In June 2023, it was revealed that Birmingham Labour had for months been keeping secret an equal pay liability of potentially £760 million. This colossal figure was the primary driver behind the Labour-run Council declaring itself bankrupt last September, with devasting consequences for services and taxpayers.
Recently released papers as part of their request for exceptional financial support from the government revealed that the Equal Pay Liability is now estimated to be £867m. An increase of £107m since the 28th June last year.
This increase in Labour's Equal Pay crisis liability is equal to a staggering £306 per minute since Birmingham Labour first admitted the problem existed. The failure of the Labour Administration to act on Equal Pay since June 2023 has now caused a huge increase in the price Brummies will have to pay.
Cllr Alden (Con, Erdington) Leader of the Conservative Group on the city council said,
“After first warning the Labour Administration of the equal pay risk they were creating in 2017 in the way they sought to settle then bin strike, and again warning them of risks involved in introducing task and finish practices in 2020, we have tried on numerous occasions since to get them to take this matter seriously. When the scale of the financial black hole they had created became clear to the public last June we pleaded with them again to act. Sadly Labour's failure to listen, even when the pressing need was so obvious, has potentially cost taxpayers £306 a minute, for every minute since they were first forced to come clean. This Labour Administration chose to delay acting in a desperate attempt to protect their brand. It is a disgrace that the Labour leadership, having first hidden their Equal Pay liability from the public, then wasted even more time in failing to get a grip of the issue. This now means Labour will be setting even higher taxes and providing fewer services for Brummies in the years ahead, all because they failed to act".
Cllr Ewan Mackey (Con, Sutton Roughley) Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group added
“The Labour Administration’s indecision and delay prove that no decision is the worst decision of all. It was a political choice to allow the Council’s equal pay liability to continue to grow. Let’s be clear as well, it isn’t Labour who are paying for this, it’s the residents of the Birmingham Council area who will be asked to suffer the consequences of Labour’s indecision, a double whammy of reduced services and higher council tax to bail Labour out of the consequences of their financial indecisions.”
