Half of senior manager posts to go at Liverpool City Council

Liverpool City Council is to slash its number of senior manager posts by more than half in a bid to save £4.5m a year, with the authority’s leader claiming it had a “bloated” structure.

The proposals, which were approved by the council’s appointments panel last week, will see:

• Some 48 senior posts lost from a total of 91
• The number of council business units reduced from 74 to 27
• The role of Director of Children, Family and Adult Services split into two separate posts. This followed a review which found that the existing combined role was too big, with a £740m budget and 70% of the council’s staff
• Salary bands for senior management reduced, with the chief executive’s proposed pay band dropping from £203,000 to £197,500. Assistant directors will get between £75,000 and £90,000, down from £117,816.

The revised senior management will comprise: Chief Executive; Director of Children and Young People's Services; Director of Operations; Director of Regeneration and Employment; Director of Finance and Resources; Director of Housing and Neighbourhoods; and
Director of Adult Services and Health.

They will be supported by 11 assistant directors and 25 divisional managers.

Liverpool’s leader, Joe Anderson, said: "I have always said that when it comes to cutbacks, they should start at the top. The scale of the cuts the council is facing following the loss of millions of pounds of government grants will affect every service we provide, and every penny we have must be spent on protecting essential services and not wasted on needless bureaucracy.

"Quite frankly, the city council has suffered from a top-heavy, bloated senior management set-up, weighted down with too much paperwork, form filling and box ticking. These radical changes mean we will have a much leaner, more efficient team of managers that will be 100% focused on delivering the council's priorities."

The council has already consulted staff and trade unions on the review. Further consultations will take place before the new structure is implemented from 1 January 2011.