Labour-run Birmingham City Council could change the time of its upcoming full council meeting due to Ramadan, GB News can reveal.
The local authority, which declared itself effectively bankrupt in 2023, is scheduled to hold the gathering from 2pm to 7.15pm on February 24.
However, the People’s Channel understands the local authority is holding discussions around changing the start time to 11am to accommodate those observing the holiest month of the Islamic calendar.
During Ramadan, Muslims do not eat or drink between dawn and sunset, with fasting taking place between February 17 and March 18 when sunset in the UK typically occurs between 5pm and 7pm.
The full council meeting will be the second this year and will see the crisis-hit local authority’s budget discussed.
Birmingham’s Conservative party leader, Robert Alden, said: “We have strongly objected to the attempts to move the budget meeting at short notice.
“This is about roles and responsibilities. Many councillors have booked time off work months ago to be able to attend and are now being expected to break their commitments at short notice.
“Labour have bankrupted the city and we will be opposing their double whammy of higher taxes for fewer services at the budget.”
The full council meeting is currently scheduled to start at 2pm
|
CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/GETTY
A Tory source told Britain’s News Channel: “101 councillors have had this date in their diaries for the past year.
“It’s no wonder that Labour want to move the meeting at short notice to try and prevent opposition councillors holding them to account.”
Birmingham City Council has confirmed talks are ongoing regarding the timing of the meeting.
A council spokesman said: “Cross-party consultation on the agenda and start time for the full council meeting on February 24 is taking place.
“This is due to be discussed and agreed by the Council Business Management Committee on February 3.”
The local authority issued a Section 114 bankruptcy notice in September 2023, preventing all spending apart from on essential services amid attempts to plug a financial black hole.
A string of causes were to blame for its financial woes, including an up to £760million bill for equal pay claims and failed implementation of a new IT system.
In a statement at the end of last year, Birmingham City Council said it was “on target to set a balanced budged in 2026/27 for the first time in three years”.
The statement read: “There is no magic fix to Birmingham’s woes.
“They have been a long time in the making, and whilst good progress has been made by the new leadership recently, there remains a lot to do.”
Meanwhile, the council remains in a long-running dispute with its bin workers over pay.
Members of the Unite union have been taking industrial action for more than a year and walked out on an all-out strike last March, with rubbish left piling up on the city’s streets.
Birmingham bin workers have been on an all-out strike since last March
|
PAThe union says a council decision to reform its waste collection service has led to a significant pay cut for many of its members.
The local authority has spent £1.1million a month on agency staff to help clear the mounting bin waste as a result of the industrial action.