http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk...muscle-says-peter-kilfoyle-mp-92534-25105901/
A MERSEY MP has called for a directly-elected mayor to give real power to the Liverpool "city- region" – branding the current set- up a toothless "cosy cabal".
Walton MP Peter Kilfoyle commissioned his own independent research to analyse the failings of an arrangement he claims is letting down Merseyside.
The study has been sent to fellow MPs and key city bodies including The Mersey Partnership and Liverpool Vision, urging them to embrace the need for radical change.
Among the key conclusions are calls for:
A directly-elected mayor – akin to London's Boris Johnson – to "bring vision, innovation and real accountability";
A 12-strong assembly – with six directly-elected members, because its current leadership is a "closed and incestuous shop";
Tax and spend powers – perhaps over waste charges, road-pricing, local income tax, higher business rats, or a tourism tax;
A bigger city-region – perhaps including Warrington, Ellesmere Port and Neston, Chester and even Wrexham and Flintshire.
The study, by Liverpool firm KIP Research Ltd, pulls no punches in criticising the current city-region, warning that multi-area agreements (MAAs) – the basis of the Government's model – have "no power", because they impose no duties on councils to co-operate.
It claims the so-called "Cabinet" of the six council leaders lacks imagination and gives them "potential conflicts of interest" and has been weakened by Liverpool City Council's poor public image of "in-fighting, factionalism and allegations of unprofessionalism and mismanagement".
The report said the weaknesses were laid bare by the "bolshie squabbling" over Everton Football Club's plans to move out of Liverpool, to Knowsley.
It accused The Mersey Partnership – also represented on the "Cabinet" – of having a "theme- park approach", obsessed with image over the needs of local people. Mr Kilfoyle said his aim was to "put the cat among the pigeons" and expose the hollowness of the grand claims made for the city-region and devolution.
He added: "We are going about this in half-cocked, British way, creating a cosy local cabal while maintaining the status quo, to all intents and purposes.Nobody is coming together in an efficient and intelligent way. A lead must come from somewhere if we are to enthuse local people and channel their inventiveness and dynamism."
Mr Kilfoyle said he was won over to the idea of a directly-elected mayor by the experience of London.
He declined to say who might fill the post, but promised: "Cometh the hour, cometh the man, or woman."
The city-region – comprising Liverpool, Wirral, Sefton, Knowsley, St Helens and Halton – was created in January.
The Mersey Partnership declined to comment on the criticisms, but Cllr Ron Round, Knowsley's leader and the Cabinet's chairman, said the study was three years out of date.
He added: "The city region Cabinet has made tremendous progress since then. We have already started to see the benefits of this partnership working.
"Over 30,000 people were helped from benefits into work during 2008-09 and the city region recently secured funding to create 6,000 jobs through the Future Jobs Fund."