Stay up to date with all the biggest stories from across Merseyside in the daily Liverpool Daily Post newsletter.
You can receive the newsletter direct to your inbox every weekday by signing up right here.
Here is today's Liverpool Daily Post:
Hello,
Today’s edition focusses on a major incident which unfolded in south Sefton over the weekend and left thousands of people without running water. Liverpool makes an early case to host Eurovision and Keir Starmer is in Liverpool to set out his stall for a Labour government.
No running water
What started off as a burst water pipe quickly turned into a major incident that left thousands across south Sefton and neighbouring parts of Liverpool without water. Businesses were brought to a standstill while people rushed to purchase what water they could from nearby supermarkets. As stocks were gradually depleted, a scramble to ensure enough water was available for residents got underway - seeing huge queues and gridlocks form around Crosby town centre, one of three sites set up by United Utilities for handing out fresh supplies.
It took the best part of two days for water to be restored to the area, but many were left frustrated by the disruption - with those without access to cars left in a worrying situation.
What happened?
People living in the L21, L30, L9, L23, L10, L22, L72 postcodes were without water or experienced low water from the early hours of Saturday, July 23. This was caused by a burst water pipe on Church Road, Litherland. The resulting pipe flooded the street and it has been closed from Netherton Way to Hawthorne Road.
The issue affected roughly 32,000 people living in the local area but also had a knock on effect on businesses. In Crosby, pubs and shops were forced to close while supermarket shelves were left bare as households sought to stock up - unaware how much longer the problems would continue.
The problems lasted through Saturday and stations were set up in Crosby, Netherton and Litherland in order to hand out free water. But such was the number of people impacted, large queues and tailbacks arose. Fears grew when reports that shops had run out of stock and the tailbacks were hampering deliveries.
Come early afternoon, Sefton council declared a major incident as United Utilities worked to rectify the issue. It was only by 9-10pm last night that running water was returned to the affected homes. But even then there were warnings over discolouration. With almost two days without supply, those affected are set to be compensated by the water company.
The response
One of the main concerns was for people who did not have access to cars or lived within walking distance of the sites handing out the bottled water supplies. While United Utilities set up the three sites in Crosby, Netherton and Litherland, action had to be taken to ensure care homes within the affected area had sufficient supplies while the problems were fixed.
According to Sefton Council, work carried out by United Utilities, the NHS and social care teams ensured care homes in the area received the necessary supply. It was said that around 1,800 litres were delivered to care homes while a further 200 litres was delivered to vulnerable residents in the area yesterday.
What was said
There were stern words for United Utilities from some Merseyside politicians yesterday. While the problem has now largely been rectified and running water restored, frustrations were growing at the speed and coordination of the response as 32,000 people found themselves largely cut off.
Pointing towards the direction of the water collection sites, Sefton Central MP Bill Esterson wrote on Twitter: “We’ll get to how and why it happened later. For now let’s make sure everyone has water.” But the Labour MP went on to suggest that the number of sites laid on by United Utilities were “not enough” - calling on the provider to accept an offer from Sefton Council to put on more sites.
Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram, who was impacted by the disruption, said the situation facing residents was “completely unacceptable”. On Twitter, he noted how “failure” to properly communicate or put proper infrastructure in place “only makes matters worse”. He added how “we can only be grateful that this didn't happen last week, when there would have been a real risk to life during the heatwave.”
Claiming United Utilities is a company that “stands to profit from the cost of living crisis”, with a CEO who is paid upwards of £2m a year, he said that local people “are right to demand much, much better.” He said he would be demanding a full explanation once the repair was completed.
A statement published on United Utilities website said: "We’d like to thank everyone for their ongoing patience and understanding over the weekend. We’re really sorry for the disruption to your water supply, caused by a large burst on Church Road. The damage was severe and led to an extremely complex repair, which took longer than we’d hoped to complete.
"Restoring supplies has been our top priority and our teams have worked round the clock to complete the repair. Where possible we have had water tankers pumping additional supplies into the network to help with attempts to get taps flowing again."
Starmer in Liverpool
Liverpool will be a frequent backdrop for top Labour politicians and officials as it prepares to host the party’s conference in a few week’s time. Testing out the waters ahead of the event, Keir Starmer is here in Liverpool today to deliver a speech setting his and Labour’s vision for the economy.
The party leader addressed an audience inside the Spine Building at Paddington Village this morning where he opened his speech by saying Britain's economy is weaker and more brittle than others. He went on to describe Rishi Sunak as ‘“the architect of the cost of living crisis” and says Liz Truss is the “latest graduate from the university of magic money-tree economics.”
While Starmer explained Labour’s five economic principles of a Labour government - financially responsiblity, distinctively British, partnership with business, re-energise communities and invest to boost productivity - he noted how the party’s industrial strategy will include a plan for the “everyday economy” - including retail, high streets, Hospitality venues.
Pointing towards this evening’s Conservative leadership debate between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, the shadow Prime Minister said: “You will see a clear difference between my Labour Party and the Thatcherite cosplay that will be on show tonight.”
We’ll have more reaction from Keir Starmer’s visit to Liverpool in tomorrow’s edition.
Eurovision hopes
Liverpool hasn’t been shy about its ambitions to host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Shortly after it was announced that the event could not be held in Ukraine in 2023, and that a new host city was being sought, Liverpool City Council put its hat in the ring and will officially bid to host the event.
The matter has already come up in a number of council meetings, with the culture committee discussing how much it would cost to host the event. But a bidding process is not yet formally underway with agreements only just made with the BBC over hosting the event in the UK as this year’s runners up. That edition was won by Ukraine but uncertainty following Russia’s invasion has forced organisers to look elsewhere.
While an official bid has yet to be launched, Liverpool seems to be carrying significant momentum. A fan poll launched by Eurovision is asking which UK cities has what it takes to host the showpiece event. So far Liverpool is topping the leaderboard with 33% of votes, as it stands. Second is Leeds on 25%, Glasgow on 11%,London on 10% and Manchester on 7%.
Mayor Joanne Anderson and cabinet member for culture, Cllr Harry Doyle, are calling on more people to back Liverpool in the public vote.
In focus
The view
"Music is the lifeblood of Liverpool. The people, communities and businesses of this city would embrace the fantastic chaos of this global music event"
| Mayor Joanne Anderson on Liverpool's Eurovision ambition |
Cost of Commissioners
It’s been all change at Liverpool council in the last week, with the departure of its Chief Executive quickly followed by the news that Mayoralty will be scrapped from May next year. Tasked with ensuring the local authority stays on track amidst these changes are the team of Government appointed commissioners - installed just over a year ago following Max Caller’s devastating Best Value inspection report.
Not only has their presence been contentious in terms of power and remit, but tensioned were heightened earlier this year when it was announced that the Government officials would see their pay go up - with the council covering the costs.
Lead commissioner Mike Cunningham's daily fee rose from £800 to £1200 while his three colleagues - Jo Killian, Neil Gibson and Deborah McLaughlin - went from £700 to £1100, all of which was backdated to their arrival last June.
As well as the daily rate of pay, the council and its residents are funding the expenses of the commissioners team. These costs include travel, hotels, parking and food. The council's latest published accounts show how much was paid out by the city to the commissioners in the first three months of the year. As things stand the commissioners can only complete 150 days of work at the council per year.
Interestingly, the latest accounts show that despite being paid the highest daily rate, Mr Cunningham has not earnt the most of the team so far this year. Regeneration commissioner Deborah McLaughlin was paid a total of £44,159.57 in fees and expenses over the first three months of the year.
READ MORE: Latest accounts show huge fees paid to government commissioners by Liverpool taxpayers
ECHO Chamber
The lost open air swimming pool that would have been 'sheer bliss' during the recent heatwave.
Is there something you'd like to run by us? Please contact me at elliot.ryder@reachplc.com - If you have enjoyed reading this email, why not forward it to a friend? And if your friend has passed this on to you, you can sign up for free daily updates at t his link.
