Liverpool Council is to appoint its fourth finance chief in the space of a year.
After losing the deputy chief executive and finance boss Mel Creighton amid the expensive electricity contract errors last year, the local authority has been left filling one of its most prominent posts at the Cunard Building with interim appointments, an issue highlighted by the government appointed commissioners. A third temporary member of staff is now expected to take up the role, subject to councillors signing off on the plan next week.
Ms Creighton resigned in May 2022 after a litany of mistakes came to light regarding the council’s failure to properly renegotiate its electricity contract with Scottish Power. That issue was only resolved last week when Liverpool Council’s cabinet resolved to pay £2.3m to schools impacted by ramped up energy bills as a result of its errors.
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Following Ms Crieghton’s departure, Chris Buss was appointed interim chief finance officer. He left the organisation after just 10 weeks and was understood to not be able to commit to the role for as many days as required.
Anne-Marie Lubanski, who stepped into cover as interim chief executive following the resignation of previous postholder Tony Reeves, also covered the finance brief until the temporary appointment of current incumbent Ian Duncan in September. Mr Duncan was appointed to the post on a six-month contract and will now also leave the authority.
Like interim chief executive Theresa Grant, and Mr Duncan, the new interim finance boss is a former officer of Northamptonshire Council. It has been recommended when Liverpool Council members meet to set its budget next week, they ratify the appointment of Barry Scarr, also for a period of six months.
Mr Scarr was previously deputy chief executive and chief finance officer at Northumberland and Northamptonshire Councils. He replaced Mr Duncan at Northamptonshire in 2019.
Mr Scarr’s appointment will be recommended alongside that of Suzanne Joyner as interim director of children and young people’s services, following the department of Steve Reddy earlier this month. Both officers have been brought into their roles by the commissioners overseeing the council.
In a report to the local authority, they said: “Both officers bring a wealth of experience from a range of local government challenges. They will provide much needed expertise and stability to the council through a critical period.
“In the meantime, we will work with council officers to progress the permanent recruitment to both posts.” During his time in the role, Mr Duncan has taken the lead on major issues within the council including its difficult budget setting process and reimbursing schools over the electricity issue.
In a report on the £49m savings required - also to be rubber stamped next week - Mr Duncan said the council had more than £230m worth of debt outstanding it never expected to recover. In January this year, a local authority document said it hoped to complete its recruitment of permanent staff to key roles by the Spring.
Nuala Gallagher was confirmed as the permanent occupant of the director of city development post yesterday, taking over from interim boss Mark Bourgeois next month. It is understood Mr Bourgeois will remain in situ to complete a handover period.
A Liverpool Council spokesperson said: “Ian Duncan was appointed last summer to take us through the budget setting process, and this is now almost complete. We have secured the services of an experienced Finance Director while recruitment takes place for a permanent Corporate Director of Finance.”
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