00:00Back in early June, Birmingham voted for change at the local elections,
00:04but still the city council is without agreed political leadership.
00:09Labour lost its majority, reform became the largest party,
00:13and no group has enough councillors to run the authority alone.
00:17Well, I mean, the number of weeks after the election,
00:20which is supposed to solve the issue of who is actually in control,
00:24we're in, I wouldn't call it chaos yet,
00:26but of course it does seem to be an emerging crisis of sorts.
00:31Now, quite clearly, people probably don't notice any particular difference
00:35because the services that they avail of, particularly, dare I sort of say,
00:38the sort of the regular refuse collection is still happening,
00:42which is the normal sort of interaction with sort of the council.
00:45If there's a sort of a problem elsewhere, perhaps on the roads,
00:49social service education, that will all be dealt with
00:51because of course there are officers in the department.
00:53But of course what the council or the elected officials are supposed to be about
00:58is providing sort of a strategic overview and direction
01:01for the officers who are employed in the various departments
01:04and the fact that, of course, that because of the sort of the electoral system,
01:09which has thrown up something which I think we're going to see an awful lot more of,
01:12a kind of, as is described, a rainbow of different parties
01:17with nobody able to sort of get the sort of the 51 seats to get an overall majority.
01:22Talks have been taking place over whether a coalition or working arrangement can be put together.
01:28The Greens, Liberal Democrats and Better Birmingham Groups
01:31said they are trying to form a sustainable administration,
01:35while Reform and Labour have both said they expect to sit in opposition.
01:39The Conservatives have proposed a new Groups Leader Council,
01:43bringing together the leaders of recognised political groups and senior officers
01:47to discuss major issues, whatever administration is eventually formed.
01:53They say Birmingham needs a stable, coordinated leadership at a time of financial pressure.
01:59The immediate question now is whether enough councillors can agree a way forward
02:03and provide the stable leadership Birmingham needs.
02:06So, yes, I think the coalition, or also whatever this meeting may be,
02:11of the sort of the leaders would be a good thing,
02:14may be overseen by the commissioners who are sort of paid a lot of money
02:16to sort of sort Birmingham's problems out.
02:19Hopefully we're over the sort of the worst of the sort of the bankruptcy issue,
02:22but nonetheless, what's really important is, of course,
02:25we want the day-to-day services to sort of continue.
02:28We want them to get better.
02:29We want some strategic overview also,
02:31because, of course, it's about taking the city forward,
02:33if you forgive the pun, which, of course, is the sort of the city's motto,
02:37which is about bringing in investment for sort of jobs
02:39and sort of redevelopment and so on and so forth.
02:42Now, all that's going to be very difficult given the current situation.
02:45So it really is, it's something that needs sorting out sooner rather than later.
02:49Until then, the city remains in political limbo,
02:52with major decisions on services, finances and local priorities
02:57still needing clear direction.
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