Liverpool City Council: Fifth commissioner to oversee finances

The government has brought in a fifth commissioner to oversee a further part of Liverpool City Council.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has appointed Stephen Hughes to oversee the authority's financial management

Mr Hughes joins the existing four commissioners, who were appointed in 2021 over what Parliament heard was a "serious breakdown of governance".

Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson said his experience "will be helpful" as the council prepares its next budget.

The council has been seeking to improve since Mr Jenrick brought the commissioners in in 2021.

In September, it appointed Theresa Grant as interim chief executive, following the resignation of Tony Reeves, but an investigation then found it had failed to act on 12 contracts across various services - which had expired or were close to doing so - and therefore best value had been "compromised".

Mr Gove said he was "committed to helping Liverpool City Council come out of this intervention as a stronger organisation and that is why I am taking further steps to put the council on a firmer footing".

"Liverpool is a city of fantastic potential and under the guidance of the new finance commissioner, I am confident they will be able to rebuild trust with those they serve and deliver for the taxpayer," he added.

A government representative said Mr Hughes would use his expertise to "ensure that the council sets a balanced budget and uses its money wisely".

They added that the commissioners had also been given new powers over governance, finances and recruitment.

Ms Anderson said Mr Hughes was an "experienced local government leader" and his appointment came "at a time of great challenge for us as we prepare to set out our 2023/2024 budget proposals".

"His experience will be helpful at this time," she said.

She added that it was worth noting that lead commissioner Mike Cunningham had "recognised that we are continuing to improve as an organisation and that there is a huge amount of work ongoing to change systems, processes and our culture".

"The additional intervention is no reflection on the hard work of teams and individuals across the organisation who are delivering improvements and making a positive difference to the lives of residents."

Mr Cunningham said that while the last report had "identified significant areas of failure", the commissioners had been "encouraged by the progress the council has made under the leadership of the interim chief executive and interim director of finance".

However he said the authority "faces substantial challenges in the next year, not least in agreeing a balanced budget, holding all out elections, and delivering a transformative improvement programme" and his team would "continue to work closely with the mayor and council leadership to address these".

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