600 jobs to be axed by bankrupt Birmingham City Council
Birmingham City Council is preparing to cut as many as 600 jobs as it looks to tackle a £300m budget deficit.
Chief Executive Deborah Cadman announced the news in an email to all 10,000 staff on Tuesday (January 16) afternoon and said it would be starting the process with unions and staff.
She said: “The council faces exceptional financial, cultural and governance challenges that must be addressed to deliver the services our citizens need, expect and deserve”.
The move adds to a raft of measures set to be taken including:
- a 10% rise in council tax each year for the next two financial years
- a programme to regear the council’s £2.4bn investment property portfolio to propose the sales of property and assets
- cuts of £57m to children and family services
- £29m slashed from city operations including highways and infrastructure management
- 30% of the budget for city housing and homelessness is expected to be saved
- almost £22m will be cut from adult and social care
Each step is looking to reduce a £300m budget gap caused by a £760m equal pay liability, an £80m IT overspend and a series of budget cuts.
A Birmingham City Council spokesperson said: “We anticipate that (subject to consultation) up to 600 posts may be declared redundant across the council. This number does not include posts that have been deleted through organisational re-design that were already vacant, nor does it include vacancies.
“We understand that this news will be unsettling, and want to reassure you that we are here to support you through this process.
“We will now start formal consultation with our corporate trade union representatives and follow these with directorate collective consultation meetings. These consultation meetings with trade unions will continue to take place regularly.”
The spokesperson also said that the proposals are subject to formal consultation with trade union partners and no decisions have been taken at this stage.
BBC analysis has revealed that Birmingham City Council has the most debt of any council in the country owing £2.9bn.
It ranks above Leeds on £2.2bn and Woking on £1.9bn.
Decisions on the proposed council tax rise have yet been made, but will be revealed when the council sets out its budget next month.
