Birmingham's council provides services for over a million people.

Britain’s second-biggest city effectively declared itself bankrupt on Tuesday, shutting down all nonessential spending after being issued with equal pay claims totaling up to £760 million ($956 million).

Birmingham City Council, which provides services for more than one million people, filed a Section 114 notice on Tuesday, halting all spending except on essential services.

The deficit arose due to difficulties paying between £650 million (around $816 million) and £760 million (around $954 million) in equal pay claims, the notice report says.

The city now expects to have a deficit of £87 million ($109 million) for the 2023-24 financial year.

Sharon Thompson, deputy leader of the council, told councilors on Tuesday it faces “longstanding issues, including the council’s historic equal pay liability concerns,” according to the United Kingdom’s PA Media news agency.

Thompson also blamed in part the UK’s ruling Conservative Party, saying Birmingham “had £1 billion of funding taken away by successive Conservative governments.”

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“Local government is facing a perfect storm,” she said. “Like councils across the country, it is clear that this council faces unprecedented financial challenges, from huge increases in adult social care demand and dramatic reductions in business rates incomes, to the impact of rampant inflation.”

“Whilst the council is facing significant challenges, the city is very much still open for business and we’re welcoming people as they come along,” she added.

A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters on Tuesday: “Clearly it’s for locally elected councils to manage their own budgets.” The spokesperson added that the government has been “engaging regularly with them to that end and has expressed concern about their governance arrangements and has requested assurances from the leader of the council about the best use of taxpayers’ money.”

The council’s leader John Cotton elsewhere told the BBC that a new jobs model would be brought into the council to tackle the equal pay claims bill.

The multicultural city is the largest in central England. It hosted last year’s Commonwealth Games, a major sporting event for Commonwealth countries, and is scheduled to hold the 2026 European Athletics Championships.

VikingKing:
This is the type of news APC use in deceiving Nigerians into thinking that they should be content with their disastrous government.

DONT BE DECEIVED!! BRITAINS WORST IS STILL 10 TIMES BETTER THAN NIGERIAS BEST!!

VikingKing:
This is the type of news APC use in deceiving Nigerians into thinking that they should be content with their disastrous government.

DONT BE DECEIVED!! BRITAINS WORST IS STILL 10 TIMES BETTER THAN NIGERIAS BEST!!

VikingKing:
This is the type of news APC use in deceiving Nigerians into thinking that they should be content with their disastrous government.

DONT BE DECEIVED!! BRITAINS WORST IS STILL 10 TIMES BETTER THAN NIGERIAS BEST!!

captainamiedi1:
But how is their currency still very strong? What do they sell? These whole thing I don't understand at all.

Ad123:
Please dear people of Nairaland forgive me,
Have mercy on me, if I can help myself I won't be here begging for your help, please come to my aid, I've been seeking assistance on nairaland.
I'm  celestine am 31 year of age frm Enugu State Awgu L G A.I have a spine injury @ neck that has have keeps me indoor mostly for d past 15 years.It also affected my hand making me not able to use my finger normally i.e I can't pick up thing from floor.
my problem now is that life has been very difficult for us I and my aged mom.to provide feeding and some medicine is hard,
I don't have anything doing for now.living with pains and bed sore on both Buttocks and continual urine Infection,Not able to Go for
routine hospital visit due lack of funds.
Please I am pleading to well meaning Nigerians come to our aid, my mom has been sick for long due to complications of poorly manage dia-betes and BP.
I'm asking for your financial help to enable go for medical, the last doctor i see said I need to do MRI scan test, which I don't have the funds for now,pls no matter how
Small it will enable us get some medicine,food and

Celestine
First Bank