The Tory and Liberal Democrats on Birmingham city council have rubberstamped a savings plan which could lead to 2,000 job cuts at the UK's biggest local authority. The financial plan to save £69 million, unveiled two weeks ago, was formally approved by Birmingham City Council councillors at a five-hour budget meeting.
Around 120 people staged a noisy protest outside the council house in the city's Victoria Square, undeterred by the snow.
The council said it is striving to "do more for less" in a tough economic climate, but trade union Unison has accused Tory council leaders of being politically motivated, claiming that the cuts are "totally unnecessary".
The union said job losses would inevitably lead to service cuts, which would see care homes closing and place leisure and library facilities under threat.
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: "Birmingham's fragile economic recovery cannot take the double whammy of job and service cuts.
"Adding local government workers to the dole queues could spark a downward spiral, causing misery for families and the wider community."
The council said it needs to make savings to deal with "pressures" on services over the next financial year. As a result, between 1,500 and 2,000 funded posts are "likely" to be cut, it said.
Stephen Hughes, chief executive of the council, said: "Every effort will be made to keep compulsory redundancies at an absolute minimum."
This is what happens when the Tories and Liberal Democrats combine together to make major cuts to vital services. Good job they were unsuccessful in Reading tonight!
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