Let’s give Liverpool city-region extra muscle, says Peter Kilfoyle MP

Nov 6 2009 By Rob Merrick

A MERSEY MP has called for a directly-elected mayor to give real power to the Liverpool "city- region" – branding the current set- up a toothless "cosy cabal".

Walton MP Peter Kilfoyle commissioned his own independent research to analyse the failings of an arrangement he claims is letting down Merseyside.

The study has been sent to fellow MPs and key city bodies including The Mersey Partnership and Liverpool Vision, urging them to embrace the need for radical change.

Among the key conclusions are calls for:

A directly-elected mayor – akin to London's Boris Johnson – to "bring vision, innovation and real accountability";

A 12-strong assembly – with six directly-elected members, because its current leadership is a "closed and incestuous shop";

Tax and spend powers – perhaps over waste charges, road-pricing, local income tax, higher business rats, or a tourism tax;

A bigger city-region – perhaps including Warrington, Ellesmere Port and Neston, Chester and even Wrexham and Flintshire.

The study, by Liverpool firm KIP Research Ltd, pulls no punches in criticising the current city-region, warning that multi-area agreements (MAAs) – the basis of the Government's model – have "no power", because they impose no duties on councils to co-operate.

It claims the so-called "Cabinet" of the six council leaders lacks imagination and gives them "potential conflicts of interest" and has been weakened by Liverpool City Council's poor public image of "in-fighting, factionalism and allegations of unprofessionalism and mismanagement".

The report said the weaknesses were laid bare by the "bolshie squabbling" over Everton Football Club's plans to move out of Liverpool, to Knowsley.