The leader of Liverpool Council wants to see the end of a government intervention on time but hasn’t ruled out a continued working relationship post next June.
After being installed following the Caller Report in June 2021, the five Whitehall mandated officials overseeing change at the Cunard Building have 11 months left in post. However, lead commissioner Mike Cunningham has suggested the intervention could be extended if necessary after their next report which is expected in September.
Cllr Liam Robinson, who was elected leader of the city council following May’s all-out ballots, spoke of his experience working alongside the commissioners and reflected on how the authority can make the most of the intervention.
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He said: “Well, we've certainly pledged hard work, not fireworks, and that's what it certainly has been over the past couple of months. It really has been about working very closely right across the cabinet, the senior management team and with the commissioners. I think we've forged a good, strong working relationship with the commissioners using their advice and their expertise in the right way.
“I think we're coming to a common view on where the council has improved and done well and we'll need to continue to do well, and the other areas where we still have much more to do and I certainly don't have any illusions about it, there are still some significant areas. We still got a lot more to do, but that's why it's sleeves rolled up, it's getting stuck in.”
Cllr Robinson’s predecessor in the hot seat at the top of Liverpool Council, former Mayor Joanne Anderson, wasn’t shy about coming forward with her objection towards the government intervention into the city. The new Labour boss said he agreed with the ex-Mayor on his desire for Westminster to not have been involved at the Cunard but felt Liverpool could benefit from the experience of the officials in situ.
He said: “Like everyone else in the council, in the city, I wish we hadn't had commissioner intervention, but we have. The fact that we've got five senior public sector individuals, let's use their advice, let's use their expertise.
“That kind of can be to our benefit. I think one of the things we really wanted to do was set out a very clear path towards the end of the intervention.
“What do we as a council, what we need to have achieved to make sure the commissioners can say to the Secretary of State that they are happy to conclude the intervention, I think we are fleshing out that detail.” Among the improvements highlighted by the commissioners in their report to government in March was the budget setting process earlier this year.
Cllr Robinson acknowledged this but said there were further improvements that could be made around council tax and business rated collection, something he described as “the basics of making sure the right amount of money is in the pot to absolutely pay for frontline services.”
Looking ahead, the Kensington and Fairfield ward member said the council was keen to ensure the government intervention ended after its three year tenure was up but the city was “open to all the different options and models” of working. He said: “If I'm being dead honest, one of the things that I think has held Liverpool Council and dust the city back at times over many, many years is that we haven't always had as direct a link to central government to Whitehall, whereas other cities have and other cities have benefited from that.
“That's not a party political point. I think we've got to make sure that the city council and the city has got that hotline to any government so we can be first in the queue when there's the opportunity to deliver on the national stage. We should always be proud about how unique this city is.
“It's wonderful, but let's also make sure that any government, and particularly if there's a change of government, that we can be seen as a place to actually trail things, to actually lead on things and, be at the leading edge of the national conversation.”
Cllr Robinson said when Liverpool gets its opportunity to show the world what it is capable of - citing May’s Eurovision celebrations as an example - “we can do things in this city better than most other parts of this country, better than most other parts of the globe.” He added: “I think if we can have that grown up relationship with white oil going forward, and particularly if we get a change of government, then there can be huge opportunities for the city going forward.”
The council leader wouldn’t be drawn on dates for the intervention to formally come to an end but said “detailed work” was underway to “ensure we've done everything practically we can to get legal intervention to end as soon as we can.” He added the city could be “more than happy to keep working with the commissioners in the right way to make sure the council gets to a place where it's good.”
Cllr Robinson said: “Crucially, in terms of that long term trajectory, we want to get Liverpool Council to be seen as an exemplar local authority that genuinely can deliver the very, very best for the people of the city. It's as simple as that really.”
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