Help to Shape the Council and City’s Next Chapter
Understanding the Council and what it delivers
Before sharing your views, you can find out more below about the Council’s main responsibilities, how its budget is used, and some of the other services and support we provide.
Birmingham is the UK's second largest city, with a population of 1.18 million people.
Birmingham City Council helps to keep the city running and provides services that people use every day. This includes helping children and adults who need support, supporting education and schools, cleaning our streets, looking after roads and parks, running libraries, and helping people with housing.
In 2026/27, the Council has a budget of almost £4.8 billion to spend. Around £2 billion of this money must be used for certain services, such as providing funding to primary and secondary schools, supporting eligible residents with their housing costs, and managing and improving around 57,800 council properties.
The remaining £2.8 billion pays for Council services. Council Tax provides around 20% of this amount. This funds support for adults and vulnerable children, housing services, and essential services that keep the city running.
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Supporting Adults and Children
The Council helps many people across Birmingham every day.
- Around 13,800 adults receive care and support from the Council.
- More than 13,000 children and young people receive extra support for special educational needs and disabilities.
- Around 7,000 pupils receive help with travelling to and from school or college.
- The Council is responsible for around 2,400 children in care.
- Residents can also get advice and support across the city, including through Family Hubs, Connected Communities – Homes and Money Advice service, and libraries.
Housing Support
The Council helps people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
- Around 5,700 households are living in temporary accommodation while waiting for a permanent home.
- The Council provides housing solutions, advice, and support to vulnerable people who need help finding or keeping a home.
Looking After the City
The Council helps keep Birmingham clean, safe and well maintained.
- It looks after around 1,500 miles of roads and 3,100 miles of pavements and other footways – together, that's roughly the same distance as 177 marathons.
- It maintains more than 600 parks and green spaces and 400 play and recreation areas.
- Waste collection teams collect rubbish from around 425,000 residential properties and 35,000 commercial properties.
- The Council also helps keep people safe by checking food hygiene standards, issuing licences, tackling environmental issues (like pest control), and supporting community safety.
Supporting Communities and Birmingham’s Future
The Council helps Birmingham grow and improve for future generations. It invests in local communities, businesses and neighbourhoods through:
- Supporting people to learn new skills and find jobs.
- Helping children and young people stay healthy, safe, and achieve their potential.
- Supporting local businesses and creating opportunities for growth and investment.
- Improving local areas through regeneration, new housing and neighbourhood improvements.
- Improving transport, connectivity and public spaces.
- Managing Council land and buildings to benefit residents and communities.
- Protecting the environment through cleaner, greener and more sustainable ways of living.
- Providing libraries, parks, leisure, sport and cultural activities.