‘They’re ripping us to pieces!’ Birmingham reacts to council’s £148m budget cuts as 7.5% tax raid leaves locals fuming
Birmingham residents have condemned the millions of pounds worth of cuts being voted on by the council today.
A total of £148million will be cut over the next 12 months, which includes: a £43million cut to adult social care, children and families services cut by £39million and city operations by £20million.
The cuts will result in fortnightly bin collections, dimmed streetlights and less road maintenance.
Anti-violence campaigner Alison Cope, who lost her son Joshua to knife crime in 2013, said that the council’s cuts have already put services at crisis point and she worries what impact more cuts will have.
She told GB News: “How many more young people need to die? If you’re removing even more services that are clinging on for dear life, we are going to see young people on the streets that are feeling desperate.
“They will ultimately make the wrong choices, and in some cases the ultimate choice could mean a life lost.”
Libraries across the city also remain at risk, with the council’s plan to save almost £2.3million by reducing opening times by more than 30 per cent leaving many with no guaranteed future funding.
The Hall Green Library will be one of those affected by reduced opening hours. Harriet O’Hara and Rukhsana Malik from the Save the Hall Green Library campaign say the cuts will impact digital inclusion.
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Harriet said: “It’s going to exclude more people if people can’t access the internet, because we make all sorts of assumptions these days, but actually there’s huge numbers who won’t be able to use it anywhere other than the library.”
Rukhsana added: “Saturdays are packed with children who don’t have internet at home. They can’t do their homework.
“I don’t understand what the council are thinking when they want to close the library on Saturday, where are these children going to do their homework?”
After a request for a 10 per cent rise in council tax was rejected by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, residents will now face a 7.5 per cent increase.
An additional £180million overdraft from central Government has been granted to plug the budget shortfall.
On the city’s high street, the tax increase hasn’t been welcomed. A resident said: “When you’re council tax is going up and your services are being slashed right in front of your eyes it is very frustrating and I think people are generally quite angry about it.”
A man who has recently moved to the city also told GB News: “Can I ask you something? Why do we live here, in this whole country? They’re ripping us to pieces all the time. They’re setting us up for failure!”
Another resident suggested a look into the financial waste of the council could help save money.
He said: “If they all had someone like Elon Musk going in and actually going through the wastage in each department, they could probably find that money from pure waste.”
In response, Birmingham City Council Leader, Councillor John Cotton, said: “Significant progress has been made over the last year and by making difficult decisions, we have put the council back on the path to financial stability.
“The hard work is far from over and we must make further significant savings over the next 12 months, but we have laid the foundations that will enable us to deliver better services for our residents.
“Despite the record level of savings over the last two years, we remain committed to putting the needs of our citizens first and we have done everything possible to protect the services people rely on and support our most vulnerable citizens.“