He had served as chair of the Merseyside Police Authority and was seen by some as the natural choice for the job. In the end, Labour Party members across Merseyside chose Kennedy as their candidate. One of the commissioner’s tasks has been to decommission the MPA to be replaced by her own office. The commissioner, initially based at the MPA’s suite of office at Mercury Court in the city centre, decided to move to a more modest abode in spare space at Allerton police station. Overseeing the performance of Commissioner Kennedy is the Merseyside Police and Crime Panel, made up mainly of councillors from the five Merseyside authorities. That panel was set up with modest funding from the Home Office, with each member having available £920 to cover expenses. It is reported there are signs of tensions between the Commissioner’s office and the newly formed panel. The panel is hosted by Knowsley Council, which previously hosted the Merseyside Police Authority. The Merseyside Police and Crime Panel is chaired by Ms Kennedy’s rival for the Labour party ticket, Councillor Weightman. One can only hope if there are any tensions between the two parties it is no more than growing pains and tweaking, and will eventually settle.
BETTY Behn was the first of Liverpool’s women solicitors. She joined the firm of her uncle John A Behn and retired at the age of 80. She was known amongst other things for her low sports cars. She has died at the age of 95.
LIVERPOOL College is an Anglican Foundation going back to the mid-19th century. I have received a letter from an angry parent complaining of changes now it is to become an academy. She directed me to a section of the college’s website, now curiously removed, that appeared to highlight preferential treatment for some foreign boarders so far as future university admission is concerned, and her letter raises concerns about other matters, including the appointment of governors.
FOLLOWING my recent piece about St John’s Gardens, a reader reminded me that Rathbone and Gladstone are not the only Liverpool figures commemorated there with statues in the early years of the 20th century. Canon T Major Lester founded several children’s charitable institutions and also had a local primary school named after him. Alexander Balfor financed a Sailors Home and an orphanage for the children of seamen. Monsignor James Nugent was co-founder of the Liverpool Catholic Children’s Charitable Society and sparked the advent of the Nugent Care Society. Sir Arthur Forwood was that rare creature (these days), a truly progressive Conservative politician and one time Lord Mayor of Liverpool. I struggle to identify any modern day counterparts for these men, not least because the philanthropic ideals and con-do attitude of those times have all but disappeared. More’s the pity. We live in selfish times, largely thanks to Margaret Thatcher some would say. However I can’t see her ever having a commemorative statue in Liverpool!