The MP questions whether commissioners will work with Birmingham's elected representatives and leadership. She inquires about a similar approach for other struggling councils, including a deep dive into the issues mentioned.

The MP criticises the delay in Government action despite known issues and raises concerns about funding cuts over the last decade, attributing financial distress to Conservative policies.

The MP questions the Department's work to support other councils facing financial distress and challenges the idea that all failures are due to local governance.

The Shadow Minister questioned the Secretary of State on whether the commissioners will work with elected representatives to tackle problems together and inquired if a similar approach would be considered for other struggling councils. She also highlighted that Birmingham’s reserves were stripped away by the government over the last decade, amounting to £1 billion taken from local communities.

Welcoming the decisive action, he asked for assurance that neighbouring authorities like Dudley and Sandwell will not bear the cost of Birmingham's failure, and enquired about the impact on transport infrastructure and employment projects.

The MP inquired about councils at risk of section 114 notices and asked how many are now on the brink. He highlighted that some non-Labour controlled councils also faced issues.

She asked how this review in Birmingham would differ from past reviews, aiming to learn lessons from repeated failures by Labour administrations.

Asked two questions of the Secretary of State: When will he announce who else he plans to appoint as commissioners? Will these commissioners have powers over council tax and asset sales?

Acknowledged the disappointment over Birmingham's political failure while highlighting the city's economic success under Andy Street’s leadership. Asked if Solihull Council would be unaffected.

Asked how the commissioners will work and whether citizens of Birmingham will have any input or oversight over decisions made by them. Questioned the Secretary's praise for Andy Street and asked about the past 10 years' council issues.

Asked for reassurance that Wolverhampton will not be impacted by the situation in Birmingham through West Midlands Combined Authority. Raised concerns about spending on trade union facility time.

Expressed concern about the financial struggles of councils, raised issues with cuts and funding certainty. Asked for reassurance that every local council will be properly funded by central Government.

Asked about concerns over Warrington Borough Council’s governance and financial health, citing high borrowings. Inquired about steps to prevent another collapse.

Suggested bringing back the district auditor function based on findings from the Bob Kerslake report to address officer issues. Asked if this could improve financial clarity.

The problems we face in Thurrock have emerged over the past 10 years, during a decade in which Thurrock has been dominated by three-party politics and a succession of minority administrations in which the UK Independence party held the balance of power. Being brutally frank, it was impossible to make financial cuts or to increase council tax, which has led us to our current situation. In the light of the best value inspection, which found that the position had been exacerbated by annual elections and constant electioneering, will my right hon. Friend consider whether those lessons need to be read across local government? I remind him that, going back as far as 2019, previous Ministers, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and the National Audit Office all warned Thurrock of the recklessness of its policy, yet councillors and officers failed to act. Do we need to consider statutory powers for a sanction in those circumstances?

The situation facing Birmingham City Council is very serious, and those responsible should be held to account. None the less, we know Birmingham is not unique. Many councils across the country, as we have heard, are entering section 114 territory. According to reports, the Secretary of State’s local council in Surrey Heath could go bankrupt within two years. What assessment has he made of the financial situation facing councils and of the impact of the £1 billion stripped from Birmingham City Council’s budget by the Government?

Labour-run Blackpool Council currently has a budget deficit of more than £23 million, which is one of the largest in the country compared with its revenue budget. Despite this, the council continues to fritter away taxpayers’ money, not least in spending £174,000 on six trees and in giving councillors a pay rise. To ensure its financial position does not deteriorate further, will the Secretary of State join me in urging the council to get the basics right, to end its pursuit of ideologically driven projects that are not supported by residents and to end all wasteful spending immediately?

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for the offer to work together, and that offer has been welcomed by Councillor John Cotton this afternoon. Can the Secretary of State tell us whether we can find a way to have a conversation about fair funding? He is a student of Tory leadership campaigns and, like us, he probably winced when he heard the Prime Minister say to one campaign meeting: “we inherited a bunch of formulas from the Labour Party that shoved all the funding into deprived urban areas…that needed to be undone. I started the work of undoing that.” The truth is that richer councils have taken cuts of about £44 per head since 2010, whereas Birmingham City Council has taken cuts of 14 times that amount. There is a conversation to be had about funding, and I am grateful that the Secretary of State is considering one way to fix it, by creating a levelling-up zone and investment zones in east Birmingham, on land between the two High Speed 2 stations. Can the Secretary of State confirm that those plans will still go ahead? Has he considered creating a development corporation in east Birmingham, for which I have argued for a long time, to lever in significantly larger amounts of money? Can we have a conversation about how we support the combined authority, too? As he will know, Andy Street’s budget faces a gap of £29 million next year, rising to £50 million in a couple of years’ time, and currently there is a £1.1 billion black hole between the investment programme and the funds available to pay for it.

I welcome the appointment of Max Caller, who has a strong track record of making these difficult decisions and helping councils to turn around, but the Secretary of State will know that task and finish was a big part of what happened in Birmingham. Does he have oversight of which other councils are still doing that? Nearly 30 years ago, at Islington Council, we were looking at those issues and tackling them. The big issue here—the elephant in the room—is local audit. Some 12% of audit opinions for the 2021-22 financial year have come in, even with the extended deadline. The permanent secretary and the National Audit Office have indicated that we need to focus on the current year and to forget previous years, but these canaries in the mine, these warning signs, were never heard because of the dire state of local audit. This has all been on his Government’s watch. Can he give us any reassurance that he really has a plan to get local audit back on track?

Councils across the country are struggling under severe financial constraint and there is no doubt that local government is badly underfunded. However, I want to commend my Bath & North East Somerset Council for having shown great prudence in order to rebuild its finances, and I hope the Secretary of State will join me in praising it. The reform of the audit system has been mentioned, but may I ask him: what timeline can we expect for a reform of that system? When does he think the backlog of unpublished opinions will be cleared?

The Secretary of State mentioned core spending power, so it is important to reflect on the first 10 years of this Conservative Government, when 60p in every pound was stripped away from local authorities. The Government then forced councils to rely on council tax as central Government funding was reduced. Places such as Birmingham and Luton can raise much less from council tax, because of their smaller housing stock, than wealthier areas, which have bigger houses in higher council tax bands. Places such as Birmingham and Luton therefore lose out every year. Was his policy just a result of incompetence or is it part of the Prime Minister’s stated aim to take funding from deprived urban areas and give it to wealthier towns?