Birmingham council's finances 'serious', improvement panel says

The council has been involved in two disputes with bin workers which saw piles of rubbish mount up

Birmingham City Council's financial position remains "immensely serious", an improvement panel has warned.

Despite improvements in areas like children's services, industrial disputes with bin workers had hampered progress, the panel said.

A government-commissioned independent panel has been scrutinising the council since 2014.

It has recommended more support is now given to the council, which leader Ian Ward said he was open to discussing.

The Birmingham Independent Improvement Panel was tasked with looking into the running of the authority after recommendations from a government-backed review, prompted by an inquiry into the so-called Trojan Horse case.

The panel said it acknowledged "the meaningful progress" that the council had made.

The authority has "many significant opportunities" in the future, notably the Commonwealth Games 2022 and the proposed HS2 rail link to London, it added.

But it said despite "creditable efforts", its "financial position remains immensely serious and the risks to its financial resilience are considerable".

The council has made £642m of cuts since 2011

The council has made £642m of cuts since 2011 with a further £123m expected by 2021-22.

The panel said the cost of two long-running waste collection disputes "was estimated to be £14m with no discernable improvement in the service to justify the expenditure".

"But for the industrial disputes we believe the council could have achieved far more progress," the report said.

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However, the panel said it had stood down because members felt it had done all it could within their terms of reference.

But although the council said it would continue to seek support, the panel said it felt "external independent challenge and support" was still required.

Mr Ward said he recognised there were still challenges ahead around finance, industrial relations and improvement.

"Given the recommendations of the panel that further independent challenge is required, I look forward to an early conversation with the secretary of state over what shape that engagement will take," he added.