Councillors in Birmingham have approved what are thought to be the biggest budget cuts in local authority history, with residents warning that the consequences could be “disastrous” for the city.
Birmingham city council met on Tuesday afternoon to debate and vote on a proposed set of cuts that will see the loss of up to 600 council jobs, arts grants scrapped, libraries closed and bin collections reduced to fortnightly.
They also include funding cuts to adult social care, children’s services, flood defences and highway maintenance, while street lights across the city will be dimmed.
The Labour-run council also approved a 10% council tax increase for the upcoming financial year, after being granted special permission from the government to increase the rate above the national cap on account of the council declaring itself effectively bankrupt in September.
Addressing the council chamber at the start of a heated five-hour debate, the leader, John Cotton, said he “unreservedly apologised to the people of the city” for the “unprecedented scale of cuts”.
“I am under no illusion what this budget will mean for our communities,” he said. “The decisions we must make here today will have a lasting impact on every single neighbourhood in Birmingham and that weighs heavily on me.”
Cotton said he took responsibility for “Birmingham-specific problems” and urged the government to launch an independent inquiry into what went wrong at the council.
But he also blamed the “forest fire raging through local government” and asked, “Who is going to apologise for the prolonged Conservative-led neglect that has brought so many councils to the brink?”
Nearly one in five council leaders in England said they were likely to declare bankruptcy in the next 15 months.
Robert Alden, the leader of the opposition Conservative group in Birmingham, said the council were “making the biggest ever cuts to services, for Labour’s biggest ever council failure”.
“Labour hope residents will believe them when they claim it wasn’t their fault,” he said, alleging the council ignored warnings about the state of the city’s finances.
Residents across Birmingham have raised alarm at the impact the cuts could have on local communities, particularly on youth services, libraries, arts organisations and charities supporting vulnerable people.
“I think this could be potentially disastrous for the city,” said Lawrence Barton, a business owner and director of Birmingham Pride, which has had its council sponsorship scrapped.
“These cuts feel monumental, and people in 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.”
As the full council meeting was under way, dozens of protesters from unions and community groups gathered outside the building chanting “No to cuts”.
Birmingham city council issued a section 114 notice, effectively declaring itself bankrupt, in September, with an estimated £300m of savings needed to balance the books.
This was largely attributed to a £100m bill to fix the failed installation of a new IT system and a £700m liability for equal pay claims, but councillors have also blamed national government funding cuts at a time of increased demand for services.
The meeting came a day after councillors in Nottingham passed a range of swingeing budget cuts on Monday night, with some people reduced to tears as they voted in favour of the proposals.
Labour councillors in Nottingham said they did not agree with the cuts – which include council redundancies, reduced funding for youth services and adult social care and a review of libraries – but the intervention of government commissioners and the duty to create a legal budget had tied their hands.
David Mellen, the leader of the Labour council, told the meeting: “This is a day that will be remembered by our city for all the wrong reasons.
“I stand here to record the fact I do not believe in this budget. I am aware the decision we will make will have an impact that will last many years.”
One Labour councillor, Shuguftah Quddoos, who is also the Sheriff of Nottingham, has been suspended from the party after she refused to vote in favour of the cuts.
In a statement, the Labour party said: “The council has a duty to set a legal and balanced budget and we expect all Labour group members to support proposals to set a responsible and legal budget.”
