Home Authors Paul Dale

Audit Commission blasts city council

Birmingham City Council is over-reliant on expensive consultants and has no idea how many jobs might be lost or created as a result of a “high-risk” business transformation project, according to a damning report.A progress report by the Audit Commission accuses council leadership of a “lack of realism” about the difficulty of achieving more than £650 million in savings over 10 years – largely through better IT and a tie-up with private outsourcing company Capita.While the commission recognises the council made significant early progress on business transformation, the report warns the local authority will be heavily stretched to deliver change once all nine transformation streams are running.It says the council has no firm timetable for reducing the number of consultants on the project – the bill for Service Birmingham, the Capita-led company at the heart of business transformation, has already exceeded £20 million.And the document notes: “Council officers are heavily exceeded by consultants and the scale of business transformation work is increasing. The council risks Service Birmingham costs being higher than they need be unless the proportion of officers with consultancy skills is increased.”The report, written before the departure was announced of Brendan Arnold, the official spearheading the programme, notes: “There is reliance on a very few key officers at corporate level.”It adds: “The council does not have a sufficiently strong strategic management of business transformation. The council puts considerable emphasis on managing business transformation but does not have an overarching plan.”Deputy council leader Paul Tilsley said he was at a loss to explain the criticism, adding an earlier Audit Commission report complimented the council for having the foresight to embark upon business transformation.Coun Tilsley (Lib Dem Sheldon) added: “We take reports like this very seriously and will give the commission’s concerns consideration. It is good organisations like this keep us on our toes.”The Audit Commission questions the success of the Employee Bargain – the name given by the council to a change under which employees will no longer be based in an individual department or unit and could be re-trained and ordered to work anywhere in the council.The report warns: “The council does not have a workforce plan for business transformation. It does not know what posts are likely to be created or withdrawn or what the skills implications will be. Without this knowledge it will be hard to deliver the employee bargain.”On the issue of the number of jobs likely to be lost over the decade, the report states: “Staff turnover numbers have been analysed and suggest natural turnover will help ease problems, however there is no corporate mapping of posts likely to be displaced or created and their respective skills mix.“The council has agreed an employee bargain offering all staff whose posts change or disappear as a result of business transformation the opportunity to receive in house career counselling and be re-trained and re-deployed.“This has been well communicated to staff but they do not yet have faith in it. The council risks not having plans ready to meet the employee bargain, and, not having planned opportunities to retain staff up-skilled through business transformation secondments.”There is also criticism of a lack of communication about the benefits of the changes.“Senior and middle managers support the business transformation plans. However many council staff know very little about business transformation, or what effect it may have. Similarly not all councillors understand how it will benefit constituents,” the report adds. Attention is drawn to a “lack of clarity and communication” about how business transformation programmes will be funded and how financial shortfalls will be met.The report goes on to accuse the council of lacking sufficiently strong strategic management of business transformation with no overall delivery plan.The study adds: “One directorate delayed engagement with business transformation until recently and some business transformation programmes have slipped key deadlines. Every delay impacts on business transformation’s financial profile and can affect the timescale for the realisation of its benefits.” Read

Cardinal Newman to be reinterred in preparation for sainthood

The buried remains of Cardinal John Henry Newman, one of the Catholic church’s greatest 19th century figures, are to be transferred and given new prominence in Birmingham. Read

Conservation groups set for bitter battle on new Natwest tower project

Controversial proposals to build a 35-storey glass-fronted skyscraper yards from the Victorian heritage of Birmingham Council House and the Town Hall have split the city’s best known conservation groups. Read

Council sets out rules as it weighs up casino options

Solihull Council has announced details of the process it intends to follow in deciding who should be given the right to run one of the country’s new large casinos in the borough. Read

Whitby tells Hodge library is 'unworthy of preservation'

Birmingham City Council leader Mike Whitby has delivered a passionate plea for Government approval to demolish the Central Library, declaring it unworthy of preservation. Read

Business leaders press for library to be demolished

Birmingham’s business community is urging the Government not to stand in the way of city council plans to demolish the Central Library. Read

Government to demand 500,000 new homes in West Midlands

The Government is insisting West Midland councils identify land to build almost half a million new houses by 2026. Read

Paul Tilsley hails East German diet as a healthy option

If health-conscious Brummies want to live to a ripe old age they should copy the eating habits of a former Iron Curtain country not normally noted for its fine cuisine, it has been claimed. Read

Birmingham Labour's talent for talking rubbish

Unfortunately, I could not attend last week’s Birmingham City Council meeting. Well, you can only have so much of a good thing. Read

Arena Central delays £5m payment to Birmingham City Council

Developers behind Arena Central, one of Birmingham’s largest regeneration schemes, will be allowed to delay making a £5 million payment to the city council after concerns about cash-flow. Read

Eco-town developers hit back at critics

Developers behind plans to build a 6,000-home eco-town in south Warwickshire have hit back at critics by insisting that the new settlement could be the last word in sustainability. Read

Government advised not to list NatWest Tower

Conservation watchdog English Heritage has released details of a report written a year ago which advised the Government that the NatWest Tower in Birmingham city centre should not be listed as a building of special architectural importance. Read

Council warns staff to steer clear of the cannibalism website

Jobsworths at Birmingham City Council have compiled a fascinating list of websites that local authority staff are banned from using while at work. Read

Three construction firms in picture to win library contract

Three of the country’s best known construction groups are on a shortlist to win the contract to build Birmingham’s new civic library. Read

Paul Kehoe named as new Birmingham Airport chief

Birmingham International Airport has dropped a major surprise with the announcement that its new chief executive will be Paul Kehoe. Read

Sutton Coldfield care home plan gets go-ahead

Plans to demolish four houses in order to build a 61-bed private care home for the elderly people have been given the go-ahead in Sutton Coldfield despite protests from nearby residents and the local MP. Read

NEC Arena to be renamed as LG Arena after £28m makeover

South Korean electronics conglomerate LG has been revealed as the major sponsor behind a £28 million makeover of Birmingham’s NEC Arena which is to be re-built and renamed the LG Arena. Read

Rural campaign group hits back over eco-town attack

One of the country’s oldest conservation societies has hit back at Government criticism of its opposition to two planned West Midland eco-towns. Read

Region's farmland ‘is put at risk by flood plans’

Suburban housing estates are being over-protected against flooding at the expense of prime agricultural land, according to a study into emergency planning in the West Midlands. Read

Plans for eco-towns are labelled 'sub-standard'

Sites for two West Midlands eco-towns proposed by the Government are poorly located and would be dominated by car-dependent housing estates, a leading countryside campaign group has claimed. 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.

Get Involved

We want your local stories, videos & pics.