Birmingham City Council's strategic director of council management, Becky Hellard, has resigned, The MJ understands.

Ms Hellard had been absent from the council after it was revealed that the cost of an IT and HR contract have ballooned from £19m to nearly £40m.

The system, which was due to be delivered by December 2020, is unlikely to materialise until next year. In the meantime, the council's finance system has been left in chaos.

Birmingham has appointed Fiona Greenway as the council's interim director of finance and s151 officer.