Alarming budget for crisis-hit Birmingham City Council clears major hurdle amid worries of past failures

For the second year in a row, the crisis-hit council is planning to hike council tax and make cuts to local services as it fights to balance its books.

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

The budget was discussed by cabinet members at a meeting today, during which the council’s Labour administration faced heavy criticism from opposition councillors.

Cllr Roger Harmer, leader of the Liberal Democrats at the council, argued the council’s past “failures” were a “massive element of the reason we are in this mess”.

In particular, he pointed to headline issues around equal pay, the implementation of the Oracle system and the Perry Barr saga, which caused a significant financial loss for the council.

“Until we really get to grips with some of the reasons for that happening, we are at risk of further things going wrong,” Cllr Harmer warned.

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Cllr John Cotton, leader of the council, was among the Labour cabinet members who pointed out the ‘wider context’ that’s affecting councils across the country.

Many such authorities are struggling with issues such as budget gaps and the rising demand for services.

He went on to say that there has never been any “stepping back from taking responsibility” when it came to Birmingham-specific issues.

“There’s stuff for which we are responsible that we are doing our part to put right,” he said. “It’s exactly what this budget and [the recovery plan] is about.”

‘Nobody is in denial’

Cllr Robert Alden, leader of the Conservatives at the council, meanwhile highlighted comments from government-appointed commissioners, who suggested the council has not done enough to maximise ‘efficiencies and transformation savings’.

“The more that is being done through transforming the way the council operates, the more that frontline services can actually be protected,” he said.

Cllr Sharon Thompson, deputy leader at the council, responded to such concerns by saying: “Nobody is in denial of the scale of the challenges that we face when it comes to the finances and the work we need to do in terms of modernising the council.

“There’s absolute commitment there from the cabinet.”

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Plans for a raft of cuts to local services and a council tax hike of around 7.5 per cent are now set to be voted on at a full council meeting on February 25 after being considered by cabinet members today.

The budget proposals include:

• Pushing ahead with ‘devastating’ cuts to council funding for cultural venues.
• A move to fortnightly residual waste collections.
• The transformation of the library service.
• Plans to introduce new parking charges at three beauty spots.
• The continuation of a pest control charge which has been labelled as a ‘rat tax’ by critics.
• The planned closure of four adult social care day centres.