The new Labour leader of Birmingham City Council has teamed up with his Tory and Lib Dem counterparts to convince a government watchdog they can be trusted to run the city.
It is a year since troubleshooter Lord Bob Kerslake issued his damning report into the leadership of Birmingham City Council which found it resistant to change, the roles of officials and politicians blurred and they took a high-handed approach to others.
The report also called for sweeping changes to modernise the authority. One of his criticisms was the Labour leadership was shut off from both its own backbenchers and political rivals.
The council was given a year to shape up or risk direct government intervention and that threat remains.
The Government-appointed Improvement Panel is due to report to Local Government Secretary Greg Clark in early January.
But now Labour leader John Clancy has issued his annual report with a joint signature from Tory leader Robert Alden and Lib Dem leader Paul Tilsley.
In a joint-statement, they said: "We are jointly committed to delivering on the recommendations of the Kerslake Report and the progress made over the last 12 months underlines that commitment.
"The foundations have been laid but there is no room for complacency and the hard work continues to restore the city council's reputation as a leader in local government.
"Our shared vision is to create an organisation that works in partnership with others, empowering communities and supporting greater independence for residents."
Many of Kerslake's nine recommendations have been introduced or are well on the way, including closer working with neighbouring councils through the combined authority, replacing staggered annual elections with all up elections every four years, better training for councillors and longer-term planning of services and finances.
In an update report, the council leaders state: "Restoring the city council's reputation as a leader in local government will require much more than one year of work on specific recommendations.
"We are all fully aware of the scale of the challenges facing the organisation and the need for truly radical change if those challenges are to be met."
Recently, there were still problems with the council's partnership working - its ability to work with the wider city, including other public sector organisations, businesses, charities and community groups.
Coun Clancy made wider partnership working a key factor in his recent leadership campaign and pledged to get out of the Council House as much as possible.
The Independent Improvement Panel, set up by to review the progress on the Kerslake recommendations, will grill the three political leaders at a public meeting at the Council House from noon on Monday.
