UNIONS lashed out at Birmingham City Council bosses today for dragging their feet in revealing plans to slash hundreds of jobs.

A council spokesperson announced on Tuesday that up to 600 posts could face the axe.

It comes after the council, the largest local authority in Europe, was issued a section 114 notice and forced to declare effective bankruptcy in September.

Levelling-Up Secretary Michael Gove then sent in six commissioners and two advisers — each paid £1,100 a day — to run the council and control spending.

The council faces a £165 million budget deficit in the next financial year.

The funding gap has been partially blamed on equal-pay claims, worth £760m. But unions have blamed decades of austerity and cuts which have placed councils around the country on the brink of bankruptcy.

According to Unison, 15 more councils are expected to be in the red by as much as £40m this year.

No decision has yet been made on when the job cuts will begin.

GMB organiser Delcan Downes said that the union “has been calling on Birmingham city bosses to come clean on their plan for months.

“Birmingham is already cut to the bone after years of government austerity and cuts to vital local services.

“Cuts to jobs will see massive impact on vital local services. This is nowhere more so than in services dominated by the same women workers the council has discriminated against for decades.

“Our union won’t stand by as working Brummies are expected to pay the price.”

UNISON regional secretary Ravi Subramanian said: “Council workers shouldn’t have to lose their jobs for a crisis they did nothing to cause.

“The government has to wake up to the crisis in local government and intervene with the lifeline of significant extra funding before many more councils go under.”