Service Reviews

What are they and what do they mean for me, my family and my friends?

What’s going on?

When people mention the Service Reviews they are talking about the fact that Birmingham City

Council is going through all of the things it does to try and see what could be changed to make things

cost less.

Why is this happening?

If you ever read a newspaper, watch TV, listen to the radio or even walk down the street you will

probably have heard that the British economy is in a pretty bad way…

The population is growing, so there are more people, particularly elderly people and children,

who need services from the government.

At the same time, the amount of money available to the government is becoming less and less as it

tries to pay back money it has borrowed from other countries in the past

What does this mean for Birmingham?

One of the ways the government has chosen to try and solve this difficult situation is by reducing the amount of money they give to local authorities,

such as Birmingham City Council.

At the moment Birmingham City Council is responsible for a wide range of services. They

range from collecting the bins, to organising the German Christmas Market.

The council are made to do some of these things by the law, but there are others which the council

has chosen to provide.

To give you an example, the council has to provide Early Years places to all of the children in the city, but the Outdoor Learning Service, which many of those children could benefit from, is something extra which the people who work for the council

and the local councillors have decided themselves is important enough to spend money on.

But isn’t the Government always trying to save

money?

What makes this time any different?

In the past the council has been able to save money by making things run more smoothly,

changing who they buy things from and reducing the number of people working in their offices.

After all this there still isn’t enough money.

In fact, the cuts which are happening now are so dramatic that the amount Birmingham City Council spends has to be cut in half in a period of 7 years.

And what does that mean?!

This means that some services which we have come to expect or even rely on will have to be

changed dramatically, or even stopped altogether.

So what happens now?

To try and make choices which are fair and which will cause as little damage as possible to the lives of people in Birmingham, the Council has decided

that three things must be at the heart of conversations and decisions:

Fairness Prosperity Democracy

FairnessProtecting the most vulnerable people in our city;

this may mean children, people who are disabled, homeless etc. Giving everybody the

chance to improve and enjoy their lives, even if they are born into a group which is often left out

of society.

ProsperityTrying to improve the way that people from

outside Birmingham view our city. Encouraging people to come here by improving the way we

run things and making it easier for businesses to do well so there will be more jobs.

DemocracyMaking sure that the views of local people are

heard and considered when decisions are being made. This should make it easier to design services in a way which will meet people’s

needs.

What do those things actually mean for people

who live here?

The council have used these three priorities to help them think about more specific things they want to make sure happen here in the next few

years:

Birmingham City Council wants to:

Support business and create jobs

Improve child protection Improve transport

Support children in care or who have special needs

Provide new homes

Support troubled familiesMake Birmingham more environmentally friendly

Improve education Reduce energy bills

Encourage healthy lifestylesUse new technology, like ultrafast broadband, to make life in the city

easier

Improve care for older people and give them more independence

Give people a say in how their services are run

That sounds like quite a lot to get done if there’s

not much money…!

YES! WE KNOW!

That’s why we need you, your friends, your family and everyone in Birmingham to help us.

The council are asking local people to speak up for the services which they can’t do without, tell us which ones they could and make suggestions

about how things could be done differently.

Could you…?

• Give us any ideas about how we could do things differently?

• Spare any time to volunteer in your community?

• Tell us about community organisations which provide similar services?

• Use your skills to help your community and your city?

Here are a few general ideas for saving money…

• Reducing the amount of money or materials wasted

• Passing a service from the council to a charity or business.

• Joining services together

• Helping people avoid problems so a service won’t be needed as much

• Stopping a service

How do I share my ideas?

There are loads of ways to have your voice heard:

Go to your local Ward Committee Meeting or contact your local councillor (see www.birmingham.gov.uk)

Give your views online at www.birminghambeheard.org.uk

Text the word ‘Budget’, followed by a space to 07786200403

Write to Service Reviews, Rm 221, Council House, B1 1BB or servicereviews@birmingham.gov.uk

Find us on Facebook or Google+ (search for Birmingham City Council)

Follow BhamCityCouncil on Twitter

The nature of Birmingham City Council is changing. Please help to make that change a positive one by getting involved in how we live

together in our city.

Find out more about the service reviews at www.birmingham.gov.uk/servicereviews

Thank you so much for reading and we look forward to hearing from you!