Today at Birmingham City Council Cabinet Committee, the Council has confirmed council tax is going up by 10% again next year.
The Labour Cabinet also revealed that their budget gap for next year has gone from a forecasted £67 million in savings needed in 2025/2026 before the Autumn budget to at least £153 million savings now needed in 2025/2026. This means residents will be hit with another double whammy of higher taxes for fewer services.
This means council tax has increased 77% since 2012 when the Labour Administration took control, meaning on average, Brummies are paying £855 more per year to pay for the failings of the Labour Administration.
Cllr Robert Alden (Con, Erdington), Leader of the Opposition and Birmingham Local Conservatives said:
Rather than using the last two years to finally start modernising Council services and fixing the financial position, today the Labour Administration has confirmed that the financial position has drastically worsened, with over £150 million worth of savings being planned by the Council next year and over £300 million on top of that for later years. This means Labour are hitting residents with a double whammy of higher taxes for fewer services, passing the costs of their failure on to hard-working Brummies.
Cllr Ewan Mackey (Con, Sutton Roughley), Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Birmingham Local Conservatives said:
Today’s cabinet shows that this Labour Administration is no nearer to solving the financial catastrophe they have inflicted upon their residents than they were when the Council was declared virtually bankrupt in 2023. Instead, they have lurched from one financial crisis to another. A great example of this is the Perry Barr housing scheme where residents of this city have been told they will be paying £17.2 million a year for 40 years just to cover the borrowing on this scheme. This £688 million could fund an awful lot of libraries and adult day care centres, it’s about time we had a public enquiry into this.
