Liverpool City Council will be handed back its full control next month.
The government imposed commissioners on the local authority in March 2021 as a result of what it described to be a ‘serious breakdown of governance’.
A report compiled by Max Caller laid bare the city’s failings, which centred on the leadership of the city’s ex-mayor Joe Anderson prior to his resignation.
It marked only the fourth time a UK council had received formal intervention from Westminster but never with a population on the scale of Liverpool’s.
However steps are now being taken to restore powers back to the city council following recommendations from the commissioners’ latest regular report.
It means that the cabinet will again have control over key areas in the city’s running, including finance and regeneration, for the first time in three years.
The five-person commission are set to retain a presence in the city for the next nine months but the reports insists that will be on a more ‘informal’ basis.
Council leader Liam Robinson hailed the move as a ‘really significant stage’.
He said: “I’m very pleased to get to this stage, the fact the commissioners have recommended the end of the intervention on time and all powers returned to the council is a really significant stage and that’s because of months of real hard work right across the council.
“I pay tribute to my cabinet, the senior management team, all officers at the council and all councillors across all parties for the collective effort we’ve put in.
“We’re not complacent in the slightest, there’s still a lot more we need to do to continue the improvements in the council because we want to be an exemplar local authority to deliver the best for the people of the city.”