Liverpool City Council is set to regain control over some of its functions, but intervention is “likely” to be extended beyond June 2024.
In June 2021, the government sent commissioners into Liverpool as a result of a “serious breakdown of governance”, and a year later expanded intervention due to a lack of improvement.
In a written ministerial statement today (13 December), local government minister Simon Hoare announced that the levelling up secretary Michael Gove is proposing to “reduce the scope of the intervention and return certain functions to the council, by March 2024”.
This means that commissioners at Liverpool will no longer exercise functions associated with highways and the strategic financial management of the authority.
Hoare stated that the relaxation of the intervention is due to a change in leadership at political and officer levels. “The new leadership team have shown strength and grip as they continue to make improvements, and commissioners believe they are well placed to deal with challenges,” he wrote.
However, Hoare stated that despite the council making “strong progress” since May 2023, “there remains a lot to do”. He highlighted that the new leadership has “not yet had the time to demonstrate continuous improvement and their ability to resolutely make necessary difficult decisions”.
Therefore, he added that statutory intervention is “likely” to be recommended beyond the current end date of June 2024.
Hoare stated: “In order to provide enough evidence of a well-set trajectory, more time is needed to observe the impact of this new leadership as they drive improvement.”
Alongside this, Hoare added that Gove is “minded to” issue further directions to the council, either to support the proposed return of powers or to address concerns raised by commissioners in their latest report.
These included allowing commissioners to “provide advice and challenge” about strategic decisions, continuing to “rebuild trust with residents” and implementing a “strengthened” risk management mechanism based on its recommendations.
Liverpool has also been told to “progress significantly” with the implementation of the corporate landlord model as well as establish and implement a cultural change programme.
Liverpool City Council has until 2 January 2024 to make representations about the government’s proposals.
Alongside relaxing intervention at Liverpool, Hoare also announced the expansion of intervention at Nottingham and appointed new commissioners at Woking.
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