Liberal councillor “deeply worried” about chaos in Liverpool  Council

A recent internal investigation into Liverpool City Council’s affairs revealed a culture of chaos across many council departments.

Investigators reported that council officials were failing in their management of personal data and were not properly managing or monitoring staff expenses.

Amongst the failings uncovered by the council were:

• Income from events at the Echo Arena and BT Convention Centre was left outstanding for up to three months.
• Parking fees are not being collected because staff do not manage computer systems properly.
• four bailiff companies were contracted to pursue council tax debts, breaking the council’s own rules.
• There was “no overall improvement to the council’s control environment” since their previous report.

Despite their report claiming there was little compliance with proper procedure in almost three-quarters of town hall work, council bosses said controls were being put in place to make sure improvements were made.

Liberal group leader Cllr Steve Radford said the report was “deeply worrying”. He added: “It is quite disconcerting because not only does it say there are shortcomings, but that they have flagged up these issues before and yet management appears to carry on in splendid isolation. If I was the chief executive, I would say to senior managers ‘you have to lay the law down’. It should be a case of either you fall into line or go.”