‘A huge step back for the city’: people in Birmingham on council budget cuts

Proposals to reduce funding for services from bin collections to social care, arts and libraries leave many worried for the future

It wasn’t long ago that the people of Birmingham were being told the city was on the brink of a “golden decade”, with record levels of investment off the back of events including the Commonwealth Games and the arrival of HS2.

Now the council has declared itself effectively bankrupt and councillors will decide on Tuesday whether to approve a range of proposed budget cuts and a council tax rise of 21% over the next two years, leaving residents worried for what the future holds.