Review panel set to scrutinise Birmingham’s efforts to meet Kerslake recommendations

THE performance of Birmingham City Council in meeting the recommendations of the Kerslake Review is set to undergo further scrutiny.

The Birmingham Independent Improvement Panel, appointed by the government to monitor the local authority’s implementation of the recommendations, will meet on Thursday to discuss the council’s progress.

It will be the fourth public meeting convened by the panel since its inception in January last year.

Fifteen months after the publication of the Kerslake Review the meeting will update residents and businesses on latest developments, with comments coming from the new leader of the council, Cllr John Clancy, plus the authority’s chief executive and both opposition leaders.

Panel chairman John Crabtree said: “After fifteen months residents, businesses and partner organisations in the city will expect to hear that significant progress has been made by the council.”

Following the meeting the Review Panel will submit a progress report to Local Government Secretary Greg Clark.

The council has admitted it faces a tough challenge meeting the recommendations, especially as it is faced with having to trim more than £250m from its budget over the next four years.

In a letter to Mr Clark after the panel’s last meeting in January, Mr Crabtree said the commitment shown by the new council leader to raise the pace of change was important, as was a promise of better collaboration with the council’s external partners and to ensure the local authority operated in a much more open and transparent way.

Mr Crabtree said the council would have to demonstrate that its long term financial strategy was both realistic and deliverable.

The meeting takes place in the council chamber of Birmingham City Council House at midday.

Members of the public can attend the meeting in person or watch a webcast via the website http://www.birmingham.public-i.tv/core/portal/home