Saturday, September 9, 2023, 11:40 p.m.

The media of ‘Birmingham’, a famous city in ‘England’, has opened up a sequence of events before declaring bankruptcy, revealing that on 26 September the parliament will open to discuss a financial recovery plan.

9 Sep. 2023, Birmingham Mail newspaper, local media in Birmingham, England, presents a special report, Timeline to bankruptcy – the truth about Birmingham going bust, about the city of Birmingham. Bankruptcy was declared on September 5, 2023 by John Cotton, the city’s council president. We were told to prepare on September 4, 2023. However, this matter began showing signs since July 5, 2023, when Cotton announced a halt to all unnecessary spending. and suspend job applications Because the scope of the city’s financial challenges is clear.

Over the course of two months, the council’s management team, supported by external auditors, Struggling to figure out how to avoid declaring bankruptcy and find ways to plug the enormous deficit created by equal pay liability. But it’s still in the billions of pounds. So it was not unexpected. Meanwhile, on Sept. 4, 2023, Cotton is set to depart for New York, United States, for his previously planned 50th birthday celebration. Waiting to board a plane at Gatwick Airport in London. He received a phone call confirming that the situation was untenable.

Fiona Greenway, the council’s director of finance, was about to issue a Section 114 legal notice. He boarded a plane to the Big Apple as planned. confident that he could handle matters from abroad An email confirming the decision arrived in his inbox while he was on the air. The announcement was finally issued at 9:00 AM on the morning of September 5, 2023 (4:00 AM New York time). Now Birmingham is preparing for the impact. Given the reality of this catastrophic situation, what does it mean for residents and communities?

Birmingham City Press Still sorting out the sequence of events before the city of Birmingham declared bankruptcy as follows:

5 July 2023 : Birmingham City Council announces it will be subject to Government review. There have been many trials. And there is a judge leading the investigation lined up. As councils face financial disaster, ‘black holes’ and pay parity Calling for equal pay in the past and in the present will see the council receive payouts that could amount to as much as £760 million (34 billion baht) to workers who have been victims of discriminatory pay practices.

There is also a £100 million bill (approximately 4.5 billion baht) to address the legal disaster in the implementation of new IT and digital financial systems. An immediate spending freeze was ordered on all city council services. They are allowed to spend only what is necessary for legal services. Other spending decisions All must be specially approved.

This comes after Council leader Cotton and Deputy Speaker Sharon Thompson confirmed that the budget for the year ahead was now in chaos. External experts will support the director and leadership. and officials of The UK’s Department of Leveling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) will help to resolve the crisis. This is one of the biggest challenges this council has ever faced. And we need to understand how the problem arises. To prevent it from happening again in the future.

“This is one of the biggest challenges this council has ever faced. And we need to understand how the problem arises. This is to prevent it from happening again in the future,” said the council’s political leader.

Throughout July 2023 : Directions have been issued to all committees to prepare financial recovery plans and list legal/essential spending. and reduce costs A list of all assets is being prepared. (The council is the largest land owner in the city.) Chief executive Deborah Cadman is overseeing the effort, along with her interim finance director, Fiona Greenway. who is also a Section 151 officer, this is their official legal role to ensure the city’s finances are strong and sound. And she is obliged to notify her if this is not the case.

July 27, 2023 : At a meeting of the council’s finance and resource review committee, Fiona Greenway warns that in addition to equal pay and Oracle’s challenges, this year’s budget is still under. The pressure is already there. With a gap of £87m (nearly £4bn), this has increased due to additional demand for services and inflationary pressures.

“We are in a perilous position. Greenway warns that we cannot continue to balance the budget with reserves,” said Lib Dem7 councilor Paul Tilsley.

August 2023: During the period when local government was in a period of decline. with most of the committee taking time off during the holiday season. City council officials are working around the clock to try to clarify the position. Negotiate a way forward and reveal what happened before External investigators work with DLUHC staff, consultants and staff to resolve the crisis and create a rescue plan.

1 Sep 2023 : Interim Finance Director Fiona Greenway receives information via email from external auditors confirming that failure to account for equal pay liabilities over the 2020-2022 period means that all bets are off She believed there was no way to move forward. But at that time It is understood she did not raise the alarm along with others. And it appears service chief Deborah Cadman and watchdog Janie Berry will not be consulted on these concerns until the morning of Sept. 4, 2023.

2-3 Sep 2023: There is no word yet on what happened over the weekend, however it is understood Greenway was in poor condition and was unable to attend the high-level meeting in person. All this week

4 Sep 2023: Head of Service Deborah Cadman and Watch Officer Janie Berry were informed by Greenway of the need to draft a Section 114 notice, consistent with its S151 statutory duties. Greenway in the morning Deputy Leader Sharon Thompson and Labor Cabinet Minister John Cotton received a phone call at the airport. The government recommends A plan was drawn up to communicate the announcement the following day.

5 Sep 2023 at 9:00 a.m.: An official Section 114 announcement was issued. Our full story on the declaration and what it means is here . A council source who helped detail this timeline said they wanted to clarify who was notified when rumors spread.

7 Sep 2023: High-level discussions continue with senior government officials about what happens next. Michael Gove, Minister for National Development, British housing and communities Held a virtual meeting with City MPs and Regional Mayor Andy Street. to listen to their concerns and pledged to announce his proposed next steps in the coming weeks. British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt Also speaking with Street was Angela Rayner, who was recently appointed as the briefing speaker for Leveling Up, Housing and Communities for Labour, as well as local MPs and leaders. city ​​council as well

while on the same day There was also a heated meeting of the city council’s financial and resource review committee. The council’s director of human resources, Darren Hockaday, made this clear to the council’s senior political leaders. It was led at the time by Ian Ward, who knew as early as February 2023 that equal pay liability was about to explode. It appears that this information has not been widely shared. And the full council proceeded to approve this year’s budget without knowing what would happen. This will be the focus of a lot of attention in the coming days and weeks.

Following this, on 12 September 2023 at 2:00 p.m.: Birmingham Council will meet for the first time since S114. City Council President John Cotton will face with questions from supporters Opposition politicians and the public as the severity of the situation became clearer Then, on 26 September 2023, there will be a full Extraordinary Council meeting to hear the full proposed financial recovery plan. This is part of the legal requirements of the Section 114 announcement.

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2023-09-09 16:40:00