Liverpool's business chiefs have welcomed the city's decision to hold elections for a directly-elected mayor in May – following the announcement of a city-deal brokered with ministers.
The agreement will usher in £130m of new funding to accompany the transfer of economic and housing powers. Frank McKenna, chair of Downtown Liverpool in Business, said the ‘somewhat controversial decision' of Cllr Joe Anderson, leader of Liverpool City Council to bypass a public referendum on the matter ‘means we will start seeing the impact more quickly than other cities'.
