Fresh wave of price rises for Birmingham council services - here's what will be affected

Leisure and sport, bereavement services, car park charges and pest control rat treatments would all be impacted under the plans being proposed by the crisis-hit city council.

It comes as the Labour-run authority reveals details of its planned budget for the next financial year, with council leader John Cotton saying it is no longer ‘bankrupt’.

Since it declared itself effectively bankrupt back in September 2023, the city council has approved unprecedented cuts to local services, hiked council tax and disposed of more than £250 million worth of ‘assets’.

But despite an enormous £300 million budget gap reportedly being closed due to such actions, residents still face a new council tax rise of around 5 per cent and an increase in fees and charges for a huge range of council services.

This would mean higher costs of keeping fit, dying, parking at key sites in the city and dealing with rats.

“The council has, like citizens and businesses, seen costs hit by high levels of

inflation due to the impact of the cost-of-living crisis,” a recently-published council document read.

“As part of the ongoing efforts to find savings to ensure the council is in a sustainable financial position, the decision was made to seek an additional 4.99 per cent increase to fees and charges where possible.”

A massive array of sports and leisure fees are proposed to go up while some parking charges could rise by as much as 25 per cent.

While the council’s pest control charges for rats are temporarily free due to the bins strike, they are planned to rise by 4.55% in the next financial year.

This particular service was free until the council’s ‘bankruptcy’ and the introduction of a charge for rats has proved particularly divisive.

A number of waste disposal services, such as garden and bulky waste, are not proposed to rise in 2026/27.

Here’s a look at just a handful of the council services affected by the proposals:

• Service/charge // gross charge 2025/26 // proposed gross charge 2026/27 // % change

• Resident fee – standard grave // £2,750 // £2,887 // 4.98%

• Resident Fee – Interment of Cremated Remains in a grave or vault // £440 // £462 // 5%

• Parking – Jewellery Quarter and Gun Zone Season Tickets (Annual – residents) // £329 // £345 // 4.86%

• Snow Hill Multi-Storey Car Park – up to six hours // £11.40 // £14.30 // 25.44%

• Dudley Street and Navigation Street Car Park – up to two hours // £4.40 // £5.10 // 15.91%

• Dropped Kerb Site Inspection Fee // £125 // £131 // 4.80%

• Fitness gym at Alexander Stadium, Billesley Tennis Centre, Nechells, Kingstanding and Saltley // £9.50 // £10 // 5.26%

• 8-day Advance Booking Leisure Card membership – Nechells // £157.50 // £165 // 4.76%

• Cricket, evening and Saturday – senior match and changing facilities // £79.50 // £83.50 // 5.03%

• General swimming (adults) – Cocks Moors Woods, Fox Hollies, Kingstanding, Stechford, Wyndley, Erdington, Sparkhill, Harborne and Northfield // £7 // £7.35 // 5%

• Weekly residential care for adults, residents Age 18 to 59 – short stay (capital savings under £23,250) // £144.13 // £151.32 // 4.99%

• Pest control – rats, all domestic treatments // £26.40 // £27.60 // 4.55%

• Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park Admission Charges – Adults // £8.90 // £9.50 // 6.74%

• Street filming (crew up to 10 people) // £80 // £84 // 5%

• Road Safety Talks/Workshops (for pupils) // £500 // £525 // 5%

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service last week about the council’s financial position, Coun Cotton said: “There’s absolutely no complacency and we’ve still got an improvement journey to complete.

“What I will say is that this council is a very different organisation to the one I took over leadership of three years ago. We now have a balanced budget without needing further Exceptional Financial Support, we’ve tackled big challenges around equal pay.”

But anger and frustration over how the council found itself engulfed by a financial crisis remains.

Robert Alden, Tory councillor and leader of the opposition, said recently: “Three years ago, the Labour administration effectively bankrupted the council. Council tax has rocketed, while services have been slashed.”

Coun Ewan Mackey added: “History shows Labour’s track record in Birmingham leads to waste, delays, and repeated crises.”

The Liberal Democrats in Birmingham echoed similar concerns, with their group leader Roger Harmer saying: “It is beyond shocking to hear that Labour, the party responsible for bankrupting our city, is now patting itself on the back and claiming to have fixed the issue.

“Birmingham’s council bosses should hang their heads in shame after the pain they’ve caused local people here.

Birmingham-specific issues contributed to the council’s financial turmoil, including the equal pay debacle and the disastrous implementation of an IT system.

Labour councillors have said funding cuts during the previous Conservative government played a significant role.