DUDLEY Council has been hit with a broadside from a damning report on how the authority is being run.

A progress report on a peer review from the Local Government Association (LGA) piles in with a string of hard-hitting criticisms including on finance and leadership.

The council is facing a financial crisis with reserves running out and more than £30m in savings required to avoid the nightmare of effective bankruptcy.

The LGA report, which was prepared in July and has just been made public, said: “DMBC’s significant issues in relation to finance, governance and culture remain and, in many cases, have become more serious. The peer team considers that leadership was, and remains the biggest barrier in addressing these.

“The pace at which the council has acted to address its significant financial challenge is not sufficient and it is not taking the urgent and coordinated action required.

“The peer team found a void in the leadership and lack of direction for increasing this pace. 

“The current lack of pace is a very real concern to the future financial sustainability of the council beyond 2025.” 

The authority has recently seen changes at the top with the departure of chief executive Kevin O’Keefe and chief finance officer Iain Newman while troubleshooter Kim Bromley-Derry has been recruited.

Council leader, Cllr Patrick Harley said: “The LGA peer review progress report is already out of date. Its findings reference culture have been addressed.

“I will not comment on individuals but by the time this report had been prepared the council had appointed an interim chief executive, a replacement for the retiring finance director and drafted in a senior and respected officer in Kim Derry who has completed commissionaire work all over the country.”

The LGA also took aim at the council’s record for delivering savings after describing its financial position as ‘critical’.

They said: “This is predicated on the council addressing its financial challenges which include delivering £15.5M of savings in 2024/25. 

“This is significant for the council given that in previous years the savings programme has been much lower, and delivery weak.

“The peer team encourage the council to now make the required decisions and implement at pace as currently this is not indicating the urgency of the situation being faced by DMBC.”

Cllr Harley insisted the new executives at the authority are already delivering changes at a sustainable pace rather than rushing the process towards failure.

He added: “The reports themselves which are now up to date show that all directorates have or are on target to achieve targeted savings. Some have exceeded their target by a significant amount. 

“The one that hasn’t is adult care and that is due to the NHS not paying DMBC for services already delivered. 

“Clearly that cannot continue, and the council has warned local NHS and hospital bosses that this failure cannot be sustained. 

“Dudley can no longer continue to deliver a service and not be paid appropriately.”