Comments in this statement are attributable to the Mayor of Liverpool, Ned Mannoun.
Council has received the interim report of the Office of Local Government into Liverpool City Council and a letter from the Minister for Local Government indicating that he is intending to postpone the elections and suspend the Council.
The Minister has determined there should be a public inquiry into the functionality of the Council.
I am not surprised that there is going to be a public inquiry – there is a resolution of council asking for an inquiry and I wrote to the Minister asking for an inquiry.
Suspending the Council is a bad idea, because it limits the capacity of the Council and its elected officials to fully respond to the report and participate in the inquiry.
"It makes me wonder why the Minister wants to deny me and my Councillors access to Council support.
Both the Council and I will be making a full response to the interim report once we have fully reviewed its comments.
From my initial read, what the Minister says is evidence of poor process is a shopping list of unfounded allegations by unknown people who may hold a grudge against the me and the Council
None of those named in the report have had the opportunity to rebut the allegations that have been made.
This – to me – is a gross denial of natural justice.
The minister has given seven days to make a response. I assure you a full response will be made and I will be circulating it widely.
