Birmingham City Council’s chief executive has urged staff to stay strong as they face a week of bad news - telling them: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

Chief Executive Mark Rogers issued the morale boost in an email sent to all staff on Monday.

He said they faced:

● The publication of Sir Bob Kerslake’s review of the council’s failings , commissioned by Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles, on December 9.

● A budget paper setting out details of thousands of redundancies within the council on December 10.

● The annual report of school inspectors Ofsted, which is expected to be highly critical of Birmingham, also on December 10.

Mr Rogers said Ofsted head Sir Michael Wilshaw had a tendency to attack Birmingham, telling staff: “Sir Michael hasn’t always found it in his heart to be positive or encouraging in his comments about the city, the city council and some of its schools, hence alerting you to the imminent arrival of the Annual Report.”

Referring to the Budget White Paper, to be launched by city council leader Sir Albert Bore, he told staff it would be published alongside a notice “setting out the staffing implications of the budget proposals.”

In an appeal to staff, he said: “These are, indeed, tough and testing times for the city council”.

But he added: “I look forward to working with you all and rising to the challenges ahead and showing our citizens - as well as the Government - exactly what we’re capable of. Namely, that we will make the city council great again”.