Figures in italics denote difference to 2012 figures

Birmingham Pupils

15,011 parent/carers submitted an application requesting a reception place for their child for September 2013 prior to the closing date of 15 Jan 2013 (down 17)

33,151 preferences were expressed (down 442)

10,568 (70.5%) applications were made on-line* (up 2,777 / up 18.2%)

•    12,849 (85.6%) were offered their first preferred school (up 0.3%)
•    1,106 (7.4%) were offered their second preferred school (down 0.3%)
•    421 (2.8%) were offered their third preferred school (up 0.1%)

14,376 (95.8%) were offered one of their preferred schools (up 0.1%)

635 (4.2%) were offered a school that was not one of their preferences (down 0.1%)

516 (3.4%) were offered a school outside Birmingham (up 0.2%)

* 31 children with a Statement of Educational Need cannot apply on-line

Non-Birmingham Pupils

370 parent/carers who live in another local authority applied for Birmingham schools for their child for September 2013 (down 27)

513 preferences were expressed (down 53)

Of those 370 applications, 169 children (who live in another local authority)  were offered a Birmingham school.

•    153 (41.4%) were offered their first preferred school (down 1.2%)
•    7 (1.9%) were offered their second preferred school (down 1.9%)
•    8 (2.2%) were offered their third preferred school (up 0.2%)
•    1 (0.3%) were offered their fourth preferred school (down 0.2%)

How did BCC discover pork contamination in Halal Products?
As part of the recent meat adulteration issues Birmingham City Council (BCC) Environmental Health have submitted a number of samples to the laboratory to test for the presence of horse meat. In addition all the samples were then tested for the presence of other undeclared meat species. Over 200 samples of meat products, including Halal products have been submitted for testing.  Sampling has been targeted at small and medium size enterprises (SME) retailers to complement the work being done by the large retailers via the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

What products were affected and where were they discovered?
The product contaminated with pork protein was Humza Brand Chicken Burgers in packs of 20 with a best before date of 10th May 2013. This was discovered in two separate samples.

Did BCC have any other adverse results from the samples taken from other businesses?
•    three beef/venison burgers from three different non Halal butchers shops were found to contain pork DNA.
•    Beef burgers manufactured in Birmingham were found to contain horsemeat in four separate tests, all products in the batch were recalled.
•    three products were found to contain horsemeat, two of these were above 1% and have been referred to the FSA for further investigation.

What did BCC do when the pork contamination was identified?
Immediately that the contamination was identified BCC contacted Roshan Foods and ordered a recall of all affected products from retail outlets supplied. In addition a press release was issued to advise consumers about the contamination and what action they should take. This has been backed up with further media activity giving a clear message that the chicken burgers detailed above were contaminated with pork proteins.
BCC also referred the information to the Food Standards Agency and the authorities in Somerset to allow for investigation at the manufacturing company.

Where were the Chicken Burgers made and whose responsibility is it to ensure they are not contaminated?
The Humza chicken burgers were manufactured by a company in Somerset and purchased by Roshan Foods. At their premises in Birmingham the burgers were re-packed into Humza brand packaging. The manufacturing company in Somerset should ensure that any product they produce is not at risk from any cross contamination, and it is the duty of the authorities in that area to check their procedures. Roshan Foods are responsible for any products they pack and distribute, they should satisfy themselves that the company in Somerset are reputable and able to fulfil their requirements.

What does approval mean?  Did BCC approve Roshan Frozen Foods to re-pack the products from Somerset?
Roshan Frozen Foods are approved under European Community (EC) Hygiene Regulations to manufacture certain meat products, they are also approved to re-package other meat products. The approval is strictly related to hygiene matters and not the composition of any meat products. No specific approval was given for Roshan to purchase burgers from the company in Somerset, they can purchase products from any EC approved manufacturer. It is Roshan’s responsibility to decide where to purchase products from and to ensure those products meet their requirements.

Did BCC approve the products from Somerset as Halal? When a business claims their products are Halal what is the role of BCC in ensuring this is true?
BCC have not approved the products originating from the company in Somerset as Halal, as we have no authority to do that. Any products marketed as Halal in Birmingham are subject to the same checks as mentioned above, ultimately it is the responsibility of Roshan Foods to ensure the products they pack as Halal meet the relevant criteria, they should seek assurances or certificates to confirm this.

When officers are undertaking routine inspections of food premises, where a claim of Halal is made, checks are made to verify this in accordance with Food Standards Agency guidance.  This would include for example, any certification, traceability records, product labelling and local knowledge of suppliers.  Where any suspicion arises, officers will make further enquiries which may involve communication with the FSA and other local authorities.

This could lead to more detailed investigation resulting in formal action. BCC has recently undertaken a major investigation into Halal claims which are the subject of on-going legal investigation relating to potential fraud, misdescription and food labelling issues.  We have been supported by the FSA to carry out this work.

What role does the authorities in Somerset have, and the Food Standards Agency?
Sedgemoor District Council Environmental Health carries out hygiene inspections of the Somerset Company and will approve them under EC hygiene regulations. Somerset County Council Trading Standards will investigate any mis-decription or deliberate adulteration issues occurring at the Somerset company. The Food Standards Agency will lead on any nationwide recall of products.

What further action has been taken by BCC to reassure the community about the true nature of Halal labelled meat?
Further formal samples were taken from Roshan Frozen Foods of Humza products, all have come back clear of pork contamination.

We will continue to investigate any incidences where consumers are being misled or contamination is identified, including the taking of formal action if necessary. It is this vigilance that identified the recent reported problem, resulting in decisive action being taken by the city to alert consumers.

In addition the city council has devoted more than half of our sampling programme this financial year to detecting undeclared meat species in meat products. This will of course include the testing of Halal products for pork contamination.

Ends.

Winter Maintenance is divided into three priorities:

Priority 1 – Strategic Routes Hierarchy

Priority 2 – Main Distributor Hierarchy

Priority 3 – Secondary Distributor Hierarchy

• Emergency service preferred routes
• Frequent Bus Routes (30 minutes or less)
• Housing Estate Access Roads

National guidance suggests that certain roads should be treated, for example major roads in the city, bus routes and routes identified by the emergency services – these roads are known as the Priority Treated Network.

This Priority Treated Network in Birmingham, covers 1,200km (750 miles) and makes up almost 50% of the total length of all roads within the city. These roads are identified by a number of factors, including major roads, bus routes and routes identified by the emergency services. The routes are designed to ensure so that they are gritted as efficiently as possible. Pavements are also gritted where they are a priority, such as in the city centre.

Local volunteers from the Open Street Map project have kindly mapped gritting routes onto their map. While we can accept no liability for any errors, we’re very grateful to them for their contribution.

You can view the gritting map by visiting: http://mappa-mercia.org/gritting-map.shtml

How many roads are treated?

In Birmingham, this network covers approximately 1200 kilometres (750 miles) – nearly 50% of the total length of all roads within the city. This is about the same distance as it would be to drive from Birmingham to Berlin!

How many gritters do we have?

Amey, in partnership with Birmingham City Council, launched its winter maintenance service on 1 October 2012. This year, the service will use a fleet of 25 gritters with snow ploughs which are on 24-hour standby, seven days a week. The gritters are only one year old. There is also the possibility of calling in spare vehicles from a central Amey hub if needed.

How do we monitor the weather and decide when to grit?

A team of specialists co-ordinate the service, constantly planning gritting operations, monitoring weather conditions and sending out gritters when necessary. The new gritters use GPS technology as well as a system which records when, where and how much Amey has gritted the roads. This provides valuable information regarding salt levels, which are constantly monitored, to plan future gritting operations. The level of salt in storage is constantly monitored to ensure stocks do not run low.

What do we grit with?

We grit with rock salt mined from underground and crushed to resemble light brown gravel. Once spread and ground by traffic, it appears white on dry roads.

How many snow ploughs do we have?

One for each gritter plus 14 spares.

Which roads are ploughed when there is heavy snow?

The highway network for snow clearance of carriageways is based on the precautionary salting network. Therefore carriageways will be ploughed and cleared of snow in the same priority order as they are salted. All priority 1 and 2 roads will be ploughed until snow stops and the roads are deemed clear.

How do we determine there is enough snow to make ploughing necessary?

Ploughing is required when more than 30mm of snow is already lying on the carriageway and it is likely that temperatures will remain below zero or more snow will fall.

How often do we treat roads?

We typically grit 40-50 times per year but this varies depending on weather conditions.

When do we treat roads?

Planned gritting takes place on nights when ice is predicted on road surfaces. We try to avoid gritting during rush hours. Reactive gritting is undertaken in response to accumulations of snow and ice during very severe weather.

How many grit bins do we have?

Currently, 1260 grit bins are provided across the city as an aid to road safety rather than as an aid to free movement of vehicles. They are an additional measure to gritting with gritters and are not an alternative to the gritting of the conventional routes.

Who can use the grit bins?

They are provided as a self-help facility for road users, usually near places that could be hazardous – such as busy junctions, steep hills and sharp bends. The salt is for use on the public highway only. It is not for private areas such as drives and garden paths. Rock salt is widely available from DIY stores and builders merchants for private use.

During what period are the gritters ready go out?

• The winter maintenance programme operates between the beginning of October and the middle of May each winter.
• A fleet of gritters is on 24-hour standby, seven days a week.

How do we know there is enough salt on a road or more salt needed?

• We have fitted all of our gritting fleet with GPS technology together with a system that electronically records when, where and how much Amey has gritted the roads. This provides valuable information regarding salt usage to help plan future gritting routes.
• We also operate a road weather monitoring system that provides salt measurement readings on the road network.

How long does it take to grit all of the roads we treat?

Within an hour of call-out, gritters are fully loaded and on the road. It takes 3-4 hours to grit the whole of the priority network in Birmingham. Difficulties can arise when roads are obstructed by traffic or parked cars.

Who do we work with to ensure the best results?

• There are Seven Urban Authorities within West Midlands conurbation: Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton. Icelert displays the sites of seven authorities plus HA Area 9. A Forecast Service is provided by MeteoGroup (Contract with Dudley MBC on behalf of all Seven West Midlands Authorities who then share the costs). This ensures we have relevant assistance/easy liaison in poor weather conditions. It also enables us to compare policies, plans and the recognise a need for joint press statements if necessary.
• We also use the Twitter hastag #wmgrit bringing together relevant tweets from across the region.

What is Icelert?

• Iclert is a road weather monitoring system which the West Midlands was one of first areas to use. There are 27 Icelert outstations owned by seven West Midlands Authorities across the region plus those owned by HA Area 9.
• A messaging system is used to inform neighbouring authorities and emails and SMS messages are automatically generated.

How does grit work?

Salt lowers the freezing point of moisture on the road surface. It helps prevent ice from forming and melts existing ice or snow. If it rains, the salt is washed away and roads need to be re-treated. In very cold weather (below –6°C) even salt will not prevent roads from icing.

How does snow affect the salt?

• Salt is spread before snow fall. It will not stop snow settling, but helps prevent snow sticking to the road surface and so speeds up melting with the action of car tyres moving over it. During continuous snow fall more salt is spread to reduce the depth.
• We are able to plough deep accumulations of snow but for every 50mm that falls in Birmingham, 1.4 million cubic metres of snow has to be cleared. That’s enough to fill 22 Rotundas!

What happens if streets are swept after the road has been gritted?

• In the case of severe weather, some services, such as street cleansing, will be suspended to avoid the salt being cleaned off the roads.
• Text messages which are automatically generated and sent informing key Amey and Birmingham City Council staff of gritting, are also used to text sweeper drivers to ensure sweeping is not undertaken following salting operations.

Can residents request their road be gritted in the event of bad weather?

During severe weather we receive lots of residents asking for their roads to be gritted – please remember that it is not possible to grit every road or footway in the city. Work has to be prioritised and private and/or unadopted roads are not treated.

Which pavements are gritted?

• Pavement gritting is focused on areas where it is most needed, such as the core of the city centre and other major shopping areas.
• When severe weather conditions persist, every effort is made to clear snow from pavements around shopping centres, hospitals, and railway stations.

Why do more potholes appear during very cold weather?

• Potholes form more quickly after periods of snow and ice. Long periods of freezing weather can cause a continuous ‘freeze/thaw cycle’ that puts deteriorated road surfaces under extreme stress. Water gets into cracks and holes in the road surface which then freezes and expands – causing potholes to form.
• Once a pothole forms, it can rapidly grow through continued traffic driving over and dislodging more and more road surface. If a pothole fills with water the growth may be accelerated as the water washes away loose particles of road surface as vehicles pass. Badly formed joints in utility company trenches can fail and lead to potholes even in relatively new surfaces.

What are we doing to prevent and repair them?

The work is carried out on a worst-first basis, and the programme will mean that large volumes of potholes will become a thing of the past on Birmingham’s roads. Safety is always our priority – some of the factors in determining the severity of a pothole are the size and depth of the hole and the volume and speed of traffic on the affected road.

A team of highways inspectors, enquiry officers and highways stewards, our eyes and ears on the streets are all responsible for locating and identifying potholes and other problems on the road. Our dedicated teams operate 24/7, 365 days a year. If the pothole presents an immediate danger to the travelling public it is passed directly to an Incident Response Vehicle crew who will attend and ‘make safe’ within the hour. These potholes are then included into a planned maintenance programme to allow permanent repairs to be carried out usually within 28 days.

Birmingham stage one .xls

Birmingham stage two .xls

Birmingham ward verification figures .xls

PCC ballot box contents .xls

Polling stations by electoral area .xls

Stage one results (all constituencies) pdf

Stage two results (all constituencies) pdf

Annual Audit Letter

Today the Council is publishing its Annual Audit Letter 2011/12. This is written by the Council’s External Auditor and is an important element of the governance arrangements of the Council, giving the Auditor’s independent assessment as to whether the Council has the proper arrangements in place for the conduct of its business, and that public money is safeguarded and accounted for.

The main conclusion of the report is that it is satisfied with the Council’s arrangements for securing value for money, with a qualification regarding the increasing impact of equal pay claims. However, the Annual Audit Letter is clear that the Council continues to manage is finances well, with a positive performance in its budgetary control for 2011/12, and has a continued focus on the delivery of this year’s savings plans.

The Auditor recognises that this is being achieved in a very difficult environment given the financial pressures on the Council, the impact that the Government grant reductions have had and the level of savings that the Council has made.

The Auditor has recognised that the new political leadership has set out its policy vision, with a focus on tackling inequality and promoting social cohesion, a renewed focus on the creation of a prosperous city, and a drive to involve local people and communities in public services. It also recognises the speed in which the Council has restructured itself under the new administration to deliver this agenda.

The Auditor states that the Council continues to provide a good level of service, and that in many instances services have improved. Notable service achievements quoted are:

• the improvement in GCSE results with 61 per cent of 16 years olds achieving 5 A-C GCSE grades including English and Maths
• the delivery of all safeguarding targets in adult social services
• building a number of new homes under its affordable homes programme, and delivering the decent homes standard
• reducing the level of waste sent to landfill
• reducing the number of delayed discharges from hospital
• a reduction in teenage pregnancy rates (although they are comparatively high)
• continuing with its regeneration programme throughout the City

Despite the positive results, however, the Annual Audit Letter notes that there remain service areas where continued action is necessary by the Council, in particular, the Council’s Safeguarding of Childrens Services which continues to perform inadequately (as detailed in the recent OFSTED report).

The Audit Letter also says that last year spend per young person on Children’s Social Care was below the comparator authorities average and that the Council needs to consider the level of resources alongside its response to the OFSTED report. The Council is presently considering the implications of the Auditor’s latest Value for Money work in its preparation of its budget for 2013/14 and its future year’s financial strategy.

The Auditor says that we need to continue to focus on:

• ensuring value for money in adult social services where the expenditure per head is comparatively high to that of similar authorities
• ensuring it is achieving value for money from aspects of its expenditure in children’s education, such as home to school transport
• ensuring it has appropriate governance over the housing revenue account following the introduction of HRA self financing
• reducing worklessness (as unemployment remains high within the region)
• • improving levels of recycling, and reducing the costs of waste collection services
• reducing sickness absence (where performance remains below target).

Regarding the Equal Pay Value for Money qualification, the Council shares the Auditor’s concern about the increase in equal pay claims against the Council, which impact on its financial resilience and the resources available to deliver services.

The Council’s accounts from 2006/07 to 2011/12 reflect combined actual and potential Equal Pay settlements totalling £757m (including the effect of recent case law) and this liability could increase further if more claims are received by the Council. The affordability of this presents a major challenge to the Council.

The Council has recently announced that it expects to have to make savings increasing cumulatively to over £600m per annum in the 6 years period from 2011/12 to 2016/17, around 48% of the total spending over which the Council has control, with over £120m of this to be delivered next year in 2013/14. Equal Pay is one of the major cost pressures included in these projections. The Council needs to borrow to make Equal Pay payments, repaying the debt over twenty years. We forecast that by 2015/16 the Council may be paying around £75m per annum to finance this debt.

The Council’s liability has also been considerably worsened by the developments in Equal Pay case law. Recently, the Supreme Court has delivered its decision that Equal Pay cases can be brought not only in the Employment Tribunal, where the time limit for bringing these claims is six months, but also in the Civil Courts where the time limit is six years. As a result of this decision, which was a majority decision by three judges to two, there is a further potentially significant cost implication for the Council, and indeed for other public and private sector employers.

As well as the service issues, the Annual Audit Letter reviews our financial performance for last year and says that “given the level of financial challenge, the Council has managed its finances well in 2011/12”. The Audit Letter says that we have a comparatively high level of borrowing but recognises that the increase in the year was largely due to the Government’s implementation of the HRA self financing system (the extra debt costs are offset by the Council no longer having to pay a share of rent income to the Government).

Regarding the Council’s Accounts, the Annual Audit Letter recognises that financial statements presented for audit were a significant improvement on the previous year’s and that the late production of the 2011/12 statements beyond the statutory timescales represented a balanced approach between deadlines and quality.

The Auditor plans to report the outcome of his audit of the Accounts to the Council in February 2013.

Overall the Annual Audit Letter has 5 recommendations for which the Council has put an action plan in place. This is a significant decrease on the 14 recommendations made for the previous year, recognising the improvements made by the Council.

Draft Statement of Accounts 2011/12

At the same time as the audit is underway, the Council must make its draft accounts available for public inspection and this period starts today and runs until 7 December.

• Annual Audit Letter
• Draft Statement of Accounts 2011/12

Birmingham’s Level 4 figures for reading, writing and mathematics:
4% increase to 85% in reading
4% increase to 78% in writing
3% increase to 82% in mathematics

In all cases this improvement takes Birmingham above last year’s national averages.  This is as a result of changes in the Key Stage Two assessment framework, whereby the writing test was discontinued and replaced by teacher assessments. This came into effect this year – 2012.

The proportion of pupils achieving level 5 or above (the expected standard for 14-year-olds) has also improved.

Birmingham’s Level 5 figures for reading, writing and mathematics:
8% increase to 44% in reading
1% increase to 19% in writing
5% increase to 37% in mathematics

For the first time, more than one third of Birmingham pupils achieved a level 5 in mathematics.

When looking at reading, writing and mathematics combined, Birmingham has improved by 7% to 71% for Level 4 or above and 1% to 13% for Level 5.

These improvements have lifted Birmingham above the last year’s national average for Level 4 or above and brought Birmingham in line with last year’s national average Level 5 figure.

In previous year’s schools have been judged against their performance in English and Mathematics combined, but due to changes in the assessment framework this information is not yet available for this year.

Please note, that for Level 4 and 5 only 25% of writing assessment results are currently available.

The new administration has made localisation one of the defining features of its policies for how the city is governed.

Constituency committees, introduced in 2004 with cross party political support, have in effect been disestablished and replaced with revamped District Committees.  The new Committees have considerable new responsibilities and form part of a raft of changes that are being made to the way the City is governed.  The new arrangements for the Council Executive have fewer Cabinet posts held at the centre and a strengthening of the executive powers locally through the ten District Committees.

Each local area will have a District Committee Chair whose position will be confirmed at their first meeting.

Edgbaston – Cllr Bruce Lines (Con, Bartley Green) – 18 June 2012

Erdington – Cllr Penny Holbrook (Lab, Stockland Green) – 19 June 2012

Hodge Hill – Cllr Ansar Ali Khan (Lab, Washwood Heath) – 20 June 2012

Perry Barr – Cllr Mahmood Hussain (Lab, Lozells & East Handsworth) – 21 June 2012

Hall Green – Cllr Habib Rehman (Lab, Springfield)  – 26 June 2012

Selly Oak – Cllr Karen McCarthy (Lab, Selly Oak) – 5 July 2012

Northfield – Cllr Peter Griffiths (Lab Kings Norton) – 6 July 2012

Ladywood –  Cllr Yvonne Mosquito (lab Nechells) – 10 July 2012

Sutton Coldfield – Cllr Anne Underwood (Con, Sutton Four Oaks) – 16 July 2012

Yardley – Cllr Sue Anderson (Lib dem, Sheldon Ward) – 26 July 2012

Where the old Constituency Committees were directly responsible for around £4m of local services, new District Committees will be responsible for greater resources with additional key services devolved for Housing Management, Youth Services and Adult Education.

The delegations held by the Constituency Committees for refuse and street cleansing and parks will also be beefed-up with clearer and stronger accountabilities to District Committees. In addition, a number of other council services will need to account for their performance to these Committees.

Constituency Committees have often duplicated the role of the council’s 40 Ward Committees, as the council bodies responsible for engaging local communities in a dialogue about their area.  The new governance arrangements mean that Ward Committees will be afforded the sole responsibility for direct engagement with residents and community groups.  District Committees are strategic bodies with significant resource responsibilities.  They will paly a key role in holding service providers.

It is planned that District Committee meetings will be held in the Council House.  These key decision-making bodies will be able to access more efficiently the legal, financial and professional support services necessary to make them function.  It will also facilitate greater engagement of representatives from partner organisations, who,  realistically, would not be able to engage with ten different parts of the city.

District Committees have three distinct roles:

1.    Assessing the needs of their area, typically for around a 100,000 population, develop service plans and/or commission services and monitor these services and the associated budgets

2.    Influencing key partners and the voluntary and community and private sector with the aim of improving local areas

3.    Working alongside Ward Committees – four per District, to engage with the public and range of local stakeholders.

District Committees will help save valuable resources, cutting down the number of meetings and the costs of the bureaucracy for serving these and enabling District Committees to channel resources into front line services that make a difference.  It has been calculated that the overall costs of servicing the Council’s new governance arrangements is less than it was previously.

Committees and their Chairs (who will be Executive Members for Local Services) will be at the heart of decision-making in Birmingham.  Their executive members will have rights to sit at the council’s Cabinet and speak about how decisions affect their area.  They will also be able to influence how city-wide decisions take into account the needs of local areas.

With more responsibility, power and influence than before, District Committees will  be properly serviced in line with the status of key decision-making bodies.

Ward Committees will be expected to carry out the key role of holding public meetings and engaging with residents and local stakeholders supported by community chest funding.  Elimating a tier of bureaucracy and red tape which will produce savings overall. Underneath the Ward level the council will enable neighbourhood level activity reaching out to people where it makes sense to them in their own patch.

Details on those leading the various portfolios and committees can be found by visiting the following links:

• Cllr Sir Albert Bore is Leader.
• Cllr Ian Ward is Deputy Leader.
• Cllr Tahir Ali is Cabinet Member for Development, Jobs & Skills.
• Cllr Steve Bedser is Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing.
• Cllr John Cotton is Cabinet Member for Social Cohesion and Equalities.
• Cllr Brigid Jones is Cabinet Member for Children and Family Services.
• Cllr James McKay is Cabinet Member for a Green, Safe and Smart City.
• Cllr Stewart Stacey is Cabinet Member for Commissioning, Contracting and Improvement.

Pictures of the new Cabinet members

Scrutiny Committees

Regulatory and other committees

District Committees

•    15,028 parent/carers submitted an application requesting a Reception Class place for their child for September 2012 (up 179)

•   32,709 preferences were expressed (down 1,180)

•   7,791 (52.3%) applications were made on-line* (up 22.2%)

•    12,821 (85.3%) pupils were offered their first preferred school (up 0.1%)

•   1,150 (7.7%) pupils were offered their second preferred school (up 0.2%)

•   408 (2.7%) pupils were offered their third preferred school (up 0.2%)

•   14,379 (95.7%) pupils were offered one of their preferred schools (up 0.5%)

•    649 (4.3%) parent/carers have been offered a place at school that was not one of their preferred schools. This compares will 707 pupils (4.8%) in April 2011.

•    478 (3.2%) were offered a school outside Birmingham (down 0.2%)

Extra – district pupils:
•   195 (49.2%) children who live in another local authority were offered a Birmingham school (up 5.5%)

•   397 parent/carers who live in another local authority applied for a place in a Birmingham school for their child for September 2012 (up 113)
•    566 preferences were expressed (up 168)
•   169 (42.6%) were offered their first preferred school (up 3.9%)
•   15 (3.8%) were offered their second preferred school (down 0.1%)
•  8 (2%) were offered their third preferred school (up 1.3%)
•   2 (0.5%) were offered their fourth preferred school (up 0.1%)
•   1 (0.3%) were offered their fifth preferred school (up 0.3%)

•    The remaining 202 pupils were offered either a higher preferred school or allocated a school not of their preference by their home authority (such as, the authority in which they live).

Ends

A comparison to the current year’s Council Tax is as follows:

A breakdown, on a band-by-band basis, is as follows:

The ratification of the latest budget means that for six consecutive years Birmingham City Council has increased its share of Council Tax bills below the rate of inflation.

Between 2006/07 and 2010/11, Council Tax was increased by 1.9 per cent for five years in a row.

In 2006/07 this was equal to inflation (after the Consumer Prices Index was retrospectively lowered), while for each subsequent year the increase has been below inflation.

In both 2011/12 and 2012/13, a Council Tax freeze has been approved.

Useful links:

http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/council-tax