Liverpool council imposes recruitment freeze as it deals with ‘financial crisis’

LIVERPOOL council has introduced an immediate recruitment freeze as it grapples with the “biggest financial crisis to hit the city for decades”.

Deputy council leader Paul Brant said he ordered the halt in recruitment after learning the scale of the local authority’s financial problems since Labour took control last month.

But he warned this was just the first of a number of “tough measures” to come.

He has also ordered a line-by-line examination of council’s finances in a bid to find areas of waste.

“Since taking over responsibility for the city council’s finances I have been examining the city’s internal accounts. They make grim reading.

This immediate halt in recruitment will help reduce costs. The sooner we act the better.”

The Liberal Democrat opposition said it had some serious concerns about imposing a recruitment freeze and its possible effects on social services.

Last year the city treasurer Robert Corbett said the council had a £120m gap in its budget over the next five years and chief executive Colin Hilton warned the local authority needed to axe 1,000 jobs over three years.

The city council, the second biggest employer on Merseyside after the NHS, turns over around 800 vacancies a year, from its 10,000-strong workforce.

The recruitment freeze covers all city council staff and agency workers.

Any requests from officials to fill a vacancy would have to be signed off by a cabinet member.

Teachers and staff providing life-and-death services will be exempt from the freeze.

“It is clear the council is facing a huge financial crisis, the budget is in a mess,” said Cllr Brant.

“The city treasurer had already publicly warned about a £120m budget gap left by the previous Lib-Dem administration, and it is clear that a number of key education and social services are under-funded this year by several million pounds. Add that to last week’s news that the council could face an immediate cut of up to £30m by the new Conservative Lib-Dem government in special grants which fund much-needed housing and schools improvements, it is clear we are facing the biggest financial crisis for more than a quarter of a century.”

He said he expected the coalition’s emergency budget on June 22 to “heap more misery” on Liverpool residents.

Deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition Flo Clucas said the recruitment freeze was a retrograde step that would lead to councillors trying to micro manage the council.

“We have some serious concerns about this, particularly in relation to social care staff. The council’s budget is not in a mess.

“Earlier this year Labour proposed a zero percent council tax increase as we did, if they seriously thought there were problems with the budget they would not have done that.”

She said there was money in reserves and other pots of money that could be used if needs be.

But Cllr Brant insisted the council need to take immediate action.

“We have to act now to tackle the shortfall. Which is why I am introducing an immediate recruitment freeze which will go some way to alleviate the pain of spending cuts to come.”