A bankrupt city council attempting to claw back a £300m financial blackhole has been slammed for passing its “worst ever budget”.
Labour-led Birmingham City Council has been given permission by the government to raise council tax by 10pc each year for the next two years and is now planning to cut 600 jobs and pull 100pc of its arts and culture funding.
The council will also close a large number of Birmingham’s libraries after financial mismanagement left it juggling a £760m equal pay bill and an £80m overspend on an IT project, which led to it filing a section 114 for bankruptcy.
Now the council’s Tory opposition has slammed the council after it approved the new budget which it said was a “double whammy of higher taxes and fewer services”.
The Conservative group has also put forward its own alternative budget which it claims would mean council tax would not have to rise as an amendment to the vote which did not pass.
Robert Alden, Birmingham City Council leader of the opposition told the Express: “This was an important budget but sadly all it has shown is how badly Birmingham Labour have made a mess of the council’s finances and how they haven’t got a real plan to fix them.
“The council slashed frontline services and pushed up costs far above inflation. Labour’s budget was a double whammy of higher taxes and fewer services.
“Our alternative budget included a range of future year savings that we feel the administration should be looking at in the coming years, which we are calling on the administration to start working on immediately so that frontline services can be saved and the books balanced.
“This is vital work that must begin as soon as possible.”
The Tories say their plan would see the council adopt best practices from other better-performing councils, negotiate tailored energy and heating deals, streamline its management structure and share services with neighbouring authorities.
Ewan Mackey, deputy leader of the opposition added: “I think it’s important to remember here that there was a choice.
“Labour didn’t have to axe 25 libraries, they didn’t have to dim street lighting and put the public at risk, pile costs onto residents and they didn’t have to take support away from vulnerable children trying to get to school.
“It’s incredibly sad, to be honest. The commissioners have told the Labour Administration that all of our proposed savings are worthy of serious consideration.
“I know that if Labour are serious about protecting residents and frontline services, they will look seriously at our future years’ savings.
“But again, that’s a choice and they refused to do that in previous years.”
Express.co.uk has approached Birmingham City Council for comment.
