So the Government troubleshooter who helped sort out Rotherham after the child sexual exploitation scandal, tidied up the mess in Coventry and held high up positions with the Edinburgh Government is now coming to put things right in Birmingham.
Just a month after Mark Rogers’ employment as £180,000-a-year Birmingham City Council chief executive was terminated an interim successor has been lined up and will be confirmed on April 4.
Members of leader John Clancy’s Labour administration have been highlighting the fact that they have swiftly secured the services of a – both literally and figuratively – Stella successor.
After allegations of chaos and calamity , it shows strong leadership they argue and decisive action to steady the ship and the appointment of Stella Manzie does that.
She has an impressive CV and a strong track record of turning around struggling local government organisations. In Redditch, she did it while cutting spending by 25 per cent.
And they need a strong performer since the current business plan involves something called the Future Operating Model – a major overhaul of the way the council works designed to save £40 million and reduce the workforce by about a third of its current level – some 2,000 staff – over the next two years.
But the appointment has the whiff of Government intervention about it.
It was certainly the role she played in the basket case local authority of Rotherham two years ago as a leading part of a team of commissioners who replaced the elected cabinet.
And given that, following the Kerslake Review, which revealed a dysfunctional authority in Birmingham with an inability to change or adapt, the council has been on a final warning for several years now perhaps it is a soft version of Government intervention.
There were certainly strong rumours that Government played a part in the exit of Mr Rogers, whether or not it was as a result of his outspoken attack on austerity or the inability to deliver budget savings demanded on his watch.
If there was a Government takeover, surely Ms Manzie would have been at or near the top of any list of commissioners approved by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).
She certainly has the backing of the DCLG and the Local Government Association.
Is she therefore a Government commissioner in all but name?
Update: I wrote that the council was set to shed 4,000 jobs over two years after conflating two sets of stats. The confirmed job reductions are 2,200 ish over two years with a projection of this rising to 4,000 by the end of austerity in 2020/21. Happy to set the record straight.
Could Lidl reversal mark a shift in balance between developers and communities
In far too many years covering planning applications and decision, it is easy to recall many, many occasions where developers have challenged a decision by the council’s planning committee and won.
The planning process is undeniably weighted in favour of developers as long as what they propose is not too ridiculous.
But this week was the first time in this correspondent’s long memory that residents have successfully challenged a decision. The decision in question was to give the green light to the Lidl store on Pershore Road, Stirchley. It was a bizarre decision as objections listed at one meeting were brushed aside at the next.
Now it turns out the advice given to committee members was wrong – there were grounds to refuse. But it was only under threat of legal action that the planning department has admitted a mistake and revoked the decision.
I wonder if other residents groups will now look at legal options when they feel a major developer or company has run roughshod over their community.
A Brummie is now running Manchester City Council
It is beyond doubt there is a little rivalry between Birmingham and Manchester to claim the unofficial title of England's Second City.
And it has not gone unnoticed is some quarters that for the past 18 months that Birmingham City Council has been led by councillor John Clancy, born and bred in Greater Manchester.
Someone once remarked that Birmingham is so rubbish the northerners have come down to help. But now Birmingham has struck back with the revelation that one of our city’s own has now walked into the top job with Manchester City Council.
The new chief executive Joanne Roney , filling the shoes of local government colossus Sir Howard Bernstein, is a leading authority on homelessness – a particular problem for big cities at this time.
She is also a Brummie and a Blues fan who started out as an apprentice with Birmingham City Council’s housing department at the age of 16 before moving on.
Nice to be able to help.
