Birmingham City Council has saved £3m in the last 12 months by vacating leasehold properties.
The council announced today that its Working for the Future programme had resulted in a number of buildings being vacated, creating savings on running costs and rent.
Staff have vacated city centre leased properties including Alpha Tower, …

Birmingham City Council has signed a five-year deal with Abu Dhabi in a bid to win more overseas investment for the West Midlands city.
Council leader Mike Whitby today announced that Birmingham has signed a memorandum of understanding with the government in Abu Dhabi (pictured). Under this agreement, the Abu Dhabi …

The government must fast-track the introduction of tax increment financing (TIF) to fund new developments, according to the chief executive of Birmingham City Council.
Speaking yesterday at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, Stephen Hughes said his city should be picked as a pilot area for the scheme, which was announced …

Communities secretary Eric Pickles has said sharing staff, including planners, and merging services between councils is the future of local government.
In a speech to the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham yesterday, Pickles said that local authorities teaming up over education and planning would mean “no duplication and more productivity”.
Despite slamming …

Birmingham City Council has today revealed a 20-year plan for 16.1m sq ft of development in the city centre.
The 92-page document outlines areas where the council will focus financial and planning efforts in the face of public sector cuts.
It forms part of the council’s Big City Plan to stimulate economic …

Birmingham City Council has denied claims that it wants to sell assets including the NEC (National Exhibition Centre) to Middle Eastern investors.
Council leader Mike Whitby said yesterday that he was in talks with sovereign wealth funds about “partnership” deals that would use key assets to plug the authority’s £330m budget …

St Modwen and Birmingham City Council have submitted plans for a £5m youth centre, to be developed at the heart of the Longbridge regeneration project.
The proposals were drawn up after the council won a grant from the government’s Myplace programme, which is delivered by the Big Lottery Fund and is …

Birmingham City Council has identified £90m yearly savings on “back office” costs, which will include money earned from the sale of assets.
In an open letter to staff, the council’s chief executive Stephen Hughes said yesterday that it would need to reduce its expenditure by £330m over the next three to …

“New ways of working” is a buzz phrase among public property people who want to make their office spaces more efficient. But what does the concept mean in practice?
For Birmingham City Council, a recent challenge has been to accommodate workers from changing social care teams of differing sizes in a …

Birmingham City Council has won Homes and Communities Agency funding for 234 new homes by handing over seven council-owned sites across the city.
The council is using land worth £8.1m to secure an investment of up to £4.7m for housing under the HCA’s Public Land Initiative.
The new homes will be delivered …