logo
Birmingham council faces legal action over decision to close adult day centres

Birmingham council faces legal action over decision to close adult day centres

The Guardian12-07-2025
Legal action is being taken after commissioners sent to oversee Birmingham council blocked scrutiny of a controversial decision to close adult day centres.
An application for a judicial review has been brought in the names of Robert Mason, 63, and Jenny Gilbert, 50, who attend day centres for adults with physical and learning disabilities in the city.
The legal challenge argues there was an overreach by the commissioners, in breach of the Local Government Act, when they refused to allow three separate applications by elected council members to 'call in' a cabinet decision to close four day centres for further scrutiny.
James Cross, acting on behalf of Mason, his uncle, who attended a day centre in Harborne for 45 years, said the commissioner had 'made a mockery of local government' by overriding the established process and preventing full scrutiny of the closures.
'From our point of view, the local democratic process was removed because of their direct intervention,' said Cross. 'Scrutiny is essential for local democracy, especially when a cabinet decision is made by 12 people out of 101 councillors.'
After the council declared itself effectively bankrupt in 2023, the government appointed a team of six commissioners to oversee its daily running for up to five years, until October 2028. Collectively they have been paid nearly £2m in fees and expenses by the council since being appointed.
They are led by Max Caller, nicknamed 'Max the Axe' for his tough approach to pushing through cuts at cash-strapped local authorities.
There was an outcry in March when four of the nine council-run adult day centres in the city were closed as part of swingeing budget cuts, with the MP for Birmingham Edgbaston, Preet Kaur Gill, saying the commissioners had 'shut down democratic scrutiny' by refusing the call-in requests.
Caller said there was 'pre-decision scrutiny' over the day centre closures, and it would have cost the council £100,000 a month to delay.
Cross said: 'I put forward a proposal for Harborne day centre where it would be turned into a community hub, so that outside of the day centre hours it could be used to generate income. They just didn't want to know.
'There's no innovative thinking, it's just straightforward, yes, we'll cut that. But it's short-term gain in terms of finance, for long-term pain, because you're just kicking the situation further down the road.'
A court hearing on 21 July will determine whether the judicial review can go ahead.
With increasing numbers of councils struggling financially, there are now commissioners in place at six other local authorities: Croydon, Tower Hamlets, Nottingham, Slough, Woking and Thurrock.
Jonathan Carr-West, the chief executive of the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU), said the commissioner model was 'very much the favoured mechanism of the last government and is being continued by this government' to intervene in struggling councils.
'When people say that it takes away local democratic control, that's true, that's explicitly what it does because, in a way, the point is to say: we're going to send in people who don't have to worry about being elected and can make the really tough decisions,' he said.
'In Birmingham, where they've entirely defunded cultural services, where they've cut children's services by a further 25%, local politicians just wouldn't be able to make those tough choices. [Commissioners] are not accountable or invested in the long term.'
Sign up to Headlines UK
Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning
after newsletter promotion
He said commissioners 'very much operate within a certain managerial paradigm, and they're not intended to be there to innovate'. Analysis by the Local Government Chronicle last year found that almost 70% of commissioners sent into struggling councils were male and more than a quarter had not worked in local government for four years or more.
Carr-West said the use of commissioners was not a 'scalable' solution to the problems facing councils. 'It feels like a sticking plaster approach, and possibly one that stores up problems for the future, rather than actually a real transformation process,' he said.
'We still have a third of councils across the country saying: 'If nothing changes in the way we're funded, we will go bust within the next five years'.
'Well, you can send Max Caller to two or three councils, but you can't send him to a third of the councils in the country. It can't be a system-wide approach to rescuing local government.'
In June, the local government minister, Jim McMahon, said he was minded to send commissioners to run Croydon council as its finances were 'deteriorating rapidly'.
The move led to a backlash among councillors, with the executive mayor, Jason Perry, saying 'unelected Labour commissioners could override local democratic decisions, including forcing tax hikes and cuts'.
The commissioners in Birmingham have been contacted for comment.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Politics and protests: What to expect from Donald Trump's Scotland visit
Politics and protests: What to expect from Donald Trump's Scotland visit

ITV News

time2 hours ago

  • ITV News

Politics and protests: What to expect from Donald Trump's Scotland visit

Donald Trump will arrive in Scotland later on Friday, on his first visit to the UK since his re-election. The US president will be met by both political leaders and protests during the visit, which is expected to last five days, and will see him inaugurate a new golf course in Aberdeenshire. The trip comes two months before the King is due to welcome Trump for a formal state visit to the UK. The Trump administration continues to deal with turmoil on the home front, as the president struggles to salvage his reputation with voters amid reports around his friendship with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. But Trump's visit to his ancestral home will hardly provide an escape from controversy. The visit has faced criticism from both political opponents and local residents, and will see a significant police operation across Scotland. Why is Trump visiting Scotland? Trump is expected to visit his Turnberry golf resort, as well as his course at Menie in Aberdeenshire. His trip also comes as a new golf course is about to debut on August 13, which the Trump family business has billed "the greatest 36 holes in golf." Trump is dedicating the new course to his Scottish-born mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who grew up on the Isle of Lewis. But Trump's existing Aberdeenshire course has been mired in controversy in recent years, after it struggled to turn a profit, and was found by Scottish conservation authorities to have partially destroyed nearby sand dunes. Trump's company was also ordered to cover the Scottish government's legal costs after the course unsuccessfully sued over the construction of a nearby wind farm, arguing in part that it damaged golfers' views. Critics also argue the trip - which is expected to cost tens of thousands of dollars - is a blatant example of Trump blending his presidential duties with promoting his family's business interests. The White House has brushed off questions about potential conflicts of interest, arguing that Trump's business success before he entered politics was key to his appeal with voters. White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers called his visit "a working trip", but added that Trump has "built the best and most beautiful world-class golf courses anywhere in the world, which is why they continue to be used for prestigious tournaments and by the most elite players in the sport." Who will Trump meet during his visit? The president will meet with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during his stay, when the pair are expected to discuss the UK-US trade deal. Trump said the meeting would likely take place at one of his properties. He will also meet with Scottish First Minister John Swinney. The SNP leader previously said he would take the opportunity to raise various issues with the president, including tariffs, Gaza, and Ukraine. Speaking ahead of his arrival, Swinney said the global attention the visit will receive provides the opportunity to promote Scotland's tourism sector and economic investment potential, as well as to allow people to respectfully demonstrate the principles of freedom and justice. "Scotland shares a strong friendship with the United States that goes back centuries," he said ahead of the visit. "The partnership remains steadfast through economic, cultural and ancestral links - including, of course, with the president himself." The first minister said Scotland is a "proud democratic nation" that "stands firm on the principles of equality and freedom for all, and a society that stands up for a fair and just world." Swinney has been vocally critical of the US president in the past, and openly endorsed Trump's political opponent Kamala Harris before last year's election - a move branded an "insult" by a spokesperson for Trump's Scottish businesses. John Swinney has argued that it is "in Scotland's interest" for him to meet the president, and for the visit to go ahead. But some Scots disagree, and a major police operation is being mounted during the visit in anticipation of protests. Thousands of officers are expected to be deployed by Police Scotland, who will deal with planned mass protests around Trump's golf courses and major Scottish cities. Trade unions, disability rights activists, climate justice campaigners, Palestinian and Ukrainian solidarity groups and American diaspora organisations are among those holding demonstrations in protest of the visit. The Stop Trump Scotland group has encouraged demonstrators to come to Aberdeen and 'show Trump exactly what we think of him in Scotland.' A spokesperson for the organisation said: "The people of Scotland don't want to roll out a welcome mat for Donald Trump, whose government is accelerating the spread of climate breakdown around the world." They also said that people in Scotland "simply wanted to live in peace near what is now [Trump's] vanity project golf course", and have "experienced Trump's abusive and high-handed behaviour first-hand, long before he entered the White House." Protests are planned in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dumfries. During Trump's visit to Scotland in 2018, similar gatherings drew thousands of protestors.

Trump's plans for his private five-day trip to Scotland
Trump's plans for his private five-day trip to Scotland

The Independent

time3 hours ago

  • The Independent

Trump's plans for his private five-day trip to Scotland

President Donald Trump is set to arrive in Scotland on Friday for a five-day private visit, concluding on Tuesday. His itinerary includes visits to his Turnberry and Menie golf courses, and the opening of a new course dedicated to his Scottish mother. The visit will involve a significant Police Scotland operation, with mass protests anticipated around his golf courses and major Scottish cities. Trump is expected to meet with Scottish Secretary Ian Murray, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to discuss a UK-US trade deal, and First Minister John Swinney. First Minister John Swinney intends to use the meeting to address issues such as tariffs, Gaza, and Ukraine, while also promoting Scotland's tourism and economic potential.

Australia and UK sign 50-year defence treaty despite US wavering on Aukus submarine deal
Australia and UK sign 50-year defence treaty despite US wavering on Aukus submarine deal

The Guardian

time4 hours ago

  • The Guardian

Australia and UK sign 50-year defence treaty despite US wavering on Aukus submarine deal

Australia and the UK will sign a 50-year treaty to cement the Aukus submarine pact, even as the major partner in the Aukus agreement, the US, wavers on the deal. The new treaty will be announced by foreign minister Penny Wong and defence minister Richard Marles — alongside British foreign and defence secretaries David Lammy and John Healey — in the wake of the annual Aukmin talks in Sydney today. The US is not a party to the new treaty, which will be signed on Saturday. While negotiations over the Australia-UK defence treaty were flagged before US President Donald Trump took power, the document's inking re-affirms UK and Australia ties in the face of American tariffs and the Pentagon's yet-to-be-completed Aukus review. While the details of the treaty have not yet been announced, it is expected to cover a wide breadth of cooperation between the UK and Australia in developing the Aukus nuclear-powered submarine — the first of which will be built in the UK, before manufacturing begins in Adelaide. 'The UK-Australia relationship is like no other, and in our increasingly volatile and dangerous world, our anchoring friendship has real impact in the protection of global peace and prosperity,' the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said. The bilateral treaty will facilitate greater economic co-operation between the two nations by improving both countries' industrial capacity. As part of the existing defence agreement, Australia will pay about $4.6bn to support British industry to design and produce nuclear reactors to power the future Aukus-class submarines. In a joint statement, Marles and Wong said the Australia-UK ministerial talks were critical to the nations' shared interests. 'We take the world as it is – but together, we are working to shape it for the better,' Wong said. Under the $368bn Aukus program, Australia is scheduled to buy at least three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the US from the early 2030s. The new Aukus-class nuclear submarines will be built first in the UK: Australia's first Aukus boat, to be built in Adelaide, is expected to be in the water in the early 2040s. But the planned sale of US-built boats has been thrown into doubt by the Trump administration launching a review into the deal to examine whether it aligns with his 'America first' agenda. The review is being headed by the Pentagon's undersecretary of defense for policy, Elbridge Colby, who has previously declared himself 'sceptical' about the deal, fearing it could leave US sailors exposed and under-resourced. The Aukus agreement mandates that before any submarine can be sold to Australia, the US commander-in-chief – the president of the day – must certify that America relinquishing a submarine will not diminish the US navy's undersea capability. Sign up to Afternoon Update Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The US's submarine fleet numbers are a quarter below their target and the country is producing boats at half the rate it needs to service its own needs, US government figures show. Defence analysts believe the US is likely to re-commit to Aukus, but have speculated the review could demand further financial contributions – or political commitments such as avowed support for the US in a conflict with China over Taiwan – from Australia in exchange for the sale of nuclear submarines and transfer of nuclear technology. The UK's carrier strike group, led by the Royal Navy flagship HMS Prince of Wales, arrived in Darwin on Wednesday during Talisman Sabre multi-nation military exercises hosted by Australia. It's the first UK carrier strike group to visit Australia since 1997. The international task group includes five core ships, 24 jets and 17 helicopters, centred on the flagship aircraft carrier. Marles and Wong will on Sunday join their UK counterparts in Darwin to observe the group in action. UK High Commissioner to Australia, Sarah MacIntosh, said the strike group's arrival was a demonstration of commitment to the region and the strong relationship with Canberra. 'This is an anchor relationship in a contested world,' she said.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store