I dont think that is just Birmingham.
And I am sure most of the people that did that are still there looking for something else to screw up. its like a US senator told one of the Washington idiots: "you screw up and come back for more money, in industry you would not have a job".
If they are talking about prioritising core services and not carrying out or postponing non-essential spending, then continuing the work in front of the Council House itself, may not go down too well with residents, but as the work has already begun, it could be considered an existing contract/commitment that should still be honoured. It will be interesting to see if the work continues.hi john ... do not be surprised if the work does continue..cant have it looking a dump outside the council house...will keep an eye on that
lyn
Poor Brum, let's hope it gets sorted out soon, for all, past, present and future.
Absolutely on point Steve!
Please understand that bankruptcy is only part of it. The other word in the filing is protection! The city is protected it's the supply side that gets take advantage of. And no one could see this coming? Really!
That along with quite a few other investments, I would guess.
It has now been reported, that the council leader's "long standing family commitments" are in fact a holiday in New York to celebrate his 50th birthday.
The sad thing, what you have said WAM has become the expectation and the norm! That is not to say things don’t go over budget etc. But when you have massive overruns and it still does not work right, it’s not good. I have worked in industry all of my life running big projects, most of which came in on time and budget, yes there were exceptions for cause but they worked. You are way way over budget and not sure it’s going to work. We had the same thing over here with the sold called affordable care act. The federal government spent over a billion $ using a suppler (someone’s friend) who was thrown out of Canada for messing up, they had to bring in a private communications company to fix. Oh, and everyone got to keep their job!
Now that should tell you about arrogance or maybe ignorance. My wife came from NYC and we try to go into the city when we visit relatives or go for weddings. We have two nieces and nephew who work in there, they told us to stay out of there because of the vagrants and crime. On niece an attorney when she goes in is armed legally and has someone meet her at the station.
It often seems, although it may be an effect of current reporting standards, that there is a line drawn across the pyramid of commercial operations. Those below the line, such as office staff, down to customers/ratepayers, will suffer in some way when things go wrong. This can be picking up the bill, losing jobs or becoming scapegoats. Perhaps all of those. Those above the line, up to the 'C' suite, or council leader, or whatever the functional name is, will slide seamlessly into new jobs at equivalent or higher levels.
Indeed, - The online website "The Register" had an article about the Birmingham IT fiasco a couple of months ago. Apparently, the original agreement was that the Council would change their work practices to be in line with what ORACLE could do. But when push came to shove many of its departments demanded that ORACLE be customised to suit the way they worked. To be fair, ORACLE seems to have never been designed in the first place to cope with running a council, it's mostly used in the manufacturing industry. - Anyway, that has meant that many of Birminghams departments have continued to use the old SAP system, meaning the council has had to keep paying for both, along with the ongoing extra payments to customise ORACLE. The running of the duel system has meant that many of the council's contractors have been paid twice for the same work, while others have not been paid at all. - Full article at this link...
www.theregister.com
Agree Andrew! I have been at the C level in the private sector for too many years. Perform or you are done! That means profitably, safely, environmentally and with all human considerations.
Mr. Cotton should go and whomever he reports to should as well!
Perhaps they will take the opportunity to sell off a couple of the Pre-Raphaelite collection to balance the books, in the hope that none of us will notice, because we haven't been able to see them in any case.
Chunky, your wife should be installed IMMEDIATELY! I am advising a new company and used those words yesterday on a zoom call. We have some very smart people that don’t understand the difference between need and want. Ah, then there’s the first one “can we afford it”. I would add, if it were my money would I do that! Most times in business the honest answer is NO!
www.birmingham.gov.uk
Reveling article! I do not believe Birmingham can sustain a liability accumulating as much as £14 m per month on top of the already debt load. That says that the debt is growing plus interest at £1 per living person per month or thereabouts. They have to stop and renegotiate the terms of equal pay or it will bring everything to its knees! That is what Lee Iacocca did at Chrysler and everyone survive very well!Council statement….
Statement regarding Section 114 notice | Birmingham City Council
Statement regarding Section 114 notice - Statement on today's announcement that a Section 114 notice has been issued.
Equal Pay…
I remember the equal pay claim from nearly twenty years ago. The council did oppose the claim. Many years later the European Court said Birmingham Council were in the wrong and should uphold the claim from the female members who put in the original claim. Good for women's rights but costly for the council.
