Headlines: Residents asked for opinion on new political map for Liverpool City Council

A new electoral map of council wards is being developed for Liverpool.

The Local Government Boundary Commission team will use input from local residents to help draw up proposals for new wards and, in some cases, new ward names.

The Commission, an independent body that draws up local authority boundaries, has decided that the number of councillors in Liverpool should be reduced from 90 to 85, a change approved by Liverpool councillors earlier this year.

The shake-up follows on from a damning inspection report into Liverpool City Council.

In early December 2020, former Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson was one of five men arrested as part of an investigation by police into allegations of corruption at the Council. All those arrested denied the allegations.

Later that month the Government appointed Max Caller, who has held several key roles in local government and is former Chair of the Boundary Commission, to carry out an independent inspection of Liverpool City Council.

Results of the inspection, which found failures across the Council, were published in March this year.

Liverpool City Council has been ordered by the Government to hold whole council elections from 2023 and to have a reduced number of councillors.

The Boundary Commission’s changes will come into effect for council elections in 2023 and local people can have their say on where the lines are drawn during a 10-week consultation.

Two online meetings are taking place for Liverpool residents.

The meetings will start with an explanation about the review, so there is no need to know about current arrangements. They will let people know how to get involved during the process too.

The meetings are:

Wednesday, 1 December, 14:00 – 15:00: https://bit.ly/30UwaGK

Thursday, 2 December, 19:00 – 20:00: https://bit.ly/3FCVj7u

There will be further chances to get involved with the boundary review.

Local people and groups will be asked to give their views on the proposals before making firm recommendations.

Professor Colin Mellors, Chair of the Local Government Boundary Commission, said: “We want people in Liverpool to help us.

“We are starting to draw up new wards for Liverpool. We want our proposals for new electoral arrangements to reflect communities. We also want them to be easy to understand and convenient for local people.”

Crimestoppers launches drug driving campaign

Crimestoppers has launched a new campaign to target those who get behind the wheel and drug drive.

For the twelve months, April 2020 to April 2021, the charity received over 3,000 reports on drink and drug driving in the North West; they say they’ve already exceeded that total over the last seven months.

In addition, the campaign seeks to increase anonymous reporting by the public. One in twenty fatalities on our roads nationally are caused by drug drivers.

Many victims of road traffic collisions are passengers in cars driven by those under the influence of drugs or in vehicles that impaired drug drivers hit.

The charity says community intelligence is vital to help catch those who regularly drink and drug drive.

Police back #ShopKind campaign

With Black Friday this week, officers in Merseyside have pledged to support shop workers across the region in the run-up to Christmas.

The force has pledged to support the national #ShopKind campaign, encouraging shoppers to treat staff with respect.

Superintendent Phil Mullally said: "We know most people visiting our region's shops treat workers with respect, however, we know there are people out there who do not.

“It is unacceptable that shop workers are going into work to serve our community in fear of being abused or even physically assaulted.

"I want to reassure shop workers and the wider community that in the run up to Christmas, we are increasing patrols in busy shopping areas and continuing to work with local authorities and businesses to ensure those who commit these types of offences are taken off the streets and brought to justice."