Joe Anderson promises a ‘large-scale’ civic event for when the coronavirus crisis passes and revealed the council was currently losing £1m a week. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool will host a “large-scale” civic event to celebrate and remember the efforts of health staff and other key workers when the coronavirus crisis is over.
Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said the event will enable the people of the city to says “thank you” and pay tribute to staff in the the NHS, care, public sector, retail and logistics sectors who are on the frontline in keeping the city going during the pandemic.
He also revealed the council was losing £1m a week as a result of coronavirus and the loss of income from leisure centres, parking and other fees and charges, and forecast that an emergency budget will have to be called in the summer
He made the announcement on the council’s digital channels in response to a question from Alder Hey nurse Helen O’Boyle, who asked what would be done to thank healthcare staff. Me Anderson said: “I hope people recognise how important and how valuable they really are because it is now that we need them more than ever that they are stepping up to the plate and in some cases putting their lives at risk
“What I intend to do, to celebrate when it is safe to do so, is to hold a parade in our city. I hope it will be the biggest parade ever – that tops Liverpool and Everton’s parades, the Giants parades – where we come out and celebrate our public services and everything they have done for us and to us during this time of crisis.”
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The Mayor also said the council will go “over and above” to kick-start Liverpool’s economy when the pandemic is over. He added: “We’ve got to plan now for now how we come out of the blocks once it’s safe for us to actually try to come back to some sort of normality. So I’ve brought in some consultants, we’re talking to them and working with them to look at what we can do.
“I’ve raised this already with central Government. I know the combined authority and the metro mayor is also doing similar in terms of arguing that we need more support and more funding.
“We’ve got to work with businesses to make sure that we support them and that we support development and investment to come back into our city with a clear plan on how we’re going to be growing our economy, strengthening our economy and making sure we get investment and development running.”
He also outlined the importance of the cultural and tourism sectors, which support tens of thousands of jobs in the city. He said: “It actually supports the city in a tremendous way by promoting our city across the world, keeping our reputation going as one of the friendliest and best cities to visit, so we’ve got to make sure that we give you the support in the short, medium and long-term.”
He urged people who have lost their jobs and struggling with council tax payments to contact the council to see if they are eligible for support.