Updated 2:40am 12 February 2012:

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Paul Dale

Paul Dale

Booze is 'good for Birmingham economy'

HEALTH chiefs are planning to promote the positive role of booze Birmingham – even though alcohol abuse is on the rise and costs the city more than £400 million a year.Read

Birmingham City Council winning war on little and graffiti - claim

BIRMINGHAM is winning the war against litter and graffiti, with fewer neighbourhoods being plagued by anti-social behaviour.Read

Firms pay up after council talks tough

THE threat of legal action against firms owing money to Birmingham City Council’s planning department has netted £500,000 in unpaid debts.Read

Birmingham Airport sell off could land council £67 million

CASH-strapped Birmingham City Council could make £67 million by selling off its shares in Birmingham Airport.Read

Deal signed between Birmingham and Abu Dhabi

A GROUND-breaking deal between Birmingham and an oil-rich Arab government could see millions of pounds of investment flooding into the city.Read

Social services chiefs are yet to agree on an improvement plan

SOCIAL care chiefs in Birmingham are yet to agree an improvement plan almost five months after safeguarding services for children at risk of physical and sexual abuse were slammed as inadequate.Read

Pope meal VIPs 'must be secret'

Council lawyers insist the Data Protection Act prevents them from naming guests at a slap-up meal to mark the visit of the Pope to BirminghamRead

Birmingham City Council sickness rates at a new low

STAFF sickness at Birmingham City Council has plummeted to a record low.Read

Sutton Coldfield service centre criticised by councillor

A DECISION to open an office in one of Birmingham’s wealthiest suburbs to field questions about council services has been condemned as “absurd”.Read

More than 12,000 council, police and health service jobs could be axed in Birmingham

MORE than 12,000 council, police and health service jobs could be axed in Birmingham following the Government’s emergency cuts package.Read

Birmingham City Council's accounts in good health

BIRMINGHAM City Council’s £3 billion accounts have been given a clean bill of health for the first time in two years.Read

Spending review: West Midlands councils must make cuts of cut more than £1.5 billion

The scale of the Chancellor’s medicine – a 28.4 per cent reduction in council spending by 2014 – was at the upper level of estimates.Read

Revealed: The huge six-figure salaries of Birmingham City Council’s chief officers

At the top of the pile is chief executive Stephen Hughes, who pocketed £233,000 in salary and pension contributions last year.Read

A third of Birmingham City Council’s planning department staff to lose their jobs.

With the unit strugging to close a £1.4 million funding gap caused by a collapse in planning application fees during the recession, 79 out of 272 posts will disappear.Read

Birmingham City council ready to reduce number of day nurseries it plans to close

MOST of Birmingham’s community day nurseries will be given a reprieve as city council leaders prepare to water down a closure programme.Read

Green light for another lap-dance club

BUSINESS leaders have lost a legal battle to stop yet another strip club on Birmingham’s Broad Street.Read

West Midlands motorists waste an incredible 250,000 hours a day stuck in traffic jams

MOTORISTS across the West Midlands waste an incredible 250,000 hours a day stuck in traffic jams.Read

£1,000-a-day expert hired to transform Birmingham’s children’s social services

A £1,000-a-day expert has been hired to transform Birmingham’s failing children’s social services unit.Read

Birmingham bar where man had ear sliced off is shut down

A BIRMINGHAM city centre bar forced to close after a man had an eye gouged and ear sliced off in a violent brawl has been told it must remain shut until a new licence holder is personally approved by the police.Read

Eric Pickles is offering “home rule for Birmingham” if voters choose an elected mayor

Mr Pickles said Birmingham City Council would be able to break free from Government control and enjoy a substantial increase in its powers and funding if a referendum produced a vote in favour of a London-style mayor for Britain’s largest local authority.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.