Despite significant concerns from opposition councillors and local residents to plans to cut day centres in Birmingham, a request to “call in” the Labour Cabinet’s decision at this month’s cabinet meeting has been denied.
The official reason given is that the cuts Labour chose to put forward in their 2024/25 budget needed to be delivered without delay to meet the terms of the exceptional financial support package agreed following the last year’s bankruptcy notice. However, ahead of the Cabinet meeting, Lead Commissioner Max Caller had been clear in comments that the proposals were the Labour Administration’s alone and that as long as it delivered a sustainable, balanced budget, equivalent alternative savings would meet the requirements of the intervention notice. Moreover, the concerns raised in the call-in request from the Conservative Group, did not question the need to make savings but the nature of these specific proposals, the impact on residents, and the risk of legal challenge, with the subsequent delay and additional costs that would bring.
The cuts to day centres used by vulnerable adults and their carers, comes after numerous attempts by Birmingham Labour over several years to cut the service dating back to 2016. These attempts were thwarted first by legal challenges and then the covid pandemic, but local conservatives have been raising concerns throughout this period that the Labour Administration were overseeing the managed decline of the service to enable to them to push through what they have always wanted – the closure of the centres. This approach led to concerns that the outcome of the consultation was always predetermined, and the rejection of the call-in will simple add to that feeling.
Cllr Deirdre Alden (Con, Edgbaston), Shadow Cabinet Member for Transformation, Governance and HR, said:
My heart breaks for the service users of day centres, it really does. They and their carers already made clear in the consultation and public campaigns on day centres that they did not feel heard or seen in this process, and that their voices seemed not to matter to the Administration. So much so, that several were moved to openly address the last cabinet meeting and tell the members there how much they relied on day centres. For our call-in to be denied will just solidify to those people – who deserve our help and support – that this Administration is not listening to the public, and is happy to treat every major decision affecting people's lives as a box-ticking exercise. It’s just wrong.
Cllr Matt Bennett (Con, Edgbaston), Shadow Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care, added:
It is sad but predictable that Labour are showing contempt for backbench councillors and for all those Birmingham residents who took part in the sham public consultation. It is clear they intend to force through every bad decision with none of the democratic checks and balances designed to ensure good governance.
The call-in process exists to improve decision making by giving backbench councillors the opportunity to highlight concerns and flaws in major decisions taken by the Executive. Deciding, on pretty dodgy grounds, that they don’t have to listen to those concerns and flaws doesn’t make them go away.
The Labour Council are now taking the view that none of their budget-cutting measures can be challenged and subjected to scrutiny. If they intend to keep their heads firmly in the sand then we can fully expect the next few years to be just as disastrous as the last decade.
