Senior Labour figures who knew equal pay bill revealed

Labour members faced criticism for hiding the bill from the council

Kate Knowles - Local Democracy Reporter | Wednesday 13th September 2023 7:46am

Birmingham Labour senior figures have come under fire following claims they may have witheld knowledge the City Council faced an £800m bill in equal pay claims.

That bill is a major factor in the council’s effective bankruptcy but was not disclosed until June when chiefs froze all new spending in a desperate effort to plug the financial gap.

At a finance scrutiny committee last week, Thursday September 7, HR director Darren Hockaday claimed he had told senior Labour figures an estimated £300-800m was owed as early as February 6 – but they did not disclose that information to the council or other members of their own party.

This was despite the fact the council set its budget for the year later the same month.

Today, Tuesday September 12, it was, confirmed at a full meeting of Birmingham City Council, who was in the room to hear that news: Answering a question posed by Coun Paul Tilsley (Lib Dem, Sheldon), Coun Jack Deakin (Lab, Allens Cross) revealed ex-leader Ian Ward, his deputy at the time Coun Brigid Jones, and current Labour leader Coun John Cotton were in attendance at that February 6 meeting.

Members of the committee appeared shocked last week to learn the news with Coun Tilsley saying they had been “told lies” and Chair Deakin saying it had taken “months and months to get to this point”.

In a statement, Birmingham Conservatives leader, Coun Robert Alden (Erdington) said: “This week officers have confirmed to a scrutiny meeting that the Labour administration knew about the equal pay risk before they set this year’s budget, despite claiming they didn’t.

“A failure to account for that in the budget would mean that the Labour administration in Birmingham has potentially forced an illegal budget on the residents of Birmingham that knowingly ignored the true scale of Labour’s Equal Pay bill built up entirely since 2017.”

Tory Deputy Leader Cllr Ewan Mackey (Sutton Roughley) said: “Labour's addiction to secrecy and unwillingness to face up to and tackle tough decisions is a big reason the council is in such as big mess and it is the residents of Birmingham who will be paying the price for this shameful behaviour for years, and even decades to come.”

Birmingham Green Party leader Julien Pritchard (Druids Heath and Moneyhull) said: “If this is true then it’s absolutely astounding.

“It would mean that members of the Labour administration proposed a budget knowing full well that it was not taking account of the true equal pay liability, while keeping opposition parties in the dark.

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