At the Liverpool ECHO, three reporters cover four of the six local authority areas across Merseyside, holding leaders to account and making a difference to communities

Local Democracy Reporters (LDRs) are highlighting their work holding power to account in communities in the Liverpool City Region with a Day of Action during the News Media Association (NMA)’s Journalism Matters campaign. The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is part of the Local News Partnership between the local news media sector and the BBC.

At the Liverpool ECHO, three reporters cover four of the six local authority areas across Merseyside, holding leaders to account for the decisions they make and the impact they have on all of our lives. This includes attending city and borough council meetings, studying agendas and uncovering what is happening in the corridors of power.

In the last 12 months, the LDRS has shone a light on how a former Lord Mayor of Liverpool compared queuing at a city train station to Auschwitz. Cllr Richard Kemp and his Liberal Democrat colleague, Cllr Pat Moloney, were forced to issue a public apology after the LDRS reported on the offensive remarks they had made during a Liverpool Council planning meeting where our reporter.

These comments would have gone unchecked had our reporter David Humphreys not been present to cover the meeting. The remarks were strongly condemned by politicians and Jewish groups who spoke exclusively to the LDRS.

On the Wirral, Andrew Spence has spoken to people in New Ferry who are continuing to battle for the future of their town despite the borough council seemingly choosing a cheaper option for their high street. Andrew met with campaigners who said they were not willing to accept Wirral Council’s decision for their area amid overwhelming public support for a regeneration project.

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The fortunes of Sefton Council’s decision to close a much-loved Aviary near Southport are facing intense scrutiny and are being followed closely by new reporter Annaleece Longmore. In Knowsley, our teams have also got themselves up close and personal with the people behind the scenes and on the ground.

Elliot Jessett joined Knowsley Council’s gritting team on a snowy winter’s night to find out how workers go the extra mile to keep the region’s road safe. The work of Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority is also covered by our LDR team who regularly attend committee meetings to ensure the major decisions taken in council chambers are available to you.

Publishers including the ECHO’s parent company Reach plc are backing calls for the BBC Charter Review to deliver the right conditions for the BBC to partner effectively with the commercial news sector.

Paul Rowland, Editorial Director, News at Reach plc, said: “The Prime Minister has said this week that local news media is a vital ingredient to the success of his plans to devolve power out of Westminster to the regions.

“Central to that will be ensuring that the relationship between the BBC and commercial news sector is a healthy and productive one which truly benefits local audiences by strengthening media plurality at a local level.”

NMA Chief Executive Theo Bamber said: “A financially sustainable, plural and diverse news ecosystem is essential to democracy and the public interest, and the BBC and commercial news publishers should have distinct but complementary roles in doing that.

“The Charter Review must deliver a commitment to this from the BBC, along with a more robust competition framework for the BBC that is fit for today’s fast-changing media landscape.”

Liverpool ECHO editor-in-chief Steve Graves said: “The work of the LDRs in Merseyside has been invaluable over many years. The team has uncovered issues which otherwise would have gone unreported – achieving exactly what the scheme has set out to.

“Working together in a partnership approach has brought huge benefits for oversight and scrutiny of local government in Merseyside and the Charter Review is an opportunity to build on this success.”