Birmingham to conduct comprehensive review of constitution

Birmingham City Council is set to embark on a comprehensive review of its constitution as part of efforts to ensure the council is financially secure following the issuance of its section 114 notice.

The review is one of a series of deliverables that the incoming Interim City Solicitor and Monitoring Officer, Marie Rosenthal, has been set by the Government-appointed commissioners.

Councillors agreed on the review, comprising three stages, on Tuesday (9 January).

The first stage will focus on new terms of reference for the council's Audit Committee, which will align the committee with best practices set out by CIPFA.

This initial stage will also involve an update to the constitution to reflect a new Cabinet Committee - Property, approved by Cabinet in December. This will be reported to Full Council in January 2024.

The second stage will see the creation of a statutory requirements checklist to identify any missing areas and/or areas requiring review. It will also provide a 'quick reference point' for finding statutory information across the constitution, according to the report.

This step is scheduled to be reported to Full Council in May 2024.

Once completed, priority review areas will be identified so that proposed changes can be considered by the Council's Business Management Committee and Full Council ahead of the start of the 2024/25 Municipal Year, the report noted.

The council will then move to the third and final stage, which will see a 'comprehensive review' of the constitution.

The aim of the review is to: "Make the Council's Constitution fit for purpose, for a financially secure 21st Century Council, and ensure a training programme is in place to enable both Members and Officers to understand and comply with its provision, ahead of the next administration in May 2026."

The review will be supported by a recently formed cross-party working group which will consider governance changes suggested by members, officers and commissioners and review areas of the constitution to ensure they are fit for purpose.

The working group will then put forward proposed changes for consideration by Full Council.

Rosenthal's report notes that to ensure recommendations can be made, the working group will need to consider a range of documentary material and other evidence, including:

• Information from the Council's Constitution, including findings from the completed statutory requirements checklist;
• Comparative data (where available) from other Core Cities and CIPFA's Nearest Neighbours;
• Good practice from other local authorities
• Information from Knowles on Local Authority Meetings: Manual of Law and Practice.

Birmingham issued a section 114 notice in September 2023 due to overwhelming financial liabilities resulting principally from equal pay claims that totalled about £760m. The council also reported an in-year budget gap of £87m.

A month later, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities decided to send six commissioners into the council with powers over governance, finance and recruitment as part of an intervention programme set to last five years.

Adam Carey