The lead government commissioner overseeing troubled Liverpool Council has explained why his team is moving to expand its intervention over the local authority.
Mike Cunningham, who heads up a team of four government appointed officials, said the installation of an additional commissioner with responsibility for finance would provide the relevant expertise needed for the local authority to turn its fortunes around. The recruitment of a fifth officer was recommended as the Whitehall representatives delivered their second update to the government last month.
The wide-ranging report “identified systematic, whole-council weaknesses” alongside its financial shortcomings. As well as highlighting the “organisation-wide culture where people do not feel accountable for managing public money” government appointed commissioners at the Cunard Building have found serious gaps in Liverpool Council’s leadership, risk management, decision making and workforce capability.
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Mayor Joanne Anderson criticised the move to add another commissioner in her response to the report. She said the issues surrounding the council "should be left to our staff to manage" and the “sheer presence of commissioners” was impacting the local authority’s workforce and overall culture.
Mr Cunningham himself told the ECHO that the stewardship and spending of public money in the city is “problematic” and needs to be improved. Addressing the local authority’s audit committee, the former chief constable of Staffordshire Police explained why his team had recommended further reinforcements.
He said: “When we embarked on the intervention, we had a number of powers, we are yet to use them. Our role principally has been to support and challenge where necessary.
“I envisage the same happening in finance.” Mr Cunningham said a new commissioner would provide “expertise to oversee” financial decisions made by the council.
In August, Greg Clark MP, then Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, announced he would appoint another officer to oversee the authority's financial management and to transfer the council's governance and financial-decision making to the commissioners along with powers over recruitment.
The second assessment by Mr Cunningham’s team found key aspects of the council are failing and require urgent reform and overall, Liverpool Council is not meeting its statutory duty to provide best value and must take “urgent action”. The lack of progress put the authority’s improvement journey “at risk,” the assessment added.
A response from the government is expected in the coming weeks, Mr Cunningham said, but no firm date has been confirmed.
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