Liverpool’s councillors have backed plans that could eventually see their numbers cut.
Plans to reduce the number of councillors from 90 to 85 were approved by councillors this evening and will now go to government for approval.
A reduction in the number of councillors and a move from the current system of having one ward represented by three councillors was one of the aims set out by Robert Jenrick when he sent commissioners to oversee parts of the council’s operations earlier this year.
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The exact details of how councillors and wards will be distributed has not yet been finalised.
Presenting the proposals, councillor Nick Small said the group of councillors that formulated the plans worked hard to limit the fall in the number of elected members so as to reduce its impact.
He said: “The council has taken the view quite rightly that we want to working constructively with government in order to implement the improvement plan.
“It is in that context that the cross party group is submitting these proposals to council.
“We have done that and we have said that this is the biggest number that we can see a reduction of councillors in without seeing a significant negative impact.”
Other councillors speaking at tonight’s meeting largely agreed that the move was necessary but warned it would have implications for local democracy.
Opposition leader Richard Kemp said the city had been “bullied, bludgeoned and ultimately blackmailed” into backing the cut, while Liberal Party leader Steve Radford said councillors “needed to be honest” that it would negatively impact residents.
The plans will now go to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England for consideration, with further proposals on the exact structure of the council after the change set to continue.
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