The appointment of a senior director at Liverpool Council in the aftermath of its best value report has been put on hold.
It had been expected that the local authority would name a new director of neighbourhoods following a slated series of interviews taking place more than two weeks ago. However, it has been confirmed that acting director Claire McColgan will remain in post a little longer as the recruitment process remains ongoing.
The need for a new strategic director came after Liverpool Council sought to bolster its senior management team and deliver improvements following the damning Caller Report last year. The inspection, carried out by Max Caller OBE, identified a litany of failings at Liverpool Council that led to the appointment of government approved commissioners.
READ MORE: Live updates as fire sends thick black smoke into sky in Ellesmere Port
Culture Liverpool boss Ms McColgan has overseen the neighbourhoods portfolio on a caretaker basis since January on a six-month posting, leading key services like the city’s leisure centres, libraries and environmental services. She has balanced this since the turn of the year with her ongoing oversight and management of Culture Liverpool.
The job share operation was brought about by Mr Caller’s report in 2021. A spokesperson for Liverpool Council said it was expected a permanent director would be installed in two months time.
The spokesperson said: “The recruitment process for the Neighbourhoods Director role remains ongoing. An interim Director remains in place until July, when the permanent Director will be appointed.”
Mr Caller’s inspection last year found that changes were required politically and managerially as “serious failings” were found in both governance and practice. It was said that “corporate blindness” failed to pick up the shortcomings.
The report shone the light on the idea of a “secret cabal” pulling the strings at the local authority with a “dysfunctional culture” that “undermined the city's economic development.” It added: "This includes a failure of proper and due process across planning and regeneration, including worrying lack of record keeping, indeed documentation had sometimes been created retrospectively, discarded in skips or even destroyed.”
Delivering safe and thriving neighbourhoods is one of six parts of the wider Liverpool city plan as set out in October 2020. The multi-agency project seeks to ensure all residents in the city “live in safe, inclusive and welcoming neighbourhoods, where people choose and aspire to live, raise their families and grow old.”
It added that public services should be aligned with local needs to reduce inequalities within Liverpool.
