Cllr Robert Alden (Con, Erdington), Leader of the Opposition and Birmingham Local Conservatives said,
“We thank Deborah Cadman for her service in her time in Birmingham. It is vital now that a cross-party selection process takes place to try and find the best person possible to take over as a new Chief Executive to help try to change the Council for the better for residents.”
Cllr Ewan Mackey (Con, Sutton Roughley), Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Birmingham Local Conservatives said,
“Birmingham has had a revolving door of statutory officers, with more Chief Execs under Labour since 2012 than there have been Dalai Lamas since 1617, the same year that Pocahontas met King James I. Each of the external appointments came to Birmingham with high reputations in Local Government circles, but none have been able to turn around the fortunes of the ultimate crisis council. What this tells me, is that the problem is not with officers but with the political leadership that has overseen a culture variously described as dysfunctional, intimidating, defensive, and mistrustful. It is decisions taken by Birmingham Labour, along with decisions they have refused to take, that have led us to this point. They cannot keep hiding behind officers and deflecting blame.”
Cllr Alden continued,
“At a time of unprecedented crisis brought about by the Labour Cabinet, Birmingham now has no Chief Executive, an interim Chief Finance Officer and an interim Monitoring Officer. Report after report has talked about the impact of the high turnover rate of senior officers and the resulting loss of corporate memory, but Birmingham Labour have turned this City Council from a place once seen as the pinnacle of a local government career to a national pariah. Our great City needs great leadership, but time and again the political leadership has been found badly wanting and residents are paying the cost.”
