Future ghost town? Birmingham hit with huge council cuts

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The UK’s second most populous city has been hit with drastic £300m funding cuts across all sectors, after Birmingham City Council declared effective bankruptcy in September 2023. 

These cuts will see over 600 council employees made redundant, a decrease in arts grants, cuts to adult social care and children’s services, and weekly bin collections reduced to once a fortnight. Libraries will be badly hit, with plans to axe 25 throughout the city, leaving just one in each parliamentary constituency. Plans have been approved for a 21% council tax increase over the next two years. 

John Cotton – the leader of the Labour-led Birmingham City Council – said “The decisions we must make here today will have a lasting impact on every single neighbourhood in Birmingham”, and also criticised the “prolonged Conservative-led neglect that has brought so many councils to the brink”. Though Birmingham has been the largest council to declare bankruptcy, it is not alone; nearly 1 in 5 council leaders in England say they are ‘likely to declare bankruptcy’ in the next 15 months.

The cuts will be devastating to the cultural sector, with many venues and institutions dependent on funding from the council. The oldest working cinema in the UK – the Electric Cinema – will be closing permanently due to redevelopment plans, just two years after it reopened following a post-pandemic closure. Grants will be cut to organisations such as the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and the Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Many have questioned the logic of billions being spent on HS2, when the high-speed train’s (near) sole destination is set to be decimated by budget cuts. A user on X (formerly Twitter) called out this irony, saying “Can’t wait for HS2 to be finished and jump on a super-fast futuristic train to the defunded ruins of Birmingham”. 

Since the cuts were approved, a £10m increase in arts funding has been announced on Wednesday by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, which was then doubled to £20m by West Midlands Mayor Andy Street. Yet, the future is uncertain for Birmingham, and rising council tax and cuts to public services have been described as a ‘huge step back’ for the city.