Another 1,000 jobs to go as council tax set to rise 4.99%
Workforce has been halved in space of nine years – but more cuts to come
MORE than 1,000 jobs are to be axed at cash-strapped Birmingham City Council amid “the most prolonged period of budget cuts in its history”.
A total of 1,095 posts will go over the next 12 months, though details about where the axe will fall have been revealed.
Since 2010 the council workforce has halved, with more than 12,000 jobs lost – the next round of redundancies will take this to well over 13,000.
A 4.99 per cent increase in council tax in Birmingham has also been rubber-stamped this week.
The move – which equates to an extra £65 a year on the bill for those in Band D properties – came as the city council approved its budget for 2019/20 on Tuesday.
The Labour-run authority has to make £46 million worth of cuts in the 12 months from April, rising to £85 million over the next four years.
Controversial proposals include dimming street lights, increasing fees for collecting bulky and garden waste and reducing fly-tipping enforcement resources.
Following public consultation, the administration had backtracked on controversial ideas to introduce charges for dealing with rats, and cutting funding for crossing patrols. Financial support to arts and cultural organisations has been cut by £1 million, rather than £2 million.
Labour council leader Ian Ward pointed to ‘brutal’ cuts from the Conservative-led Government in the region of £700 million since 2010.
But he also declared there were ‘reasons for optimism’ including long-overdue improvements in chil- dren’s services, major housing developments in the pipeline and ambitious projects on the horizon such as HS2 and the Commonwealth Games 2022.
In his foreword to the financial plan, Cllr Ward wrote: “It is clear that after almost a decade of austerity driven cuts, this continues to be the most challenging period in Birmingham City Council’s history. Funding for vital services to support the people of Birmingham has been cut by more than £690 million since 2010.”
Addressing councillors, he added: “The budget is not simply a response to our financial challenges, it is a forward-looking financial plan to transform the way we work, change the way services are delivered, and look towards new opportunities to improve quality of life for citizens in the long-term.
“It is a clear signal of intent that, even in such challenging times, we continue to invest in the services that people of Birmingham rely on.
“The plan aims to balance a significant programme of investment, transformation and support for the most vulnerable against continued financial challenges due to ongoing government funding cuts and growing demand for services.”
But Cllr Ward’s opening address made no mention of the highprofile and longrunning disputes with bin workers and enablement staff, which have led to upheaval within the ruling group in recent weeks including a letter signed by 23 Labour backbenchers expressing deep concerns.
Cllr Rob Alden (Erdington), group leader of the Conservative group, wasted no time in drawing attention to the disputes.
He said: “At a time
of strikes in the enablement service, strikes in the bin service, a budget which lacks ambition and fails to transform the council, 35 per cent of his (Cllr Ward’s) group publicly calling on him to change, you normally would describe them as unprecedented challenges.
“In Birmingham, however, thanks to Labour, residents face this mess every day. This is the budget where Labour’s election promises start to fall apart.”
The Conservative group also put forward an alternative budget which vowed to freeze council tax, reintroduce free bulky and garden waste collections, invest in green infrastructure and scrap car parking charges in shopping areas.
But their amendment was voted down with council deputy leader Brigid Jones (Lab, Weoley and Selly Oak) saying it relied on a ‘magic money tree’.
Cllr Jon Hunt (Perry Barr), leader of the Liberal Democrat group, took to the floor saying, “there’s not just one elephant in the room, there’s a herd of them”, arguing that the biggest one was the funding around the Commonwealth Games.
Referring to the council leadership as another ‘elephant’, he added: “It has strayed too far from the herd, it has trampled over infrastructure, flattened allotment plots... It’s an administration that can’t make up its mind about the important things, can’t get on with what matters, but is happy to trample over communities, happy to strip our neighbourhoods of resources, happy to raid social services budgets to keep a failing waste service going.”