Calls for a cross-party response to the damning Kerslake report into Birmingham City Council were lost amid a party-political slanging match at the Council House.

Opposition Tories urged a working group of leading councillors to consider issues raised by Sir Bob Kerslake in his review of city council governance - including the culture of organisational disobedience and reform of elections.

The review by civil servant Sir Bob, published last month, described the council as a paternalistic and dysfunctional authority which was holding the city back.

He found problems were deep rooted and went back many years.

His review was set up in the wake of repeated failures by child protection services and the failure to address the take over of city schools by hard line Muslims outlined in the Trojan Horse scandal.

The Conservatives claimed their request for a full discussion at the council's monthly meeting was rejected and so forced the issue onto the agenda through an individual member's motion.

Councillors on all sides repeatedly blamed opponents for their share of the mess.

Tories and Liberals claimed the huge £1.1 billion equal pay bill could have been avoided by Labour before 2004 while Labour said it should have been nipped in the bud by the Tory-Lib Dem administration in 2008.

Meanwhile, the council's children's social services department was described as a 'basket case' in 2003/04 under Labour and then again under the Tory-Lib Dems in 2009.

The council was also told by Labour council leader Sir Albert Bore that he and his cabinet were preparing a detailed action plan to be published in time for a cabinet meeting next month.

He said: "We are going to bring an implementation plan forward to cabinet, it is the role of the executive to do that, we will do it quickly and it will come on February 16."

Sir Albert insisted he did want to work with the opposition to create "a clear, coherent and positive vision for Birmingham" and they would be involved in discussions in early February.

He said he was also meeting the Local Government Boundary Commission on February 6 to discuss the Kerslake proposals for all-out elections and a review of wards and refused to 'pre-empt' those discussions by joining the Tories and Lib Dems in ruling out single member wards.

Tory group leader Coun Robert Alden, who tabled the motion, said: "To any proud Brummie, the last two years have heaped embarrassment and shame on our city.

"The fact we got to a position where the break up of this city was discussed should act as a warning of just how low the council's stock has gone.

"If we are to overcome these difficulties, we need to do this on a cross-party basis for the benefit of our residents."

He said the dysfunctional council culture of "officers devising policy for members to sign off" and the problems with "officers saying why things can't be done rather than trying to find a way to make it happen" needed to be tackled.

He criticised Sir Albert's response, saying that showing the opposition a report a few days before it goes to cabinet was not cross-party working.