Commissioner hired to fix city's finances retires

Max Caller was appointed after the city council declared effective bankruptcy in 2023.

The man in charge of fixing Birmingham City Council's finances has retired.

Max Caller was appointed as Birmingham's lead commissioner after the council declared effective bankruptcy in 2023. The authority has since been caught up in a long-running bin strike although Mr Caller has said he has not been involved in negotiations to end it.

Paying tribute, local government minister Jim McMahon said Mr Caller had made a significant contribution to local government throughout his career.

He will be replaced on Wednesday by Tony McArdle OBE, a former chief executive of Lincolnshire County Council and Wellingborough Council, among other appointments.

Mr Caller had announced his decision on Tuesday morning with immediate effect, council leader John Cotton said, and thanked him for his valuable contribution in helping Birmingham's progress.

"My message to the public is that changes in personnel will not change the core mission or allow a change of direction that puts at risk any of the progress we have made over the last two years," he said.

McMahon said Birmingham's recovery remained "fragile" but "marked progress" had been made under Caller's leadership.

That included developing a stable medium-term financial plan, making progress towards resolving the outstanding equal pay situation, and re-implementing the Oracle IT programme.

The minister stated the government's priority was to ensure this work continued, and it was confident this would be the case under Tony McArdle.

The letter confirming Mr McArdle's appointment as lead commissioner highlights the fact the council is in the "midst of a dispute in its waste services" and has a "demanding improvement journey ahead."

The city council's Conservative opposition leader Robert Alden said the party wished Mr Caller all the best for the future, but it was now clearer than ever that the council needed a change of administration.

"Since Labour declared themselves effectively bankrupt, all three statutory officers have been replaced; now, the lead commissioner has been replaced," he said.

Mr Caller and the rest of the commissioners had done "a good job in shining a light on many of the cultural and systemic failures that we have been calling out for years," he added.

McArdle will be lead commissioner from 23 July 2025 to 31October 2028.