Counting the cost - City Council Budget Consultation
There are only two days remaining to get your views on the budget proposals by the City Council. The proposals come from the greater than previously notified grant reduction from the government and increasing costs which will see the City Council have to make cuts of £600m over six years from 2011/12 to 2016/17.
The following slides reproduced from Birmingham City Council, Budget Views 2013+ Public Meetings Presentation, show the scale of the problem due to the City's large budget with the reductions in government spending particularly affecting Birmingham. Average cuts per person equate to £74 as average for the country while in Birmingham they total £149 per person.
The council has sought to make savings through staffing cuts and back office improvements but these cannot be extended any further to save the amount the council needs to save. The council is now asking whether council tax for example should increase and if so should it increase to level where referendum is required (increases over 2%), which services are most important and which services the council should stop doing or funding.
These are fundamental questions and for Birmingham feel like a question on municipality that Joseph Chamberlain established in local governance and which established expectations of what councils do for their citizens locally.
Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles accuses Birmingham City Council of 'screaming incompetence' seeing the City Council at fault; notwithstanding the equal pay settlement where £757m is required for former female staff not paid equally to their male counterparts, decisions on where to save money and which services to look at are for councils and Pickles is scathing of Birmingham's ongoing poor decision making over a number of years.
With only a limited amount of time left to share your views you can:
1. Email your comments to budget.views@birmingham.gov.uk*
2. Take part in the online survey
3. Text comments to 07786 200 403 – starting your text with the word BUDGET followed by a space and then type your message.
The following slides reproduced from Birmingham City Council, Budget Views 2013+ Public Meetings Presentation, show the scale of the problem due to the City's large budget with the reductions in government spending particularly affecting Birmingham. Average cuts per person equate to £74 as average for the country while in Birmingham they total £149 per person.
The council has sought to make savings through staffing cuts and back office improvements but these cannot be extended any further to save the amount the council needs to save. The council is now asking whether council tax for example should increase and if so should it increase to level where referendum is required (increases over 2%), which services are most important and which services the council should stop doing or funding.
These are fundamental questions and for Birmingham feel like a question on municipality that Joseph Chamberlain established in local governance and which established expectations of what councils do for their citizens locally.
Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles accuses Birmingham City Council of 'screaming incompetence' seeing the City Council at fault; notwithstanding the equal pay settlement where £757m is required for former female staff not paid equally to their male counterparts, decisions on where to save money and which services to look at are for councils and Pickles is scathing of Birmingham's ongoing poor decision making over a number of years.
With only a limited amount of time left to share your views you can:
1. Email your comments to budget.views@birmingham.gov.uk*
2. Take part in the online survey
3. Text comments to 07786 200 403 – starting your text with the word BUDGET followed by a space and then type your message.
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