Assurance and Improvement Board to replace Commissioners at Liverpool

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has proposed reducing the level of intervention at Liverpool City Council by moving from a commissioner-led model to a statutory Assurance and Improvement Board.

In a letter to the city council's chief executive today (8 May), the Minister for Local Government, Simon Hoare MP, said that the decision comes in response to a fifth report from commissioners that detailed "significant improvements". 

However, he said DLUHC would stop short of ending the intervention entirely as he and the Secretary of State believed Liverpool was still "not yet meeting" its Best Value Duty.

Commissioners, led by Mike Cunningham, were sent into the council in June 2021 and handed powers over Property, Regeneration, Highways and their associated governance.

The Government later handed the team further powers over the financial functions and control of senior appointments.

A series of commissioner reports have been published since then.

By March 2024, improvements meant the council had been handed back control over Finance, Highways and Transport, and most senior appointments.

Detailing the current situation in their latest report, the commissioners said: "Our overall assessment of LCC, at this time, is that it is a well-governed, improving organisation, with ambitious leaders who are committed to long term change. If LCC continues on this path, it will soon be a council that can achieve the value for money, good quality services the people of Liverpool have a right to expect for manyyears to come."

The report said the commissioners were "particularly impressed" by the improvement in financial management, "especially in the way officers and members have worked together and made difficult decisions to set the budget for 2024/2025".

It also noted that a large transformation programme underway is well-led, regularly reviewed and well-resourced. 

On governance, the report said improvements over the last six months included an increased number of pre-decision scrutiny reports for scrutiny committees and a reformed approach to pre-decision engagement with cabinet. 

"This has enabled Cabinet Members to better understand and contextualise the decisions they are making," the report noted.

Meanwhile, the council has updated its forward planning procedures, committed to live-streaming cabinet meetings again, and has trained officers on report writing for delegated decision reports. 

In addition, improvements have been made to the council's Freedom of Information (FOI) performance, which was previously "very poor". 

According to the report, the council, which was hit with a Practice Recommendation in August 2023 by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), is now responding to 87% of FOIs within the statutory timeframe. This is up from 53% when the ICO's recommendation was issued.  

Despite the improvements, the commissioners said they felt that the council is yet to fully meet its Best Value Duty. 

The council is still working towards stability in some areas, particularly in Property Services and there are "challenges ahead" relating to rising homelessness and improving its children's services, the report said.

In addition, there is still more to do in relation to people management functions, procurement, delivery of plans, and risk management practice, according to the report.

In light of the report, the Secretary of State is minded to exercise his powers under section 15 of the Local Government Act 1999 to extend the statutory intervention until 31 March 2025.

The Secretary of State is also minded to change the statutory intervention to a statutory Assurance and Improvement Board (instead of Commissioners), to provide oversight, advice, and challenge to the council.

DLUHC is seeking representations on the proposals by 13 May and has said it will announce final decisions as soon as practicable. 

Liverpool has meanwhile said it is supportive of plans to create a Statutory Assurance and Improvement Board.

Council Leader, Cllr Liam Robinson, said: "It has been a truly herculean effort, particularly over the last 12 months, to get us to this position and I am incredibly proud of everyone for their dedication and commitment.

"We are now a mature and focused organisation which knows its strengths and weaknesses, and we have a clear vision and plan to deliver well run, value for money services."

"We know we still have a long way to go to prove to the people of Liverpool that we are a changed organisation, which is why we have jointly agreed with the Commissioners that there is a need for an Improvement Panel to provide a check on how we are transforming our services."

Adam Carey