For many Brummies, the past year may be remembered as when the bleak consequences of the city council’s dire financial situation began to come to light. 2024 was marked by divisive cuts to local services, angry protests, heated exchanges in the council chamber, fears for the city’s youth and other worrying scenes.
It also saw Brum attract unwanted headlines from across the world as questions emerged over how the Second City could find itself in such an alarming predicament. Many factors contributed to the financial crisis at the council – Birmingham-specific issues, such as the Oracle system and equal pay debacles, played a role as did funding cuts and the rising demand for services.
The political blame game has also rumbled on in recent months, with council leader John Cotton pointing the finger at the previous Conservative government while Tory politicians have highlighted the mistakes made by the council’s Labour administration. Regardless of the causes, the impacts of the council’s financial woes are still likely to be felt in 2025 despite progress being made on its recovery plan and equal pay claims.
READ MORE: Birmingham council leader welcomes much-needed ‘lifeline’ but difficult decisions still to come
Here’s some of the ways that Birmingham residents could be affected in the coming months.
1) Council tax
It’s possible that Brummies may be hit by another council tax rise of just under 10 per cent in 2025. Council leader John Cotton said in November that no decisions have been made yet on council tax levels.
However, he pointed out that the authority did seek permission for ‘two years of 9.99 per cent’. “We will need to look at the budget in the round before we take a final decision on council tax,” he said at the time.
“What I can say, though, is regardless of what decision we may take, the council tax support scheme remains in place which provides protection to around a quarter of the city’s households, with the poorest being completely exempt from paying council tax all together. That protection will remain in place.”
2) Huge wave of price rises for council services
Birmingham City Council House in Victoria Square
(Image: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Residents across Birmingham may notice they’re paying more for certain services on the very first day of 2025. Plans to increase fees and charges for hundreds of council services in Birmingham were approved by cabinet members at the city council in November.
Leisure and sport, bereavement services and rubbish disposal are all set to be impacted by rises coming into effect from January 1, 2025. This means higher costs of keeping fit, dying and getting rid of bulky waste for the Brummies affected.
Cllr Karen McCarthy, cabinet member for finance, told November’s meeting that the increase in fees and charges would help “support the budgetary pressures”. “But we never forget that these will have an impact on residents and households across the city,” she added.
3) Bin collections
Major changes to Birmingham’s waste collection, a key priority within the council’s recovery plan, could be in place for some residents by spring 2025. They include proposals to move from weekly residual waste collection to fortnightly frequency and the introduction of weekly food waste collections city-wide.
According to a council report this year, the “key timetable” for moving from weekly residual waste collection service to a fortnightly frequency is planned through a phased implementation. This would commence in April 2025 and conclude by March 2026, it added.
Cllr Majid Mahmood, cabinet member for environment and transport, previously said that the changes would provide Brummies “with a better waste collection service that is in line with other councils”. “I know some residents are concerned about moving to a fortnightly residual waste service, but this will not be introduced until we have the food waste collections, meaning people will have less general waste,” he said.
”There will be a phased introduction and we will be communicating all the changes to residents”. Birmingham bin workers will also be on strike for 12 days from early in 2025.
4) Car parking charges at beauty spots
Views of the Birmingham skyline from the Lickey Hills
(Image: Jacob King/PA Wire)
The council is proposing to introduce car parking charges at three Birmingham beauty spots – Sutton Park, Lickey Hills Country Park and Sheldon Country Park. An initial three-week informal consultation was met with backlash however, with Conservative councillor David Pears (Sutton Trinity) describing the proposed charges as “unfair”.
The Labour-run council said that as part of the budget for 2025/26, the “principle of charging was agreed” to achieve necessary savings and “help sustain, protect and maintain” the city’s 660 parks and green spaces. Cllr Majid Mahmood, the cabinet member for environment, said Birmingham has “fantastic” green spaces across the city, including major parks with “great facilities”.
“But we need to be able to maintain them for the benefit of everyone,” he said in a statement.
5) ‘Tough decisions’
After 2024’s distressing budget at Birmingham City Council, some residents may be feeling a sense of dread when it comes to the next one. The council’s leader recently said he wanted less emphasis on service cuts as 2025’s budget approaches – but warned more “tough decisions” could be on the horizon.
“We’ve still work to do to bring the budget fully back into balance,” he said in November. “We’re reliant on Exceptional Financial Support still which effectively means we’re in a deficit budget situation. The priority has to be ensuring our income meets our outgoings.”
He continued: “One of the challenges that we’ve laid down to the council and to [Joanne Roney, managing director] is we want to see more emphasis on efficiency and transformation, and less on the impact on frontline services. The salami slicing of services is not a long-term solution – we need to see a more fundamental transformation.”
“That doesn’t mean there won’t be some tough decisions we’ll still need to take,” he added. “But it has to be around how we change the way we do business, become more efficient and more technological adept.”
6) Adult day centre closures
A recent protest outside Harborne Day Centre/Birmingham City Council leader John Cotton
(Image: James Cross/Nick Wilkinson/Birmingham Live)
Controversial plans to close four adult social care day centres in Birmingham sparked anger and dismay in 2024. A meeting in October saw tempers flare as family members and carers of service users angrily interrupted a cabinet meeting to condemn the leadership at the city council.
Cabinet members were considering proposals to close the following adult social care day centres – Beeches GoLDD, The Fairway, Harborne and Heartlands. They were also recommended to approve the relocation of services to five remaining day centres, with a report saying that this could take place next March.
Such centres provide support and opportunities to make friends and gain new skills for those with learning and physical disabilities, autism and dementia. Cllr Rob Pocock, who is overseeing the council’s transformation, said: “We need to save on costs and the remaining centres need to be fully utilised.
“Citizens using our centres have said they want to have a wider variety of activities outside the day centres and this is what we are also developing, as part of a more modern 21st century service”. He said the package as a whole meant anyone wanting to use a council day centre would still be able to and that no staff were being made redundant.