UK's 2nd biggest city is so broke they can no longer keep the lights on
June 24, 2024 7:16 PM Subscribe
The UK's second-biggest city is so broke they can no longer keep the lights on.
Birmingham was once a powerhouse industrial city but now the UK's second city is a shell of its former self as rubbish lines the streets, the lights stay out and children grow up below the poverty line.
Once nicknamed "the workshop of the world", Birmingham was an industrial powerhouse in the 18th and 19th centuries.
It's where William Murdoch invented the first gas lantern, a technology later used to light streets across the world.
But today the UK's second-largest city can no longer afford to keep its own streets brightly lit.
In September Birmingham City Council issued a 114 notice, effectively declaring it was bankrupt.
To claw back $600 million over the next two years, the council has approved a range of unprecedented budget cuts that will see streetlights dimmed and rubbish collected only once a fortnight.
The cuts will also see 25 of the city's libraries close, money for children's services slashed and a 100 per cent funding cut to the arts and culture sector by 2026.
Once nicknamed "the workshop of the world", Birmingham was an industrial powerhouse in the 18th and 19th centuries.
It's where William Murdoch invented the first gas lantern, a technology later used to light streets across the world.
But today the UK's second-largest city can no longer afford to keep its own streets brightly lit.
In September Birmingham City Council issued a 114 notice, effectively declaring it was bankrupt.
To claw back $600 million over the next two years, the council has approved a range of unprecedented budget cuts that will see streetlights dimmed and rubbish collected only once a fortnight.
The cuts will also see 25 of the city's libraries close, money for children's services slashed and a 100 per cent funding cut to the arts and culture sector by 2026.
That is, a high proportion of the population is under 25. What a way to weaken a country’s future; and I was bleakly amused that it’s still “in Europe”.
posted by clew at 9:55 PM on June 24 [4 favorites]
posted by clew at 9:55 PM on June 24 [4 favorites]
On average, people in Birmingham die three years younger than those living 160km away in London, while just under 50 per cent of all children in Birmingham are classed as living in poverty, compared to 32 per cent in the capital
And 14 years of Tory governance…. Hmmm, could there be a connection?
posted by jerome powell buys his sweatbands in bulk only at 9:56 PM on June 24 [24 favorites]
And 14 years of Tory governance…. Hmmm, could there be a connection?
posted by jerome powell buys his sweatbands in bulk only at 9:56 PM on June 24 [24 favorites]
Last nights John Oliver had that UK children have literally shrunk overall due to poorer nutrition. Threads was not supposed to be a plan.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 10:02 PM on June 24 [12 favorites]
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 10:02 PM on June 24 [12 favorites]
Last nights John Oliver had that UK children have literally shrunk overall due to poorer nutrition.
Brexit racists don't want immigrants changing Britain's ethnic makeup, but their genes will change regardless:
The Famine Ended 70 Years Ago, but Dutch Genes Still Bear Scars
Dr. Heijmans, Dr. Lumey and their colleagues published a possible answer, or part of one, on Wednesday in the journal Science Advances. Their study suggests that the Dutch Hunger Winter silenced certain genes in unborn children — and that they’ve stayed quiet ever since.
While all cells in a person’s body share the same genes, different ones are active or silent in different cells. That program largely is locked in place before birth.
But scientists have learned that later experiences — say, exposure to a virus — can cause cells to quiet a gene or boost its activity, sometimes permanently.
Brexit and Tories will literally scar Britons for generations.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:13 PM on June 24 [16 favorites]
Brexit racists don't want immigrants changing Britain's ethnic makeup, but their genes will change regardless:
The Famine Ended 70 Years Ago, but Dutch Genes Still Bear Scars
Dr. Heijmans, Dr. Lumey and their colleagues published a possible answer, or part of one, on Wednesday in the journal Science Advances. Their study suggests that the Dutch Hunger Winter silenced certain genes in unborn children — and that they’ve stayed quiet ever since.
While all cells in a person’s body share the same genes, different ones are active or silent in different cells. That program largely is locked in place before birth.
But scientists have learned that later experiences — say, exposure to a virus — can cause cells to quiet a gene or boost its activity, sometimes permanently.
Brexit and Tories will literally scar Britons for generations.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:13 PM on June 24 [16 favorites]
It's so sad to see local governments struggling to deliver the services that are in increasing demand. But I don't have much sympathy with Councillors blaming austerity measures in 2010 from having such a significant impact in 2024. There have been a lot of budgets between then and now, each of which was an opportunity to make some impact on existing and easily foreseeable problems. While local governments are always subject to broader policy ramifications, for any government to fall into bankruptcy is a clear sign of incompetence.
As always, the conservative politicians that steered Birmingham into the ditch are unlikely to need the services that will no longer be available.
posted by dg at 10:28 PM on June 24 [2 favorites]
As always, the conservative politicians that steered Birmingham into the ditch are unlikely to need the services that will no longer be available.
posted by dg at 10:28 PM on June 24 [2 favorites]
I blame Maggie
posted by philip-random at 10:44 PM on June 24 [17 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 10:44 PM on June 24 [17 favorites]
Local UK councils are not governments. The vast majority of their budget is spent implementing policies decided by central government, and they have a long list of legally mandated services they need to provide, including expensive things like social care, housing, education, etc.
In the past the mandate from central government was typically accompanied by cash to make those policies happen. But the 2010 austerity policies cut that funding and it has never been restored.
Local councils have very limited tax raising powers. The only thing they can do is sell off assets and cut back programs that aren't strictly legally required, but once they run out of those bankruptcy is inevitable. It is an inevitable consequence of central government decisions. There is no way to competence your way out of this situation.
posted by grahamparks at 12:04 AM on June 25 [61 favorites]
In the past the mandate from central government was typically accompanied by cash to make those policies happen. But the 2010 austerity policies cut that funding and it has never been restored.
Local councils have very limited tax raising powers. The only thing they can do is sell off assets and cut back programs that aren't strictly legally required, but once they run out of those bankruptcy is inevitable. It is an inevitable consequence of central government decisions. There is no way to competence your way out of this situation.
posted by grahamparks at 12:04 AM on June 25 [61 favorites]
I don't have much sympathy with Councillors blaming austerity measures in 2010 from having such a significant impact in 2024.
Why not? Austerity wasn't a one-off, it was the start of fourteen years of chronic underfunding of local government by central government. The Tories in Westminster never stopped withholding support from the rest of Britain for the benefit of the few.
posted by rory at 12:28 AM on June 25 [45 favorites]
Why not? Austerity wasn't a one-off, it was the start of fourteen years of chronic underfunding of local government by central government. The Tories in Westminster never stopped withholding support from the rest of Britain for the benefit of the few.
posted by rory at 12:28 AM on June 25 [45 favorites]
Not for a moment saying that Tory-driven austerity isn't at the root of the rot, but Birmingham council has actually been Labour run since 2012, and they've presented the "total curveball" of their £750m equal pay claims liability extremely disingenuously.
posted by protorp at 12:40 AM on June 25 [8 favorites]
posted by protorp at 12:40 AM on June 25 [8 favorites]
Thanks for posting. Adding Birmingham Poverty Truth Commission from a few years ago. The Gallery of Lost Objects is good, though hard listening.
I have family in the city, and feel a lot of pain about its hard times.
There is what looks like a great exhibition on at the city museum at the moment, Victorian Radicals, with many of the city's well-known pieces. The review in the local paper quotes the curator: "It's really exciting to see things back on the wall in Birmingham and there's been a lot of excitement. People in Birmingham have a life-long relationship with these pictures. They are like old friends". Another review in the Guardian. The museum's FAQ mentions the S114 notice briefly.
This Guardian article by Nathalie Olah talks about some of Birmingham's amazing cultural institutions which have been or are being lost, and says, "Somehow, Britain’s second city has been successfully painted as marginal by distant technocrats who know nothing of its life force and lyricism".
posted by paduasoy at 12:58 AM on June 25 [2 favorites]
I have family in the city, and feel a lot of pain about its hard times.
There is what looks like a great exhibition on at the city museum at the moment, Victorian Radicals, with many of the city's well-known pieces. The review in the local paper quotes the curator: "It's really exciting to see things back on the wall in Birmingham and there's been a lot of excitement. People in Birmingham have a life-long relationship with these pictures. They are like old friends". Another review in the Guardian. The museum's FAQ mentions the S114 notice briefly.
This Guardian article by Nathalie Olah talks about some of Birmingham's amazing cultural institutions which have been or are being lost, and says, "Somehow, Britain’s second city has been successfully painted as marginal by distant technocrats who know nothing of its life force and lyricism".
posted by paduasoy at 12:58 AM on June 25 [2 favorites]
Birmingham isn't the only place in Britain with rubbish all over the streets, graffiti everywhere, and roads full of potholes. It wasn't like this in my first nine years of living in the UK from 2001–2010.
Sure, there are specific local factors that have made things especially difficult in Birmingham, by the look of it. But from protorp's link (emphasis mine):
Central government grants to local councils were cut by 40% in real terms between 2010 and 2020, at the same time as demand for services such as child social care increased. After 14 years of cuts, nearly one in five councils now believe it is “fairly or very likely” they will become insolvent in the next 15 months.
Central government grants to local councils pay for the NHS and for government schools, which educate 94% of British children (or 96% in Scotland, 98% in Wales and 99% in Northern Ireland).
posted by rory at 1:04 AM on June 25 [16 favorites]
Sure, there are specific local factors that have made things especially difficult in Birmingham, by the look of it. But from protorp's link (emphasis mine):
Central government grants to local councils were cut by 40% in real terms between 2010 and 2020, at the same time as demand for services such as child social care increased. After 14 years of cuts, nearly one in five councils now believe it is “fairly or very likely” they will become insolvent in the next 15 months.
Central government grants to local councils pay for the NHS and for government schools, which educate 94% of British children (or 96% in Scotland, 98% in Wales and 99% in Northern Ireland).
posted by rory at 1:04 AM on June 25 [16 favorites]
Yeah, this particular council bankruptcy is very much related to terrible, hard-to-understand-as-anything-other-than-malevolent decisions taken over equal pay claims.
(It's also worth noting that a lot of other councils, who were not mendacious and stupid in their financial decisions, are also on the precipice of bankruptcy. It's not like Tory austerity hasn't been and ins't a problem, it's just that Brum fucked the dog on their own at the same time.)
Unrelated to anything, it is hilarious seeing the article consistently mention "task and finish". That must be a back-translation into office-ese of the actual term the staff'll use: job and knock.
posted by Dysk at 1:07 AM on June 25 [6 favorites]
(It's also worth noting that a lot of other councils, who were not mendacious and stupid in their financial decisions, are also on the precipice of bankruptcy. It's not like Tory austerity hasn't been and ins't a problem, it's just that Brum fucked the dog on their own at the same time.)
Unrelated to anything, it is hilarious seeing the article consistently mention "task and finish". That must be a back-translation into office-ese of the actual term the staff'll use: job and knock.
posted by Dysk at 1:07 AM on June 25 [6 favorites]
Central government grants to local councils pay for the NHS and for government schools,
As I understand it, the NHS is not generally funded through councils. Some NHS-branded public health initiatives are (e.g. STI clinics, smoking cessation services) and some adult social care (long-running council responsibility) is sometimes NHS-branded as well, but most medical treatment, hospitals and GPs, are generally not under the auspices of councils. CCGs commission a lot of services on a local level, but are an NHS administrative layer, not council.
posted by Dysk at 1:24 AM on June 25 [2 favorites]
As I understand it, the NHS is not generally funded through councils. Some NHS-branded public health initiatives are (e.g. STI clinics, smoking cessation services) and some adult social care (long-running council responsibility) is sometimes NHS-branded as well, but most medical treatment, hospitals and GPs, are generally not under the auspices of councils. CCGs commission a lot of services on a local level, but are an NHS administrative layer, not council.
posted by Dysk at 1:24 AM on June 25 [2 favorites]
Birmingham is what I consider my home turf. It has been a city of contrasts for a while now. The bankruptcy is horrid but not a surprise.
There’s a guy on IG, Colatron, whose photographs show this best. Gleaming towers, new buildings of steel and glass alongside derelict buildings left to fester and fall apart.
posted by d_hill at 1:58 AM on June 25 [1 favorite]
There’s a guy on IG, Colatron, whose photographs show this best. Gleaming towers, new buildings of steel and glass alongside derelict buildings left to fester and fall apart.
posted by d_hill at 1:58 AM on June 25 [1 favorite]
The best-governed city in the world
The problem with both the matters that have brought down Birmingham is governance.Whatever happened to 'the best-governed city in the world'? (Archive link)
The employment case was litigated and litigated, but the ongoing exposure appears not to have been properly managed. And sometimes litigants lose.
The IT procurement ended up as an exercise in constant changes to the software to match working practices, rather than the reverse. And any public sector procurement of bespoke developed software, as opposed to commercial-off-the-shelf software, will always tend to go badly.
The ultimate problem is perhaps the lack of seriousness with which local authorities are regarded and the lack of seriousness with which councils are run. More than in 1890, our political culture is dominated by Westminster and Whitehall. We are an over-centralised polity. We do not take local government seriously enough to give councils significant powers and adequate resources and tax-raising abilities. And we do not take local government seriously enough for the powers and resources and revenue-raising abilities that local authorities do have to be used well.posted by verstegan at 2:27 AM on June 25 [2 favorites]
As I understand it, the NHS is not generally funded through councils.
Oh, right. Thanks for the clarification, Dysk.
posted by rory at 2:33 AM on June 25 [3 favorites]
Oh, right. Thanks for the clarification, Dysk.
posted by rory at 2:33 AM on June 25 [3 favorites]
Outsource the responsibility to local government. Don't provide the funds to be able to deliver it. Blame the local government for the failure. It hasn't really stopped since Thatcher started it, but this many cuts for so long when things were already weakened have been savage, brutal and are destroying millions of lives
It's almost like a major party needs to say out loud that essential services cost money, and that we have to pay collectively, based on our ability to do so.
posted by onebuttonmonkey at 4:05 AM on June 25 [23 favorites]
It's almost like a major party needs to say out loud that essential services cost money, and that we have to pay collectively, based on our ability to do so.
posted by onebuttonmonkey at 4:05 AM on June 25 [23 favorites]
This IFS report shows a real terms reduction of 10% in funding from 2010 to 2024, with real terms spending per capita down by 20%. Most of the damage was continued reductions 2010 to 2017, with flat spending for ~4 more years and then some increases but still not to the level of 2010.
Some councils do considerably worse than this average. Of course Sunak has bragged about taking money from deprived areas to give to wealthier Tory areas.
posted by biffa at 4:05 AM on June 25 [2 favorites]
Some councils do considerably worse than this average. Of course Sunak has bragged about taking money from deprived areas to give to wealthier Tory areas.
posted by biffa at 4:05 AM on June 25 [2 favorites]
The ongoing compensation payouts over the mishandled equal pay cases, and their failure to actually fix the many related issues was what caused Birmingham specifically to hit bankruptcy, but many other councils are not far behind them.
Nearly one in five council leaders in England now say they are likely to declare bankruptcy within a year, mainly due to huge cuts to government funding, the main income for councils, along with a big spike in costs/lost secondary income due to Covid. Council tax has gone up 30% in real terms to try and fill the gap (a very regressive tax), but many councils have basically had to shutdown nearly everything except legally mandated services, and even they are cut to the bone. Absent a major boost to council funding post election, Birmingham is just a taster of what's coming.
Nearly one in five council leaders in England now say they are likely to declare bankruptcy within a year, mainly due to huge cuts to government funding, the main income for councils, along with a big spike in costs/lost secondary income due to Covid. Council tax has gone up 30% in real terms to try and fill the gap (a very regressive tax), but many councils have basically had to shutdown nearly everything except legally mandated services, and even they are cut to the bone. Absent a major boost to council funding post election, Birmingham is just a taster of what's coming.
The fall in spending power is largely because of reductions in central government grants. These grants were cut by 40% in real terms between 2009/10 and 2019/20, from £46.5bn to £28.0bn (2023/24 prices). This downward trend was reversed in 2020/21 and 2021/22 as central government made more grant funding available to local government in response to the pressures of the pandemic. Though even including Covid grants, the fall in grant income was still 21% in real terms between 2009/10 and 2021/22; without, the fall was 31%.posted by Absolutely No You-Know-What at 4:35 AM on June 25 [4 favorites]
They're really showing those darn immigrants! This is guaranteed to keep them from coming to Britian!
posted by nofundy at 5:04 AM on June 25
posted by nofundy at 5:04 AM on June 25
This is all the more reason to vote against Labour on July fourth. They're promising to continue this austerity. They'll win anyway, but the greater their majority, the more they'll argue they have a mandate to increase suffering.
posted by Audreynachrome at 5:29 AM on June 25 [4 favorites]
posted by Audreynachrome at 5:29 AM on June 25 [4 favorites]
Actual Brummie here and there’s quite a lot of evidence that the equal pay excuse is something of a smokescreen as laid out in this Birmingham Despatch article -
https://www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/p/secrets-lies-and-a-botched-it-system?utm_source=publication-search
Many fingers are pointing to the insanely incompetent implementation of the Oracle IT ERP system and the active cover ups by council officials.
This is not to say that austerity isn’t the main cause of local government pain and hasn’t had horrific effects in Birmingham over the last 14 years.
posted by brilliantmistake at 9:20 AM on June 25 [7 favorites]
https://www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/p/secrets-lies-and-a-botched-it-system?utm_source=publication-search
Many fingers are pointing to the insanely incompetent implementation of the Oracle IT ERP system and the active cover ups by council officials.
This is not to say that austerity isn’t the main cause of local government pain and hasn’t had horrific effects in Birmingham over the last 14 years.
posted by brilliantmistake at 9:20 AM on June 25 [7 favorites]
When a system spends a while near collapse it’s hard to say which of the last stresses was “the” intolerable one.
posted by clew at 9:27 AM on June 25 [4 favorites]
posted by clew at 9:27 AM on June 25 [4 favorites]
I love to blame Thatcher for everything, but will give some blame to Larry Ellison as well. I’ve had some terrible experiences with Oracle ERP systems. Pretty hard to do your job when half your time is spent fighting with the business system.
But you can’t do more with less in the long term, even if your business systems work. I also think in the last decade The decline of local media and nationalization of politics has taken away focus on good governance at the local level.
posted by CostcoCultist at 9:51 AM on June 25 [4 favorites]
But you can’t do more with less in the long term, even if your business systems work. I also think in the last decade The decline of local media and nationalization of politics has taken away focus on good governance at the local level.
posted by CostcoCultist at 9:51 AM on June 25 [4 favorites]
Outsource the responsibility to local government. Don't provide the funds to be able to deliver it.
Yep, there's a lot of this. My wife is Chair of Governors for a local school (I guess the equivalent in the US would be heading up the school board); she tells me that that they are always being squeezed of funds but still being required to perform their statutory duties, and that after 14 years there are no more savings to be made through "efficiency". IIRC, last year the government gave teachers a 5% pay rise (hooray!) but said they were only funding 3%, so it was up to the schools to find the rest.
This kind of thing means fewer school trips and after-school activities, no money to update books and equipment, and building maintenance being pushed into the future.
They've burned all the fat, and now they're burning muscle.
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 12:15 PM on June 25 [11 favorites]
Yep, there's a lot of this. My wife is Chair of Governors for a local school (I guess the equivalent in the US would be heading up the school board); she tells me that that they are always being squeezed of funds but still being required to perform their statutory duties, and that after 14 years there are no more savings to be made through "efficiency". IIRC, last year the government gave teachers a 5% pay rise (hooray!) but said they were only funding 3%, so it was up to the schools to find the rest.
This kind of thing means fewer school trips and after-school activities, no money to update books and equipment, and building maintenance being pushed into the future.
They've burned all the fat, and now they're burning muscle.
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 12:15 PM on June 25 [11 favorites]
"The city is turning out street lights at night and only collecting garbage fortnightly to save money."
To be fair, fortnightly bin collection is standard council policy in many parts of the country, mine included.
Where I live we've had no street lights throughout most of the night since 2013. This report from 2020 (.pdf, p.7) records 55% of councils adopting part-night lighting, and it's been rolled out much more widely since then.
posted by essexjan at 12:39 PM on June 25 [2 favorites]
To be fair, fortnightly bin collection is standard council policy in many parts of the country, mine included.
Where I live we've had no street lights throughout most of the night since 2013. This report from 2020 (.pdf, p.7) records 55% of councils adopting part-night lighting, and it's been rolled out much more widely since then.
posted by essexjan at 12:39 PM on June 25 [2 favorites]
I liked the daily pickup when I lived in downtown San Francisco. Yes, they collected my garbage 7 days/week.
Now, I understand daily collection is a ridiculous outlier, and not what you should expect in a normal, modern city. But the same is true for fortnightly, imo.
posted by ryanrs at 3:55 PM on June 25 [1 favorite]
Now, I understand daily collection is a ridiculous outlier, and not what you should expect in a normal, modern city. But the same is true for fortnightly, imo.
posted by ryanrs at 3:55 PM on June 25 [1 favorite]
I lived in Kings Heath, Birmingham from 2005-2012 and count my lucky stars I got out when I did (though the city's restaurant scene really bloomed for a while after I left and I do really miss the Balti Triangle).
I remember how good some services were when I was there. I used to rent DVDs from Lovefilm (a service similar to Netlfix DVD) and I would rent-rip-return. I could do this and have the DVD back in the local mailbox within a hour and it would be picked up by afternoon mail pickup. Sometimes I got three DVD mailers in a week. Good times. Now gone. Twice daily mail service is gone like so much else.
Almost all the cultural things I enjoyed while living in Birmingham had some EU funding. That funding is also now gone.
(Also kind of wild that my next door neighbor was Lord Hunt, Baron Hunt of Kings Heath.)
It's sad how Birmingham's positive trajectory of the 2000s petered out and is now turning into a hard landing with the gear up.
posted by srboisvert at 6:10 PM on June 25 [1 favorite]
I remember how good some services were when I was there. I used to rent DVDs from Lovefilm (a service similar to Netlfix DVD) and I would rent-rip-return. I could do this and have the DVD back in the local mailbox within a hour and it would be picked up by afternoon mail pickup. Sometimes I got three DVD mailers in a week. Good times. Now gone. Twice daily mail service is gone like so much else.
Almost all the cultural things I enjoyed while living in Birmingham had some EU funding. That funding is also now gone.
(Also kind of wild that my next door neighbor was Lord Hunt, Baron Hunt of Kings Heath.)
It's sad how Birmingham's positive trajectory of the 2000s petered out and is now turning into a hard landing with the gear up.
posted by srboisvert at 6:10 PM on June 25 [1 favorite]
100% cuts to the Arts; huge cuts to children's services; closed libraries: everything that can mitigate the dreariness of survival under late capitalism. The things that actually constitute civilization rather than just urban existence. This is the result of neoliberalism and the transfer of wealth upwards over the last number of years. The Tories have done a great job of destroying England; and as my family comes from Birmingham, I feel a more than just general anger over this.
posted by jokeefe at 8:04 PM on June 25 [9 favorites]
posted by jokeefe at 8:04 PM on June 25 [9 favorites]
Twice daily mail service is gone like so much else.
To be fair, that's not council. I don't think we've ever had twice daily post here. In recent times you'll be lucky if they come out once a day. I've had tracked letters land in my local delivery depot and then take weeks to reach me. This has just been normal life down the road from Brum for years now.
Obviously what's happening in Brum is awful, but it's weird to see, sprinkled into the list of terrible consequences of this, perfectly mundane things like fortnightly rather than weekly bin collection, less than full coverage of the streetlight network after a certain time, etc. It's like people are rolling the loss of some pretty unusual privileges in with the actual horror.
(I feel like this quote best illustrates that: "It's not our fault that any of this has happened, yet we're not going to have access to libraries [or] world class dance and music," [source]
Not having access to libraries is indeed bad! I get such mental whiplash from seeing it placed next to "world class dance and music" as if they are both equally essential things that it would be reasonable to expect to have access to.)
posted by Dysk at 12:09 AM on June 26 [2 favorites]
To be fair, that's not council. I don't think we've ever had twice daily post here. In recent times you'll be lucky if they come out once a day. I've had tracked letters land in my local delivery depot and then take weeks to reach me. This has just been normal life down the road from Brum for years now.
Obviously what's happening in Brum is awful, but it's weird to see, sprinkled into the list of terrible consequences of this, perfectly mundane things like fortnightly rather than weekly bin collection, less than full coverage of the streetlight network after a certain time, etc. It's like people are rolling the loss of some pretty unusual privileges in with the actual horror.
(I feel like this quote best illustrates that: "It's not our fault that any of this has happened, yet we're not going to have access to libraries [or] world class dance and music," [source]
Not having access to libraries is indeed bad! I get such mental whiplash from seeing it placed next to "world class dance and music" as if they are both equally essential things that it would be reasonable to expect to have access to.)
posted by Dysk at 12:09 AM on June 26 [2 favorites]
Not having access to libraries is indeed bad! I get such mental whiplash from seeing it placed next to "world class dance and music" as if they are both equally essential things that it would be reasonable to expect to have access to.
This. New post just up about what public libraries and librarians in the UK really do. As a frequent user of various libraries in Birmingham (not just the main one, since its opening hours were reduced in a previous round of cuts), and noticing what goes on while I'm doing my printing, that articles reads very true.
To put it another way - make more major cuts to public library services in Birmingham, and more residents will die in otherwise preventable ways.
posted by Wordshore at 6:34 AM on June 26 [3 favorites]
This. New post just up about what public libraries and librarians in the UK really do. As a frequent user of various libraries in Birmingham (not just the main one, since its opening hours were reduced in a previous round of cuts), and noticing what goes on while I'm doing my printing, that articles reads very true.
To put it another way - make more major cuts to public library services in Birmingham, and more residents will die in otherwise preventable ways.
posted by Wordshore at 6:34 AM on June 26 [3 favorites]
I've been living in Birmingham since 1996, and working for local councils in and around the conurbation since 1988 (not Birmingham, though), including three out of four of the adjacent Black Country councils. It's distressing to hear about what's happening just next door - it's scared a lot of local councils to see the biggest council outside London fail so comprehensively.
While Oracle has been linked to the ongoing financial traumas (as has the decision to host the Commonwealth Games and the hugely expensive infrastructure and accommodation upgrades that the council promised to deliver in time to do so - spoiler, some of it still isn't complete), as mentioned above one of the big issues has been the ongoing equal pay claims (Guardian article from 2012). However, the equal pay problems were known about even before 2006 - I was working at another local council in the early 2000s when the 1997 Single Status agreement started to be implemented, which harmonised pay and conditions for council workers, and really kicked off the whole equal pay for equal work process. Birmingham was aware of the potential costs a while before they were taken to court and did nothing to address the matter.
To be honest, I think the thought was that it would all go away - there was a sort of arrogance about BCC back then that came across at officer level as well as at the strategic level. Too big to fail ...
posted by Martha My Dear Prudence at 3:21 PM on June 26 [6 favorites]
While Oracle has been linked to the ongoing financial traumas (as has the decision to host the Commonwealth Games and the hugely expensive infrastructure and accommodation upgrades that the council promised to deliver in time to do so - spoiler, some of it still isn't complete), as mentioned above one of the big issues has been the ongoing equal pay claims (Guardian article from 2012). However, the equal pay problems were known about even before 2006 - I was working at another local council in the early 2000s when the 1997 Single Status agreement started to be implemented, which harmonised pay and conditions for council workers, and really kicked off the whole equal pay for equal work process. Birmingham was aware of the potential costs a while before they were taken to court and did nothing to address the matter.
To be honest, I think the thought was that it would all go away - there was a sort of arrogance about BCC back then that came across at officer level as well as at the strategic level. Too big to fail ...
posted by Martha My Dear Prudence at 3:21 PM on June 26 [6 favorites]
Birmingham, previously. (that link within is long broken, but a functioning version can be seen here)
posted by deadbilly at 7:47 PM on June 27
posted by deadbilly at 7:47 PM on June 27
New post just up about what public libraries and librarians in the UK really do.
To be fair, while it's great that libraries are providing the services that nobody else is, they shouldn't be, shouldn't have to be. In a just and functional society, libraries would concentrate on being libraries, and essential public services would actually be provided by other arms of the state and city.
In other words, charity and community groups have been utterly defunded, so libraries have taken on a lot of their functions. If libraries had been the thing that was cut to nothing first, maybe charity and community groups would have started lending out books. That would be no more ideal than what we have now. Neither group/institution should be trying to do both jobs.
(Specifically acknowledging that libraries, even in functional societies, do more than just lend books, and are supposed to do more. I just don't think they're supposed to be a one-stop-shop for all social services.)
posted by Dysk at 9:26 PM on June 27 [4 favorites]
To be fair, while it's great that libraries are providing the services that nobody else is, they shouldn't be, shouldn't have to be. In a just and functional society, libraries would concentrate on being libraries, and essential public services would actually be provided by other arms of the state and city.
In other words, charity and community groups have been utterly defunded, so libraries have taken on a lot of their functions. If libraries had been the thing that was cut to nothing first, maybe charity and community groups would have started lending out books. That would be no more ideal than what we have now. Neither group/institution should be trying to do both jobs.
(Specifically acknowledging that libraries, even in functional societies, do more than just lend books, and are supposed to do more. I just don't think they're supposed to be a one-stop-shop for all social services.)
posted by Dysk at 9:26 PM on June 27 [4 favorites]
Birmingham City Council is the largest local authority in Europe, has historically struggled with effective governance and an unwillingness to learn from others, and made a string of poor choices in relation to equal pay.
Birmingham is a vibrant and engaging city, genuinely liveable, with a great future.
posted by plonkee at 9:49 AM on June 28
Birmingham is a vibrant and engaging city, genuinely liveable, with a great future.
posted by plonkee at 9:49 AM on June 28
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posted by clew at 9:30 PM on June 24 [2 favorites]