Questions have been raised about the suitability of Liverpool Council ’s cabinet amid the energy debacle engulfing the local authority.
Mayor Joanne Anderson is expected to nominate the same seven-strong team to serve for a second year when the full council meets later this month. During a meeting of the local authority’s constitutional issues committee on Thursday, the wisdom of such a decision was called into question by opposition leader Cllr Richard Kemp.
Leader of the Liberal Democrat group, Cllr Kemp, questioned if Labour members of the committee would ask Mayor Anderson if she would consider the appointment of a cabinet member whose responsibility would be the delivery of the council’s strategic improvement programme “which we have seen is badly needed.” Cllr Kemp also asked committee chair, Cllr Ruth Bennett, if the existing cabinet would be reappointed following the “absolute mess-up” made around the electricity contract.
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He said: “Given the debacle of the electricity supply, have you any advice to give us… as to whether the same appointments will be made that have led to this absolute mess-up this year?” Cllr Bennett said she had not been advised of any changes.
The veteran councillor also said it was “unusual” that neither Mayor Anderson or her cabinet attended the meeting to announce the positions. Cllr Harry Doyle, cabinet member for culture and visitor economy, responded on Twitter and said: “I don’t know why it’s unusual, I don’t think it’s happened before and we were not invited as we’re not members of the committee. Simple.”
It was revealed earlier this month that a catalogue of missteps by local authority officials has led to the city's electricity contract jumping from £10.6m to £26m just months after a controversial set of budget cuts were signed off. During a meeting of the council’s cabinet last week, it was confirmed a formal investigation had been ordered after the mayor, cabinet and chief executive were not informed of major changes to Liverpool Council’s electricity supplier which was met with a withering response from government appointed commissioners.
If the cabinet is to be unchanged as expected, Mayor Anderson will nominate Cllr Jane Corbett to serve another term as her deputy and cabinet member for finance and resources, despite pressure building around the long-serving councillor for her part in the contract fiasco. Members on all sides of the Town Hall have called for Cllr Corbett, Everton ward member, to go after it was revealed that errors made by the council have led to its energy bills skyrocketing by £16m.
Cllr Corbett has faced calls from within her own party to step aside while the council confirmed earlier this week that Mazar Accountants had been appointed to carry out an independent audit into the fiasco that led to chief executive Tony Reeves issuing a public apology. The appointments to the cabinet will also be subject to full council’s final ratification later this month.
