Birmingham City Council approve "devastating" budget
Europe's largest local authority has signed off a wave of cuts and raised council tax by 21% over the next two years.
Last updated 5th Mar 2024
Birmingham City Council has approved what's been described as a "challenging" and "devastating" budget for the next two years.
After effectively declaring bankruptcy, the authority needs to make savings of £300m.
Council tax will rise by 10% this year and next, with hundreds of job losses expected and millions in assets to be sold.
No stone has been left unturned, from bin collections becoming fortnightly from 2025 and dimming streetlights, to cutting youth services and arts funding.
Council Leader, John Cotton, apologised "unreservedly" during the meeting on Tuesday. He said: "It is not a budget I ever envisaged for our city.
"Sadly however, it is a budget that reflects the significant challenges currently facing this council."
He continued: "Quite simply, we must get our house in order, because the people of our great city deserve better.
"The fact remains however that my task, as the new leader of the council, is to tackle financial and organisational for far too long.
"The mistakes made in Birmingham have not occurred in a vacuum and councils are facing a perfect storm of smaller budgets but higher costs.
"I unreservedly apologise to the people and communities of our city. It is with a heavy heart that I move this budget today."
Conservative group leader, Robert Alden, said: "This is an important budget, it's a budget that shows just how badly Birmingham Labour have made a mess of the council's finances and how they haven't got a real plan to fix their mess.
"Instead all Birmingham Labour have to offer is a double whammy of higher taxes and fewer services.
"A golden decade promised by Labour destroyed by a decade of Birmingham Labour rule."
Protest outside council house
As Tuesday's meeting progressed, dozens of people gathered outside Birmingham Council House to protest against the cuts.
From April, residents will see a 10% increase in their council tax, and the same rise again in April 2025.
Services for children, young people and families are one of the areas to be hardest hit, with just over £51m in savings.
Cutbacks are expected in school transport, children's services and early years hubs.
Sabiha Aziz, a parent to two SEND children, said the impact will be devastating for vulnerable families: "It's quite frustrating that we don't have enough detail about the full extent of cuts.
"We know they're coming, we just don't know what the scale of the impact will be.
"The psychological impact of these cuts just haven't been acknowledged by anyone."
More cuts come in the form of stripping grants for cultural organisations, reducing spend on road repairs, and a higher cost in bereavement fees.
Fees for leisure centres will also rise, parking charges will be brought in at city parks and the budget for flood defences cut.
The government has agreed a loan of £1.25bn to the council to help alleviate the impact of the cuts, but the authority will have to sell some of its assets to repay the debt.