Knowsley and Liverpool to share regeneration chief

Knowsley Council and Liverpool City Council are set to enter into a unique arrangement to 'share' Knowsley's executive director of regeneration, economy and skills, Nick Kavanagh, in a temporary move agreed by the two councils' leaders.

The arrangement will see Kavanagh, 41, spending around three days a week in the city council's offices driving Liverpool's regeneration agenda forward.

Liverpool City Council leader, Joe Anderson, said: "It makes absolute sense at a time when we face such difficult challenges that two forward thinking councils should share their talent whenever possible. By working together we are making a ground breaking move and one that makes the City Region Agenda real.

"As we restructure, to make our council a leaner, more efficient organisation, I am determined that the momentum of our regeneration work does not falter by tapping into the talent that we have across the city region.

"Having Nick Kavanagh on board is an amazing coup for us and I'm very grateful to Councillor Ron Round, Leader of Knowsley Council, for his co-operation and willingness to try a new approach to councils working in partnership."

Councillor Ron Round, leader of Knowsley Council, said: "When we were approached with this idea I immediately realised it makes sense that we should work together on an issue like regeneration when it is of such huge importance to both the city and the region.

"Several other councils are now seriously considering pooling their talent and, as times get tougher, we should not be afraid of trying new ways of working and ensuring we provide the public with the best value-for-money services we can."

Nick Kavanagh said: "Working across two councils is still a relatively new idea and for that reason offers a hugely exciting challenge. I will be working hard to ensure that my time is spent driving the two councils' regeneration agendas and ensuring that they are aligned for the on-going benefit of the city region.

"Who knows how this might affect the way councils work across the region? Working together in partnership will offer advantages to both organisations and this is an ideal opportunity to really put that into action."