Cuts to Birmingham children's services criticised by SEND campaigner
A SEND campaigner says the proposed reductions in Birmingham's children's services budget are "catastrophic."
Birmingham Parent Carer Forum director Sabiha Aziz told us that the organisation's intention to cut £57 million from its budget the next year will worry parents.
However, Karen McCarthy, a Labour councillor who is in charge of the department, emphasised that the council will continue to give priority to children and young people who are vulnerable.
The children and families department was expected to take the biggest financial blow as the authority attempted to close a £300 million budget gap, according to a draft budget document that was made public on the website of Birmingham City Council.
Ms Aziz, who has two children with special educational needs, said: "There needs to be a sorry and they need to look somewhere else where these cuts could go.
"It is a measure of society how we treat our most vulnerable, so what does it say about this council that immediatly, they've gone after the most vulnerable of the city and that is where the cuts are going to be made.
"These services need money funnelling into them, not taken out of them.
"If a SEND young person isn't getting the support they need, then that is going to take away from the other young people in the class because the teacher will have to be filling that gap."
Councillor Robert Alden, Leader of the Opposition, and Birmingham Local Conservatives said: “It is a sad indictment of Birmingham Labour and the way they view the Birmingham public.
"At a time when councils across the country are launching detailed consultations with the public above the shape and size of council services in future years, the one council in the most perilous position is continuing to hide its plans behind a performative consultation exercise that asks more questions about a person’s identity than it does about what they think about council services.
In September, the council effectively filed for bankruptcy due to the combined burden of a £760 million equal pay bill and an £80 million overrun on an IT project.
The external budget paper, which detailed an initial £150 million in targeted reductions, was the first to make public the specific areas where cuts would be made.
It was confirmed on Tuesday that the council would write to the government to request authorisation to increase council tax above the 4.99% cap without a referendum.