Bankrupt Birmingham council spends £400K on diversity staff

Bankrupt Birmingham City Council is spending almost £400,000 on diversity staff despite having a gap in its finances worth hundreds of millions.

Freedom of information data show the Labour-run council spent £388,000 on the salaries of employees in equality, diversity and inclusion roles in 2022-23, up from £356,000 the previous year.

That includes the £100,000 salary of its diversity tsar – despite residents now facing a 21 per cent council tax increase after it was forced to declare effective bankruptcy in 2023.

The authority is making cuts of £300 million, including slashing arts funding to zero, selling 11 community centres and increasing burial fees by up to £263.

Rachel Maclean, the Tory party’s deputy chairman, said the “astounding” spending was a “waste”.

“Wherever Labour runs things, they run them badly,” she said. “This is the latest in a litany of financial mismanagement.

“It is astounding that even after driving Birmingham’s finances into the ground, they continue to waste so much of other people’s money.

“No matter where they are in power, Labour has no plan to deliver for local people and cannot be trusted with taxpayers’ cash.”

Shaun Bailey, the Tory MP for West Bromwich West, said: “This is the same old Labour, where diversity chiefs are prioritised over hardworking families.

“The Labour Council has failed Birmingham on a colossal scale, slashing essential services while they waste eye-watering sums on woke nonsense,” said Mr Bailey.

“Only the Conservative Party will deliver on local people’s priorities.”

Council tax in Birmingham rose by 10 per cent this month and will rise by a further 10 per cent next year – adding £350 to average bills.

The authority issued a Section 114 notice in September last year, meaning it had to halt all new spending, after facing equal pay claims of up to £760 million and an £80 million overspend on an under-fire IT system.

Independent commissioners were brought in by Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, to help run the council, which also owes almost £3 billion to lenders.

The TaxPayers’ Alliance has previously found that almost £52 million of taxpayers’ cash has been spent by local authorities on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) roles in the last three years across the country

Benjamin Elks, its grassroots development manager, said: “Birmingham has been caught bang to rights prioritising the diversity industry over their residents.

“Devastating cuts have been made to services along with huge hikes to council tax, yet EDI rabble-rousers continue to rake it in.

“Council bosses across the country, but particularly in Birmingham, should review these roles and see if the necessary functions can be absorbed into existing roles.”

A spokesman for Birmingham City Council said: “We are a more diverse nation than ever before and Birmingham is a super diverse city which is one of our strengths.

“It is only right that organisations in both the private and public sectors ensure they are meeting the needs of everyone they serve and in the case of councils, there are legal duties and requirements under the Equalities Act, a piece of central government legislation, that must be adhered to.”