£150 million expected to be cut, leaving thousands of jobs on the line
Chief Executive of Birmingham City Council, Mark Rogers, has urged staff to stay strong in their ‘week of woe’ in which the council has received much bad news, from thousands of potential staff redundancies, a highly critical Ofsted Report and a damning review from the Kerslake Report.
Huge cuts are feared to be made to numerous Birmingham City Councils with the authority expecting £150 million to be slashed from its budget in the 2015/16 budget proposals, which are to be unveiled by the leader of Birmingham City Council, Sir Albert Bore, today.
In its damning report, the Kerslake criticised the city council for blaming its failings on the central government and recommended that the council should face an overhaul in how it operates, specifically in relieving 20 councillors of their roles as well as reducing elections to one in four years.
The expected cuts will have a detrimental impact on parks, libraries, refuse collection and street cleaning, and Chief Executive Mark Rogers has also warned staff that thousands of jobs are also on the line.
In his appeal to staff, Chief Executive Mark Rogers said, “These are, indeed, tough and testing times for the city council”.
He added: “I look forward to working with you all and rising to the challenges ahead and showing our citizens – as well as the Government – exactly what we’re capable of. Namely, that we will make the city council great again”.
