10 ways latest budget cuts for bankrupt Birmingham City Council could affect you and your street

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Crisis-hit Birmingham City Council has revealed details of its second budget since it declared itself effectively bankrupt back in 2023.

Last year the Labour-run authority passed through an enormous wave of cuts to local services and ‘savings’ as it struggled with a black hole in its finances.

The reaction to the budget cuts at the time was one of anger and dismay for many Brummies while opposition councillors described them as “deep and far-reaching.”

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The savings proposals impact waste collection, libraries, parks, street lighting, culture, adult social care day centres, services for young people and much, much more.The savings proposals impact waste collection, libraries, parks, street lighting, culture, adult social care day centres, services for young people and much, much more.
The savings proposals impact waste collection, libraries, parks, street lighting, culture, adult social care day centres, services for young people and much, much more. | Tom W/Unsplash

Now the council’s budget proposal for the financial year 2025/26, being released this week, sheds light on how the council will make just under £150 million in savings as it continues to try and get back on track.

The savings proposals impact waste collection, libraries, parks, street lighting, culture, adult social care day centres, services for young people and much, much more.

The authority is also planning to increase council tax by around 7.5 per cent during the same year.

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The budget proposal, which will be debated and possibly amended by councillors before being signed off, includes existing savings, such as the move to a fortnightly residual waste collection, as well as a number of new ones.

Amid the enormous wave of budget proposals, here are 10 ways Birmingham City Council’s cuts and ‘savings’ could affect where you live:

New savings proposals:

Lighting, plans for a street lighting strategy which would reduce energy consumption/cost through actions such as further ‘dimming and trimming’ and switching off lights part time.

Bereavement income – sale of reserved graves, the council says this would generate additional income through the sale of reserved graves at Handsworth Cemetery.

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Parks, council intends to carry out a review of existing concession contracts/activities in Birmingham’s parks with a view to maximise income.

Street management transformation, a redesign of street management services to effectively merge street cleansing and grounds maintenance operations.

Closure of plant nurseries, proposal to dispose of Coleshill plant nursery. Staff would be relocated to grounds maintenance duties elsewhere. One savings proposal also includes plans for the closure of Kings Heath plant nursery.

Existing savings proposals:

Move to fortnightly residual waste collection, part of plans for the transformation of the waste collection service.

Bulky waste charge, increase in charge from £35 to £45.

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Cease non-statutory waste prevention activities, plans to remove the team undertaking street quality audits and neighbourhood waste contamination.

Introduce charging for car parks in parks, proposals to introduce parking charges at Sutton Park, Lickey Hills Country Park and Sheldon Country Park.

Neighbourhood Action Coordinators, plans to cease the 22 ward pilot and not roll out city wide.

Opposition councillors have condemned the cuts, with Conservative leader at the council Robert Alden saying this week: “Labour’s failure to run the council properly has led to a double whammy of higher taxes and fewer services.”

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But council leader John Cotton said last month that “the savings for 2025/26 will be backed by detailed and credible delivery plans that have undergone rigorous due diligence”.

He also told the media on Tuesday that the council had made a “great deal of progress” over the past 12 months on its improvement journey as well as the delivery of a “challenging” budget.

He added: “This budget plan seeks to address the major pressures that we know we have around social care and housing.”

Coun Cotton went on to say the council was working “constructively” with the new Labour government and argued they were helping the authority to rebuild, saying the finance settlement had provided a “significant boost”.

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Coun Karen McCarthy, the cabinet member for finance, also acknowledged in January that there was still “a lot to do” when it came to the council’s recovery and said everything possible had been done to protect critical services.

“Modernisation and transformation processes are proceeding across the board,” she said at the time.

“We have now a government at national level that understands local government,” she added.

“They’re not in the position to come riding over the hill with a sack of gold to sort out all our problems but at least now we’re having healthy conversations with them about the support that can be provided.”

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Coun Rob Pocock, the cabinet member overseeing the council’s transformation, added it was “far too early to say we’re finally out of the woods”.

“Another tough budget has to be agreed and delivered,” he said. “Much remains to be done.”

The council found itself engulfed by a financial crisis amid Birmingham-specific factors, such as an equal pay fiasco and the disastrous implementation of a new IT and finance system, as well as the rising demand for services and funding cuts.

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