End austerity....but not for the city

There can be no excuses for imposing what will be a tax-and-spend budget on the people of Birmingham, which is estimated to cost working people £500 a year. Hit all round from indirect taxation and prices from the Budget to the 10% increase in Council Tax this year and next.

Some of the good points were extending breakfast clubs for schools, building on Liberal Democrat previous actions. More money for school building, but not forgetting that the last Labour Government started and cancelled Building Schools for the Future. For the NHS, although they failed to address the issue of social care, which enables freeing up hospital beds (bed blocking as too few residential beds and cash for home adaptations), and placing enormous burdens on the cash strapped City Council. We also welcome the increase in the minimum wage.

The bad points were obviously the abolition of the winter heating fuel allowance for pensioners which will affect many residents in Sheldon. We should not forget that pensioners were “working people “. The  issue of WASPI women pensioners who have been short changed for many years, which despite kind words, Labour have failed to address, leaving 3.8 million women pensioners, short changed, due to a change in the pension age.

The loading of additional national insurance contribution on employers as the Chancellor herself admitted “It is likely to mean that wage increases might be less than they would have been”. It is also likely to hit employment prospects in small businesses.

The stated intention of the Government to increase borrowing has seen an increase in interest rates that the Government has to pay. This will mean that the Bank of England who control interest rates, will keep rates higher for longer, with the knock on effect on mortgages, higher for longer!

WHO RULES in BIRMINGHAM?

Residents will probably have read about the councils decision to reduce the number of Adult Daycare Centres in Birmingham from 9 to 4. This was agreed by Labour’s Cabinet in October. There have been two attempts to challenge this decision by members of the City Council and both have been rejected by the Lead Commissioner sent in by the previous government to oversee Birmingham‘s finances.

It brings into question who rules in Birmingham?

There has been a change in government and you would expect that there would be a change of emphasis and direction to the commissioners who were instructed by the previous government to ensure that Birmingham had a balanced budget in 2 years this was agreed by the Labour controlled council.

However it has become obvious that this balance budget is an impossibility. You would therefore expect that there would be a variation to the balanced budget period, possibly five years. If a family were facing financial crisis they would approach the building society and probably get an extension on the mortgage period, yes there would be cost to extending the mortgage, but you would retain the house and this is the situation that Birmingham City council are placed in. So far the government minister responsible despite kind words has not varied the period of the balanced-budget. Commissioners rule!