An outgoing senior Liverpool councillor has suggested authority staff feared “disciplinary consequences” for making mistakes amid the council’s difficult financial position.
Former cabinet member Cllr Barry Kushner said a “culture of being adverse to decision making” existed within Liverpool Council’s finance division that led to major mistakes being committed like the expensive electricity contract error last year. Cllr Kushner, chair of the finance and resources select committee, used the final session to express his concerns.
It was confirmed at the start of this month Cllr Kushner would not be allowed to seek re-election for his Norris Green seat by the Labour Party after being found to have the second highest number of rescinded parking tickets in council documents released through an ECHO investigation, which revealed a 'back door' route for councillors to have fines cancelled by officers.
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Reflecting on the work of the committee over the last year, Cllr Kushner said there had been “instability in the finance department” remarking there have been two chief executives, three chief finance officers - including two interims - and multiple cabinet members. On issues around the council’s electricity contract, Cllr Kushner said: “There was a culture of being adverse to decision making.”
The former cabinet member also suggested staff felt “worry and anxiety that if they made a wrong decision they may face disciplinary consequences.” Cllr Kushner also cited the late signing of a £500,000 contract to pay council staff, with terms signed with just hours to spare.
It was confirmed in committee papers that failing to properly renew its electricity contract last year cost Liverpool Council more than £2m extra to keep the lights on. The local authority incurred an additional cost of £1.1m for its operational buildings and a further £1m for street lighting.
A further £350,000 bill was slapped on Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service. Added up with the schools fee of £2.3m, the council was in the red for an additional £4.8m for a two month period.
As a result, it is expected that for the whole year April 2022 to March this year, Liverpool Council is expected to pay £24m for its electricity across those three areas, rather than an expected £19m. These estimates exclude Paddington Village and include actual consumption bills from Crown Commercial Service inclusive of the energy bill relief scheme.
The total final costs will not be known until February and March invoices have been completed, which is expected by early May.
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