Fixers may start to be stepped down in July

COMMISSIONER SAYS COUNCIL MAKING PROGRESS BUT MUST KEEP IT UP

- JANE HAYNES Politics Editor

FIXERS appointed by the Government to oversee Birmingham City Council could be scaled back as soon as July if a 'fragile' recovery continues.

But the council must meet interim objectives before then to show it is capable of standing alone to provide financial stability and better services, lead commissioner Max Caller said.

Mr Caller praised the 'considerable hard work and dedication' of council leader John Cotton and his cabinet, managing director Joanne Roney, appointed in September 2024, and her team of senior officers.

But he criticised the council's executives in place from 2023 to 2024, claiming the first year of intervention was largely 'wasted.

"This council wasted its first year of intervention and now it needs to catch up," said Mr Caller. "It is making much more progress now."