Third Birmingham City Council commissioners' letter published

Today (1st December 2025) the Best Value Commissioners at Birmingham City Council have published their third update letter, and the first since Tony McArdle took over as lead Commissioner.

The letter can be found here along with an accompanying letter from the minister of state.

Cllr John Cotton, leader of Birmingham City Council said:

“We welcome the publication of the report from the new lead commissioner.

“The report acknowledges the council’s continued progress, particularly around the Oracle implementation which remains on track to meet key deadlines. It also shows progress made across a range of areas including housing, SEND and the transformation of service delivery so residents will already be seeing and feeling improvements.

“The leadership has a good and productive working relationship with Tony McArdle and I would like to thank him and his team for their continued support.

“We are not complacent and recognise there is still much to do before we become a well-run council that delivers good services for the people of the city, but we have turned a corner and we are taking ownership of the next phase of improvement, building a foundation for greater self-reliance and resilience.

We’ve strengthened the council's finances, fixing a £300 million black hole, we’ve sorted the longstanding problem of the council’s equal pay liabilities, and we’ve taken action to improve underperforming services.

“We continue to work constructively with central government, which is investing in public services, including local government, and next month's settlement will help us deliver the services and support that the people of Birmingham deserve.

“Since Joanne has joined us, we have a stable and talented top team that will continue to drive through improvements for all our residents.”

Notes on progress -

• Birmingham is not the same council it was a year ago. In June we published our City Vision following extensive engagement with communities and followed this with our Corporate Plan for 2025–28 setting out how we will deliver for our residents. 
• This is about turning vision into reality – improving the quality of our citizens’ lives and becoming the council our city deserves.
• The council is now close to balancing its revenue budget without the need for Exceptional Financial Support. The 2026-27 budget gap has reduced from £83 million to £1.7 million; and for 2027-28 from £127 million to £10 million. It has been a difficult period, and while there are risks to manage and savings to deliver, this represents significant progress.
• A strong and stable corporate leadership team is now in place to drive progress.
• The council is comprehensively reviewing its constitution to guarantee the good governance needed to deliver our vision. This is complimented by a clear policy, and training for officers on corporate governance and decision-making. 
• City Housing. Significant progress is being made in areas of breach identified by the Regulator of Social Housing. The council is on course to meet its Decent Homes Standard target, with 30% compliance in 2024-25 up to 42% in September 2025. The council delivered 1091 new affordable homes in 2024-25, exceeding its target, and major regeneration schemes are progressing. The council achieved 65% homelessness prevention outcomes in June 2025, placing it among the top three Core Cities. 
• Children’s services. The Ofsted/CQC Area Send Inspection in June 2025 acknowledged significant improvement, including in the experiences of children, awarding the middle rating out of three. Recent inspections of the Birmingham Children’s Trust also found continued improvement, with children’s homes rated Good in for the first time since 2018. System-wide transformation is underway, changing how partners manage demand and provide earlier support, including initiatives like the Families First Programme’s District Operating model; data-led reform of Young People’s Services.
• Adult social care. Service transformation has delivered improvements and savings, driven by a focus on preventative interventions. The shift to prevention has been achieved through use of technology, neighbourhood network schemes, and a community grants programme.