Scourge of Liverpool council is pillar of the Jewish community
THE LOCAL government consultant whose devastating report into Liverpool City Council was published this week hails from a family who were stalwarts of the small but influential Jewish community living in Newport, south Wales.
Max Caller CBE, who is now a member of the Federation’s Yesherun Edgware synagogue, is a long-serving member of the Norwood charity’s Advisory Council.
He was called in to lead an emergency inspection into Liverpool Council on whether it had provided best value to the taxpayer.
His investigation, which focused on the council’s property management, regeneration, highways and planning over the past five years, concluded there had been multiple failures and that public resources had been put at risk.
The report was ordered by Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick after the arrests of five men, including the Labour mayor, Joe Anderson, in December last year.
On Wednesday, Mr Jenrick delivered a statement to the House of Commons in which he confirmed that the seminal report into apparently suspicious activities at the city council “paints a deeply concerning picture of mismanagement, breakdown of scrutiny and accountability”.
The Communities Secretary also announced that he would seek to appoint commissioners to support the council’s chief executive Tony Reeves. They will take control of the council’s planning, property management, highways and regeneration departments for a threeyear period. An improvement plan will also be put in place. He also praised Mr Caller and his team for their report, which has further cemented his reputation as one of the country’s leading experts in the area of local government.
Born in Cardiff, Mr Caller’s family were active members of Newport Synagogue, where he attended cheder classes as a child.
After studying civil engineering at the University of London, Mr Caller went on to become Chief Executive of Barnet, Hackney and Tower Hamlets councils in the course of his career.
Luke Akehurst, director of the We
Believe In Israel campaign group and a member of the Labour Party’s national executive committee (NEC) , was chief whip of Hackney Council while Mr Caller served as Chief Executive from 2000 until 2004.
He told the JC:
“Max was absolutely central to taking Hackney from being easily the worst local authority in the country to being an award-winning council.
“I don’t believe any another other chief executive could have rescued Hackney. He is completely focused on delivering high-quality public services and on absolute probity of governance.
“Most importantly, he provides charismatic leadership while being totally respectful of staff working for him.”
Before his Hackney role, Mr Caller had been chief executive of the London Borough of Barnet for 11 years, from 1989 to 2000, where he introduced a cabinet form of governance and a scrutiny system which was deemed one of the models for subsequent legislation.
Despite his exhaustive work schedule, Mr Caller confirmed to the JC that he had managed to find enough spare time in his diary to serve on Norwood’s Advisory Council.
The council – a group of highly respected experts in their particular fields – meets two or three times a year to be brought up to date with Norwood services and advise on new projects and initiatives.
Ex-Liverpool Mayor Mr Anderson, who stood down from the role after his arrest on suspicion of conspiracy to commit bribery and witness intimidation, has consistently denied wrongdoing and has not been charged.
His bail conditions were withdrawn on Tuesday, but he remains under investigation by police.
Mr Anderson was detained with 11 others, including former deputy leader of Liverpool Council Derek Hatton.
In the Commons on Wednesday, Labour’s shadow communities secretary Steve Reed confirmed that his party would accept Mr Caller’s report “in full”.