Liverpool City Council has made “significant and substantial improvement”, the Government has been told, following the end of the conclusion of the independently-led Improvement and Assurance Board.
The Improvement and Assurance Board, which included two independent advisors as well as elected members and senior officers at Liverpool City Council, was set up to provide oversight of ongoing improvements in the local authority following the end of Government intervention and the withdrawal of Commissioners in June 2024.
The Board was a “step down” from statutory intervention, which began with the Best Value Inspection and Commissioners being appointed in 2021.
The improvement process at Liverpool City Council has now progressed far enough to allow these arrangements to also now be successfully concluded.
Independent Chair, Mike Cunningham CBE QPM, has written to the Minister for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Jim McMahon MP, with their final report.
Key points in the report include:
- Leadership is “firmly focused on ensuring continuous improvement across the Council and delivery for the city’s residents” and the Board have “confidence in the stability of this leadership structure”.
- Governance and decision-making are now subject to “clear, robust processes which ensure key decisions are rigorously considered before progressing”.
- The Council “is managing its finances effectively and is making the difficult but necessary decisions to manage these challenges”. The Board also welcomes the approval of five years of accounts from 2019-24 within the last 12 months as “one of the most concrete examples of financial improvement”.
- Staff confidence has grown and that “the workforce is clear of the need to continue to improve services to residents and has shown great commitment to want to achieve this”.
- There have been improvements in Children’s Services since the service was judged inadequate by Ofsted in May 2023, and the leadership team is “stable, high calibre and focused on improving outcomes for children in the city”.
- The City Development service has been “fundamentally transformed” and now has a “full cohort of experienced and well qualified staff” and is “starting to recover” its external reputation to “set a new, optimistic and growth-orientated future for the city”. It adds that there is “significant momentum for North Liverpool” including the new Bramley Moore stadium and plans for Central Docks within Liverpool Waters, as well as the Council’s ambitions for a new community in North Liverpool .
- Progress in tackling housing and homelessness issue is described as “visible” and the pace of service improvement is “increasing”, with “clear plans to ensure that housing duties are delivered as effectively as possible and that budget sustainability issues are addressed”.
- The report says the property service “remains focused on continuing to improve” in building capacity, implementing its improvement plan and the quality of decision making. It adds: “Although there remains much to be done, the Board has greater confidence in the plans in place to deliver an improved service and can see good evidence of a focus on delivery and impact for the residents of the city”.
Securing Continuous Improvement
The Board says the Council has a “deep commitment” to continuous improvement and is building “an organisational culture” focused around “challenging how it operates, adopting modern working practices and driving out waste and inefficiency”.
An independent Corporate Peer Challenge held last year also highlighted the progress that has been made. A further review is being explored for 2027, with a full inspection in 2029.
The Board has welcomed a proposal to establish a formal Improvement Committee to oversee whole Council improvement, made up of senior Cabinet members and officers. It will have the ability to commission independent assurance as required.
In conclusion, the Board says it is “confident that the Council’s trajectory is well set, well led and understood across the whole organisation”.
It adds: “With the new arrangements in place, and continued leadership, commitment and resources dedicated to improvement, there is confidence that the council’s ambitions for itself as an organisation and for the residents it serves will be achieved”.
In a letter to the Minister accompanying the report, Mr Cunningham said: “Liverpool is now an organisation able to manage its own continuous improvement and we have confidence in the senior officer and political team’s ability to lead the Council and respond to future challenges”.
Council Leader, Cllr Liam Robinson, has also written to the Minister to give a commitment to the improvement journey and outline the steps being taken to improve services, including additional investment in tackling flytipping, street cleansing and blight, as well as co-location of services and the process of dealing with customer queries.
The final report of the Improvement and Assurance Board will be considered by the Cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday 15 April.
Council Leader, Cllr Liam Robinson, said: “I very much welcome this report from the Improvement and Assurance Board which demonstrates how much progress we have made.
“Politically and managerially we have been transformed, particularly over the last two years with a new Cabinet and senior leadership team. I would like to thank Councillors of all parties for their support with the significant changes that have been made, and staff for their hard work and commitment.
“I believe there is an unstoppable momentum in the improvements that we are making, which are now starting to make a difference to the quality of frontline services, particularly when combined with the additional investment we are putting in.
“Residents should have confidence that we are now an outward looking organisation that welcomes challenge and wants to work in partnership with our communities to deliver improvements for the city.”
“I want to thank Mike Cunningham for his personal commitment to the improvement of Liverpool City Council, and the other independent members Stephen Hughes and Richard Ennis for their expert support.”
Independent Chair of the Improvement and Assurance Board, Mike Cunningham CBE QPM said: “It is now almost four years since I first arrived in Liverpool to oversee the city’s improvement journey, initially as Lead Commissioner and latterly as independent Chair of the Improvement and Assurance Board.
“The stability and commitment to improvement, as well as a clear understanding of the challenges that remain, provides a solid platform for the future.
“The senior leadership team know and accept that there is much more to do, and are open to constructive challenge, which means that we are able to have confidence in the future.
“I would like to thank councillors, officers and frontline staff for the transparent way in which they have engaged with us to enable us to form well-informed judgements, and I wish them well for the future.”
