Liverpool’s Labour mayor took pay for job he no longer did


Roger Shrives

Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson continued to receive thousands from a local school – for two years longer than he worked there.

Anderson, directly elected right-wing Labour mayor since 2010, pocketed £4,500 a year in paid leave from the former part-time job. Chesterfield High School is in nearby Sefton borough.

Big sum

When the school became an academy, it sacked Anderson. By then he was being paid a big sum from the council – which now pays him up to £80,000 a year.

The council has also spent £89,000 of public money on Anderson’s private legal case. He has pursued an employment tribunal against Chesterfield High for stopping his £4.5k pocket money.

Liverpool Socialist Party member Audrey O’Keeffe spent months persistently investigating this. She made her first Freedom of Information request in April, but only received confirmation in August.

Haemorrhaging

Audrey thinks Anderson should resign. “The city is haemorrhaging because of his council’s cuts. He is cutting another £156 million on top of the £173 million he cut over the last three years.

“Anderson has laid off 18 school lollipop workers, endangering children’s lives while saying the council can’t afford the service. That £89,000 would have paid their wages for a year.”