Birmingham residents react to council cuts and rising bills

National World - LocalTV

With Birmingham City Council in financial turmoil and residents facing service cuts and higher costs, we asked people across the city what they think the future holds — and if they’re thinking about leaving.

Transcript

00:00After years of financial strain, Birmingham City Council issued a Section 114 notice in 2023,

00:07essentially admitting it can no longer meet its spending obligations.

00:11One of the biggest concerns for residents now is how this affects the things they rely on every day.

00:16Rubbish has piled up during bin strikes, community centres are closing and social care services have been scaled back.

00:22People are seeing the difference not just in council services, but in the general feeling across their neighbourhoods.

00:28It's left many wondering how they're supposed to keep going when the bicycles aren't being met.

00:35I'm lucky that I don't rely on the services by our friends and others,

00:39particularly in social care where cutbacks, loss of day centres is really having an impact

00:44and tends to hit some of the most vulnerable people in Birmingham.

00:48Definitely more stressful, definitely more worrying and worries I guess that we could do without.

00:57And also a lot more rats, which has made life quite unpleasant to be very fair.

01:03Yeah, it's a real concern and a real problem.

01:07We're very lucky, it hasn't really changed for us.

01:10We live in an area where we're getting regular bin collections, a household.

01:15Our garden waste is no more and our recycling, but we're lucky enough to have a car and go to the tip.

01:24Alongside council cuts, families in Birmingham are facing steep rises in everyday costs,

01:29from food and rent to energy bills.

01:31And now council tax is set to go up again, by one of the biggest increases seen anywhere in the UK.

01:37For many it feels like they're paying more and getting less.

01:40The strain is particularly visible in areas with high child poverty,

01:44where demand for food banks and support services is increasing.

01:48But it's not just about the money, it's about whether people feel their city is still working for them,

01:52whether there's a long-term plan to turn things around, or just bad news to come.

01:59Obviously there's a lot of mess at the minute with obviously the bin strikes.

02:05There's a lot of dumping and things like it's going to cause a lot of problems later on.

02:14You know, I've lived 99% of my life in Birmingham.

02:19I have to be hopeful, I have to put my faith in them, because we're not going to get anything out of being hopeless.

02:25I'm worried about where things are heading, particularly with national government being tight on spending

02:29and how that impacts on council's money.

02:33A bit of both really.

02:35I think the council needs to have a rethink about its strategy,

02:41try and get its finances in order,

02:44and hopefully settle the outstanding wage problem that they've had for a long time.

02:50I think we must, don't we Phil?

02:52I'm always optimistic, always optimistic.

02:55The glass is half full, not half empty.

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