At last night’s City Council meeting, Birmingham Green Party Councillors proposed an amendment to a Conservative motion on the Council’s financial crisis.
The Green Party amendment highlighted that efficiencies won’t be enough to bridge the deep budget cuts being proposed, and that to avoid deep cuts to services that will harm Birmingham residents, that the city needs more investment, and all councils need fairer funding.
The Green Party amendment called on the Council’s Labour Administration to write to the new Labour Government requesting:
- Immediate further funding for Birmingham City Council, sufficient to stop the large cuts to services and asset sales over the next 3 years.
- A financial settlement that reverses real terms cuts to local authority funding over the last 14 years and increases funding for all Councils according to their need.
And to work with other Local Authorities and the LGA to secure the much-needed increased funding for local councils.
Unfortunately Birmingham Labour Councillors voted down the Green Party amendment, refusing to endorse the call to write to Labour Government and fund Birmingham City Council and all councils adequately.
Green Party Group Leader Councillor Julien Pritchard said during his speech:
“There are limits with what can be done through efficiencies. Let us be clear, to carry through the proposed budget cuts this year, next year and the year after, means also deep cuts to services, not just a few more efficiencies.”
“This will keep doing more and more harm to our residents. Means residents lose libraries, get dirtier streets, young people use youth centres, families lose support, vulnerable people are not helped.”
“This Labour Administration has made a real mess, with not resolving equal pay, whatever the true scale of the liability, oracle, and managing previous budgets, leading to the extreme situation we’re in, and now having to put up with commissioners. But even well-run councils are struggling. Local authority budgets have been cut in real terms.”
“This Labour government, could choose if it wanted to, fund councils properly according to what they need, instead of continuing the Tories policy of austerity for councils, raising money through a wealth tax. The Labour Administration, to help fix the mess it has partly created,can ask their colleagues in Westminster to help this city out, and fund all councils fairly.”
“If Labour nationally chooses not do that, and particularly if this Labour Administration chooses, not to ask them to do that, then this is now on Labour, there is no one else to blame.”
Click here to view the full Green amendment