A freedom of information request released by Birmingham City Council last week has confirmed the scale of waste and potential savings that could be used to help balance the council’s books and clean up the city.
For the last decade, Birmingham Local Conservatives have been bringing forward alternative budgets calling on the council to reduce spending on consultancy, legal services, recruitment and agency and other external spend to protect front-line services, keep council tax lower, and clean up the city.
Year after year, the Labour administration has voted these amendments down, claiming there was no waste to be cut. Yesterday, Birmingham City Council finally admitted the true scale of the council’s waste. It has been revealed that since 2020, almost £565 million has been spent on Recruitment, agency, and interim services. This represents a 77% increase in yearly spend on Recruitment, agency, and interim services since 2020.
The FOI also revealed legal service costs have rocketed from £5.4 million in 2020/2021 to £23.4 million in 2024/2025. And an astonishing £62 million over 5 years on Consultancy and advisor services.
Leader of the Opposition, Cllr Robert Alden Said:
"This admission by the council confirms what we’ve been putting forward for years as our alternatives to save frontline services. While the council spent two years desperately trying to close residents' local libraries, to save just £2 million, they were spending over £8.5 million a year on consultants. Labour chose to protect consultants instead of school kids' library books. While Labour slashed street cleaning and allowed rubbish to pile up on the streets to save a couple of million, they happily splurged over £136 million a year on Recruitment, agency, and interim services. Labour failed to limit costs on expensive external contracts, instead choosing to let rubbish pile up on our streets”.
Robert added,
"Only the Local Conservatives have year after year called out Labour’s profligacy and wasteful spending. Year after year, council officers and external commissioners have signed off on our alternative budgets calling for savings in these areas to protect front-line services. The roadblock to making savings in waste in Birmingham is the Labour Administration. Only the Local Conservatives have a plan to balance the council’s books and clean up the City. In May this year, residents can help to demolish Labour’s road block and repave the road to a better Birmingham with the Local Conservatives”.
