UK’s second largest city goes bankrupt – seems to be about an “equal pay” law suit costing more than three quarters of a billion pounds – (almost a billion bucks)
Birmingham, UK, has a population of around 1.1 million people – in between San Jose and Dallas.
From here (h/t Iain):
“Labour-run Birmingham City Council declares itself 'effectively BANKRUPT' after being hit with £760m bill to settle equal pay claims - as officials blame 'rampant inflation' for 'going bust'
The Labour-run local authority will halt almost all spending in the city
Councillors blamed lower business rates, inflation, and adult social care bills “
Labour-run Birmingham City Council has declared itself effectively bankrupt after being hit with a £760million bill to settle an equal pay claim.
In a statement on Tuesday, Europe's largest local authority confirmed that it had issued the declaration that it cannot balance its books.
It said all new council spending in the city, with the exception of protecting vulnerable people and statutory services, must stop immediately.
“The council said it lacks sufficient resources to pay a £760million bill related to an equality claim, which is currently accruing at a rate of £5million to £14million a month.
Council leader John Cotton told BBC Radio WM the local authority will now be forced to make 'tough and robust decisions' about cuts to services, that could include pulling funding for events including the 2025 European Athletics Championships.
The local authority chief, however, confirmed the council would 'continue to deliver on essential services like children's safeguarding and social care, social care for adults, education, waste collection, road maintenance, and library services.'
Councillors from the local authority blamed the situation on 'huge increases in adult social care demand... dramatic reductions in business rates' and 'rampant inflation,' which they claim were 'compounded' by a lack of funding from the UK government.
Labour councillors John Cotton and Sharon Thompson blamed the bankruptcy on 'long-standing issues' including the equal pay claims and the local authority's costly efforts to install the Oracle ERP financial reporting software on its systems.
Labour's Ms Thompson said: 'I want to stress that despite the significant challenges that we face, we will prioritise core services that our residents rely on in line with our values of supporting the most vulnerable in this city.
'Birmingham City Council faces longstanding issues, including the council's historic equal pay liability concerns and the implementation of the Oracle ERP system which have been compounded by the reality that Birmingham had £1 billion of funding taken away by successive Conservative governments.”
The cities budget for 2023/24 was published just a few months ago:
And this from a year ago
Leader declares cost of living emergency | Birmingham City Council
https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/26774/financial_plan_2023_to_2027.pdf
Hard to track down a budget. Here’s a link to 2016/17 showing spending of close to 2 billion pounds – close to 3,000 pounds per capita.
https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/1693/budget_for_birmingham_2016_to_2017.xlsm
San Jose has a budget of around 4.8 billion dollars = 3.8 billion pounds, so there seems to be a theme of “it costs 3-4 thousand pounds per capita to provide city services
I wonder how the increasingly larger number of people living alone with no kids feel about the value for money they get. Seems a lot for collecting trash and lighting the streets!
Onwards!
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The scourge of cancerous municipal authorities acting far beyond their core business while peddling UNEP / WEF doctrines is a blight on their districts. These bureaucratic entities as a consequence attract an unending, ever growing body of useless, expensive eaters. (h/t to you know who).
One small note: it's San JOSE, not San HOSE.