Government will 'do what is right' for Birmingham - Jeremy Hunt

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said he would "study carefully" any request for government help from the city council

Jeremy Hunt says the government will "do what is right" for Birmingham's residents after the city council declared itself effectively bankrupt.

But the chancellor said no formal request to the Treasury for help had been made by the authority.

All but essential spending has been stopped by the council as it struggles with a bill of up to £760m to settle equal pay claims.

"We will study carefully any request that is made," Mr Hunt told the BBC.

"In the end we will do what is right for the people of Birmingham."

The Labour-run council issued a Section 114 notice on Tuesday which formally announced it could no longer balance its books. It has since said talks will continue with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

All but essential spending has been halted by the city council

MPs from Birmingham met with Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove on Thursday to discuss the council's situation.

The Labour MP for Perry Barr, Khalid Mahmood, said while the meeting was confidential, he believed the government would have to eventually bail out the authority.

"What we've got to look at is [taking] this debt off Birmingham and the people of Birmingham and move forward," he told BBC Radio WM.

Jess Phillips MP said she felt 'there was more of this to come'

There is an £87m hole in the authority's budget for this year and it may have to spend up to £100m to fix a botched IT system.

"Tough decisions" would need to be made, the council's leader John Cotton admitted to the BBC but statutory services such as social care and waste collections would continue.

Speaking to the BBC, Jess Phillips, Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, said long-term, on-going pressures on councils meant there was "more of this to come".

"I think for a long time local government has been under huge amounts of pressure and Birmingham, it's big news because it's the biggest council, but we've seen Northamptonshire Council declare bankruptcy, we've seen Woking Council declare bankruptcy," she said.

"I'm afraid to say I think there's more of this to come and the equal pay claim that has caused this certainly isn't unique to Birmingham and I imagine will be an issue elsewhere."

In the Section 114 report, the council's interim director of finance, Fiona Greenway, said the authority would draw up a plan over the next few days.

Council leader John Cotton has insisted vital services will be protected

Ms Greenway said the plan would include a full assessment of the council's capital programme, including potentially delaying projects, and a formal request to ministers for financial help.

The authority has until 26 September to hold an extraordinary full council meeting to decide its response.

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In February, a four-year capital programme was agreed by councillors.

The planned spending included £548m on improving housing, £12.2m on the Alexander Stadium Legacy Project and £16m to improve the A457 Dudley Road.

Resident Mandi said she felt she would be punished for the council's mistakes

Residents who spoke to the BBC said they felt let down by the council and worried for the future of longstanding attractions and assets.

Among them were mum, Mandi, who said she felt she would be punished despite always paying her council tax.

She explained: "With the equal pay, this could have been sorted out a long time ago - why are we having to suffer for it?"

University of Birmingham student Thea said she was concerned about the future of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

"[It was] part of the reason I chose to study here," she said. "The museum is part of Brum's legacy and to have that gone [would be] upsetting."