Birmingham City Council has raised its next year saving targets by £40m, the leader of the authority has announced.
While previous plans maintained that £70m savings in 2013/14 would be sufficient, recalculations under the latest budget consultation have ascertained that at least £110m will need to be saved because of government funding cuts and cost increases.
The town hall has also declared savings planned by the previous administration are no longer deliverable, forcing additional cuts of over £30m to be made.
A series of public consultations will now take place to identify council priorities and gauge support for plans.
The local authority has emphasised that it will look to continue spending money in Birmingham and employ staff to deliver vital services.
Council leader Albert Bore said: ‘Of course the spending reductions we face were made in London not in Birmingham. Most of the money we spend comes from central government – only around a tenth is raised through the council tax. Some cuts are the direct result of decisions by government, such as changes to council tax benefits.
‘In the longer term, we estimate grants will fall by at least £310m between 2011 and 2017. At the same time we are facing increased spending pressures from inflation, the changing needs of the city’s population, changes in the law and the costs of borrowing. We think this will add a further £290m to the money we need to maintain current services over this period. So the total gap between what we need to spend and the income we receive will rise to £600m,’ Bore said.
