New Year message from Liverpool City Council Leader

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Speaking on behalf of Liverpool City Council, one of KQ Liverpool’s Partners, Council Leader, Cllr Liam Robinson, reflects on 2023 and looks ahead to the new year...

In May 2023, I was so proud to be elected Leader of Liverpool City Council. It is one of the greatest privileges of my life and of huge significance for me personally to represent the city I call home.

From day one of my term, my focus has been to end the statutory intervention at Liverpool City Council and restore trust in the Council.

I was always very conscious of the amount of work we needed to do to correct mistakes made in the past, but I am pleased that we are now making progress to address the concerns outlined when the intervention began.

Liverpool has now turned a corner and we are making significant progress. In fact, we can now expect a majority of the Government intervention to end in June 2024, with the departments of Finance, Highways and Transport returned to Council control in March 2024. We can truly say that the latest Commissioners’ Report marks the beginning of the end of intervention here in Liverpool.

Looking back at what we have achieved in 2023…

I’m especially proud of what this city achieved during the Eurovision Song Contest, we really stepped up and provided the world with a brilliant celebration of music and culture, while also boosting the local economy by £54.8million.

We’re also making great strides in education, with the proportion of good and outstanding schools in the city higher than ever.

Liverpool only thrives when our communities thrive as well, so we have delivered £17m of retrofit improvements supporting over 1,000 vulnerable residents and we have recently started piloting a scheme to tackle rogue and criminal landlords operating in the city.

I am proud of what we have delivered in 2023, but honestly, I know there is so much more to do in 2024.

My top priority is to be honest with you and to make sure that I am accountable for my decisions, there have been times in the past when the Council has not been as transparent as it should have been and I will continue to work to remedy this.

I’m also conscious that frontline services in Liverpool need to be better and up to the standards you deserve. That’s why I am excited by our new Neighbourhood Model, which we have designed to improve the delivery and effectiveness of our services in all of our communities.

The cost-of-living crisis has impacted people across the country and is keenly felt here in Liverpool. I’m saddened by the increase in homelessness that we have witnessed and combatting this is deeply important to me. I will work to improve how we tackle homelessness in the city and continue to challenge the Government as they are failing to respond to this national crisis.

I will continue to work closely with Mayor Steve Rotheram to secure a more ambitious deal for Liverpool, from Westminster. I want to make sure the decisions that impact the future of our city are made here in Liverpool.

I’m so excited for 2024 and look forward to delivering on our plan for the city. Finally, I would like to wish you and your families a Happy New Year!

All the best,

Cllr. Liam Robinson – Leader, Liverpool City Council

LJMU Bicentenary in 200 seconds

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Celebrating 200 years in 2023

In July 1823 an institution was founded which became the catalyst for an educational revolution in the city of Liverpool. For the past two centuries, Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) has evolved into the university in which we know it today.

Over the past year, there’s been celebrations, events, exhibits, public lectures, international academic conferences, Bicentenary merchandise for graduates plus the launch of LJMU’s new strategic plan 2023 –2030.

LJMU has shared some of their key achievements and activities undertaken over the past year, which you can read below:

As we near the end of the year in which our Bicentenary began, here are just a few of our highlights:

  • More than 9,000 students graduated at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral in our 200th year
  • 10 new honorary fellows were celebrated at an event in St George’s Hall
  • Our Artist in Residence created more than 150 sketches to capture the events over the year
  • Four Roscoe Lectures: LJMU’s public lecture series were held for the people of Liverpool
  • More than 100 members of students, staff and alumni joined the Liverpool Pride March
  • LJMU was awarded a gold rating for student outcomes and silver overall in the national Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)
  • We officially launched our Forensic Research Institute, our School of Education and our Centre for Educational Leadership
  • We received an overall Ofsted: Good for our degree apprenticeships and primary and secondary education courses
  • We began profiling 200 individuals (opens in a new tab) who have shaped and been shaped by the university
  • We showcased our exciting new £30 million Robotic Telescope
  • We collaborated with Humans of Liverpool to profile 50 individuals from LJMU on our social media channels
  • We celebrated our long serving staff members who achieved a milestone of 25, 35,45 and even 50+ years in our Bicentenary
  • Our exhibition: Re-think, re-design, re-present showcased 200 years of LJMU history, through the eyes of our students, who exhibited their work to the public
  • A colourful display of 80 umbrellas were installed in our Student Life Building as part of our partnership with the ADHD Foundation, to raise awareness and celebrate neurodiversity at LJMU
  • Our Bicentenary exhibition was launched at the Students at the Heart Conference and attended by staff with over 2800 years collectively
  • We invited staff, students and children from local schools to come and spend the afternoon with an astronaut: Helen Sharman
  • We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with both the LFC Foundation and ACC Liverpool

Plus, our Vice Chancellor Professor Mark Power celebrated 42 years at LJMU, we submitted to the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings with our commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals and we invited our graduates back to campus for an alumni homecoming. What a year!

As we look to 2024, we’ll be marking our 200 years until the end of the academic year, with more exhibitions and further profiling and celebrations with our LJMU community.

Our Bicentenary

Visit our Bicentenary webpages (opens in a new tab) to find out more about 200 years of LJMU and our 200 people profiled.

View our Bicentenary films (opens in a new tab) celebrating 200 years of LJMU.