Latest accounts show the large sums being earnt by a team of government commissioners overseeing work at Liverpool City Council.
The team of four Whitehall officials were installed at the council in June 2021 as a result of the damning findings of a government inspection. That inspection, by Max Caller, revealed a huge range of failings, mismanagement and wasted millions at the local authority.
The arrival of the team of commissioners, led by former police chief Mike Cunningham, was met with a mixed response. While some accepted that interventions were needed after the mistakes of the past, the idea of a Tory government-appointed team of officials overseeing the functions of a council in Liverpool have understandably never been welcomed.
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Things got worse in January of this year when the ECHO revealed the commissioners had been awarded a hefty increase on their already substantial day rate - funded by the taxpayers of Liverpool. Mr Cunningham's daily fee rose from £800 to £1200 while his three colleagues - Jo Killian, Neil Gibson and Deborah McLaughlin - went from £700 to £1100, all of which was backdated to their arrival last June.
As well as the daily rate of pay, the council and its residents are funding the expenses of the commissioners team. These costs include travel, hotels, parking and food.
The council's latest published accounts show how much was paid out by the city to the commissioners in the first three months of the year. As things stand the commissioners can only complete 150 days of work at the council per year.
Interestingly, the latest accounts show that despite being paid the highest daily rate, Mr Cunningham has not earnt the most of the team so far this year. Regeneration commissioner Deborah McLaughlin was paid a total of £44,159.57 in fees and expenses over the first three months of the year.
The second biggest outlay went to highways commissioner Neil Gibson, who racked up total fees and expenses of £42,578.95. Lead commissioner Mr Cunningham's own fees and expenses were just behind this on £42,499.72.
When you add these together with the £25,141.60 paid to local government improvement commissioner Jo Killian and the total amount racked up by the commissioners team in the first three months of the year stands at £154,379.84.
It is a significant sum being paid out by the people of Liverpool and will only add to the frustration of those who do not believe the commissioners are doing a good job during their time in Liverpool. Opposition leader Richard Kemp has been openly critical of the team.
He recently wrote to current Secretary of State Greg Clarke to outline his concerns about the commissioners. Cllr Kemp said: "They are a group of people who have no understanding of the way that Cities work. They are led by someone with no local government experience, they have little experience of working in major urban areas and do not understand the role of a core city like Liverpool in a conurbation like our city region. Quite frankly they are not up to the job that Liverpool desperately needs and are not the people who can assist Liverpool get out of the quagmire it is in."
When previously asked by the ECHO if he understood the anger at the increased pay rates for him and his team, Mr Cunningham said: ""I absolutely understand. People are perfectly entitled to their views, I totally get it with people living in very difficult circumstances at the moment. What I would say is that myself and my fellow commissioners are very conscious of the costs that we accrue while we are here and we will work really hard to provide value for the people of Liverpool.
He added: "What I would say, as a reminder, it is conceivable that poor management at Liverpool Council has led to the waste of many millions of pounds. So I think if we can help the council to make decisions that gets some of that back, then I would like to think we have been good value for money."
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