Five overlooked ways Birmingham City Council crisis could impact youth

In the past, Birmingham has been hailed as one of the youngest major cities in all of Europe.

With under-25s accounting for nearly 40 per cent of the city’s population, it’s perhaps no surprise that Brum has become increasingly known for its bold and energetic spirit. However, many of Birmingham’s young people and their families are now at risk of their lives being disrupted by the financial crisis unfolding at Birmingham City Council (BCC).

It was only around two weeks ago that school children and youth workers gathered in the rain outside BCC’s headquarters in protest, with speakers warning that youth services were “absolutely vital.” Since the protest, the council has published its draft proposal which sets out in further and worrying detail how it intends to slash services across the city to plug an enormous black hole in its budget.

Youth services, day centres and early years help are all impacted by the proposed cuts and ‘reviews’ as well as bin collections, cultural organisation grants, leisure fees, waste prevention, street lights and much more.

A separate report, exploring the potential impact on Brummies, calls attention to several ways in which the city’s youth, as well as families, may be impacted by the huge array of proposals lurking within the budget papers.

With that in mind, here are five of the potential, and perhaps overlooked, ways Birmingham’s young people may be affected alongside the alarming plans to cut £100 million from the Children, Young People and Families directorate over the next two years.

5 ways Birmingham’s young people may be affected by cuts

1) Street lights 

The report warns there may be an increase in the “perceived fear of crime” amongst children, the elderly and people with disabilities as a consequence of reducing street lighting levels across the city.

It goes on to say the impact will be closely monitored however and that “changes to the lighting levels in specific locations” will be reviewed if specific issues or trends are identified.

2) Community safety

One proposal put forward by Birmingham City Council is to “amend” the Community Safety team through a reduction in posts.

The report grimly warns however: “Younger people (10-19) are likely to be impacted as the Community Safety Partnership has a priority to reduce serious youth violence.”

It goes on to say mitigating actions to address such impacts include “optimising further partner resource, contribution, and leadership” as well as engaging with residents on initiatives.

3) Housing

Regarding proposed cuts across City Housing, the report says: “Most households in temporary accommodation have dependent children who will also be impacted.

“If displaced, households with children may have to travel further to reach schools and children’s education could be impacted.”

Highlighting mitigating actions to address such impacts, it continues: “For service users that are placed in temporary accommodation, any vulnerabilities or needs of service users will be considered when assigning them temporary accommodation.”

4) Offensive graffiti

The council has also set out plans to reduce graffiti crews in the city, with the report warning: “Racist and offensive graffiti in place for any length of time may have an impact on young people.”

It continues that racist or offensive graffiti will be cleared within 24 hours.

“Other non-offensive graffiti will continue to be managed to ensure that the shortest timeline for removal is achieved,” the report adds.

5) Reduced access to community facilities 

One possible consequence is that the city’s youth may find it harder to access community facilities due to proposed cuts- and changes – which could have an impact on both their mental and physical well-being.

The report says: “Younger people, older people and those with disabilities will have reduced access to community facilities, local facilities, sports and leisure schemes, stay and plays and arts organisations – impacting mental, social, and physical well-being.

“Limited access to services may also arise from increasing cost. For example, car park charging schemes which may reduce access to parks.”

Addressing the alarm that such budget cuts would cause to families across the city, council leader John Cotton said last week: “What’s really important is that we use our statutory consultation processes to engage with families and to engage with citizens around how we take those proposals forward.

“But this is a very difficult budget to bring forward and we’ve very much aware of that and the decisions we have to take.”

City council response

In response to concerns over parking charges being introduced at select parks, Cllr Majid Mahmood, cabinet member for environment at the council, also said: “These remain proposals at this stage and, if approved, informal consultations will follow, including consultations with stakeholders where we will seek feedback on the plans.

“Further formal consultations will then follow for the proposed parking charges and for traffic restrictions (as deemed suitable by the respective Highways departments).”