Kerslake report says council must radically improve

Birmingham City Council must radically improve if it is to deliver the services its residents deserve, according to an independent review published on 9 December.

The report by Sir Bob Kerslake, the most senior civil servant at the Department for Communities and Local Government, found that residents and businesses are not getting the best from a council that lacks a clear vision for the city.

The findings

The review found that the council was not doing enough to provide consistently good services, help the local economy grow, make sure low-skilled residents get the training they need, or set out a positive vision for the city. It also criticised a culture of "sweeping problems under the carpet" or blaming them on others.

Sir Bob concluded that successive administrations had failed to take the big decisions needed to tackle problems such as the council's finances and its children's services, which have been repeatedly rated inadequate.

"Birmingham is a really great place and its people deserve the best possible services. The country also needs a thriving second city," he said. "However, over several years the council has failed to resolve its financial issues and the poor performance of its children's services or to respond to the large number of people in the city with low skills."

Recommendations

The report recommends that the whole council should be elected every four years from 2017, instead of a third of councillors being elected each year, and that there should be a review of ward boundaries. It also calls for an independent improvement panel to oversee the council's progress, reporting back by December 2015.

It advises against breaking up the council, which is one of the largest local authorities in Europe with 120 councillors, but warns that the question will return unless the council improves. It also calls for a new skills initiative, starting in Sparkhill and Washwood Heath.

"The council has been holding it back"

The Local Government Secretary, Eric Pickles, gave the report his strong backing. "Birmingham is a great city which has made a fantastic contribution to British history, but the council has been holding it back," he said.

He warned that if the council did not respond to the challenge, "the next government may decide to take much tougher action".

How the review came about

The review was commissioned in July by Mr Pickles and council leader Sir Albert Bore, following the problems in Birmingham schools that were investigated earlier this year. Sir Bob and an expert panel spent 50 days in the city and heard from more than 350 people, including residents, business leaders, faith and community groups, councillors and staff.

What next

The council is expected to set out its response in the coming weeks, and members of the improvement panel will be appointed shortly. With deep cuts to its budget still to come, and an equal pay bill running into hundreds of millions of pounds, the council faces a difficult few years.