Birmingham to cut 28% from housing budget following bankruptcy notice

The council issued the notice earlier this month, effectively declaring itself bankrupt, over a £760m equal pay bill. 

Mr Langford said the department has been working with Jayne Francis, cabinet member for housing and homelessness, to identify in-year and future savings. 

“That work is quite advanced. The kind of percentages we’re looking at within the service are around 28% of the controllable budget.

“These are significant levels of savings that we will need to bring forward… this year and then further in 2024, 2025 and beyond. 

“It’s not easy, it’s not without risk, and it’s not without impact in terms of the services we deliver,” Mr Langford said. 

In terms of progress, he said homelessness prevention levels have “more than doubled” in the past six months, while the council has had five consecutive months of reduction of families in B&Bs. 

“So there is lots of progress. Obviously, I’m concerned… but be reassured that we’re not going to just accept that services will deteriorate because we have a more limited resource, but clearly it will become more challenging… with that level of reduction,” he said. 

Ms Francis said that it is “not all doom and gloom”.

“I do not want to lose sight of the political priorities we’ve established in terms of housing and homelessness, and I will continue to fight for those. 

“Certainly from a political perspective, we are absolutely adamant that we will protect frontline services, and make sure that those that are most vulnerable in our city… will be our priority over the next few months,” she said.