The UK’s biggest local authority, Birmingham City Council, has issued a section 114 notice in the face of crippling financial problems.
Birmingham called an unofficial spending freeze in June after it revealed a £750m equal pay bill, while it attempted to resolve its financial woes.
It came hot on the heels of the revelation that the cost of the city’s IT and HR contract with Oracle had soared from £20m and could end up costing £100m.
However, scrutiny of the council’s books by auditors has revealed a complete failure to make enough financial provisions for equal pay, dating back to 2019-20. As a result, the authority has no way of balancing the books in the short term.
To continue reading visit The MJ (£).
If this article was of interest, then check out our feature, 'Preventing future Section 114 notices'.
