“Lessons have been learned and will continue to be learned” amid Liverpool Council’s energy blunder last year according to one of the city’s deputy mayors.
It was confirmed earlier this week schools across Liverpool have been hit with an additional bill of £2.3m as a result of the city council’s mistakes around its energy contract in the spring of 2022. Council leaders were not informed that the electricity provider it was dealing with had withdrawn from the commercial market, leading to the local authority - and other city institutions including schools and the fire service - being placed on a far more expensive contract.
Almost a year on, Liverpool Council has yet to determine how it will act to support schools and could face even more financial hardship in doing so. Addressing the matter at a joint meeting of the mayoral and finance and resources select committees, deputy mayor Cllr Frazer Lake said what transpired last year “could not have been foreseen by the council” while Ian Duncan, interim finance officer, said legal advice had been taken on how best to resolve the funding situation with schools.
