Birmingham City Council leader John Cotton has apologised to the city’s residents and insisted he had ‘no prior notice’ of the local authority’s bankruptcy crisis.
The city council issued a section 114 almost two weeks ago in response to the local authority’s crippling financial problems.
The local authority is facing a £750m equal pay bill and an IT and HR contract which could end up costing £100m.
Speaking to Politics Midlands, Cllr Cotton said: ‘It is clear we are facing a number of challenges in Birmingham so I would like to start by offering an apology on behalf of Birmingham City Council to the people of the city.
‘I am apologising for the impact we know this has on citizens.
‘We are having to review all of our council activity and look at where we make our spend but my priority is that we continue to focus on front-line service delivery, the things that matter most to the people of this city.’
If this article was of interest, then check out our feature, 'Preventing future Section 114 notices'.
