Massive cuts rolled back as council heeds dire warnings Silver lining for museums, parks and homeless as leaders find cash

LABOUR council bosses have backtracked on a series of controversial cuts to museums, parks and homeless services after an outcry from the public.

In a major U-turn, proposed cuts of £750,000 to the Birmingham Museums Trust annual budget have been scrapped, lifting the threat of closure hanging over some of the city’s historic museums and houses.

The threatened £10 million cut to the “supporting people” budget – paid to charities providing help to some of the city’s most vulnerable, including the homeless, disabled and victims of domestic violence – has also been halved to £5 million.

And the threat to axe all park keepers is also set to be lifted with some now set to keep their jobs, the Birmingham Post understands.

The proposals were part of a £78 million cuts package unveiled two months ago which sparked a barrage of criticism, lobbying and protests from charities and residents groups.

In the case of the Museums Trust, not only has a new £500,000 budget decrease been lifted, but a £250,000 cut agreed last year has also been withdrawn.

Details emerged after a private meeting of Birmingham’s Labour councillors agreed the authority’s new budget. A formal announcement is due on Friday ahead of a vote by the full council on February 28.

Labour council leader John Clancy said: “I am confident that on Friday when we publish our cabinet report we will have truly reflected what has been said to us by the citizens of Birmingham who responded to our budget consultation.”

He was again scathing of the Government’s austerity policies which have removed £590 million a year from the council budget since 2010 and said it was getting harder to balance the books without hitting much valued services.

The Post understands the funding has been found through a further one per cent on council tax after the Government lifted the ceiling on the social care precept.

Council tax will now go up by 4.99 per cent rather than 3.99 per cent. The annual rise is now approximately £45 next year on a band A property and £60 on band D.

Further funds have been found by borrowing to make part of a £48 million lump sum contribution to the council’s pension fund deficit and spreading the cost over several years.

A Labour backbencher told the Post they were relieved at the changes after being inundated with complaints. He said: “It would have been a disaster if those cuts had gone ahead. This puts some money back where it is most needed.”

Labour’s Yardley MP Jess Phillips said she was pleased about the move to halve cuts to the “supporting people” budget.

She said: “I welcome the reduction and understand the terrible situation the council is in because of the Government’s unfair treatment of Birmingham. However, I worry that as homelessness rises in the city, spending less on safe refuges and services will only cost the council more in the long term.”

The council had been warned that the cut to the “supporting people” fund would end up putting more vulnerable on the streets, leading to a “cardboard city” in Birmingham,

It would have been a disaster if those cuts had gone ahead Backbench councillor

and place further pressure strained emergency services.

A similar case was made by park user groups and the Birmingham Open Spaces Forum which warned that the city’s green spaces would deteriorate, becoming “overgrown with unseen areas that attract crime and antisocial behaviour” if park keepers were sacked. They also pointed out that parks were part of the solution to the health crises of obesity and pollution.

Cuts to parks and museums could also have discouraged the thousands of volunteers who work freely to look after them and see a reduction in visitors spending money across the city in general.

Charities and organisations involved were unwilling to comment on the budget changes ahead of the formal announcement. on the city’s