Birmingham Council to Sell Assets and Increase Council Tax to Stay Afloat

Birmingham Council has announced plans to sell £750 million of assets and increase the council tax to 9.99 percent in order to balance its budget. The decision comes after the council issued a Section 114 notice in September 2023, declaring itself effectively bankrupt after it failed to settle a £760 million bill on equal pay claims. This led to commissioners, appointed by the UK levelling-up secretary Michael Gove, taking over the council, its governance and scrutiny of its financial decisions. The commissioners instructed the council to balance its budget for the next two years. A report by the council’s finance director Fiona Greenway, has listed a number of measures the local authority has to take before it can resume medium-term financial planning....