You may have heard in the news that Birmingham City Council has declared itself bankrupt. We extend our solidarity to all staff in Birmingham including our UNISON members through this difficult and worrying time. We also think about all the staff who work in Solihull and live in Birmingham as this will create more anxiety about the services that they are able to access for themselves and loved ones.

It is important to emphasise that there are questions to be asked about the local authority and its management of the equal pay claims that disproportionately affected women workers. At the same time, we must point out that since 2020, this is the seventh council to issue section 114 notices due to funding.

Whoever is to blame, ultimately it will be workers and the vulnerable who will bear the impact in attempting to fix the situation. We must not allow that to happen.