A damning inspection report into Liverpool City Council has questioned the handing out of paid roles by Mayor Joe Anderson to non-elected people in the city.
Max Caller's 70-page report has shone a light on a catalogue of concerning practices at the council - particularly in the regeneration, property, highways and planning departments, areas that will now be supported by government commissioners
But the report also raises questions about the overall political set-up of the council, how decisions were made and what processes and scrutiny methods were in place.
In one section Mr Caller discusses the issue of Mayoral Leads - special paid roles awarded to some councillors and some non-councillors to look after certain areas.
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Mr Caller said his team were told that the appointment and designation of Mayoral Leads is at the discretion of the Mayor and that they are directly accountable to him, adding: "Their responsibilities are defined by the priorities identified to them by the Mayor."
The report noted that not all Mayoral Leads are elected councillors and that over the period of the review - which looked at council activities since 2015 - six non-elected Mayoral Leads had been appointed by Mayor Joe Anderson.
Mr Anderson has stepped back from his role as Mayor following his arrest in December. He denies wrongdoing.
On the subject of Mayoral Leads, Mr Caller wrote: "They have been appointed to as leads for: City Wellbeing, Heritage and Design, Asylum and Rough Sleeping."
Explaining more about how these people were paid, he added: "Instead of being paid the agreed Mayoral Lead Special responsibility Allowance (SRA) most claim payment at a set daily rate.
"However, the employer of one Mayoral Lead has been reimbursed their salary, and the cost has been substantially i.e., five times, higher than the current annual SRA."
The report noted that no formal, recognised processes for the appointment of such non-elected Mayoral Leads appear to have been undertaken.
It adds: "In this regard it would appear that Liverpool City Council’s HR service have failed to advise appropriately about the appointment of non-Member Mayoral Leads."
