Council leader says "we should be honest" as library repairs slip

The leader of Birmingham City Council has admitted the authority has "fundamental issues" with how it manages projects, after repairs to six of the city's libraries were pushed back to the new year.

A council report shows that works at Acocks Green, Erdington, Handsworth, Northfield, Small Heath and Mere Green libraries have slipped. The project is out to tender, with the evaluation due to finish by the end of October, and building work is now expected to start on site in January.

The report blames a delay in securing approval for grant funding, and the need to extend the tendering period so that it did not fall over the summer holidays.

Erdington closed for repairs

Erdington Library closed earlier this year ahead of planned structural work on its roof and windows, along with new lighting. The council has said the work will make the buildings weatherproof, deal with health and safety problems and bring them "up to a reasonable condition and extend the buildings' life". While Erdington stays shut, Perry Common Library is opening for extra hours on Fridays.

The six libraries are among those being turned into community hubs, offering advice services alongside books, under plans approved in February last year. Those plans followed a long and bitter row in 2024, when campaigners held protests across the city over cuts to opening hours during the council's financial crisis.

"Keep the pressure on"

Councillor Robert Alden, who leads the Conservative group and represents Erdington, raised the delay at a council meeting on Tuesday. "I really ask cabinet to keep the pressure on to make sure that work does happen," he said. "It's to bring back into use a number of our libraries that have got into really poor condition over the last decade and are hugely popular locally."

Over the summer he had urged the new administration to protect libraries, arguing that Birmingham has higher levels of people who cannot read than the rest of the country, and that children need access to books close to home.

The council leader, Councillor Roger Harmer, a Liberal Democrat, said the library in his own ward, Acocks Green, was still shut while the "neglect of previous years is put right".

"I think we should all just be honest around the table that this council needs to address some fundamental issues in terms of project management," he said. "We need to get better at that throughout everything we do. This administration will be focused on driving that through so when we talk about timescales, we can have confidence in them."

Councillor Chris Garghan, the Green cabinet member for finance, said several cabinet members had themselves campaigned to save libraries in recent years. He said it was important that ward councillors kept up the pressure so that the libraries received the work planned for them "and we make them as good as they deserve to be".

The coalition of Liberal Democrats, Greens and independents took over the council in the summer, after a balanced budget had been set earlier in the year. Councillor Harmer has warned that the city still faces significant financial challenges.