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McKenna “baffled” by combined authority leadership vote

The process used to appoint the leader of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority “bordered on negligent”, according to a local business leader.

Wirral Council leader Phil Davies was crowned chair of the new organisation last month following a vote from which the leaders of Liverpool and Sefton councils were excluded after apparently arriving late for the meeting.

The decision to omit Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson and Sefton Council leader Peter Dowd prompted the former to seek legal advice on the city’s continued involvement in the organisation. It followed earlier controversy over the proposed name of the organisation and an apparent lack of co-operation between the participating councils.

Frank McKenna, chief executive of private sector lobby group Downtown Liverpool in Business, said: “Having finally seen sense over the name of the combined authority, our political masters could not resist snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

“How the council leaders representing around 50% of city region residents can be excluded from the decision to appoint a chair is baffling.

“All of this would add up to a good script for an episode of Yes Minister, but for a city region that has ambitions to win millions of pounds of government investment for much needed infrastructure projects across the region, it is bordering on negligent.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Dan Minchin .