ALL political party leaders in Liverpool have been called to a top-level meeting to discuss a damning report that the council is being overcharged £10m a year by BT for its IT and call centre operation.

The secret report into the controversial Liverpool Direct Limited (LDL) joint venture also concluded that £23m-a-year could be saved if the contract were terminated.

The bleak assessment of the £70m-a-year LDL contract stated BT has been “excessively marking up” the cost of equipment not specified in the original deal, which was signed in 2001.

Liberal Democrat opposition leader Warren Bradley, Liberal leader Steve Radford, and Green Sarah Jennings have all been called to the meeting tomorrow with council leader Joe Anderson.

Cllr Andrew Makinson, chairman of the LDL scrutiny panel, and finance select committee chairman Paul Clein, who called for answers on why the report was kept secret, have also bee invited.

The council is currently evaluating the report, written in June, and the councillors will receive an update on this work.

The authority has said until the work is complete the findings of the report do not represent its view.

This latest controversy comes at a time when the council is pondering whether to commit to continue using the LDL service until 2017 – albeit in exchange for a better deal.