The way Liverpool Council is encouraging people to engage with a consultation on the future of the city’s governance has been branded “uninspiring and badly thought out” by a senior councillor.
Households across Liverpool are receiving letters through their door on how to take part in an exercise that could shape the way the local authority is led in future and may lead to the scrapping of the Mayoral position altogether. Residents are being asked to choose between the existing post, a leader and cabinet model and a committee system.
Cllr Richard Kemp, leader of the Liberal Democrat group and advocate of the committee model, has cast doubts over the success of the document being issued to homes across the city. In an email seen by the ECHO, Cllr Kemp, who leads the largest opposition group at the Town Hall, told Dan Fenwick, Liverpool Council solicitor and monitoring officer, that he felt the letter was “one of the most uninspiring and badly thought through letters I have ever seen leave the council.”
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He added: “The likelihood of many people responding to it is minimal. I cannot work out whether this is lack of thought, incompetence or just a desire to suppress the response from the people of Liverpool.”
The consultation was launched earlier this month, in place of a more expensive initially proposed referendum, and will run until Monday 20th June and can be access via the Liverpool Council website. In his reply, also seen by the ECHO, Mr Fenwick, who joined the authority earlier this year, said the council was limited in funds and must present a neutral approach when contacting residents.
He said: “I am sorry you are disappointed in the letter. It is intended as a sign post to the more detailed information on the website.
“As you are fully aware, the council needs to ensure that information is neutral and is working within a very limited budget, as set out in the reports to both council and cabinet. It would be entirely inappropriate for the council to use public funds to promote governance models, especially where there was no preferred model proposed by the council in its motion or cabinet in its decision to hold a referendum.”
The city solicitor also hit back at claims of incompetence. He said: “I don’t think it is fair or accurate to refer to the work of council officers on this consultation as incompetent.
“The council is delivering a council motion to undertake city wide consultation with all households over a period of 12 weeks within a finite budget on a very controversial subject, supported by a proactive media campaign.”
Cllr Kemp, who claimed anyone voting to retain the Mayoral system “would be mad”, said his party would be issuing “an eight page newspaper” which would explain the committee system, how to register and the reasons for backing the committee model.
