Walton MP Peter Kilfoyle fury as Liverpool city council pay housing chief £102k

Oct 28 2009 by Rob Merrick, Liverpool Daily Post

A FURIOUS row blew up last night after an MP accused Liverpool city council of turning its back on the homeless – while paying its housing chief £102,000 a year.

Speaking in the Commons chamber, Walton MP Peter Kilfoyle lashed out at the six-figure pay and lavish bonus enjoyed by Rob Farnos, the city's new assistant executive director.

Contrasting the package with Liverpool's decision not to bid for government cash to build council homes, Mr Kilfoyle asked ministers: "Is this helping people in need of housing?"

But the Liberal Democrat-run city council hit back last night, accusing the Labour MP of outrageously misrepresenting its efforts to tackle long housing waiting lists, as well as improve its existing homes.

A spokesman said Liverpool recently won a £40m investment, from the Homes and Community Agency, to build 1,044 housing association and private homes, many for low-income families.

And it pointed out that Liverpool Mutual Homes, the tenant-led organisation now managing its stock, was spending £1m a week on improvements – far more than when the council directly owned the homes.

The spokesman said: "It is disingenuous of Mr Kilfoyle to suggest that we missed the boat on bidding for money to build council homes.

“The city council gave due consideration to bidding, but it would have required us to match the funding on offer and there were other caveats attached that meant it was not appropriate for Liverpool.