The GMB union, which is pursuing an equal pay claim of up to £760m against the authority, does not appear impressed by the measures.

"Birmingham City Council seem to have a plan for slashing local services, but they don't yet have a plan for settling equal pay," Rachel Fagan, GMB organiser, said.

The union, which is balloting members for strike action over what it sees as a lack of progress on the pay claim, said it now wanted government intervention to resolve it.

"City Council bosses are at pains to stress they need to find budget savings to settle historic equal pay claims, yet not a single penny of the wages stolen from working women has been returned," Ms Fagan added.

We are talking about cuts today because of the huge debts the council is facing.

It was forced to issue a section 114 notice last year, effectively declaring itself bankrupt, after facing equal pay claims of up to £760m and an £80m overspend on an under-fire IT system.

It also owes more than £2.9bn to lenders, placing it ahead of Leeds on £2.2bn and Woking on £1.9bn.

Image source, EPA

After it issued the Section 114 notice, independent commissioners were brought in to help run the council.

Council leader John Cotton has said the proposed cuts were "really difficult decisions to take".

The aim, he said, is to reduce the impact on the most vulnerable and as a result "adult social care and children's services take a much lower percentage cut."

Mr Cotton also said he was "really sorry that we find ourselves in this position".

"As I've said since I became leader some months ago, there are issues in this council that need to be fixed and I am focused laser-like on fixing those but we're also seeing a crisis raging right across local government as well," he added.

In a briefing yesterday, the council released details of how it intended to cut £150m from its budget in 2024-25 and the same amount in 2025-26.

There is a lot of detail in the proposals, but some of the key measures are:

• An overall 21% increase in council tax over the next two years
• Waste collections to become fortnightly from 2025-26
• Burial costs to increase
• Dimming streetlights to save almost £1m a year
• A cut in highways maintenance spending could save up to £12m
• Adult social care will be cut by £23.7m in the next financial year
• Savings of £51.5m for the Children's Young People and Families department
• Renegotiating children's travel contracts to save £13m a year

The authority has also said up to 600 job losses were still likely.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

Good morning and welcome to our live page on Birmingham City Council's proposed budget cuts.

We got a taste in a briefing last night of where the axe would fall, but full budget papers, external have been published overnight which go into more detail of the services facing cuts.

We'll be bringing you more detail and reaction to the measures, which include a 21% increase in council tax over the next two years, fortnightly bin collections, dimmed streetlights and up to 600 job losses.

All of this comes after the Labour-run authority declared itself effectively bankrupt last year.