Autumn Statement means tax rises and spending cuts
Councillor Ian Ward, Leader of Birmingham City Council, responds to the government’s Autumn Statement.
Last month, the Government’s ‘mini-budget’ send the UK economy spiralling. This was just 55 days ago, and the impact of the statement by the now former Chancellor and Prime Minister piled on the misery for Birmingham families who were already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. Today, I am afraid that the new Chancellor has made things even worse.
Working class people right across this city are having to pay for Government mistakes and further increases in council tax will only add to the burden for hard-pressed families across the country. But the Government is putting councils in an impossible position - we either increase council tax or cut the services that the most vulnerable will increasingly rely on in the coming months.
And the reality is that an additional 2 per cent in Birmingham would raise around £8 million – this wouldn’t event cover our increasing costs for energy next year – which stand at £18 million.
This is a sticking plaster from a government that has run out of ideas and has decided to balance the budget by passing the buck onto local authorities across the country.
Councils were there for our communities throughout the Covid pandemic and we're doing everything we can to help people through the cost-of-living crisis. We care for your children, parents and grandparents. We're on the frontline of the climate crisis, we educate, house and support people in every single community and when times are hard, the demand for our support increases. Councils and the millions of people they support didn't crash the economy, so they shouldn't be the ones to pay the price. Austerity failed in the decade from 2010 and it will fail once again.
Here in Birmingham, we will continue to do all that we can to keep our services running, and to support our communities through the coming months. We are working with community organisations across the city to provide Warm Welcome Spaces, and we are helping people to claim the benefits to which they are entitled.
Despite the challenges ahead, I want to make it clear that Birmingham City Council is on your side.
This blog was posted on 17 November 2022.
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