Less than one week after Birmingham’s Independent Improvement Panel issued their update letter to the Government, stating that the Labour administration showed ‘insufficient understanding and ownership of the Council’s 16/17 budget and a lack of comprehensive and robust delivery plans for the budget reduction measures that were required’, a projected £49 million overspend has been revealed.
The revelation reflects the failure of Labours leadership to pay sufficient attention to its responsibility to protect public finances.
Local Conservatives have been warning, and the independent panel have confirmed, that it is poor planning on financial issues that have caused these failures in budgeting and financial management.
This £49 million black hole puts vital services at serious risk across the city, and comes at a time when library services in Sutton Coldfield are facing cuts.
Local Conservatives will continue to hold Labour to account and demand a budget that works for Sutton Coldfield.