No action in equal pay row
EXTERNAL commissioners in charge at Birmingham City Council have decided not to take action against departing chief executive Deborah Cadman over a complaint she “misled” councillors over an equal pay announcement.
They have “reviewed the evidence” and decided not to take action, a statement from Birmingham City Council has stated.
The official complaint, believed to be from Cllr Fred Grindrod, chair of the council’s audit committee, had been submitted last month to city council leader Cllr John Cotton and lead commissioner Max Caller.
Ms Cadman resigned her £260,000 a year post as chief executive of the beleaguered city council last week.
In the written complaint, Ms Cadman, 60, was accused of ‘misleading’ councillors on the crucial cross-party Audit Committee, which oversees financial affairs.
She is said to have claimed she had “no involvement” in a decision to publicly reveal the shocking extent of the council’s equal pay liability. According to the complaint, this was not true. The complaint is linked to an extraordinary exchange between Ms Cadman and Cllr Fred Grindrod, chair of the council’s Audit Committee that we have previously reported.
Ms Cadman was asked about how the decision was reached to publicise the council’s staggering equal pay liability of £650m to £760m. She denied discussing or being involved in deciding to go public.
Ms Cadman also allegedly told audit committee members in a private session that council leader Cllr Cotton must have authorised the decision to put the figure into the public domain and she “could not recall the leader seeking advice from her on this matter,” states the complaint.
In a written response later, this was “contradicted”, said Cllr Grindrod. He wanted an independent investigation into the claims, arguing it was at the heart of “trust” issues between councillors and officers at the crisis-hit council.
But opposition councillors attacked the decision to complain, saying it was a desperate attempt to distract as part of the Labour group’s “obvious” efforts to ensure responsibility for the dire state of the council’s finances, service cuts and 9.99% council tax hike was put on officers, not the Labour leadership.
Councillor Alex Yip, who sits on the Conservative group shadow cabinet, said: “Just like Labour attempts to blame the auditors and now, once again, a departing officer, it appears no officer is safe from the Labour group’s attempts to find anyone one else to blame for their mess but themselves.
“This kind of treatment of officers is in no doubt part of why they have now had 11 chief executives in 12 years – what does this say for the future recovery of our city under a Labour administration?”
The full, short, council statement reads: “We can confirm that the official complaint had been received, the evidence reviewed, and commissioners are content that no further action is required.”