Birmingham Conservatives call for public enquiry into equal pay crisis to begin by the end of the year
They are formally asking for the inquiry to begin no later than September 2024
Birmingham Local Conservatives have submitted a motion to secure a date for the public inquiry into the equal pay crisis.
They are formally asking for the inquiry to begin no later than September 2024, reporting by December 2025.
So far the Labour run council has not agreed to a date when this vital inquiry will happen.
Birmingham City Council has been in the spotlight ever since the authority issued the first of two Section 114 legal notices last summer, effectively declaring bankruptcy.
Leader of the Conservative group, Cllr Robert Alden, said, "It is clear that for the Council to be able to learn the lessons of the Labour Administration’s failure over the last decade, the promised public inquiry into Labour's Equal Pay crisis must start ASAP.
"Both the Council and residents must be aware of the outcomes of that inquiry. It is vital that as the Labour-run Council try to fix the mess of the Council's finances they have made, that they don't repeat those same catastrophic failures".
Deputy leader of the Conservative group, Cllr Ewan Mackey, said, "John Cotton promised to be open and transparent about the problems facing the Council but to start doing that he needs to take responsibility for the state of his Council.
"Currently, it is the residents of our city who will suffer, with Labour's 21% increase in Council Tax over two years, whilst services collapse. This is why the inquiry needs to be held urgently AND completed. Only when they accept the cause of the problem can they start to put in place measures to fix it. If they don't do this, it will only get worse for residents, not better".
Cllr Mackey continued, “We urge all Councillors to put residents first and back our call for the inquiry to start this year and conclude by the end of 2025 at the very latest".
Cllr Alden concluded, “The Council have a history of continually kicking the can down the road. As the responsible opposition on the Council, we are bringing this motion to Full Council calling for the inquiry into Labour's Equal Pay Crisis to be started urgently, and completed in a timely manner, so that the lessons of their failure can be avoided next time as Labour again seek to change staff contracts at Birmingham City Council”.