Labour’s Birmingham councillors vote themselves inflation-busting pay rise – while residents face fortnightly bin collections and an extra £250 on price of a grave_Nhy
Birmingham councillors waved through inflation-busting pay rises for themselves while approving ‘brutal’ cuts to services and a 7.5 per cent council tax rise for residents.
The Labour-run authority – which effectively declared itself bankrupt in September 2023 – recently announced plans to slash social care funding and reduce bin collections in a bid to try and find £300million in savings.
Council tax has also risen by 17.5 per cent in the last two years.
It has now emerged that councillors saw no issue in approving a 5.7 per cent increase in their own allowances just last week.
The current inflation rate is 2.5 per cent.
During a full council meeting on January 28, a motion to increase the basic rate for all 101 councillors from £18,876.00 per year to £19,952.00 was passed unanimously.
Council documents say this equates to a cost of £108,676 to the public purse.
The allowance is meant to recompense councillors for working an estimated 3.5 days a week on council business, with a quarter of that time deemed to be ‘voluntary’.
Birmingham councillors waved through inflation-busting pay rises for themselves while approving ‘brutal’ cuts to services and a 7.5 per cent council tax rise for residents. John Cotton, Labour leader of Birmingham City Council, is pictured
More than 350 Unite workers voted for industrial action in January in a dispute that would see 150 roles at Birmingham City Council ‘downgraded’ – costing staff around £8,000 each year
Labour leader of the Council John Cotton said: ‘It’s absolutely vital that we’ve got a system that allows people who want to give their time and energy and commitment to their community and the city to be able to come forward.
‘We often talk about what a great and diverse city this is – this diversity needs to be represented in this room and we need a system of remuneration that provides that platform so people can serve.’
‘What we can’t have is a system that restricts the number of people who can come forward to those who are simply able to afford to be there.’
Cllr Robert Alden, leader of the Conservative group, said councillors in smaller local authorities across the UK receive far more allowance for less work.
Only the two Green Party councillors spoke out against the increase during the allowance, and abstained on the motion.
Bereaved families will need to pay extra £250 on the price of a grave while the cost of hourly home care fees will rise to £22 per hour
It has emerged that councillors saw no issue in approving a 5.7 per cent increase in their own allowances last week
Cllr Julien Pritchard said: ‘The resident on the street will not understand when they’re seeing rubbish piling up, library hours being slashed, broken pavements taking a long time to fix, when they’re paying more for less – why councillors are getting a pay rise.
‘Let’s look again when the administration is not making brutal cuts.’
Last year councillors rejected a recommendation from the independent remuneration panel to increase allowances by 18 per cent – taking the basic annual pay rate to £22,347 – after agreeing it was not the right time to accept such an increase.
Days after the meeting, the extent of Birmingham’s planned cuts were revealed, with the authority looking to slash £148 million in spending.
This includes £43million from adult social care services, £40million from children’s social care services, £20million from city operations – which includes things such as bin collections and pest control, leisure centres and events, and £18million from housing.
From April, residents will see their bins collected fortnightly instead of weekly.
To raise money, costs for almost all council services, including renting sports facilities, the collection of rubbish and car parking, will go up.
Bereaved families will need to pay extra £250 on the price of a grave, while the cost of hourly home care fees will rise to £22 per hour.
Last year, the council imposed similar cuts, though these were focused on arts funding, libraries, reducing bin collections and the closure of four-day centres for adults with learning difficulties.
In 2026, it will need to make a further £30million worth of savings.
The council had requested permission from the government to allow another 10 per cent rise in council tax for Birmingham residents, but ministers limited them to 7.5 per cent.
Local authorities are permitted to raise council tax by up to 4.99 per cent under Government rules.
But they can exploit a loophole with the threat of issuing a Section 114 notice to declare themselves bankrupt and appeal for higher tax rises from Communities Secretary Angela Rayner without the need for a vote.
‘Nobody wanted to be in the position where we took those big council tax rises that we have had to make,’ Mr Cotton, who vowed to stay within the 4.99 per cent tax rise limit in 2026, said.
‘Clearly we are in a different position with the 7.49% this year to where we were previously.’
This comes as last month bin workers in Birmingham went on strike in the first of a series of walkouts over pay and conditions.
More than 350 Unite workers voted for industrial action in a dispute that would see 150 roles at Birmingham City Council ‘downgraded’ – costing staff around £8,000 each year.
Benjamin Elks, grassroots development manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Birmingham taxpayers will be outraged to see councillors lining their own pockets while raiding those of their residents.
‘With the city council having already had to declare bankruptcy, local people don’t expect their services to be cut and taxes raised just to bump up allowances.
‘Councillors need to get real and immediately cancel this increase.’
