[lhomdee]

> None of the in-year deficit cited in the section 114 notice relates to the settlement of new equal pay claims. And none of the £149 million of cuts to services relate to any deficit created by equal pay settlements.

Instead, the council’s spiralling deficit, estimated at more than £300 million, appears to relate to the disastrous launch of the Oracle IT system that went live in April 2022. Originally budgeted at £40 million, the latest report by the head of financial planning to the cabinet on February 27 2024 showed that the Oracle finance and human resources system has now run to an astonishing £131 million. <end>

In short Birmingham Council claimed that equal pay settlements are the reason for the bankruptcy, but the investigation shows that an Oracle IT implementation which has overrun its budget is to blame. The nefariousness is not just mismanaging the project, but casting blame on a scheme that’s supposed to correct more past wrongs. It’s turtles all the way down.