4.99% council tax hike sparks criticism
Higher bills pushed through ‘without consultation’
OPPOSITION groups have condemned Birmingham council leaders for a “disappointing” lack of consultation before a proposed near five per cent council tax hike.
Birmingham City Council has published a draft financial plan showing households face a 4.99 per cent increase from April “to balance the books”.
This means families will be paying between £55 to £166 extra in council tax for the year.
But there will be no redundancies at the council despite the challenges of the pandemic.
The city council has an annual budget of £3.2 billion with additional investment in services totalling £69.1 million in 2021/22.
This includes an extra £22.5 million for adult social care, £12.3 million for children’s services and £6.9 million for neighbourhood services.
The Government is making £43.8 million of grant funding available for the 2021/22 impact of Covid, which the council intends to “fully utilise” to offset the costs of the pandemic.
But the council has stated it must make £20 million of new savings a year to close a funding gap caused by inflation, budget pressures and Covid-19.
It intends to reduce its use of agencies and to “delete vacancies”, but it does not envisage making any redundancies.
But to “balance the books”, the council has said it must put up council tax to the maximum allowed by Government this year – 4.99 per cent, including a ringfenced three per cent for adult social care.
Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Jon Hunt said: “This is the first budget in living memory not to have a public consultation even though the public is being asked to pay a five per cent tax increase.
“I shall be examining it very carefully as there is a great deal of smoke and mirrors concealing the extent of the council’s financial predicament.”
Cllr Robert Alden, leader of the Conservative group, said: “The leader of the council has regularly highlighted how much additional funding the Government has given Birmingham over the last year.
“This is more than £128 million unallocated additional funding this year, in addition to all the other funding it has received while there is also almost £44 million being given to the city in April by the Government.
“The reserves analysis in the budget highlights that the council expects to have reserves of £902 million at the end of March 2021.
“This means this year the council has added over £263 million to reserves compared to last year’s budget projection of reserves being £639 million by March 2021.
“With all this additional funding there is simply no excuse for the council to be getting the basics so wrong.
‘‘They need to concentrate on fixing the potholes and clearing the rubbish, not yet more vanity projects.”
Council leader Cllr Ian Ward, said: “The plan has been produced against a backdrop of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the tragic impact that the last year has had across our city.
“Families have lost loved ones, businesses have struggled and jobs have been lost. Many people have struggled financially, mentally and in lots of other ways.
“The pandemic has highlighted long-standing issues and inequalities that must be tackled to ensure that every neighbourhood and every community across Birmingham benefits from the recovery to come.
“Our new financial plan will play a significant part in helping improve things for the people of Birmingham.”
The draft budget and financial plan for 2021 to 2025 will go before the city council’s cabinet on February 9 before being debated at full council on February 23.
There is simply no excuse for the council to be getting the basics so wrong Tory group leader Cllr Robert Alden