Advisory panel to guide Liverpool City Council out of government intervention

Levelling Up Secretary Greg Clark has appointed a strategic advisory panel to guide Liverpool City Council out of government intervention following a commissioners’ report.

The report found that the council was failing to meet its statutory duty to provide best value and urgent action was needed to address performance issues.

Serious problems were identified within financial management and senior leadership, while the report also criticised slow progress made in delivering improvements.

The Liverpool Strategic Futures Advisory panel will work with the City Mayor Joanne Anderson, her Cabinet and commissioners to help councillors make better decisions and develop a plan for the city.

Commissioners were first sent to Liverpool City Council last year to monitor the council’s highways, property and regeneration operations.

Levelling Up Secretary Greg Clark said: ‘I am determined to help do everything I can to help Liverpool come out of the current intervention stronger and able to achieve its ambitions.

‘The commissioners’ report shows that there are still serious shortcomings that need to be sorted out, especially in financial management. But I want this to be a turning point at which the City of Liverpool can see a bright future that lives up to the power this great city embodies.

Steve Rotherham, metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, will be chairing the panel and will be joined by Sir Howard Bernstein, Chief Executive of the City of Manchester from 1999 to 2017, and Baroness Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council from 2015 to 2021.

The panel will nominate an experienced business leader to join them and will work with Mayor Anderson and her Cabinet to increase confidence in the council and drive growth in skills, opportunities and jobs in the city.

The Secretary of State is also considering appointing a commissioner to oversee the local authority’s financial management and financial decision-making.

Lead Commissioner Mike Cunningham QPM CBE said: ‘Our report outlines the challenges the council has faced over the past year in their improvement journey, and highlights some of the areas that need urgent improvement. We welcome the Secretary of State’s decision to expand the directions, and the creation of the Strategic Futures Panel. We have confidence that the council can now address these challenges.’

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