Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson has expressed her "deep reservations" at plans for an effective government takeover at Liverpool City Council.
Last month, the ECHO exclusively revealed that the government plans to significantly expand its intervention at the troubled city council. This will see Whitehall commissioners taking over the responsibility for all finance and governance decisions in the city.
It's a huge increase in power for a team of commissioners who are currently overseeing the work of the highways, regeneration and property management departments. A new specific finance commissioner will join the team as part of the move.
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The plans were announced by Greg Clark, who has since been replaced by Simon Clarke as the new Levelling Up Secretary in Liz Truss's government. The plan also included the formation of a new Liverpool Strategic Futures Panel, chaired by Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram, who will be joined by former Manchester Council boss Sir Howard Bernstein and former Leeds leader Judith Blake in planning a brighter future for the city.
The ECHO has seen an official response to the government from Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson and the council's interim head of paid service Ann Marie Lubanski. In the letter, the council bosses express major concerns about what many will see as an effective government takeover of the council's key functions.
On the subject of further commissioner powers in Liverpool, the letter states: "The commissioners have not directly exercised their existing powers to date. They have provided constructive input, oversight and approval, but decisions have continued to be made by the council, importantly maintaining the democratic mandate for decision making in the authority.
"We understand that the commissioners wish to continue this practice and, in our view, this has been a positive approach based on constructive challenge. We accept the need for further improvement and the scale of the challenge, but we have deep reservations at the formal expansion of commissioner powers and functions. There is a lack of clarity on the scope and breadth of some of the new powers in practice, which risks misunderstanding and potential delay to improvement."
The leaders ask that "as a minimum", the government undertakes a "collaborative exercise to clarify the scope of the new powers, for example through the agreement of a protocol or other arrangement".
On the specific issues of finances, the letter adds: "We acknowledge the recent lack of stable financial leadership, including a permanent s.151 (statutory finance) officer, combined with a challenging political context, creates risks for the setting of next year’s budget.
"Our view is that these powers should be in place for the minimum time to allow the council to restore its financial resilience. Again, whilst recognising our challenges, we are making significant progress on strategic financial matters."
It adds: "We understand the proposal to appoint an additional commissioner for finance but ask that the appointment and the reservation of financial powers are reviewed at the earliest opportunity. This review should be based on the appointment of an experienced s151 officer and the council setting a balanced three-year budget to the satisfaction of commissioners."
On the topic of additional governance powers being handed to the government, the letter states: "We note the proposed additional powers for commissioners over the governance and scrutiny of strategic decision making. This is significant because of its impact on the democratic mandate of elected members in the city, especially with its first “all out” elections in May 2023.
"We are unclear of the rationale or intended focus and outcome behind these new powers, and how in practice the commissioners will exercise these powers. The council has operated under government intervention for 12 months without such powers in place and has, in that time, put in place a detailed governance improvement plan, overseen and agreed by commissioners. Commissioners recognise that there is no overnight “fix” to reset the governance culture and so, in our view, to add new powers now does not allow the council the opportunity to embed its improvements. Our understanding was that May 2023 was the time for a governance “reset” and we believe we are on track to achieve this."
While the council leaders welcome the creation of the Strategic Futures Panel, there are clear concerns raised throughout the letter about the scale of the impending expansion of government control at Liverpool City Council. The letter concludes: "For the avoidance of any doubt, we can assure you that Liverpool City Council is a resilient organisation with committed, hardworking and dedicated staff and elected members and we will deliver the Directions you consider necessary. With the Cabinet, the incoming Chief Executive and the officer leadership team, we will turn this council around so that it delivers best value for the residents of Liverpool and the social value commitments made by the administration."
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