Liverpool public to be asked how city should be governed

The 12-week consultation on how Liverpool is governed will run from 28 March

A public consultation which could see the role of Liverpool mayor scrapped is set to start at the end of the month.

A letter will go to all homes on the city's electoral register outlining alternative methods of leadership.

Liverpool has had a directly elected mayor since 2012 but in January the council voted to ask the public for thoughts on how the city should be run.

The 12-week consultation will run from 28 March to 20 June.

The options are the three forms of governance allowed by law:

• A mayor who is directly elected by voters every four years, as per the current system

• A leader who is an elected councillor chosen by a vote of the other elected councillors

• One or more committees made up of elected councillors

The council previously decided against holding a formal referendum on the grounds of it being too costly at £450,000. The estimated cost of this consultation is £120,000.

Any change in governance would take effect from the elections in May 2023, and would be legally binding for five years.

Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson has said she would maintain a neutral position in the process

Solicitor Dan Fenwick said the council wanted to give as many people as possible the chance to have their say.

"A consultation is the only way local people can express a preference and we have made the process as clear and simple as we can," he said.

Liverpool's current mayor Joanne Anderson was elected in May 2021. In her manifesto she said she would campaign for the role to be scrapped, or to "sack herself" if she won.

She has since said she would maintain a neutral position.

Liberal Democrat opposition leader Richard Kemp said he would seek "absolute assurances that the role of the council will be absolutely neutral".

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