Staff members at Liverpool Council are “fearful” of the presence of government appointed commissioners.
Former acting Mayor, Cllr Wendy Simon, said the introduction of Whitehall mandated officials has left some at the Cunard administration worrying about how their jobs and departments could be impacted moving forward. Cllr Simon told the authority’s audit committee how members were well aware of how the mood had changed among council staff since former Secretary of State Robert Jenrick instructed four external officials to oversee their work.
The Kensington and Fairfield councillor’s remarks came as committee members discussed the need for a culture change at the Cunard Building after an investigation into its expensive energy contract failings identified an embedded environment where staff felt they could not speak up to flag issues. She said: “I’ve had mixed views from staff in general, staff are quite fearful of the commissioners and what that means for their departments and their workforce as a whole.”
