To see how your council is performing visit the Audit Commission website

Liverpool may be this year’s European Capital of Culture, but according to the Audit Commission it has the worst performing council in England.

Liverpool City Council scored only one performance star out of a possible four after overspending on the cultural project left the city’s finances £20 million in the red. Steve Bundred, chief executive of the Audit Commission, said: “They are spending money they haven’t got.” Assessment rules mean that if a council scores one out of four in the “use of resources” category, it cannot score higher than one star for overall performance. The commission said that management of Liverpool’s budget, assets and spending was “below minimum requirements”.

Liverpool City Council said that the commission had failed to take into account the pressures of the Capital of Culture bid, and that the council had been rated as “performing well” or “performing strongly” in five out of seven categories.

Colin Hilton, its chief executive, said: “It is disappointing that the rules of the Audit Commission’s star system, in particular around the use of resources, should effectively label Liverpool as one of the worst performers in the country when that is clearly not the case.

“We are already taking action on a range of measures to improve our performance in the use of resources, including introducing a new system for more effective management of the council’s assets.”

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