Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson has demanded the city “gets in house in order over contracts” after it was revealed the cash strapped authority is facing more problems.
Mayor Anderson said the council must get a grip of its procurement processes after it was revealed there are 12 contracts in need of immediate renewal that have either run out or are in danger of doing so. Renewing or extending the contracts could set the cash-strapped council back around £20m.
A damning report to be discussed next week was commissioned following the council's well-documented energy contract bungle and a review of all procurements across the council which has found a startling amount of gaps. Of the dozen contracts five have expired already.
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Mayor Anderson said while lessons had been learned from the £16m energy supply debacle revealed last month, she added that “issues will inevitably arise in the process”. She said: “The council must get its house in order over contracts.
“The council has learnt lessons from the issues with its energy supply contracts that recently came to light and since then improvements in our processes have been identified to help ensure these errors are avoided in future. There have been recent senior level appointments with experienced council officers coming to work with us in the past week, and everyone is determined that each contract is procured efficiently, in a timely manner and delivers best value for the people of our city."
No disruption to services such as adult and social care services is expected in the city while the contracts are renewed or new providers found. The report to cabinet identified that in some cases, contractors have continued to provide services well after the expiration of agreements to ensure the council can meet its legal obligations.
Mayor Anderson added: “The whole council team is working hard to deliver high quality services and value for money for Liverpool residents and it is important to remember that whilst we work to put things right, issues will inevitably arise in the process. Things do sometimes appear to get worse before they get better and we are still in the early phase of our improvement journey.”
The report into the contracts, which will be considered by Mayor Anderson and her cabinet on Friday June 24, said: “In a large number of service areas over a number of years, the council has not procured services to deliver best value and in some cases without the minimum legal compliance. These issues have been long standing in a number of areas.
“To some extent, the pandemic caused understandable delay but this cannot explain the full extent of the failings.”
