“The Assembly is still in a position to finance the equal pay obligation (between 650 million and 760 million) that has accrued to date, but does not have the resources to do so,” Birmingham City Council, one of Europe’s largest local governments, said in a statement today.
The statement stressed that while the authorities will tighten the spending controls already in place, the bankruptcy means that all new spending, other than the protection of the vulnerable and legal services, must be stopped immediately.
Hundreds of people working in the municipality, mostly women, applied to the Supreme Court in 2012 and declared that they could not receive the bonuses given to the personnel working in male-dominated roles.
The High Court, on the other hand, decided in favor of the employees due to ‘discrimination’ and ruled that the City Council should pay bonuses to the employees in these positions under the name of ‘equal wage demands’.
Birmingham City Council has so far paid 1.1 billion pounds to beneficiaries in this regard.