Bankrupt Birmingham council to raise council tax by 21% and shed 600 jobs

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Birmingham City Council will raise council tax by 21 per cent and cull up to 600 jobs in a bid to save £300m.

Europe’s largest native authority issued a so-called part 114 discover final yr, that means it’s basically bankrupt, after it mentioned it confronted £760 million in equal pay claims after staff alleged girls have been being paid much less.

In an pressing try to reduce spending, the council will dim road lights, waste assortment intervals will enhance to each two weeks and burial prices will rise.

The native authority introduced the provisional modifications in a briefing on Monday the place they set out how they’ll reduce £150m from its funds in 2024-25 and the identical once more in 2025-26.

Dimming streetlights will save up to £1m a yr and cut-backs on highways upkeep may save up to £12m, relying on the result of a Private Finance Initiative (PFI)- a partnership with the personal sector.

Next to take a success is grownup social care which will likely be reduce by £23.7m within the subsequent monetary yr.

The Children’s, Young People and Families division can have to discover £51.5m financial savings.

The native authority requested ministers for permission to raise council tax by 10 per cent in every of the following two monetary years.

The bulletins come as council staff declare a backlog of historic equal pay claims haven’t but been resolved.

“Birmingham City Council seem to have a plan for slashing local services, but they don’t yet have a plan for settling equal pay,” Rachel Fagan, GMB organiser informed the BBC.

Speaking on Monday, Council Leader John Cotton informed the BBC they have been “really difficult decisions to take”.

“This is a big number we’re seeking to take out of the budget and clearly we know that these will have impacts on citizens in terms of services that they receive,” he mentioned.

“What we’ve sought to do in framing this budget is we mitigate the impact on the most vulnerable, so we’ve ensured that adult social care and children’s services take a much lower percentage cut.”

He added he was “really sorry that we find ourselves in this position”.

“As I’ve said since I became leader some months ago, there are issues in this council that need to be fixed and I am focused laser-like on fixing those but we’re also seeing a crisis raging right across local government as well.”

In December, the council admitted it had an estimated £760 million equal pay legal responsibility which is believed to be rising by thousands and thousands each month.