Birmingham City Council CEO to step down from role
The chief executive of stricken Birmingham City Council has announced she will step down from the role this month.
Deborah Cadman OBE will depart on March 22, after almost three years in charge. Professor Graeme Betts CBE, deputy chief executive and director of adult social care, will act up into the role whilst a replacement is found.
Cadman says it was always her intention to leave once the 2024/25 budget was agreed and the council had “a clear route to recovery and improvement”.
That budget has resulted in a plethora of cuts to tackle an equal pay liability above £867m, an overspend on IT system Oracle of £136m and support a £100m redundancy scheme when the council cuts 600 jobs.
Residents of the largest local authority in Europe have been hit with a council tax increase over the current referendum limit from 4.99% to 9.99% for the next two years.
Other measures include dimming streetlights to save £900k, spending £12m less on maintaining roads and making waste collections fortnightly to save £4m.
It is currently unknown what council assets will be on the chopping block, but £750m worth must be sold to pay back £1.255bn in Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) to the Government.
Cadman said: “I am of course incredibly disappointed with the council’s current financial position and the challenges that have arisen due to historic Equal Pay issues and the failed implementation of Oracle.
“I joined the council after a period of significant volatility that saw the organisation have four Chief Executives in only two years. I have endeavoured to bring stability to the organisation including making permanent appointments to senior roles such as the Directors of Children’s Services and Housing, which has led to improvements in performance.
“It has been the honour of my life to be the Chief Executive of the city in which I was born and raised. I wish my colleagues every success in transforming the council into one that this great city deserves”.
