Former Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson is supporting Liverpool Council's ex-regeneration boss in his claims that he was forced out of his job by the 'devious' actions of current council, led by chief executive Tony Reeves.
Nick Kavanagh was the director of regeneration at the city council but was dramatically arrested at the Cunard Building by Merseyside Police as part of the force's Operation Aloft in December 2019. He was subsequently suspended from his chief officer job and was eventually dismissed in March 2021 following a council disciplinary hearing.
Mr Kavanagh is currently bringing an unfair dismissal claim against the city council at Liverpool Civil and Family Court. He claims the council's chief executive, Tony Reeves, went out of his way to construct a case against him to remove him from his job. Mr Reeves and other council witnesses have insisted that all proper procedures were followed.
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As part of his case, Mr Kavanagh will call Mr Anderson as a witness. The former elected mayor of the city was also arrested as part of Operation Aloft - which is investigating property deals and development contracts in Liverpool - in December 2020 and stood down from his elected office shortly after. Neither Mr Kavanagh nor Mr Anderson have been charged with any crime and both deny wrongdoing.
The former mayor will give his verbal evidence to the hearing tomorrow, but in a written submission he offered strong support to Mr Kavanagh. He stated: "In all my time as Mayor, Nick Kavanagh was a conscientious and professional director of regeneration, he achieved great things for the city of Liverpool. The misconduct he has been accused of has no foundation in my eyes."
Mr Anderson said it was 'no secret that he enjoyed a productive and trusted relationship' with Mr Kavanagh and said he was shocked when he was arrested and to later hear of allegations of a bullying culture within the Regeneration department. He went on to describe bullying allegations levelled at Mr Kavanagh as being like 'an aspirin looking for a headache.'
In his written submission, current council chief executive, Mr Reeves explained that his concerns regarding Mr Kavanagh's conduct initially involved the highly controversial New Chinatown development in central Liverpool. He said he was contacted in late 2018 by Jonathan Faulkner, the boss of developer Urban Splash, raising concerns about the site and how Mr Kavanagh had acted over the transfer of Urban Splash's interests to a developer called PHD1. It was agreed that an independent review would be carried out into the situation and reported back.
Mr Reeves said: "The report said that Nick Kavanagh had made a comment after the presentations to the effect that if Urban Splash transferred its interests to a developer called X1 then planning permission would not have been granted, which was a major factor in putting pressure on Urban Splash. The report had a recommendation that 'Liverpool Council considers whether investigations should be carried out in respect of the conduct of any individual officers.'
In his statement, Mr Reeves said the contents of the report were of 'great concern' and it was clear the recommendation of carrying out an investigation into the conduct of any individual officer required consideration in respect of Nick Kavanagh and his conduct. He said it became apparent that Merseyside Police were also conducting their own investigation into the conduct of the claimant (Mr Kavanagh) and other parties.
That police investigation would lead to Mr Kavanagh being arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and misconduct in a public office on December 18 2019, allegations he denies. He was subsequently suspended by the council as an internal disciplinary investigation began, leading to his dismissal in March 2021. That investigation was carried out by Simon Goacher, a lawyer from Weightmans.
Speaking about the time of his arrest, Mr Kavanagh wrote in his witness statement: "I was suspended from work on December 18 after police had been invited to the council offices where I was arrested. I had no inkling whatsoever that this had been arranged by the chief executive, Tony Reeves.
"I was given no indication before then that my performance was under scrutiny, despite the fact that Tony Reeves had contacted police five months before my arrest. Tony Reeves behaved unfairly in not advising me of his concerns until I was suspended from work. Mr Reeves told then Mayor Joe Anderson that he had nothing to do with the arrest, I told my disciplinary hearing that this was untrue."
His statement accused Mr Reeves of lying to the council's disciplinary hearing, adding: "Tony Reeves told Joe Anderson that he had nothing to do with the arrest, he continued to hold this line and reiterated it during the disciplinary panel. I told the panel that this was untrue and provided legal documents from police which confirmed that Mr Reeves had made initial contact with them on August 19 2019, after which they began Operation Aloft, which led to my arrest."
Mr Kavanagh also claimed that his trade union, Unite, had contacted the then mayor Joe Anderson to state that the council was 'trying to besmirch and remove' him. He said Mr Anderson then wrote to Mr Reeves to contest this approach. He added: "He (Mr Anderson) never received a response, he did however receive a response from the chief constable of Merseyside Police, telling him to back off. Tony Reeves clearly conspired with the chief constable to fire a warning shot at Joe Anderson."
In his statement, Mr Reeves said that during Mr Goacher's investigation, he advised the council that other issues were emerging that were not included in the original terms of reference. These included allegations of a 'bullying culture' within Mr Kavanagh's regeneration department and irregularities in the decision-making process for disposing of small sites of council land. He said the investigation was expanded to look into these areas.
The investigator, Mr Goacher, would go on to present the independent report to a hearing of the council's Appointments and Disciplinary Committee, who met over several days in March 2021. On March 24, Mr Reeves emailed council staff and members to confirm that Mr Kavanagh had been dismissed.
Giving evidence today was Cllr Wendy Simon, who was acting mayor at the time of Mr Kavanagh's dismissal and chaired the disciplinary hearing that ultimately decided to remove him.
Responding to questions from Mr Kavanagh's lawyers today, Cllr Simon said the panel considered a wide range of evidence over several days before reaching its consensus to dismiss. She said: "We went through each aspect and members had the chance to question and challenge the evidence. I don't think we could have been fairer."
It is that dismissal and how it came about that Mr Kavanagh is contesting, concluding his witness statement, he said: "I don't believe there was any wrongdoing, all rules were followed. I believe my dismissal was unfair and was constructed in the most devious way and I ask the tribunal to consider my claim and recommend my reinstatement."
The hearing continues tomorrow, with Mr Anderson expected to be called to the witness box.
