Council leader hits back at calls to step aside

The leader of Wirral Council has hit back at calls to step aside during an emergency meeting called over the critical state of the local authority's finances.

The council, led by Labour's Paul Stuart, is facing a budget shortfall of tens of millions of pounds, and is expected to ask the government for a bailout of up to £40m.

Councillor Jo Bird, co-leader of Wirral's Green Party, said the authority "sorely needs a new style of leadership".

But Stuart said every councillor was involved in decisions and the opposition party was failing to take responsibility for its actions.

The meeting comes at a troubling time for the local authority with councillors expected to request an emergency bailout of up to £40m later as council finance bosses said bankruptcy was "highly likely" without it.

The government said it had given Wirral £32m for next year already and was "working hand-in-hand" with local authorities.

The emergency meeting on Tuesday was called after the local authority's external auditors Grant Thornton published their assessment of the council's finances for the financial year between April 2023 and March 2024.

Wirral Council is led by Labour but the leading party do not have an overall majority meaning any decision needs to be cross party.

Stuart said it was "time for political groups to stop blaming previous administrations for the difficult financial situation that the council finds itself in".

However, Bird said money was being "wasted every single day while precious jobs and services are facing the chop".

Liberal Democrat Councillor Phil Gilchrist said all members needed to work together as the authority faced a serious situation.

Conservative opposition leader, Jeff Green, urged councillors "to deal with this issue properly and seriously".

The local authority previously had to request emergency government support in 2021 and 2022 with £11m of this still needing to be paid back, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

This led to an independent panel being appointed for two years.

Up to £20m is expected to be needed to bail out the council so it can avoid issuing a Section 114 notice, effectively declaring bankruptcy, before April while a further £20m is reportedly needed to help the council transform its services from April.

Another review of council finances is currently under way.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.