Plan for Birmingham – HTML Version

FRESH AMBITION AND UNITY FOR BIRMINGHAM

THE CHOICE AT THIS ELECTION

Over the last three years, under fresh Labour leadership, we have turned Birmingham City Council around. We’ve closed a £300 million budget gap, tackled the city’s longstanding equal pay liabilities, and now we’re getting on with improving the services that residents receive.

Now, we’ve got a Labour Government that is fairly funding councils, fixing the damage that was done to the city when the Conservatives stole £1 billion from our funding. With a Labour council and a Labour government working side-by-side with a Labour Mayor of the West Midlands, Birmingham finally has the stability it needs.

I am proud of Labour’s record in the city, and the pledges that we’re making to the people of Birmingham show the difference that we want to make to the lives of Birmingham residents.

We are going to put Brummies first, tackling the cost-of-living crisis, we are going to crack down on crime and anti-social behaviour, we will fix the bin service and clean up our streets, we will invest in every corner of Birmingham, restoring pride in our high streets, and we will bring unity to our city and challenge division.

At the local elections, Birmingham residents have the choice between unity and progress with Labour, or division and risk with Reform and the so-called independents. We cannot put the progress that we have made at risk by allowing people with no plan to take control of our city council.

At the elections, vote Labour for fresh ambition and unity for Birmingham.

John Cotton
Councillor John Cotton
Leader, Birmingham City Council

PLEDGE 1

PUT BRUMMIES FIRST, EASE THE COST OF LIVING AND BACK OUR KIDS

Labour is easing the cost-of-living for Brummies. We’re making fair choices to make life more affordable, put money into people’s pockets and end the scourge of child poverty. We want to give our children the best start in life, regardless of background and we’re expanding free school meals and introducing breakfast clubs in our primary schools.

We have already stepped up to tackle holiday hunger, delivering over 260,000 meals during the school holidays, but we want to go further to back our children by investing in youth services and extending library opening hours. We’re acting to prevent children from getting involved in crime and instead equipping them with the skills they need to get good jobs in our city.

WE WILL:

Expand the Free school meals scheme to cover up to 94,000 Birmingham children
Lift 60,000 children out of poverty by scrapping the two-child benefit cap
Saving families up to £450 a year through rolling out breakfast clubs in our schools
Give 35,000 Brummies a pay rise through minimum wage increase
Help 142,651 pensioners through a £575 pension increase
Help parents with 30 hours free childcare, saving up to £8,000 a year
Support our young people through the New Youth Futures Hub and invest an extra £1m in youth services
£1m to extend library opening hours — putting libraries back at the heart of communities

PLEDGE 2

CRACKDOWN ON CRIME AND ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

Everyone deserves to feel safe in their own home and on Birmingham’s streets. Whilst serious crime is coming down, everyday crime like anti-social behaviour and shoplifting is still blighting residents’ lives. It’s leaving our communities feeling less safe, so Labour is taking action to turn things around.

We are tripling the number of Community Safety Officers and giving them new powers to tackle anti-social behaviour, whilst our new CCTV cameras will catch offenders in the act and help us to bring them to justice.

We’re tackling dangerous driving and speeding too. We’ve declared a Road Safety Emergency and we’re investing in new mobile speed cameras and red-light cameras to slow traffic. Everyone should feel safe walking Birmingham’s streets.

WE WILL:

Work with the police to ensure that there is a named, contactable officer for every community to guarantee a response within 72 hours
Triple the number of Community Safety Officers with new powers to tackle anti-social behaviour
Roll out new CCTV cameras to crack down on anti-social behaviour
Roll our new mobile speed cameras, average speed cameras, and red light cameras to make our roads safer
Take action to protect pedestrians and make our roads safer for everyone
Tackle persistent offenders on our high streets through new Respect Orders
Crack down on shoplifting by scrapping the Tories’ £200 shoplifting rule

PLEDGE 3

FIX THE BIN SERVICE AND CLEAN UP OUR STREETS

For too long Birmingham’s bin service hasn’t met residents’ expectations. Your Labour council is working day and night to end the bin dispute. We’re transforming our bin service by investing in new lorries and technology to and reduce missed collections. We’ll bring back recycling and green waste and introduce weekly food waste collections.

We are investing an extra £40m in street cleaning by increasing the number of tip trucks, stepping up new flytipping crews and increasing maintenance to prevent blocked drains and flooding. We’ll make it simpler for residents to report problems with a new one-stop waste reporting service too.

We will also crackdown on fly-tipping and illegal dumping. Cowboys who treat our streets like a dumping ground will face the consequences. We’ve already increased CCTV and prosecuted offenders through the courts. But we won’t stop there – thanks to Labour’s new powers we will seize and crush the vehicles used for fly-tipping.

In the last year alone, we’ve issued nearly 500 fines for £1000 and seized 28 vehicles from offenders.

WE WILL:

End the dispute and restore a regular, reliable bin service
Bring back recycling and introduce weekly food waste collections
Invest £40m in street cleaning over three years
Roll out more mobile tip trucks and a new one-stop waste reporting service
Deploy new powers to seize and crush vehicles used for fly-tipping
Install new litter bins across the city, helping people take pride in their area
Bring back free bulky waste collections

PLEDGE 4

INVEST IN EVERY CORNER OF BIRMINGHAM & RESTORE PRIDE IN OUR HIGH STREETS

After losing £1bn of funding under the Conservatives, Birmingham is finally getting a fair deal under Labour. The Labour government is giving Birmingham a cash injection of £651m for our essential services.

Labour is investing in our neighbourhoods and restoring pride to our area. That’s £160m for eight neighbourhoods over the next 10 years, giving Brummies a say in how it’s spent. Every pound will go to things that matter most to residents.

Your Labour council will go even further by launching a new Thriving Neighbourhoods Fund, working hand-in-hand with communities to support local projects across every corner of Birmingham.

Locally we’re putting £13 million extra into pothole and pavement repairs so that Birmingham’s roads will be safer, with smoother, pothole-free journeys.

Working with Labour Mayor, Richard Parker, we’re building a transport network fit for the second city. Labour is investing £2.4bn to get the transport network we deserve. We’ll expand the Metro into East Birmingham, connecting people to the new Sports Quarter and unlocking £3bn of private investment and jobs.

WE WILL:

Deliver £180m Pride in Place funding across nine Birmingham neighbourhoods
Roll out the new Thriving Neighbourhoods Fund across every ward in the city, where residents decide how money is spent
Invest £40m in our streets over the next year, with an extra £13m for pothole and pavement repairs
Invest £2.4bn across the West Midlands in our transport network, including the East Birmingham Metro extension
Bring our bus network back into public control and cap bus fares
Expand our street cleaning to smaller high streets and shopping areas across the city

PLEDGE 5

BRING UNITY TO OUR CITY AND CHALLENGE DIVISION

Labour will unite Birmingham. We will not tolerate those who seek to divide us for political gain, pitting neighbour against neighbour. We know Birmingham is strongest when we stand together.

Only Labour can beat Reform in Birmingham and only Labour can unite our city. Labour’s values are Birmingham’s values. We will not tolerate those who seek to divide Birmingham for political gain and pit community against community.

Birmingham is a young, diverse and vibrant city and Labour will seek to unite our communities by celebrating everything our city has to offer. Whether that’s our thriving food scene, our world-class arts scene, or our booming media sector, we will champion our city and its people.

WE WILL:

Invest £1m in grassroots culture to expand access to the arts, celebrate our shared heritage, and support local venues and talent
Invest an extra £800,000 in the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, safeguarding this vital cultural asset for the next generation
Support events that bring all communities together, such as Ramadan Streets, the Christmas Market, Pride, and St Patrick’s Day