News: Birmingham City Council - Angela Rayner ‘open to representations’

I raised Birmingham’s public services and local government funding in Parliament earlier today.

Following the election, a new approach is needed to the relationship between central and local government. While there are real challenges to address in Birmingham, the terms of Michael Gove’s intervention are leading to some of the deepest local government cuts in any authority - on top of the loss of 6 out of 10 council staff.

It is welcome that Angela Rayner said that she wanted to take a constructive approach to Birmingham after years of Brummies being treated as political footballs. She offered to listen to a local case for a different approach to the intervention, which I will be taking up along with other local representatives.

My press release is below:

BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL - ANGELA RAYNER ‘OPEN TO REPRESENTATIONS’

Commitment given in response to question in Parliament today 

Angela Rayner, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, said today that she was open to ‘any representations that’ Birmingham City Council might want to make, in response to a question on funding and the Government’s statutory intervention. 

She also stated that she ‘had no interest in using Birmingham and its people as a political football.’   

The comments were made in response to a Parliamentary question by Laurence Turner, Labour MP for Birmingham Northfield, who asked what assessment the Department has made on the potential impact of the intervention on the provision of public services by Birmingham City Council. 

Birmingham City Council is subject to a statutory intervention under the Local Government Act 1999, following Birmingham City Council’s issuing of a Section 114 notice in September 2023.

The Council’s non-statutory services are planned to be subject to significant cuts in the 2025/26 under the terms of that intervention.  

Commenting on Angela Rayner’s commitments, Laurence Turner said: 

“Birmingham endured some of the sharpest cuts in the country under the previous Conservative government. 

“While difficult conversations lie ahead, there is a very strong case for looking again at Michael Gove’s intervention so that we can put the city’s public services on a more sustainable footing. 

“There was a welcome change in tone today from the new government. I was glad to secure a commitment from Angela Rayner that Ministers will engage constructively with representations on alternative ways forward.  

“I will work to make sure make sure that the strongest possible case is made for sustainable funding and Birmingham’s vitally important public services, including in Northfield.”  

Note:

Angela Rayner said today that:

“He is right to highlight the cuts that Birmingham has faced under the Tories and unlike previous ministers, we have no interest in using Birmingham and its people as a political football. We cannot avoid the need to make difficult decisions, but I want to work with the council leadership as well as the commissioners, and of course are open to any representations they want to make.”