Commissioners overseeing Liverpool Council have had their say on the budget position it finds itself in.
Last week the Whitehall appointed team to monitor progress at the Cunard administration was expanded from their original 2021 remit, set by then Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Robert Jenrick, to include a new official for finance. Stephen Hughes, former chief executive of Birmingham City Council, has joined the four existing government appointed officials and has been handed a directive to monitor the council’s finances after the recruitment of a specialist commissioner was recommended in a second report issued by the government mandated officers in August.
In the budget documents published yesterday, revealing how Liverpool Council expects to plug its £73m budget blackhole through service cuts, potential job losses and increased fees and charges, the commissioners - led by Mike Cunningham - have offered their assessment.
READ MORE: Christmas in doubt as city looks to plug £73m blackhole
The report said: “The council has a legal obligation to set a budget where its spending plans are met by its estimated income, while having adequate reserves and contingencies to deal with risks, uncertainties and unforeseen events. This report sets out the scale of the challenge for the council in achieving that for the next three years.
“By identifying significant savings for public consultation this report is an important step towards meeting its financial obligations. However, there is still considerable uncertainty about the scale of the challenge, the robustness of the savings, and the adequacy of the response that will need to be addressed between now and when the final decisions are made in February and March.”
Under the revised instructions from government, the commissioners were handed new powers over governance, recruitment and financial decision-making. However, Assistant Mayor, Cllr Frazer Lake, told a meeting of Liverpool Council’s mayoral and performance committee earlier this week that Mr Hughes’ appointment was something the authority had “pushed back on” and said a specific finance commissioner was “not needed.”
Speaking to the ECHO, Mayor Joanne Anderson said she wanted to reduce the commissioners’ presence on the city council. When discussing the budget, she said: “We could certainly make a cut by reducing the commissioners, but we can only do that by delivering our services well but we’re getting there.
“After the second report in June, I felt it was staff we needed, not extra commissioners, like the chief executive and a section 151 officer, without whom we’d be completely lost at the moment and I’ll be pushing back at every opportunity to reduce the commissioners.”
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