Updated 6:19am 24 May 2013

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Paul Dale

Paul Dale

Iron Angle: A farewell to arms - the final Iron Angle column

Birmingham City Council was passing through one of its pretty regular states of anxiety when this column began 10 years ago.Read

Service Birmingham charges council £20,000 change computer programme

The value to Birmingham City Council of its £1 billion contract with Capita has been called into question again after the local authority was quoted £20,000 for a “simple” computer programme change to be implemented.Read

Birmingham's cultural jewels 'in crisis'

Birmingham’s cultural institutions have been plunged into a crisis with one being forced to temporarily shut down to save cash, it has emerged.Read

Birmingham eyesore to be developed into office and hotel scheme

An eyesore site in Birmingham city centre is to be transformed in a multi-million pound offices and hotel scheme.Read

New rights for agency workers could cause 'chaos' at courts

One of the largest employment agencies in the West Midlands has warned of “chaos in the courts” when regulations to improve the pay and working conditions of temporary workers kick in after Christmas.Read

Iron Angle: Fighting the market forces in Birmingham

Even by Birmingham City Council’s woeful communications standards, the Wholesale Markets saga has been handled appallingly.Read

Businesses face 40 per cent hike in overheads if markets close - report

Thousands of small and medium-size Midland traders could suffer a crippling 40 per cent increase in their overheads if Birmingham Wholesale Markets are forced to close, according to a research document.Read

City council hits back at 'ridiculous' Centro suggestions for fares

Public transport chiefs have fired the first shot in the annual West Midlands debate about perks for pensioners, by suggesting that a special charge might have to be imposed on anyone who wants to continue enjoying free train and metro travel.Read

Head teachers slam plan to give assistant teachers medical roles at school

Head teachers have described plans to ask teaching assistants to take over the work of NHS-trained nurses in providing medical assistance for seriously ill children at four Birmingham Special Schools as “life threatening” in a damning letter seen by the Post.Read

Question for Birmingham mayoral referendum revealed

The question to be asked in the referendum on whether Birmingham should be run by a directly elected mayor has been published.Read

Mike Whitby hits out at BBC's 'appalling' treatment of Birmingham

City council leader Mike Whitby has slammed the BBC for its “appalling” treatment of Birmingham.Read

Birmingham community libraries to escape closure but hours will be cut

All of Birmingham’s 39 community libraries will remain open despite harsh Government spending cuts, the city’s leisure chief vowed.Read

'Free' train and tram travel could cost West Midlands pensioners £25

Pensioners in the West Midlands may have to pay £25 a year for train and tram travel which is currently free.Read

Harborne clock tower 'was death trap', survey reports

Harborne’s clock tower was a death trap before it was protected by scaffolding and closed to the public, a structural survey has concluded.Read

Iron Angle: Alan Rudge puts the boot into city council call centre

This month’s HR committee meeting was enlivened by the presence of cabinet member Alan Rudge, who not for the first time veered off-message in a spectacular fashion. Read

32,000 Birmingham residents fail to pay council tax

As many as 32,000 residents failed to pay their council tax bills this year, landing Birmingham City Council a further £25 million black hole in its finances.Read

Birmingham's children in care facing a future on the scrap heap

More than half of children brought up in the care of Birmingham City Council are at risk of falling onto the scrap heap by the time they are 19, new figures show.Read

Birmingham teachers advised to set up Facebook accounts

Teachers in Birmingham are being advised to open a Facebook account – to stop pupils cloning their identity.Read

Social enterprise plan for Birmingham education services hits problems

A move by Birmingham City Council to cut costs and protect jobs by transferring responsibility for school meals, cleaning and other education services to a social enterprise company has been scaled back after officials discovered a “magnitude of barriers” standing in the way of the idea.Read

Birmingham City Council facing huge bill after losing equal pay case

Birmingham City Council may have to pay compensation running into tens of millions of pounds after losing a groundbreaking equal pay case.Read

Author Profile

Paul Dale has been writing about local government in the West Midlands for more than 20 years. The Post's public affairs editor, he is a previous political editor of the Coventry Evening Telegraph and Local Government Correspondent of the Oxford Mail.