City council leader Sir Albert Bore has been accused of ignoring backbench colleagues as he bids to repair Birmingham's reputation following the damning Kerslake review.
Last month's review into the city council called for sweeping changes to be introduced within a year to end the cycle of failure within Britain's largest local authority.
The inquiry by top civil servant Sir Bob Kerslake found the council was dysfunctional and demanded a top down restructuring - from the regional down to the local community level.
The Labour leader told a backbench scrutiny committee he and his cabinet were drawing up an improvement plan which would be published in February.
But he added it would not be an 'all singing, all dancing' set of plans and instead set the timetable and agenda for changes.
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Although the council may not go along with every one of Sir Bob's recommendations, he realises that "if the Government doesn't like the way we respond to Kerslake then they can take further action. We have that sword hanging over us".
Sir Albert said constitutional changes, such as the new devolved community leadership arrangements, would be drawn up and ready to implement by the May annual meeting while talks over new wards and boundaries would begin on February 6.
Committee members were stunned that rank and file councillors, some with decades of experience, would not be involved in the discussions.
Chairman Carl Rice (Lab Ladywood) said: "Kerslake said that every member of the council should take personal responsibility for improvement. He highlighted an over-reliance on leadership."
He said councillors of all parties wanted to contribute.
"There's an awful lot of experience among the 120 members. They want to be part of the solution. Leadership has to understand that desire," he added.
His colleague, deputy Lord Mayor Mike Leddy (Lab Brandwood), said: "Kerlsake was the most critical report I have seen in a long time. It clearly calls for a change in culture."
He said the current constitution, drawn up by Sir Albert two years ago, lacked clarity.
"Not many people know who is responsible for whatever service," he said.
Sir Albert dismissed the criticism, pointing out that a cross-party working group, currently looking at town council proposals for Sutton Coldfield, would be drawing up plans for the district or community level across the city and these could be ready to implement by May.
"There are backbenchers already on that working group," he said.
He added that Kerslake had not criticised the leadership but rather the relationship with management at a lower level.
