'Government bailed out the banks': Edgbaston reacts to Birmingham City Council budget cuts and tax rises

Birmingham City Council revealed that council tax is set to rise by 20% over the next couple of years while spending on vital services will be slashed by millions and arts funding will be completely stopped.

I'm here today in Edgbaston Village to find out people's thoughts - should Brummies be forced to foot the bill for the council's blunder and how will this effect the future of the city.

Alex says: “Well, I mean, I think if the government can bail out the banks, like they did in the financial crisis, which only benefited the richest, why can't they bail out local councils who benefit the poorest in society?

"It's not a great situation, but I think that the government, a big portion of the blame has to be on the Conservative government for stripping so much out of local government in terms of funding in the first place.”

David says: “I do understand the importance of council tax and what that does fund. So going into community programs like, for example, fire services and educational things that we believe are well in there, as well as parks and various kind of environmental, I think that there is obviously a benefit to having more income in there, but as I say, 20% increase as a gut reaction does strike a little high, especially when there's a potential for an economic recession.”

Sid says: “It does seem like pretty much every council in the country is putting up taxes as much as they can. So I think it's a wider issue with funding of local government more generally. Specifically to Birmingham, that's a lot put up taxes over a short space of time, but what's the alternative to not having public services?”

Temi says: “It's not really fair and considering the cost of living now, the increase, it's just really unfortunate that we have to experience the sudden increase in the council tax.

"It's really not fair because we have a lot of things to pay for - food, transportation, health and bills and then now we've been saddled with the burden of paying extra council tax. It's totally ridiculous to be honest.”