Spectre of more mass cuts in Birmingham as council says 'very difficult decisions' to be taken 'without delay' - Birmingham Live
Authority pledges to rein in spending and balance the books
00:01, 29 JUN 2018
Updated 17:38, 29 JUN 2018
The spectre of still more cuts has been raised in Birmingham after the city council warned that "very difficult decisions" must be taken "without delay".
The cash-strapped authority - which has already taken the axe to a string of services in recent years - said it could no longer tolerate overspending or using savings to balance the books.
It was not immediately clear where the cuts would fall but, making the announcement, the council spoke of its "serious financial position" and said next year's budget would not "resort to further use of reserves".
The improvement document, made public on Friday morning, came in response to a report compiled by Government troubleshooter Lord Kerslake in December 2014.
Birmingham council 'is failing to improve and leadership is poor' says damning new report
He warned Birmingham was failing to get “basic services” such as street cleaning and bin collection right.
Cash was poured into big city centre projects but residents in poorer parts of the city were left without jobs or skills, his report said.
And businesses, community groups and hospitals in the city were said to have found the council almost impossible to work with - because it thought it knew best about everything.
The Government gave Birmingham 12 months to improve, and warned there would be drastic action if it did not, including potentially breaking up the authority.
Crisis at Birmingham City Council after shock £49m budget overspend
In its report, the Labour-run council acknowledged it had "not until recently sufficiently gripped the improvement challenge" set by Lord Kerslake, having dipped into its reserves to balance the budget every year since 2016/16.
But it said new leadership was now in place and it was committed to "addressing the major challenges it now faces with vigour".
It went on: "In particular, it has committed to taking the action necessary to prevent overspending in 2018/19 and to approve a revenue budget for 2019/20 that does not resort to further use of reserves.
"It acknowledges that this will mean very difficult decisions must be made and implemented without delay."
Council leader Coun Ian Ward said: "We have taken some positive steps forward, there is still much to do, but, crucially, we know what needs to be done for the benefit of Birmingham's residents."
John Crabtree, chairman of an improvement panel set up to help the council get a grip on its problems, welcomed the report's "frankness" but warned time to make effective changes was running out.
Opposition Conservative leader Robert Alden said: "Behind the Council’s own spin on the latest report, John Crabtree’s message, delivered in an understated way is very clear, this really is the last chance saloon for Birmingham City Council.
"While there have been positive and encouraging changes to the officer managerial leadership, Cllr Ian Ward has been at the top table of the political leadership throughout the Panel’s time in the City and overseen a number of false starts and what progress has been has been far too slow. There simple can no longer be any more getting it wrong.”
The governance report submitted as part of the recent stocktake revealed that the Council was projecting a £27m overspend on its budget two months into the financial year, twice as bad as the same period last year.
Cllr Alden added: "it is staggering that the council is still failing to meet its own savings programme, despite all the external scrutiny, warnings and additional support.
"Sadly it will be the residents and tax payers of Birmingham who will yet again be forced to pay the price for this. It's clear Labour have maybe a matter of months to fix their own budget or their legacy could end up being the demise of Birmingham City Council.”
Spectre of more mass cuts in Birmingham as council says 'very difficult decisions' to be taken 'without delay' - Birmingham Live
Authority pledges to rein in spending and balance the books
00:01, 29 JUN 2018
Updated 17:38, 29 JUN 2018
The spectre of still more cuts has been raised in Birmingham after the city council warned that "very difficult decisions" must be taken "without delay".
The cash-strapped authority - which has already taken the axe to a string of services in recent years - said it could no longer tolerate overspending or using savings to balance the books.
It was not immediately clear where the cuts would fall but, making the announcement, the council spoke of its "serious financial position" and said next year's budget would not "resort to further use of reserves".
The improvement document, made public on Friday morning, came in response to a report compiled by Government troubleshooter Lord Kerslake in December 2014.
Birmingham council 'is failing to improve and leadership is poor' says damning new report
He warned Birmingham was failing to get “basic services” such as street cleaning and bin collection right.
Cash was poured into big city centre projects but residents in poorer parts of the city were left without jobs or skills, his report said.
And businesses, community groups and hospitals in the city were said to have found the council almost impossible to work with - because it thought it knew best about everything.
The Government gave Birmingham 12 months to improve, and warned there would be drastic action if it did not, including potentially breaking up the authority.
Crisis at Birmingham City Council after shock £49m budget overspend
In its report, the Labour-run council acknowledged it had "not until recently sufficiently gripped the improvement challenge" set by Lord Kerslake, having dipped into its reserves to balance the budget every year since 2016/16.
But it said new leadership was now in place and it was committed to "addressin
g the major challenges it now faces with vigour".
It went on: "In particular, it has committed to taking the action necessary to prevent overspending in 2018/19 and to approve a revenue budget for 2019/20 that does not resort to further use of reserves.
"It acknowledges that this will mean very difficult decisions must be made and implemented without delay."
Council leader Coun Ian Ward said: "We have taken some positive steps forward, there is still much to do, but, crucially, we know what needs to be done for the benefit of Birmingham's residents."
John Crabtree, chairman of an improvement panel set up to help the council get a grip on its problems, welcomed the report's "frankness" but warned time to make effective changes was running out.
Opposition Conservative leader Robert Alden said: "Behind the Council’s own spin on the latest report, John Crabtree’s message, delivered in an understated way is very clear, this really is the last chance saloon for Birmingham City Council.
"While there have been positive and encouraging changes to the officer managerial leadership, Cllr Ian Ward has been at the top table of the political leadership throughout the Panel’s time in the City and overseen a number of false starts and what progress has been has been far too slow. There simple can no longer be any more getting it wrong.”
The governance report submitted as part of the recent stocktake revealed that the Council was projecting a £27m overspend on its budget two months into the financial year, twice as bad as the same period last year.
Cllr Alden added: "it is staggering that the council is still failing to meet its own savings programme, despite all the external scrutiny, warnings and additional support.
"Sadly it will be the residents and tax payers of Birmingham who will yet again be forced to pay the price for this. It's clear Labour have maybe a matter of months to fix their own budget or their legacy could end up being the demise of Birmingham City Council.”