Liverpool Council approved a range of reforms earlier this week that will transform how the council operates.
The first of a series of changes, phase one of the council’s improvement plan will overhaul the way parts of the council function in response to the damning Caller Report.
Passed unanimously, the changes have cross party backing and are seen as vital for restoring the confidence of the public and businesses in the local authority after a turbulent period.
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Overseen by commissioners, councillors and officers will undertake the first step of reforms over the next year as part of a larger reform project stretching up to 2024.
At £2.5m, the cost of the plan is significant but it is widely viewed as necessary after a turbulent period for the city.
Why are the reforms happening?
The proposals approved this week are the latest part of the council’s response to a brutal government inspection into the council.
The Best Value Inspection by Max Caller found a range of failings in the local authority and prompted a huge reaction both within and outside Liverpool.
After the report was published, local government secretary Robert Jenrick described the findings as “a deeply concerning picture”, warning mismanagement, bullying and failures of governance within parts of the council were at unacceptable levels.
Mr Jenrick said: “The report identifies multiple apparent failures by Liverpool City Council by complying with its best value duty.
“This includes a failure of proper and due process across planning and regeneration including a worrying lack of record-keeping, indeed documentation had sometimes been created retrospectively, discarded in skips or even destroyed.”
In response, he took the rare step of appointing commissioners to oversee multiple parts of the council’s operation’s, an unprecedented step for a council of Liverpool’s size.
Improvements demanded by Mr Jenrick will be overseen by the commissioners, but the detail of the plan has very much been shaped by councillors and officers within Liverpool in an attempt to secure wide support for the proposals and ensure their success in the long term.
What changes are actually taking place?
Even before the arrests that triggered the Best Value Inspection, work had been underway to reform parts of the council.
New chief executive Tony Reeves was praised by Max Caller for his work to drive through changes in Liverpool since his appointment in 2018.
However, the damning results of the inspection meant more drastic changes were needed - and the plans passed this week form the first full set of changes.
Many of those changes approved this week are very technical in nature.
They focus on seven areas which Mr Caller’s report highlighted as key concerns.
There will be specific changes within the highways, regeneration and property management functions of the council.
All are areas which Mr Caller highlighted specifically as functioning unacceptably.
Each will undergo a range of changes to strengthen their accountability, governance and record management to make sure the chaotic scenes described in the Best Value Inspection can’t happen again.
The largest number of changes fall under the large umbrella of “culture change”. These changes are aimed at transforming how the council operates day to day.
The council has recruited a new director of people and talent to oversee many of the changes, with strengthening of leadership and support processes also being brought into support the reforms more widely.
Of all the areas for reform, changes to the council’s culture is one of the areas where things are most clearly already underway.
The council’s code of conduct has already been changed, as has the protocol governing the relationship between councillors and officers. The changes in this area will be key.
While the Caller Report cautioned that many areas of the council functioned effectively, it detailed a deeply disturbing culture within the regeneration and highways departments.
Many of the reforms over the next year will lay the groundwork for wider change. They include increased training for councillors and officers as well as strengthened training on the conduct expected of both groups.
The aim is to consolidate those changes in reform of the constitution, another strand of the reforms. A new constitution is set to be placed before councillors to vote on by the time its annual general meeting comes around in May next year.
Later phases of reform will then build on those that take place in the first phase.
What does it mean for Liverpool’s citizens?
The behind the scenes nature of the reforms means most people in the city won’t notice them immediately.
There is little in the plan that will affect the way that people interact with the council on a day to day basis.
The way people pay their council tax, apply for grants or support or inquire about services will not change.
However, it is hoped that the reforms will pave the way in transforming the way that Liverpool’s citizens view their council.
The results of the Best Value Inspection have caused significant damage to the trust many taxpayers have in their local authority, and council leaders will be hoping that a key way in which these reforms affect the people of Liverpool is by restoring their faith through a better functioning local authority.
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