The department has engaged regularly with Birmingham City Council, including in recent months over the pressures it faces around its failed implementation of the Oracle IT system and its unresolved equal pay liability. We have expressed serious concern over the Council's governance arrangements, and, in April, I requested that the Council commission an independent governance review, which will report on its findings in the coming weeks. I have placed a copy of my correspondence from August with the Leader of the Council in the Library of the House of Commons. Councils are responsible for their own financial management. The department stands ready to speak to any council that has concerns about its ability to manage its finances. The decision to issue a Section 114 report is a local one, taken by the statutory chief finance officer. In line with the practice of successive administration, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.