FORMER Liverpool council leader Warren Bradley has called for an investigation into the way the city is making its top managers redundant.

The Liberal Democrat leader said it was not right that the council was paying managers to “sit at home” while they worked out their notice periods, instead of being asked to continue turning up for work.

He calculated that the council has paid between £300,000 and £500,000 to managers to stay away from work during their notice periods, which can extend for up to six months.

Cllr Bradley said he would be raising the matter with the district auditor.

But Labour council leader Joe Anderson said the voluntary severance scheme being used to reduce management at the council had been in place for years, and was introduced by the Liberal Democrats while they were in power.

He said: “We will not take lectures from Cllr Bradley on how to run the council.”

He insisted that there was enough capacity in the council and the people were being drafted in if needed. Last month, the city council offered voluntary redundancy to any manager earning more than £60,000 as part of a far-reaching efficiency drive.