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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Liam Thorp

Liverpool's future hangs in balance amid chaos in government

It was on August 19 that then Secretary of State for Levelling Up Greg Clark announced in the pages of the Liverpool ECHO that the government's intervention at Liverpool City Council would be significantly expanded.

With four Whitehall commissioners already in place overseeing key departments of the troubled council, the latest announcement suggested that not enough progress was being made to improve the way the council works and that the government would take over all finance and governance powers at the Cunard in what many saw as an effective full takeover.

Mr Clark, who had been put into his role just weeks earlier by a floundering Boris Johnson, struggling to fill ministerial posts after mass resignations, also revealed plans for a new Strategic Panel that would help shape Liverpool's future - led by city region mayor Steve Rotheram.

READ MORE: A year of silence: Liverpool Council yet to respond to claims of city councillor's 'back door' parking ticket claims

On September 2, the council formally responded to the announcement. Mayor Joanne Anderson said she accepted that the pace and impact of improvements since last year's damning inspection "had not met the requirements or expectations of the commissioners or residents".

But the mayor and the council also asked for some key details from government about the scope of the new powers suggested and how they will work. Mayor Anderson had previously said she did not believe further government intervention would solve the issues facing the council and expressed 'deep concerns' at the additional powers.

It is now five weeks since the council responded. There is a new government in place with a new Prime Minister and a new Secretary of State for Levelling Up.

That new government was initially held up by a mourning period following the death of Queen Elizabeth II and since then, has been drowning in the economic chaos that followed its hugely controversial budget announcement.

That chaos reached new heights on Friday when the new Chancellor was sacked by Liz Truss, who had appointed him just five weeks ago. Many are predicting she will soon follow him out of the door.

With the government submerged in its own economic and political quagmire and the Prime Minister under enormous pressure, it appears that other issues are struggling to get a look in.

The ECHO understands there has been no response from the Department of Levelling Up to the council and the new Secretary of State has not been in touch to set out his views or plans for the council's future.

The new strategic panel, set to be chaired by Mayor Rotheram alongside former Manchester City Council chief executive Howard Bernstein and former Leeds leader Judith Blake - is yet to formally meet as the government has still not approved the terms of reference for how it will operate.

Speaking about the current impasse, Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Richard Kemp said: "It seems like this is all being lost in the turmoil of the government. We are now waiting to hear from the new Secretary of State in response to a commissioners report that was actually written back in June - four months ago, so a lot of that will now be out of date."

Cllr Kemp said when he last met with the commissioners installed at the council two weeks ago, they too had yet to meet the new Secretary of State to discuss Liverpool.

It is understood there is growing frustration locally that more clarity has not been provided on how the expanded intervention and the Strategic Panel will work going forward, with one source saying this is all down to the "chaos in government."

The ECHO has asked the Department of Levelling Up and Housing for a response.

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