Birmingham Council ‘making cuts based on imagined data’

Cuts to a wide range of services across Birmingham including arts and culture are based on "imagined data", it has been claimed.

According to The Guardian, sources inside the Labour-led council said the local authority’s finances were in disarray as a result of a faulty IT system rollout and a £760m equal pay liability bill, which led it to effectively declare bankruptcy, and could be hugely overstated.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Paul Tilsley said: “The figure of £760m is a figment of someone’s imagination, in my opinion. If you look at the estimated claimants, the numbers are just incompatible, it defies financial imagination.

“And this figure is ruining this city. We’re going to see the real basic infrastructure of the city, things like libraries, closed and sold off, and when they’re gone they can’t be replicated. I’m seeing the heart ripped out of my city.”

A spokesperson for Birmingham City Council said: “In early 2023, there were a variety of estimates of equal pay liability, which were wide-ranging and clearly needed further work. Further detailed analysis was requested and subsequently the findings were shared with the public and all members of this council.

“Since then the council has worked tirelessly with trade unions and the commissioners to agree a job evaluation scheme that will help to end the equal pay liability once and for all.

“A budget for the next two years was approved by full council in March. We must now focus on how we spend what we have in the most effective way, and we are committed to getting the basics right across a whole range of service areas.”