Updated 2:39am 12 February 2012:

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Paul Dale

Paul Dale

1,700 extra class places for Birmingham schools

NEW classrooms costing £11.5 million will be built at eight Birmingham primary and infant schools to cope with the city’s population boom.Read

Birmingham children's social services will need a year to get up to scratch - council boss

IT will take at least a year to bring Birmingham’s failing children’s social services up to scratch, the woman hired to rescue the under-performing unit has admitted.Read

Birmingham MP John Hemming says he can't promise not to have affairs

COLOURFUL Birmingham MP John Hemming has admitted he may cheat on his wife once more.Read

Birmingham Remembrance Day parade could be axed because of spending cuts

BIRMINGHAM’S Remembrance Day Service and Parade could be slashed this year after falling victim to council public spending cuts.Read

Outcry as Birmingham binmen paid £45,000 each

MEMBERS of an elite team of Birmingham binmen were each paid £45,000-a-year before council bosses scrapped lucrative bonuses, it has emerged.Read

Birmingham City Council leader Mike Whitby defends Hyatt Hotel stays

BIRMINGHAM’S Tory council leader has taken personal credit for bringing the money-spinning Conservative conference to the city.Read

Birmingham City Council leader Mike Whitby under fire for £3k hotel stay

The cost of the top Tory’s suite, expensive meals and alcoholic drinks, was met in full by the council.Read

Casual staff recruited during binmen's dispute work faster it is claimed

Figures compiled by the council suggest that non-union refuse collectors picked up 40 per cent more black sacks during a single round than permanent workers.Read

Birmingham City Council binmen turned down £30 an hour to clear backlog

Bosses proposed triple-time wages in an effort to entice crews into turning out on the three Christmas and the New Year bank holidays.Read

Birmingham social services appointees accused of not being 'in real world'

BUREAUCRATS and politicians appointed to sort out Birmingham’s failing children’s social services have been accused of “not living in the real world”.Read

Leeds bin dispute lasted for three months and ended in a climbdown by management and unions.

Refuse collectors and street sweepers walked out in the Yorkshire city last September after Leeds Council bosses imposed pay cuts of up to £4,491.Read

Right or wrong side of the boundary: Householders in Redstone Farm Road in Birmingham, on the left, have to put up with rubbish accumulated during the bins strike, while those on the right, in Solihull, enjoy a clean street. Picture: Emma Trimble

Read

Councillor's anguish over two chapatis and a samosa

COUNCILLORS sometimes have trouble deciding whether free hospitality is worth more than £25 – the level above which politicians have to declare perks.Read

Freebies bonanza for Birmingham City Council members

FOOTBALL, cricket, ballet and banquets were among the free events enjoyed by Birmingham councillors in 2010.Read

New bin strikes announced in Birmingham

UNION leaders have approved two new strikes in the Birmingham binmen dispute, spelling more misery for householders.Read

Birmingham MP John Hemming blasts 'power-crazed' social workers

BIRMINGHAM MP John Hemming has blasted social workers as “power-crazed individuals” intent on messing up lives.Read

Birmingham's sports pitches slated again

THE quality of sports pitches across Birmingham has been slammed in a major study.Read

Kings Health library forced to shut down

A BIRMINGHAM library has been forced to close because of expensive roof repair problems.Read

Birmingham firms asked to help stub out smoking

Bosses have been told they must do more to encourage workers to “stub it out”, as part of a major drive to combat nicotine-related illness.Read

No refuse bags collected in Birmingham for up to a month

Most of a mini-army of bag collectors were left kicking their heels at home during the Christmas week bank holidays after highways officials decided they could only put out a quarter of the usual number of crews.Read

Author Profile

Paul Dale has been writing about local government in the West Midlands for more than 20 years. The Post's public affairs editor, he is a previous political editor of the Coventry Evening Telegraph and Local Government Correspondent of the Oxford Mail.