Examining the Role of Equal Pay in Birmingham City Council's Financial Crisis

ASSIGNMENT TASK: 

Online E-Debate on the Discussion board

Statements made by the Birmingham City Council that it is unable to balance its books has led to great public scrutiny. In June 2023 the Birmingham City Council (BCC) announced that ‘it had a potential liability relating to Equal Pay claims in the region of £650m to £760m, with an ongoing liability accruing at a rate of £5m to £14m per month’. Media sources such as The Financial Times (September 2023) reported that Birmingham City Council is facing budget shortfalls of £87.4mn for 2023-2024, rising to £164.8mn in 2024-25.

The BCC’s Head of Finance made the decision on 5^th September 2023, to issue a Section 114 Notice. By law, councils are required to have balanced budgets. If councils do not have sufficient resources or cannot identify ways to finance its budget, then a Section 114 Notice must be issued; in effect there will be restrictions on all new spendings except for that which would protect vulnerable people and statutory services and commitments that already existed.

The Guardian Newspaper reporters - Heather Stewart and Jessica Murray (September 2023) stated that ‘Councils in England in crisis as Birmingham ‘declares itself bankrupt’.   Experts warn that other people are living ‘hand to mouth’ as a result of the Council’s inability to balance its books.

With reference to financial legal and enterprise risks, critically debate the statement:

‘The cost of settling equal pay claims is to be blamed for Birmingham City Council declaring bankruptcy and a takeover is the best mitigating strategy for the BCC’.

TASK GUIDANCE:

E-Debate Instructions:

You are assigned to agree and support the statement ‘the cost of settling equal pay claims is to be blamed for Birmingham City Council declaring bankruptcy and a takeover is the best mitigating strategy for the BCC’.

You will need to submit 3 posts for the debate and a final post (including references only) Post 3, requires a concluding section, assessing to what extent the debate motion is true. This involves posting material to support your position as well as responses/counter arguments to others in your group.

• These posts must be made over the three-week period from the session of week 8 (30/11/2023 at 9.00 GMT) to the session of week 10 (14/12/2023) at 17:00 GMT).

• Please ensure you cite research, references, and theorists to validate your points.

You should engage in the e-Debate on the discussion board, posting a minimum of three contributions:

Only working on this part!! Post 1: Introduction - an initial response to the set motion, stating whether you agree with the statement or not and why. (350 words)

Post 2: Argument – use appropriate theories, relevant literature, company data and   available empirical evidence to support your arguments. (350 words)

Post 3: Conclusion – a final position, which provides a balanced view of your arguments. (300 words 

Post 4: Reference listing – using the Harvard Style

●        Focus on attention to detail, quality of work and overall academic standards.

●        For additional guidance on this assignment, please access the assignment vodcast available on Canvas.

MARKING CRITERIA:

Structure - Structure/clarity of communication/flow of discussion will account for 15%.

Content and Understanding - The level of comprehension you display and the range and level of your knowledge and perception. Your understanding and use of well-established theoretical concepts/models and ability to appraise varying viewpoints will equate to 25%

Analysis Evaluation and Synthesis- you will be assessed on the perceptiveness of your discussion and your ability to appraise relevant issues and theories. Ability to produce well-validated arguments using appropriate theoretical concepts and models to further discussion will form part of the grade awarded will equate to 30%.

Application to Industry                                                                                 

You will be required to demonstrate an ability to relate theory to practice and make use of pertinent illustrations to demonstrate a professional understanding of the application of concepts to the industry will account for 20%.

Reading, Research and Referencing                                                

Your use of literature and information sources with emphasis on contemporary journal material will be assessed and your selection and use of quality and range of references and quotations, (at least 15 references across different sources are expected) conforming to the University’s Standard will account for 10%.