Liverpool Town Hall has seen some fiery nights of late and tensions were on show once again at the city council's Annual General Meeting this evening.
The AGM is traditionally a cordial meeting, and the early exchanges were pleasant as a new Lord Mayor was sworn in - but things got more heated on later on as the row over a hugely costly catalogue of energy contract mistakes flared up once again. Here is what we learned on another busy night.
Lord Mayor sworn in
The AGM, as is tradition, begins with the swearing in of a new Lord Mayor and tonight, County ward councillor Roy Gladden was warmly welcomed into the role of Liverpool's first citizen for the next year. Parties from all sides put hostilities aside to wish the long-serving councillor well during his time in office.
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Cllr Gladden, whose wife Roz has previously held the role, thanks his family, friends and colleagues and spoke passionately about his life growing up in Liverpool, the city's progress and his love of Liverpool Football Club.
Over and out for Roy
In his acceptance speech, Cllr Gladden, who was elected to the council in 2009, revealed his year as Lord Mayor will be his last on the council. He will not seek re-election at next year's all our council elections. It has been suggested that a number of councillors may be standing down when those elections come around in May 2023.
Cabinet changes
The big political news from tonight was already revealed by the ECHO in recent weeks. Following the disastrous errors over an energy contract at the council, which could see £16 million added to the city's electricity bill, we reported that Deputy Mayor Jane Corbett would have her finance brief removed.
We also reported that former Deputy Mayor and cabinet member Paul Brant would be brought back into the fold with a new position. Cllr Brant was tonight installed as the new assistant mayor for finance. He will sit outside the cabinet and will not pick up a new Special Responsibility Allowance.
There was some confusion about exactly what the responsibilities of the new role will be, with confirmation that Cllr Brant's position will be an advisory one and not a decision making one.
No pay rise for councillors
It had been proposed at tonight's meeting that city councillors would be given a 1.75% pay increase. Prior to the meeting, some opposition groups had said they would be voting against that pay rise, given the struggles of so many in the city. Tonight the ruling
Labour group also voted against the pay rise. In a statement the group said: "As Labour Councillors, we see first-hand the devastating impacts of Tory austerity in our communities. Liverpool City Council has lost 64% of central government funding since 2010 and we have had to make tough decisions in order to balance the books whilst still protecting vital frontline services and our most vulnerable residents. To accept a pay increase at this time is not acceptable and the Liverpool Labour group have consistently made this argument year on year."
Lib Dem leader Cllr Kemp said it was right that councillors did not receive a pay rise as a 'small apology' for the millions the city is set to lose over the energy contract mistakes.
Pressure remains on Mayor
At last week's explosive emergency finance committee, councillors vented their anger over the energy contract disaster - with chief executive Tony Reeves in the firing line. Tonight that anger continued, but Mayor Anderson and her cabinet team were the main targets.
Opposition parties were highly critical of the administration at different points of the meeting, with some groups bringing a motion aimed at docking the pay of the cabinet. That vote fell, but not before Liberal boss Steve Radford labelled those in charge as a 'cabinet of chaos.'
Earlier, Lib Dem leader Richard Kemp, discussing the energy contract saga, said: "Politicians must pay the price when things go wrong, not knowing isn't good enough." Cllr Anna Rothery, leader of the newly formed independent group on the council, added: "Someone needs to take responsibility, you can't be leading the city and just keep appointing advisers. It's obvious to its just not cutting the mustard, we've seen failure after failure."
