Max Caller leaves Birmingham intervention team

Max Caller has stepped down as lead commissioner at Birmingham City Council after leading the intervention at the local authority for almost two years.

Details: 22.Jul.2025

Caller is being succeeded by Tony McArdle, who was appointed as lead commissioner on Tuesday (22 July).

McArdle joins Birmingham after leading Croydon Council's Improvement and Assurance Panel, which recently dissolved.

In a letter confirming his appointment, the Government's Deputy Director of Local Government Stewardship and Interventions, James Blythe, said Birmingham has a "demanding improvement journey ahead".

The senior civil servant specifically highlighted the waste services dispute that the council is currently embroiled in.

McArdle will act as lead commissioner from 23 July until October 2028.

He will lead the current team, which includes John Coughlan CBE, Chris Tambini, Pam Parkes, Jackie Belton and Myron Hrycyk, and John Biggs as the political adviser.

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Caller was appointed as lead commissioner in October 2023, and oversaw the publication of two commissioner reports into the council's improvement journey.

The latest report, published in April, said the council faced significant challenges in finances, equal pay, culture, governance, services, and transformation.

The report also warned that the "cultural dysfunction that led to the council's failure" remained, despite some procedural governance changes being made.

Adam Carey