Liverpool earns confidence of improvement board after four years of intervention

Liverpool City Council's Assurance and Improvement Board has expressed confidence in the senior officer and political team's ability to lead the local authority and respond to future challenges following almost four years of Government intervention.

In its final report, set to be considered by cabinet on Tuesday (15 April), the Board hailed "fundamental changes" to the governance at the council, including well-planned meetings, new scrutiny models and a new approach to risk and audit.

The Board was established in June 2024 to provide external support and challenge to the council's improvement journey following the end of a statutory intervention at the council. It was disbanded late last month.

In its final report, the Board said the core failings discovered by the intervention and which were at the heart of a 2021 Best Value Inspection had been or were being addressed in "a robust and sustainable way" by the time the Board was established.

However, "there was more to do" in some areas to demonstrate a sufficiently stable improvement trajectory, robust to the stresses and challenges that organisations will always face, the Board said.

Liverpool's Board met six times over the last year, and has also undertaken a number of 'deep dive assessments' into finance and transformation, organisational culture, property, housing and children's social care.

"During this period, the Board has seen much evidence that the council is continuing its improvement journey at pace", the final report said.

It added that the leadership of the council, both officer and political, "has remained focused on this joint endeavour" and that they demonstrated "exemplary values and behaviours as a leadership team and made many difficult decisions in a professional and evidenced-based manner".

Detailing governance improvements, the report said that there are clear priorities for the leader and cabinet that are "well understood" by senior officers and communicated across the organisation.

It noted that governance and decision-making processes "have been fundamentally changed over the last few years", with monthly cabinet meetings being "well planned and well run", a "good forward planning process", a new scrutiny model and a strengthened approach to risk and audit "with involvement from across the political spectrum".

"The Board can see clear, robust processes which ensure key decisions are rigorously considered before progressing", it added.

The report also praised the council's leadership structure and the "quality, enthusiasm and commitment" of officers at the council.

The Commissioners oversaw the successful establishment of tiers 1-3 of the council, with responsibility progressively handed back to the council as those appointments were made - and the final element of the tier 4 restructure is now finalised.

In addition, the council has prioritised the delivery of a substantial transformation programme, with clear priorities on adult and children's social care, SEND and housing, which will deliver service improvements and strengthen financial stability, the report said.

On children's services, the report said that while progress is needed before Liverpool can demonstrate good services in this area, successive reports have demonstrated positive progress in resolving serious issues raised in an Ofsted report in May 2023 that judged the services inadequate.

Financial stability is also a continued focus for the leadership team, and they "have made difficult decisions well" and "understand the scale of the challenge to deliver these decisions", the report added.

Liverpool set a balanced budget for 2025-26, and now has a robust approach to in-year financial monitoring, according to the report.

In a letter to Local Government Minister Jim McMahon, the leader of Liverpool City Council, Cllr Liam Robinson, said there is "significant evidence of continued and substantial progress over this period".

He added: "There is a strong consensus from the Board that the council is now able to lead this journey itself and be accountable to its residents. The Board also shares a view that there is still more to be done and that the council is the first to recognise this."

A separate letter from Mike Cunningham, the chair of the Board, to McMahon meanwhile described Liverpool as "an organisation able to manage its own continuous improvement".

It added: "We have confidence in the senior officer and political team's ability to lead the Council and respond to future challenges."

Adam Carey