It wasn’t long ago that the people of Birmingham were being told the city was on the brink of a “golden decade”, with record levels of investment off the back of events including the Commonwealth Games and the arrival of HS2.
Now the council has declared itself effectively bankrupt and councillors will decide on Tuesday whether to approve a range of proposed budget cuts and a council tax rise of 21% over the next two years, leaving residents worried for what the future holds.
The proposals include bins being collected fortnightly instead of weekly, dimmed streetlights, scrapping grants to arts organisations, a £24m cut from the adult social care budget, and closing 25 of the city’s 35 public libraries.
People from across Birmingham have their say on what they think these cuts could mean for them and the city.
Lawrence Barton, a business owner and the director of Birmingham Pride, which has just lost £15,000 of council sponsorship
These council cuts feel monumental, and people within the city are reeling over it. I’ve had businesses in the city now for over 25 years, and it’s never felt so bleak.
With Birmingham Pride, it feels like we’ve just found out at the 11th hour we have this massive hole in our budget. We won’t allow this situation to ruin what we’ve spent the last 15 years or so building with Pride, but it’s very unhelpful.
We’ve still booked some great artists; we’re gearing up for it. But all of the headlines coming out of the city are depressing. It casts a shadow on everything. I think it’s grossly unfair, and it actually undoes so much of the extensive work that’s been done to build the city’s profile.
The businesses that I speak to and the people that reside in the city are all depressed. We’re all worried. We’re all concerned. We all feel it’s just another storm, after Covid and the cost of living crisis. It’s a huge step back for the city, and it feels both bewildering and it makes me very cross. You think, my God, when are we going to get a break?
Haniya Aadam, who works at Green Lane masjid and community centre in Small Heath
As a mosque, we’re doing the absolute best we can to serve the community, and we’re seeing the elderly, families, young children, all affected. But we can’t do everything; we’re lacking the funds ourselves. Every single one of our services is oversubscribed, from the food bank to the legal surgery, to the joint pain clinic, to all the youth services. The scouts have got about 300 people on the waiting list.
I have three children of my own, and I’m thinking they need to go somewhere after school. We need after-school clubs; they need to be enriched in sports, arts and culture. We had the Commonwealth Games here and spirits were so high. There was so much optimism for young people. I just feel like the rug has been pulled from under us and it’s such a shame.
I am most concerned about the cuts to funds for youth services, and I’d like to see qualified grassroots organisations being able to advise the council on this more. We’re in one of the most deprived wards in the country, so we need that funding; there needs to be some sort of priority system.
Jody Beswick, an area manager for FoodCycle, which offers free meals to the community using surplus food
We will definitely see an increase in people coming to us when these council cuts start to hit. People were already struggling coming out of Covid, not just financially but also socially. There’s a lot more anxiety, trepidation and a lack of trust. Throwing this on top, it’s not a good place to be. We can’t fix people’s problems; all we can do is just offer them a little bit of respite.
I think people are just really frustrated, and for the people that are really struggling, it’s only going to get worse. The proposed increase to council tax means that people who are working, whatever disposable income they had is going to get eaten into. Then the refuse collections are being moved to every fortnight, so I absolutely guarantee you’re going to see an increase in fly-tipping. All of these things erode people’s resilience, and it just makes you feel less pride in the city – and we are a proud city.
I’m born and raised in Birmingham, and I can see the change. When the Commonwealth Games was here, people were proud and you can still see elements of it, like the big bull at New Street station. But that sense of pride is very quickly forgotten.
Jennifer Brown, who works for Citizen Advocacy South Birmingham Area (Casba) and coordinates a self-advocacy group to help people with learning disabilities make their voices heard
The Send [special educational needs and disabilities] services are my biggest worry at the moment with the council cuts. Being a parent myself with a child with Send, I know how hard it is and we are constantly fighting every day for support for our children, whether it be transport or the EHC [education, health and care] plan. There isn’t enough support for Send families and cutting services is going to put added pressure on everyone.
My other biggest worry is the closure of libraries. Most people with disabilities need easy-read information, and they can go to the library and ask for help, and they help with loneliness and isolation.
The disabled community feel like the invisible community. We’re always the last thought, and it feels like we’re not going to get a look in with the council cuts. I would love for our local councillors to go around to all the places that are going to be affected – day centres, communities centres, schools, everything – and just see how much their cuts are going to affect people’s lives.
We just want confirmation about what’s going to happen to things like day centres and warm spaces, which disabled people rely on. They’re a lifeline that could be going to be cut off.
Shuranjeet Singh, a resident in Handsworth who is campaigning to save his local library at risk from cuts
Losing the library here would be Handsworth losing a piece of its soul, really. I think the real beauty and importance in the library is not just in the services that it offers, but the space that it creates for people of all backgrounds to congregate and come together.
People are worried, people are fearful and, ultimately, we’re not exactly sure how the cuts are going to make a real material impact on our lives. I feel the libraries are an important representation of what cuts can do to a community – when it’s gone, people really feel it. And it will be those from socioeconomically deprived backgrounds who will be hit hardest.
But also, it’s going to be people from these backgrounds who are going to try and come together to make some change, and we’re seeing that already with groups forming to save these services.
Emma Stenning, the chief executive of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), which is to have 100% of council funding cut by 2025
It’s obviously horrid news and it sits at the heart of a retreat in local authority investment in the arts that’s unveiling itself nationwide. It’s starting to be a pretty grim picture. Roll back a decade, we were receiving double the amount we get now, so the money has been going in one direction for a long time.
I think often the arts is one of the first casualties in this sort of situation, but in this case, I think it’s genuinely a tragedy right across the city.
Luckily, it’s not a crisis situation for CBSO. But it does put pressure on pressure, and it means we have to look at how the orchestra might behave more commercially to bring in new revenue. We’ve got to look at ticket pricing; it puts pressure on fundraising. And of course, these cuts are affecting arts companies across the city that will find it much harder to sustain the withdrawal of funding.
But we should remember that the city council is bankrupt, but the city isn’t; the city is actually really thriving. I’m hoping the vibrancy of the past few years, and in particular the boost of the Commonwealth Games, is going to help us to keep culture alive in the city.
John Cotton, the leader of the Labour-run Birmingham city council
Making £300m of cuts over two years involves some really, really tough decisions. We’re in an incredibly difficult financial position. Nobody wants to be having to increase council tax when there’s a cost of living crisis affecting people as well.
But while we’ve got some issues that we’ve absolutely got to take responsibility for fixing here in Birmingham, this isn’t happening in a vacuum either. When I talk to other council leaders, they are facing similarly tough choices. We are seeing the consequences of 14 years of austerity absolutely coming home to roost.
I absolutely understand the concern and worry that people have right across the city. But Birmingham is still very much open for business; we still have record levels of investment coming into the city, and that is driving jobs growth and opportunities. The real challenge for us is ensuring that every part of the city can share in those opportunities.
We’ve got a serious job of work to do and things will have to change. The council will look very different.
