Birmingham council's financial struggle is 'austerity coming home to roost' claims councillor | LBC

[@johnrussell3961]

Surrey nearly went bust, but the Tories saved it by changing the funding formula. Would they have done that if it was a Labour councill?

[@miketemple876]

"Saved" 😂

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

Mmmmmm, nope! Brighton gets a kicking in the funding formulas. The penalty of being a red and green dot on The South Coast, in a sea of blue. 😐

[@johnrussell3961]

@@capt.bart.roberts4975 . Surrey and Sussex are two different counties.

[@PAFC1886]

Labour in wales??

[@eyesodd]

Probably, the first council to go bust recently was Croydon, under Labour and that got a Gov't bail out, so yes in answer to your question.

[@bishwatntl]

A familiar story - if you restrain budgets or cut budgets repeatedly, sooner or later the system will break.

[@richardparmenter188]

But wages and pensions were never cut. Councils don’t work for the people. They are self serving bureaucrats

[@wobblywally-0]

​@@richardparmenter188self serving? In the public service? You can twist their own personal ambitions but that is a factually incorrect statement due to the nature of the job 😂

[@richardparmenter188]

@@wobblywally-0 so you don’t believe all these people don’t think about their own personal agenda first and foremost?? Because councils and government listen to the people?? You either watch to much bbc or live in your own headspace. Reality isn’t your strong point

[@stonehengemaca]

Every council should declare bankruptcy. The services they are supposed to offer aren't fit for purpose.

[@eyesodd]

I wouldnt wish for that, I genuinely believe that is their plan. Bankrupt all the councils then then Rishi and the Gov't will introduce their much wanted CBDC.

[@DarrenSmith-zz6fk]

We all need to understand that we are bankrupt everyone needs to become their own central bank anyone who has gold and silver will come through this and will thrive on the other side gold is a barbaric relic no more its making all time highs in all currencies this is something that everyone needs to think about

[@otsman9503]

Then who runs the local area? Central government ? How do they delegate it locally ? Lol no sense

[@AutoAlligator]

Every Labour council is on the brink of collapse tbh

[@angelachanelhuang1651]

ricolaaaaa

[@jasonk7072]

Conservatives should keep their pointy fingers in their pockets, some of us remember the collapse of Tory run Northamptonshire.

[@johnrussell3961]

They embraced Osbournes idea of a self funding council, and couldn’t fund themselves.

[@PAFC1886]

Almost as bad as labour run wales….

[@AutoAlligator]

Hmm you dont live in Birmingham I guess?

[@chatham43]

....Birmingham did go bust didn't they...?

[@Jonnymorrocco]

They have bled it dry these councillor's should be in a prison cell

[@vijayakrishnanaik]

One of the reasons is that a huge Pakistani immigrant population depends on social benefits. No one wants to call it out or address the problem.

[@2msvalkyrie529]

Ah..! You must be " Far Right "...!!??😂😂

[@zamankhan5340]

Nearly a billion wasted on commonwealth games .such poor decisions cost u in the long run.

[@angelachanelhuang1651]

bad leadership

[@lonalxaia]

They had to pay the devil back in the end, the open ceremony looked like the story of the tower of Babel.

[@celinehynes3336]

Commonwealth Games were brilliant

[@godfreegrant1966]

Zalenzky as all the money they need to go to Zalenzky off shore account and take bank some of that money 💰

[@nancyhood8395]

Council staff on over 100k ! To many overpayed ,and under funded ,normal tax paying people being robbed by government and then fleeced by councils =where's our money going ??

[@lockdownmadness1897]

The Tories have destroyed the public services in this country. Slashing funding for local government was always going to come back and bite as some many services were provided by councils. Sunak and the Tories fixation on Austerity whilst protecting the rich is to blame. That simple.

[@factsdontcareaboutyourfeel7204]

Labour has destroyed the country

[@jimsim8736]

Whilst austerity is an issue how about you look up what Birmingham council spent their budget on. Also, if you voted Labour or Tory over the last 30 years you’re part of the problem.

[@chatham43]

....you seem to find it simple.....can't think why....!

[@jamesmoore4910]

Except an internal Labour report has warned them that they can't blame cuts for the collapse, that won't stop Labour supporters though no doubt 😅

[@malthusXIII-fo3ep]

Austerity was Calamity Brown's toxic legacy in 2010....when all the money ran out and he left an Everest mountain of debt.

[@Scotland2306]

As long as the MPs and the king get their pay rise. That’s all I care about really. 🥴

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

😂

[@dean9235]

King Charles is only on £55,000 an hour. Let me repeat, £55,000 AN HOUR! Not a very caring king, bearing in mind that everything that benefits the majority of the country has been slashed, cut, scaled down and abolished. Vile. The price of voting Tory.

[@tigading2177]

British people should stop complaining, at least the have freedom and democracy and can vote for a new govt LOL

[@tigading2177]

don't forget money is also needed to fund the UKR war for freedom and democracy.

[@samdavidson8918]

What a disgraceful mess the Tories have made of this country.

[@Adrianbacon-c9q]

Birmingham Council is a labour run council and we all know what labour are like with budget's/ finances. Just listen to an alternative news source to find out what they've been paying out for.

[@louispearson8306]

You seem to have wilfully misunderstood the very clear point made ad nauseum in the video. you ok charlie?@@Adrianbacon-c9q

[@louispearson8306]

Obviously it's the labour run big cities that are massively over budget with the blanket cost cuts. You do get that right? the conservative states the small towns don't have huge populations. @@Adrianbacon-c9q

[@dean9235]

​​@@Adrianbacon-c9qIt is Tories that have constantly been reducing the funding to local councils for 13 years, despite council tax going up each year. Where's all that extra money gone? Lining the pockets of companies for HS2, King Charles' £55,000 an hour "job" and MP expenses no doubt, if their past disgraceful behaviour is anything to go by.

[@dean9235]

@@seamuspadraigsanders431 But it's not paying it off is it. We are even deeper in debt than when the Tories started off with cuts, austerity and stagnating wages. I notice that at no point in the equation do they lose out, naturally. The reason they won't get in again is because they are a greedy, selfish, and careless party. You only need to look at what they do to the people of this country, the environment and the poor and destitute. I also feel sorry for you as you are so easily fooled. You can't see the wood for the trees.

[@Contraster671]

Local councils have done well but this situation was bound to happen. Westminster has squeezed to hard in order to feed their greed. Look at the billions Sunak has wiped off the books. We are in an absolute mess.

[@tigading2177]

meanwhile UK is STILL pouring billions and billions into UKR war LOL

[@muhammadsajid5898]

Next is Tower Hamlet Council will go bust thanks to all the Bangladeshi in East London who wants everything free….cut all the budgets and they staff pay…sack all the unnecessary managers…save every penny

[@muhammadsajid5898]

This happened because Birmingham city council has given all their employee including all their managers high income and throwing monies away like bonus and presents…specially the managers having parties and having girls in the weekends. Look at all their managers what the wages are like…..specially when they knew Birmingham council is in crisis. Cut all the police officer, teacher head teacher wages.. If they don’t do any work sack them..I don’t see why does your department have to have 10 and 20 managers

[@tigading2177]

why not? when the govt is corrupt to the hilt, why should it be Bojo and ilk having great times, why bother following rules when it is different for different class. It's called decay and it rots from the head.

[@countottovanshanoo822]

As ever, the Tories Baldrickesque cunning plans 'to make savings' end up costing far, far more than being sensible would. The kind of people who never change the oil in the car and blame everyone but themselves when the engine blows up and costs thousands to repair/replace.

[@hubertbreidenbach]

Indeed, but they would have to improve significantly in order to elevate themselves to being "Baldrickesque". Side note: at the first PEOPLES VOTE march, the fabulous Tony Robinson took the microphone and addressed the ~1M people there. He said "They asked me here to say five words" Without any further prompting, immediately the crowd roared *I HAVE A CUNNING PLAN*

[@natashafuller9832]

I don’t blame the council, I blame the government. They knew this and worse is coming and are doing nothing. Government leaders far interested in serving themselves and their own needs.

[@chatham43]

.....not entirely true posh Natasha...😊

[@lonalxaia]

The government doesn't work for you Natasha they work for the global organisations such as the WEF and UN and your just about to find out what their solution is. Klaus Schwab did promise the plebs and angery world.

[@jamesmoore4910]

How about you follow the internal Labour report they ran, that's warning them not to blame cuts from Government because it's not true, or just make up your own reality like most on the left 😅

[@dean9235]

​@@chatham43And what is not true about her comment forgetful Chatham?

[@BadlydrawnBen]

£17 million on school taxis £2 million changing 5 road names the list goes on

[@tonybuttie3038]

NO CHILD should be getting free taxi's to school

[@minnie5301]

​@@tonybuttie3038well they wouldn't have to if all the smaller schools around the country hadn't been closed over the last 20 years, leaving children having to travel miles for schooling. Often there is no reliable public transport. Its called shooting yourself in the foot

[@robertofranceschini2857]

Biggest Local Authority in EUROPE? What ignorance at the BBC. Looking at budgets, GDP, Population for European LAs and Municipalities Birmingham is very low down on the list of Important Cities.

[@lonalxaia]

Question everything.

[@zamankhan5340]

Commonwealth games was a waste.they lied about the benefits.

[@chatham43]

...but they left their legacy...and the taxpayers are going to pay for it....

[@zamankhan5340]

@chatham43 as birmingham resident city council is wasteful they just don't do simple everyday work social services were in special measures equal pay settlements will affect other cities. They will stop grand events now.lessons learned

[@Zolipants]

How a city going bankrupted in 2023 when more billionaires In our society than ever

[@kevoreilly6557]

Correlated?

[@davidgriffithsbjjcoach7207]

Because once you're rich taxes are optional.

[@tigading2177]

Your question is the same one as some poor amarikans have been asking across the pond. Welcome to corporate vulture capitalism, the best system in the worlddddddd (for the kings, royals, oligarchs, lords and dukes) LOL

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

Demands go up, funds go down.What could possibly go wrong ?

[@tigading2177]

demands is only part of the story, just imagine the billions being poured into UKR war if only the public knew the backroom dealings.

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

@@tigading2177 Well those endless war funding are nothing new. I'm Dutch and i'm also annoyed when we spend loads of money and resources everytime the U.S tells us to do so. But the British have spend a lot compared to most other allies.Especially in Afghanistan & Iraq I wonder if Britain even got something back from the U.S for those wars ? Or just a 'thank you ' .

[@georgef822]

The worst council in the uk to go with the worst accent in the UK. How apt.

[@celinehynes3336]

What an intelligent contribution

[@mackib430]

The councils have no money? I’ve not heard of any payoffs concerning council members? Is that we’re the budget is going ,,on their bonuses?

[@jasonthompson7378]

So I’m paying taxes and I can’t even expect my streets to be clean lol wow!

[@libbaT]

This country is going south fast

[@stonehengemaca]

Where's all the money we "saved" from brexit?

[@lonalxaia]

You really think things are going great in the EU? Watch come winter.

[@stonehengemaca]

@@lonalxaia Can you be more specific? 🙄 Does your crystal ball tell you which countries will be worse off this winter than barren rationed Britain. Women in the UK lose their right to equal pay in January. Any other EU country going backwards?

[@scootjohn777]

Net zero is obviously more important to the politicians🙄

[@RajSingh-yd8ue]

Parasite can't survive on their own they need host

[@yetidodger6650]

the country is a right off.

[@jackwood8307]

Man things have really turned bad for the Brits!😢

[@malthusXIII-fo3ep]

Ignore this far-left propaganda...do not be duped.

[@donttrip8282]

They kept voting for it to go bad.

[@tigading2177]

it's all a matter of priority, in UK, freedom and democracy is above all else, hence they are pouring billions into Ukr war to ensure UkraNutzis remained democratic. LOL

[@rufdymond]

The government certainly has a case to answer here but there has to be some mismanagement on Birminghams part too. After doing some reading it seems that Birmingham’s annual budget is around £3.2 billon for a local authority of around 1.2 million people. I then looked at Manchester just the council not Greater Manchester…..their annual budget comes in at around £736 million. I was quite shocked at that figure (unless I’m reading it wrong) if you consider that Birmingham council is twice the size of Manchesters but has over 4 times the budget, then something is very wrong. If anything it should be Manchester that is in trouble, not Birmingham. If I have got these figures incorrect then it wouldn’t surprise me, but that was the information I could find.

[@EugVR6]

Labour have 50% more council's going bust over the Tories, and people want Labour in Power! 4 Labour council's bust 2 Tory council's bust 1 Lib Dem council bust

[@ivermektin6874]

Maybe Ukraine could donate some of their money to help.

[@DavidToulson-p7f]

And labour’s answer to the problem is what?

[@terryleong7]

Overspending not underfunded - stop pouring money in net zero

[@angelachanelhuang1651]

everyone knows what Birmingham is

[@dazo69]

If the government has been cutting the amount of money they give to councils it begs the question - just where is all that money going? On top of that my tax is sky high, my NI contribution is sky high, my car fuel is sky high, my food bill is sky high, my gas and electric are sky high - just more and more money going to central government.

[@Alex-cw3rz]

Tories already trying blame Labour for this 🤦‍♂️

[@TBakerXD]

Bet you a tenner they somehow make it out to be Corbyn's fault

[@twisteddancer7773]

Birmingham is Labour run. Labour love spending other people's money

[@PAFC1886]

Labour is about spending others hard earned money

[@johnrussell3961]

Finding someone to blame doesn’t fix anything.

[@jujutrini8412]

@@PAFC1886Tories seem to love doing that as well though.

[@TheVRSofa]

All I care about is Prince Andrews job....when he was working for us....is apparently not public information for historians. Seems sick.

[@spleenies2510]

We been in austerity for ages now ffs it's a joke all oney government get

[@spleenies2510]

Money not oney

[@lonalxaia]

It's all by design. They already have a solution they just need the plebs to beg for it to all stop.

[@marktynan6820]

Why are they wasting people’s money on all of the things they’ve spent it on instead of core services? Why aren’t they building council homes instead? What about the council that spent £650m on building huge office blocks? Why were they allowed to do that? Why were councils paying women less than men for the same job? Why are they allowed to store hundreds of millions in investment funds? It’s all a con…

[@EvanLeonDawod]

Wasn’t national insurance increased to pay for social care? Where does all this tax money go?

[@tigading2177]

used to preserve freedom and democracy in UKR. people should stop complaining, what could be more important than democracy?

[@2msvalkyrie529]

To Zelensky and his friends. Most of it disappears , ten he comes back for more.. The war is a stalemate . Every military analyst knows that it will end in negotiations eventually along the present lines. But Hey ! Let's keep it going as long as we can.....!!!

[@mandyharewood886]

"It appears these savages cannot govern themselves."

[@MrLaking123]

thx to the government for cutting Labour Council funding over the 13 years

[@lonalxaia]

Both parties are not on your side all they are giving you is theatre and seeing how you engage with them. Lets see how suicidal the British voters are if they vote Conservative, Labour or even the Liberal Democrats and Greens.

[@barbararice6650]

People just think this stuff is about bits of paper, society is on the slide 😐

[@JayJay-ki4mi]

Like the collapse of an empire.

[@TroyaE117]

Similar story. Spending more than you tax.

[@jhwheuer]

When the organism has died, the organs stop working, one by one.

[@ukisa3rdworld586]

Send more to Ukraine. Sheep asleep, agrees to everything

[@neilg3364]

Why are the council spending money on anything that isn't essential? Cull all the fat cats on six figure salaries - that's where the money is going

[@pesoso78]

Labour in business

[@keech100]

I do wonder if this whole thing is showing where devolution needs to change. High streets are not pulling in the rate for council that they used to because most of the shopping is done online - for which the council get no funding for - but in theory the central government does through normal tax's. Also older people that need care will retire to the coast for example which puts a strain on care in the region without bringing real benefits

[@PAFC1886]

Well hopefully soon we will see English independece

[@johnrussell3961]

Sure…..by they can’t take Scotlands oil.

[@KenPassey-hd2mc]

The Government need to change not devolution!!

[@jimsim8736]

@@PAFC1886English independence tomorrow, Islamic independence in 40 years.

[@cormackeenan8175]

Austerity will never, ever drive an economy forward, and it is a particularly anachronistic way of looking at economics in the modern world.

[@philash1000]

Victoria show the way DONT HOLD A SPORTS EVENT YOU CANT AFFORD

[@AlanBrown-j5i]

So Birmingham is going to become more of a shitole 😢

[@tans430]

Not surprising given the effects of austerity in the UK. Do not think it would matter which party ran it. If you keep slashing services and funding whilst demand expands then this happens.

[@beckynelson6786]

The Tories have squeezed Labour councils.

[@garyh1572]

That was always their plan.

[@sk00p]

So squeezed but Labour Lambeth can afford vapes for pregnant women? Croydon council paying higher ups £200k a year?

[@DarrenSmith-zz6fk]

All councils should have been proactive i have been predicting this Britain is bankrupt they should have held protective assets to mitigate inflation and other risks clueless when it comes to financial matters

[@lonalxaia]

It's all by design they already have a solution in place, you've just thought it was all a conspiracy.

[@honourisnotbought.4225]

How much have we given to UKRAINE??!!!! BILLIONS!!!CRY😢

[@slinger4822]

I wonder how the tory councils are doing ?

[@kanedNunable]

rishi admitted they funnelled funds from poor areas to rich ones.

[@lonalxaia]

@slinger all the main parties all working for the same goal they are just theatre and like an abused spouse your in denial they are deliberately hurting you.

[@isakalay6839]

50 percent it the govertment ,30 percent is the local govertment and 20 percent is the local fault ,where do you want to start to fix the problem?

[@AEgonCholakian]

No one is ending up in prison.

[@paulmessenger9836]

Council should have mass redundancies

[@1bz2002]

Birmingham is a Great city.. And i love it always ❤. Home is where the heart is. That said, they spent on stuff not super neccessary. The construction schemes in Stechford, Sellyoak , Perrybar/ Witton and elsewhere, not entirley neccessary cost multi millions . They pay way too much to landlords for HMO schemes, Common wealth Games Should have not taken place post covid etc, was totally unafordable. Poor decision making by some of the councilors.

[@connormcleod9595]

Go woke go broke😂

[@reeling-in]

Well done Mr Meldrew. You’ve got it off your chest and you will sleep better tonight!😂

[@AEgonCholakian]

Council tax going up again like every year.

[@paulsennitt2079]

Look into ct its illegal

[@lonalxaia]

For your enslavement.

[@eddouglas]

The Tories are laughably bad. It's corporate manslaughter at this point isn't it?!

[@sk00p]

no

[@eddouglas]

yes @@sk00p

[@lonalxaia]

​@@eddouglasjust Tories? All the main parties are singing from the same hymn sheet and giving you theatre. The parties you think are there for you don't exist including Labour and Liberal Democrats and of course Tories. Like an abused spouse in denial you keep thinking your partner is a changed person but they keep on deliberately hurting you.

[@ThomasKynes-fb8mi]

Ready to be bankrolled by Blackrock with esg conditions.

[@jamesmoran5192]

Get woke go broke.

[@chillsleepvids5083]

Street cleaning? - have you been to Birmingham, pretty sure they stopped that years ago

[@matthewkillgallon5597]

I wonder if they are going to bring in contractor services into the council. Most council contracts are so badly negotiated with external contractors that they always end up overpaying for subpar services.

[@ReallyFarFarAway]

- Is death by hanging a possibility .. ? IF NOT : what are the possibilities .. ?

[@caroleannnerney-smith1715]

Plenty money for Ukraine

[@badoiuecristian]

Don't fkn understand i pay soooo much tax i can buy a new tesla each year... how the fk is this possible

[@David-fj5lz]

When you have millions going to “their” hotels? What do you expect?

[@dean8282]

Not funding public services properly great idea Tories. Everything is broken everything. To the young generations remember what Tory policies mean and what a disaster it all is!

[@lonalxaia]

Tories and Labour are not on your side they are just giving you theatre. They all have go to the bar after question times and slap each other the back. They work for the global organisation the sooner you realise the better if not watch something you've thought you'd witness in your life time.

[@Mark-ip7oq]

Slough council already filed for bankruptcy 2021

[@RichardFraser-y9t]

It was down to bad investments encouraged and enabled for this government.

[@johnrussell3961]

They never invested expecting the returns to pay the settlement from a 50 year old wage discrimination case.

[@Alex-cw3rz]

Great video

[@factsdontcareaboutyourfeel7204]

What do you expect when youre spending millio s evrry day to put illegal mi grants in hotels

[@appalling22]

as always, tories stand out for their inability to form coherent sentences

[@jimsim8736]

@@appalling22​Considering you have a minimal grasp of punctuation inserting a comma that’s not required, or not placing a full stop at the end of your sentence, or lack of an upper case letter I’d pipe down with the lecture if I were you.

[@factsdontcareaboutyourfeel7204]

@@appalling22 oh, the irony..

[@samgaynor]

Well done torries

[@David-fj5lz]

Then you have the Khan tax, for WHAT??

[@winstonyu1776]

This is a big win for British Democracy, we should reward Sunak a medal. Assume that city should run the public transportation is a evil communism idea, glad the bus gone, more freedom for UK.

[@widervision710]

Does the UKs Brexit freedoms not help local authorities any?

[@g_gagan]

Imagine even after looting 45 trillion Dollars from India and still becoming bankrupt 😂😂

[@2msvalkyrie529]

Cut funding from Diversity / Inclusivity / Equality programmes..?? A complete waste of money. Suggestion : Give the job to the person best qualified to do it.?? Irrespective of race , religion , gender.!!

[@mastercommander4535]

U.K. has far too many benefits granted it’s citizens …slash them to a more reasonable level and that would reduce the boat people as well . Time for the Poll Tax to come in to fund all this largess . School buses ….make the kids walk or bike like we used to .

[@stephnewman1357]

9 miiles my son's had to get to their local school. We lived in the countryside not on a bus route!!!

[@Tee-bq2po]

WHST ABOUT TORY NORTHAMPTONSHIRE COUNCIL?

[@LondonTransport466]

Croydon: First time?

[@Dat16245]

You know torries are blaming labour for this

[@paulsennitt2079]

Because most of the councils that are going bankrupt are labour run hillarious 😂

[@bdcalling1391]

Both Tory and labour run councils have gone bust

[@Crouchy232323]

It's the pensioners creaming off the state and they can't keep getting away with it

[@matthewcook9404]

13 years.

[@malthusXIII-fo3ep]

Labour's.

[@robbibittybob20]

Thing is birmingham's economy has grown by 36% since 2010. If there was progressive taxation in birmingham and more local powers granted as well as central funding they could easily pay for their needs.

[@tigading2177]

welcome to trickle down economy LOL, you b elieve that you'd believe anything.

[@Aussiemarco]

I’m going to guess a lot of Birmingham’s funding used to come from the EU. Birmingham voted Leave.

[@chatham43]

....and a wrong guess....but at least you gave it a go...😊

[@rufdymond]

Not most, but yes there has been an impact, Birmingham benefited from over £1billion of funding from the EU…..so that loss of money has had an impact to…..the data is there if you look for it.

[@lonalxaia]

​@@rufdymondyou think everything is fine a dandy in the EU?

[@rufdymond]

@@lonalxaia - Where in my comment did I say that, I only mentioned the funding they used to get from the EU.

[@richardparmenter188]

It’s not austerity. It’s bad management

[@crayontom9687]

It’s both. The same as Northamptonshire, Croydon and Surrey

[@marklee2588]

it’s both

[@LawrenceBishton]

Yea well its automatic these days

[@coala1980]

The main problem is not the budget is the spending as typical politicians most of the counselors are elected on spending promises and now Birmingham is caught in perfect storm/recession,inflation,less taxes collected,high social demand and less subsidizing from central government/.Personally for me both sides of politics are useless when it comes to managing money is better to let a professional accountant or auditor run the budget .Politicians are useless.People will suffer because of it and Birmingham is just the start....

[@ridwandesanta5298]

Go on Sunak keep funding Ukraine…