LL THIS WEEK
‘Biggest political storm By RUAIRI WALSH
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political shockwave hit Liverpool at the weekend after it was reported that Liverpool City Council could be placed under special measures and put under the control of central government. The decision came after an investigation following the arrest of former Mayor Joe Anderson in December on suspicion of conspiracy to commit bribery and witness intimidation. Mr Anderson claims to be innocent of the charges and has resigned from his position. These events led to a Best Value Report being commissioned by the Government, to be led by Max Caller, looking into property management, regeneration, highways, contracts and planning at the council over the past five years. Robert Jenrick, the Local Government Secretary, is set to announce the results of the report later this week but reports suggest that the city will be put under the control of Government commissioners. “It’s a hugely unusual measure taken by the government, assuming that special measures go ahead.” says
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This is a very unusual step - it’s a step of last resort
Man Island
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Professor of politics at the University of Liverpool, Jonathan Tonge. “It’s only been done three times before and never for a council the size of Liverpool with almost half a million residents within the city’s borders. So, this is a very unusual step - it’s a step of last resort, one that the government only uses very sparingly.” According to Prof. Tonge, the effects of this will be long-lasting. “The special measure can be used indefinitely. The secretary of state normally states a period at which he anticipates those special measures lasting for, but they can be extended or shortened at the discretion of the secretary of state. “In the previous three cases the special measures have lasted three years, so we’re not talking about a quick fix here. If the commissioners come in to run Liverpool or parts of Liverpool City Council they could probably be there for several years.” In these other cases the consequences have been profound. Prof. Tonge said: “Well, in two of the three cases, basically the council was subject to a clean-up, so the commissioners came in, looked at the books, criticised what had gone on
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Liverpool Town Hall
Richard Kemp, leader of Lib Dems Liverpool
CENSUS TURNS LIV
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By SAMUEL HODGKISS
s Census 2021 got under way at the weekend, many of Liverpool’s most famous landmarks turned purple to celebrate the event taking place. The Office of National Statistics organised the event with other landmarks across England, Wales and Northen Ireland also taking part, including the BT Tower in London and Blackpool Tower. The event was organised to celebrate and raise awareness for the Census, a decennial census for England, Wales and Northern Ireland supplying important figures and statistics of every person in the countries. Key sectors that are expected to have significant changes in the diversity of their figures since 2011 are related to sexual orientation,
coinciding with the rise of the LGBTQ+ community and gender neutrality. The census also helps control hospital and school numbers allowing each community to be given the correct budget and resources they need, determined by the population data collected. Another significance is that this year marks the first time filling out the information has been mainly online since it started back in 1801. However, if some people fail to fill out the form before Sunday’s deadline, they risk facing a fine up to £1000. Pete Benton, Director of Census Operations at The Office of National Statistics, spoke about the significance of the celebration of Census 2021. “The census is such an important
