Cllr Paul Tilsley shares his thoughts on the budget crisis and the impact on Sheldon

The new IT system which supposedly cost £20 million has escalated to £100 million. In June the council was made aware that it had outstanding equal pay claims which could cost £760 million. There is a 6 Year statute of limitations for backdated claims!

As a result of the financial situation the council has effectively declared itself bankrupt.

Over the last two years Cllr Paul Tilsley has been warning the council that its financial policies were leading us to disaster. Last year’s budget could only be balanced by drawing down £60 million of reserves to balance a net budget of £750million. In February this year the council agreed a budget, a balanced budget, but already we see that it requires £89 million from reserves to balance the budget again!

The equal pay claims date back to the last bin strike in 2017. Nirmingham Labour thought they could do a beer and sandwiches deal with the unions. They was told by the then Chief Executive that this was illegal but the council still ploughed ahead with the agreement. It reinforced the task and finish arrangements that the refuse collectors and ground maintenance employees enjoyed, In contrast to the women workers who were paid for actual hours worked, hence the equal pay claims.

It is unknown what effect this will have on services that are provided by the city council however no new contracts can be entered into and all expenditure is having to go through a rigourous examination.

Sad, for what was once described as the best run city in the world.

The police chief in New York 20 years ago, Bill Branton, developed what was known as the broken window policy which he described as a sign of a community not caring and as a consequence the appearance of New York was greatly improved, with crime substantially reduced giving people the confidence to go about their daily business.
It is for this reason that we have tackled for the last two years graffiti on Telecom boxes to ensure that residents are not confronted with signs of antisocial behaviour. The Coventry Road is a gateway to Birmingham and with local residents we try to ensure that it is a welcoming experience.Residents have rightly drawn our attention to the frontage of Morrisons store on the Coventry Road which unfortunately has been maintenance free for some time. Morrisons must remember that local residents are their customers and there is plenty of retail choices in Sheldon and we expect them to play their part in ensuring that the appearance of their store blends in with the local community.