Crisis 'fixers' have cost city nearly £2 MILLION

COMMISSIONERS' FEES & EXPENSES REVEALED AMID QUESTIONS OVER VALUE

- JANE HAYNES News Reporter

THE Government-appointed 'fixers' overseeing crisis-hit Birmingham City Council after its near bankruptcy have racked up nearly £2 million in fees and expenses so far.

Questions are being asked inside and outside the council about what good they have done, amid claims about their role in the hugely damaging bin strike.

Birmingham taxpayers are also questioning how highly paid officers and high profile councillors can justify their wages and roles while the commissioners continue to have the final say on major decisions.

But supporters say the commissioners, who have the backing of Deputy PM and Communities Secretary Angela Rayner and her local government minister Jim McMahon, are still vitally needed to turn the ailing council round after years of failure.

Calculations by the Mail based on published lists of fees and expenses show that the team of seven commissioners, led by Max Caller, racked up a staggering £1,640,169 in fees and expenses in the 18 months from their arrival in October 2023 to the end of March this year, with an additional two months’ of work done since for an estimated £230,000.

On top of their published payments, the council is also funding designated support staff and the use of rooms inside the Council House for the commissioner team.

Officials from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Communities are also regularly in the city, influencing council decisions.