April 5, 2021

Independent Liverpool Mayoral candidate, Stephen Yip, has written to the leaders of the city’s business organisations endorsing their call for a closer working relationship, and a “Team Liverpool” approach to boost the city’s economic fortunes. The call from Liverpool Chamber, Professional Liverpool, Downtown in Business and the City’s MIPIM Partnership came in response to the damning report from Max Caller’s Government inspection team into Liverpool City Council.

Stressing the need for positivity without complacency, Stephen Yip said:

“I support the need for a closer working relationship with business and all our civic stakeholders if we are to move forward and reset Liverpool. The Caller Report was a truly shocking insight into a Council that was allowed to develop a dysfunctional culture due to lack of internal and external scrutiny.

“We must never allow that to happen again, and that means we all have a responsibility to play our part in delivering fundamental structural and cultural change within our Council.”

Stephen Yip’s letter stresses the need for practical collaboration with business in addressing key challenges, including Liverpool’s post-Covid recovery, rebuilding investment confidence and radically improving the city’s performance in skills and education.

But it also stresses the need for radical cultural change in the relationship between the city’s leadership and its civic partners.

“Singing from the same hymn sheet and fostering a Team Liverpool approach are necessary but not sufficient prerequisites for progress. In a mature city, no Mayor or Council has a right to expect busines to become a compliant cheerleader or an uncritical PR appendage for its administration.

“A healthy and vibrant city requires its stakeholders to be both constructively engaged and unapologetically candid. If elected Mayor, my door, and my ears will be open. I will expect and welcome challenge, scrutiny and when required, criticism.

“Now more than ever, we need to rebuild trust, mutual respect and make space for honest conversation. Only if we grasp the seriousness of the current situation and commit ourselves to a radical reset can we ensure the future health of our democracy and our economy.”