Cancelling Liverpool councillors' parking fines 'unacceptable'

The Liverpool Echo found councillors had 51 penalty notices cancelled without a formal process

Councillors in Liverpool have had parking fines cancelled without going through a formal process, an investigation has found.

Analysis by the Liverpool Echo found 51 penalty notices issued to elected members were challenged and rescinded between April 2015 and December 2020.

Liverpool City Council's interim chief executive Theresa Grant said it showed an "unacceptable culture".

The city's mayor said she used "all avenues available" to deal with it.

Joanne Anderson said following a Labour Party investigation, she had been told "any members thought to have had tickets written off inappropriately would be sanctioned".

Ms Grant said the authority had "released historic information about parking penalty charge notices issued to elected members that were cancelled between 2015 and 2020".

"It highlights previous poor practice, relating to past processes and scrutiny of the way the council used to be run," she said.

"It is, sadly, an example of the unacceptable culture that pervaded parts of the council in the past, as documented in the 'best value' inspection report."

'Not satisfied'

Government-appointed officials were sent to oversee some departments at the council in 2021 over a "serious breakdown of governance".

Ms Grant said "what happened historically is no reflection of the council's current parking services staff nor management team".

She added that the council was "now a more mature organisation, one that is open and transparent about decision-making".

Ms Anderson said she was made aware of the issue after becoming mayor in 2021 and "formally wrote to the council's audit team to request a review".

"I asked for information relating to all council members who had parking tickets removed and whether there had been a breach of the Member Code of Conduct," she said.

"In October 2021, I pursued this via the council complaints process and I was not satisfied with the council's response.

"I then reported this information to the Labour Party [and] following a Labour Party investigation, I was informed that after investigation, any members thought to have had tickets written off inappropriately would be sanctioned."

Ms Grant said since commissioners took over some departments, the council was "now a more mature organisation"

She said she had "pursued all avenues available to me as mayor", adding: "As an authority, we are still very much on an improvement journey."

"Being a more open, transparent organisation is a key part of this, and something I will continue to work on during my tenure as mayor.

"We cannot change what happened in the past but it is vital that we learn from it and make sure we are as transparent as possible when it comes to decision-making, with the correct governance and audit procedures in place," she said.

Lead commissioner Mike Cunningham said the report highlighted the "poor practices that have been all too common in Liverpool City Council".

He said it had taken "too long for this information to be shared", but his team welcomed the "transparent approach the council is now taking".