The long-awaited Public Interest Report on Birmingham Labour’s butchered rollout of the Oracle IT system has been published today, exposing the full extent of mismanagement surrounding the project.
The report, from Auditors Grant Thorton, was handed to the Council on 11 February, but has only been shared today, despite the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 requiring it to be sent to councillors and published on the website without delay. It sheds a light on how a system originally budgeted at £19 million has ballooned to some £130 million and severely hampered even the most basic financial controls.
What the report says:
“Key Programme governance mechanisms such as …member oversight and a strong design authority, were absent or ineffective”. – p5
“The cost of the failed ERP implementation and the necessary additional investment that will now be needed is estimated to be at least £90 Million in excess of the original budget”. -p6
“In an environment where programme delays, and cost escalation were already a significant issue; wider financial pressures were a focus for council leaders and upcoming council elections brought greater scrutiny onto the council's performance. In our view, these matters placed pressure on those involved in the project to report progress and good news rather than the actual position of the project.” – p10
“In our view the council has failed in its duty to deliver best value and did not put in place proper arrangements to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources in relation to this project. In particular, the Council’s arrangements for ensuring that it made informed decisions, and properly managed risks were inadequate” -p11
“…given the indirect sources of information available to members we consider that they could have challenged officers.” – p12
Cllr Robert Alden (Con, Erdington) Leader of the Opposition and Birmingham Local Conservatives, said:
This report of failure is the culmination of a decade of Labour leaders spreading a culture of secrecy and denial across the Council. Where hiding the truth from Brummies and Councillors is rewarded all in the name of protecting the brand. When they should have been doing their jobs and protecting residents from these huge costs of the Councils failures
What this again shows is the complete inability and unwillingness of Birmingham Labour to listen. From prior to the initial decision, through implementation, and whilst the early warning signs of impending disaster were starting to show after go-live, they ignored opposition councillors, their own staff, and even the expensively procured consultants they hired. This was an abdication of responsibility on a grand scale and the costs have yet again been laid on the doormats of Birmingham residents receiving ever-increasing council tax bills.
Cllr Ewan Mackey (Con, Sutton Roughley), Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Birmingham Local Conservatives said:
The public interest report is a salutary lesson for anyone looking to implement a new IT system, in how not to do it. However, perhaps the biggest unspoken lesson from all of this is if you want something done, don’t put Birmingham Labour in charge.
The administration dismissed warning after warning we raised, instead choosing to bury their heads in the sand. Quite simply this report demonstrates that the role of running the city is too much for this current administration. Birmingham desperately needs a change.
Cllr Meirion Jenkins (Con, Sutton Mere Green), Shadow Cabinet member for Finance, said:
The law is clear, a public interest report should be shared as soon as is practicably possible after being received by the council. That means the same or next day. Instead, the Birmingham Labour Administration has delayed this damming report from the auditors about the Oracle implementation disaster for a week and a half, denying the public the timely transparency they deserve. The Leader committed to being open and honest and those words now have a somewhat hollow ring.
The Public Interest Report confirms what Birmingham residents already know—this Labour-run council has lost control of its finances and is hitting taxpayers with a double whammy baring the cost of the butchered It system while hiking council tax. Our City and its services aren't safe in Labour’s hands.
Notes
- A copy of the report was sent to the council on 11 February 2025. It was shared here on the 20 February - (Link)
- Under Schedule 7 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, auditors have the power to make a report if they consider a matter is sufficiently important to be brought to the attention of the audited body or the public as a matter of urgency, including matters which may already be known to the public, but where it is in the public interest for the auditor to publish their independent view
- Paragraph 4(3) of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 requires to ‘as soon as is practicable after receiving the report, the relevant authority must supply a copy of the report to each of its members and 4(5) says ‘from the time when the report is received, the relevant authority... must ensure that any member of the public may inspect the report.
