Bailed chief executive at Liverpool City Council resigns

Liverpool City Council chief executive Ged Fitzgerald has resigned a year after he stepped aside from the role following his arrest along with three other men as part of an investigation into conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and witness intimidation.

Elected mayor Joe Anderson said: “Ged Fitzgerald has resigned from his post as CEO of Liverpool City Council with immediate effect.

“I can confirm that he wrote to me this morning and tendered his resignation, which the council has accepted.”

Mr Fitzgerald is due to answer bail again on 22 May together with Lancashire County Council leader Geoff Driver, former Lancashire chief executive Phil Halsall and David McElhinney, who headed a joint venture between Liverpool and BT named Liverpool Direct.

The arrests were part of a long-running police investigation into Liverpool Direct and One Connect, a similar joint venture between Lancashire and BT. Both are now defunct.

In April Fitzgerald unsuccessfully sought to challenge by judicial review - amongst other things - the legality of a May 2017 search warrant, the execution of that warrant and his arrest.

Lord Justice Gross, who heard the challenge with Mr Justice Nicol, noted that the Administrative Court's conclusion was "strictly confined to the application for permission to apply for Judicial Review; we have and express no view as to the ultimate outcome of the investigation or as to any prosecution which might result".