowledged that there has not been “sufficient pace of change” and “impact has not been achieved in key areas where there have been clear imperatives for pace and change, such as procurement”.
Chief executive Tony Reeves has expressed his own disappointment at the situation but has vowed to turn the council’s fortunes around. In an email, seen by the ECHO, Mr Reeves said: “It is clearly extremely disappointing that more issues have been identified and both I and the management team share the frustration of elected members that this has happened.”
He said the fact the council was identifying these issues was “a step in the right direction” and the council “will not shirk away from shining a spotlight on what has gone wrong and making clear how we will fix it.” He added: “We promised to put things right and are absolutely committed to resolving this once-and-for-all to make sure we do not end up in the same position again.”
Pressure is building on Mr Reeves’ with some within the Town Hall said to be of the belief he should consider his position. The under fire chief executive said in the email he would continue to fight on.
He said: “The people of the city rightly expect to have confidence that we are managing our contracts correctly and the management team and I are determined to put in place the resource, framework and training to do so.”
This latest development has prompted further ire from opposition councillors, with Liberal Party member for Childwall, Cllr Alan Tormey, telling the ECHO he raised issues around contracts with Mr Reeves in April and was yet to receive an answer.
The card payment contract, which expired in March, “was not renewed prior to its expiry date due to significant staffing issues which meant that this contract was not identified in time” according to the report. It is expected to be extended for three years to July 2025, with the option for an additional 12 months.
