WIRRAL Council is in a “much improved” position and has “clearer vision for the organisation and the borough” according to the chair of a high-level panel put in place to oversee changes to the authority.

The Independent Assurance Panel (IAP), chaired by Carolyn Downs, included specialist advisors with significant local government experience, including two Local Government Association peer representatives.

Over the last two years they have had oversight of the council’s Improvement Programme designed to put the authority on a more secure footing and ensure it is moving in the right direction.

The decision of the Independent Assurance Panel (IAP) to stand down was announced at a meeting of the council’s Policy and Resources Committee on March 20.

In a letter confirming the Panel’s support to Wirral Council should end, Ms Downs, said: “There have been significant improvements in the council over the period of the panel’s involvement.”

She highlighted how the Panel had seen “significant changes” including the authority swapping to all out elections once every four years and a streamlined committee system for decision-making by councillors.

Chief Executive of Wirral Council, Paul Satoor, said: “Wirral Council has come a long way in a relatively short period of time. This has been done by acknowledging the council needed to change and then working closely together for the benefit of the people of this borough and using the advice and help available to achieve this.

“This process has always been about ensuring the council is in a strong position to deliver the best service we can for the people of Wirral, to be efficient, and able to provide the best possible value for money and it is good to see the Panel has confidence that Wirral has made such strides and continues to move in the right direction.

“In addition, I would like to thank Carolyn Downs and the members of the IAP for their advice and assistance over the last couple of years.”

The IAP had been asked by the authority to oversee its improvement in response to an External Assurance Review commissioned by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and published in November 2021. 

That External Assurance Review had been undertaken as a condition of the council’s request for exceptional financial support in 2020-21 and 2021-22, and the IAP was subsequently a part of the council’s move towards putting itself on a sustainable financial footing.

The Panel chair said that although Wirral Council had sought approval for £15.4m capitalisation from Government that it “only needed to utilise £12.4m”. She added that since then the “council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy represents good progress” and that “the council has produced a firm foundation from which to continue its work”.

In her final letter to council leadership, Ms Downs also noted Wirral “demonstrates real ambition” in its regeneration and housing programmes and “has been very successful in creating and designing schemes and then attracting supporting external funding”.

She said that previously regeneration delivery “has been too slow” but identified that the council had moved to address this saying that in the past six months resources have been “mapped to prioritised schemes to speed up delivery”.

Other improvements at Wirral Council flagged by the IAP chair include:

significantly improved cross party working

reports to members which are clear, concise, and informative

increased trust in officers from councillors

a comprehensive approach to performance management

Ms Downs added that while the authority’s “budgetary situation remains very challenging, this is common to most councils and Wirral is now managing its budgetary position with competence”.

She added: “Whilst Wirral remains and will remain a challenging political environment, the council through its members and officers have worked well to improve the working environment and we congratulate them.”

Following news that Wirral Council has been taken out of ‘special measures’, the Leader of the Borough’s Conservative Councillors has called for the Council to focus on services and improvements for residents and businesses.

Councillor Jeff Green said: “These kind of internal council matters can sometimes seem a bit remote to taxpayers and residents of Wirral but the £12.4m we secured from the Government, in return for significant changes by the Council, means some of the services people rely on have been protected and secured for the future.

“Today’s news means that the Council is no longer the basket case it had become under previous administrations. We have avoided the bankruptcy we have seen in Birmingham or the scandals in Liverpool.

“However, while Wirral Council is no longer in ‘special measures’, we have still some way to go to stop the bonkers stuff and tackle the issues that affect people in all parts of our Borough. If we’re not tackling those issues, then the council will be failing in its primary duty.

“In the meantime, I would like to thank the Panel for the challenge, the robust questioning and support they have given all of us. As they say, the political leadership has improved and, by working together on those issues of mutual concern, the two largest parties can start to get results, as we have seen with Hoylake beach.”