The revelations of a "back door" route for Liverpool Councillors to have parking tickets cancelled has seen elected members and former officers blaming each other for the culture that existed.
Yesterday, the Liverpool ECHO published the results of a 16-month investigation into what leaders have called an "unacceptable" culture at the council where elected members had parking fines cancelled by officers without going through formal processes.
Our investigation revealed the names of 14 politicians who together had a total of 51 Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) for parking - rescinded by council officers over a five-year period between 2015 and 2020 without using formal processes.
READ MORE: 14 city politicians named in parking probe and their explanations
The council's current chief executive said the information we have uncovered is "an example of the unacceptable culture that pervaded parts of the council in the past", while the lead government commissioner overseeing improvements at the council said the revelations "shine a light on the poor practices that have been all too common in Liverpool City Council."
The list of names includes one councillor - former Deputy Mayor Ann O'Byrne - who had a total of 17 parking tickets rescinded in that time period, while former cabinet members Barry Kushner and Nick Small saw seven and four tickets thrown out respectively. Ex-Lord Mayor Malcolm Kennedy also had four tickets rescinded.
Former Mayor Joe Anderson had two parking tickets cancelled by officers in that same period while long-serving Labour Councillor Gerard Woodhouse had five tickets rescinded. All have denied wrongdoing and you can read their full explanations here.
In responding to our investigation, a number of the current and former elected members placed the blame at the door of former senior council officer Andy Barr, who was the council's assistant director of highways and planning before he resigned amid a disciplinary process in 2021 which was not connected with the parking tickets issue.
In her own comments, former Deputy Mayor, Cllr Ann O'Byrne - who had by far and away the most rescinded parking tickets in our investigation - said: "I was issued with an operational pass by Andy Barr. I was told that all the senior management team and senior councillors received this pass which allowed them to park in the city so they could do their job effectively.
"I received a parking ticket and asked Andy Barr if I was allowed to park outside the Cunard building. He informed me there are sometimes technical issues over the passes and if I received any other tickets to pass them in to him, which I did on the understanding this was the agreed process."
But in his response to the ECHO, Mr Barr pointed the finger at Cllr O'Byrne as a central figure in creating the culture at the council that saw this practice take place. She strongly disputes this.
He said: "The penalty charge notice cancellations are as a direct result of the former Deputy Mayor's conduct towards me."
He added: "I was left in no doubt as to what would have happened to my job / career, had I not cancelled the parking tickets on behalf of the elected members.
Responding to these accusations, a spokesperson for Councillor O'Byrne said: 'Ann categorically refutes this version of events. Its clear from the responses in the FoI disclosure that other councillors approached parking services individually and were clearly told that if they received a parking ticket in the course of their duties then it could be rescinded. Crucially, this process continued long after Ann had ceased to be deputy mayor.'
Speaking about councillors more widely, Mr Barr added: "It is interesting to note that the elected members who have been asked to respond to this matter all seem to have various excuses regarding their penalty charge notices although the consistent theme running through each response seems to be that they all lay blame at my door.
"There is also a suggestion that the elected members thought the process they were following was the correct one and were not aware of the appeals process that exists. I can confirm that all elected members were aware of the appeals process as they were advised of this, by me, at the time that they presented their tickets to me."
"To state that they thought this was the agreed process is quite frankly insulting, given the impact that this has had to both my professional and private life."
The details and revelations of the ECHO's investigation have been strongly criticised by those currently in charge at Liverpool City Council, which is currently under the intervention of a team of government commissioners following recent troubles.
Theresa Grant, the council's Interim Chief Executive said: “We have released historic information about parking penalty charge notices issued to elected members that were cancelled between 2015 and 2020.
“It highlights previous poor practice, relating to past processes and scrutiny of the way the council used to be run. It is, sadly, an example of the unacceptable culture that pervaded parts of the council in the past, as documented in the Best Value inspection report.
“I want to be clear that what happened historically is no reflection of the council’s current Parking Services staff nor management team. It is important to remember that much has changed at Liverpool City Council and we are now a more mature organisation, one that is open and transparent about decision-making.
“As part of transforming the council, so it is fit for purpose and well-run, we have made many changes to our culture, our management, our governance, and our systems and processes. We are determined to give our residents complete confidence that our services offer best value and operate with the highest standards of integrity, transparency and professionalism.
“The council’s Internal Audit team are carrying out an objective assessment of Parking Services’ systems – to give all of us – residents included – complete confidence in how the service is currently run.”
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