‘Dysfunctional’ group blighted by factionalism

THE Labour Party stepped in to oversee Birmingham in May 2023 following the findings of a Campaign Improvement Board, led by senior party figures including Sir Richard Leese and Baroness Alicia Kennedy.

They ruled the group was blighted by a ‘dysfunctional climate’ and a ‘legacy of years of personality driven factionalism, cultural challenges, two particularly bitter industrial disputes, a recent divisive leadership contest, and changes to governance’.

The findings were used to justify the ousting of then group leader Ian

Ward, now a backbencher, but other than his removal as leader it has largely been ‘as you were’, with the cabinet mostly made up of the same people.

By June 2023, a spending freeze was in place, the council’s equal pay bill was exposed and the dire state of its IT and finance systems was known, sending the council into meltdown.

By September the council had to issue a Section 114 Notice confirming it could not meet its financial obligations without external help, quickly followed by a second one. Commissioners, led by Max Caller, were sent in by Secretary of State Michael Gove in October. He said he was acting because “residents have been let down by Birmingham City Council’s failure to get a grip of the significant issues it faces, from its equal pay liability to the implementation of its IT system.”

There has since been a battle for control of the narrative over who was to blame for this failure – with some councillors claiming officers covered up information and lied to them, while insiders say council leaders failed to follow through on tough decisions and turned a deaf ear to problems.