Councillors at Birmingham city council “ignored the warning signs” of its financial crisis and caused a “self-inflicted” disaster that will take years of cuts to rectify, according to the lead government commissioner drafted in to help.
Local government expert Max Caller, who has been nicknamed Max the Axe for his unsparing approach to budget cuts, was lured out of retirement to take on the task of fixing England’s largest local authority after it effectively declared itself bankrupt.
“They should never have done this. They ignored the warning signs, crashed on regardless and they have created themselves a controlled disaster,” said Caller, who is five weeks into the task of pulling the local authority from the financial…
