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The 2025 Budget — promoted as a plan for “growth” and “fairness” — leaves many of Birmingham’s communities still waiting for the meaningful changes that would make a difference. Across our city, people are dealing with rising costs, pressure on family finances, and overstretched local services. And while this Budget offers some welcome signs of intent, it does not yet deliver the sustained, community-centred investment our neighbourhoods need to thrive.
What we welcome
A commitment to rebuilding public services at the national level. The acknowledgement that services need reinvestment is a step forward – but that reinvestment must reach cities like ours.
- Signals of intent on economic fairness. The government’s willingness to address inequality more openly, for example with the removal of the two child benefit limit and the introduction of the High Value Council Tax surcharge, creates space for communities to push for deeper reform.
- Recognition that parts of the country have been left behind by successive governments for too long. Could this be the opportunity for places like Birmingham to make the case for the resources and powers we need?
Where the Budget still falls short
Household budgets remain under strain. With tax thresholds frozen and several taxes rising, many families will continue to see their disposable income squeezed. For communities already juggling rising rents, childcare costs and everyday essentials, this Budget brings little immediate relief.
- Local services still lack secure, long-term funding. Birmingham is still without a clear path to stable resources for youth services, social care, libraries, neighbourhood programmes and housing support — all of which are vital to a resilient city.
- No strong framework for local economic renewal. Despite the language of growth, the Budget does not provide enough long-term investment to strengthen local businesses, support community-led initiatives or create secure, well-supported jobs.
What Birmingham needs next
Decision-making shaped by people who live there, giving communities meaningful influence over how funding is allocated and how services are designed.
- Investment that strengthens neighbourhoods, supporting community organisations, local enterprises and the social infrastructure that keeps people connected through hubs, green spaces and community assets.
- A strategy that expands opportunity, with investment in training and skills, secure jobs, affordable housing and services like SEND provision that help people build stable futures.
- A fairer tax system, ensuring those with the broadest shoulders contribute more so that communities can rebuild.
- Devolution plans and funding that gives Birmingham City Council the stability to plan and deliver high-quality services.
Economic Justice Brum believes in the power of our communities and the resilience, imagination and solidarity shown across this city give us real hope. This Budget may fall short, but it could give Birmingham the chance to organise, to advocate, and to press for an economy that truly works for everyone.
We’re looking for a brilliant Freelance Network Meeting Facilitator to join the Economic Justice Brum movement!
Over the past two years, we’ve been bringing together people and organisations across Birmingham: community groups, campaigners, researchers, policymakers and people with lived experience of economic injustice, to build a fairer local economy.
Now we’re ready for the next phase. We want our network meetings to be even more engaging, inclusive and energising so we’re looking for a skilled facilitator with a long-term commitment to Birmingham and its people to help make that happen.
If you’re great at bringing people together, designing participatory events, and creating spaces where everyone feels valued and heard this could be the role for you.
– Freelance: approx. 2 days a month
– Flexible working
– Contract length: up to 2 years
– Deadline: Midday, 24 November 2025
– Interviews: 1 December 2025, in Birmingham
Full invitation to tender and details on how to apply (PDF) ⬇️
Let’s keep building the movement for an economy rooted in justice, equity and community power. Please share with relevant networks!
Are you acting with other campaigners, activists and community organisers in Birmingham to change and transform systems that harm people, cause injustice and further economic inequalities? Would a grant of up to £50,000 over two years help you act to make lasting change a reality? Our Economic Justice Brum Act to Change fund might be for you! Find out more.
We are recruiting a Learning Partner for Barrow Cadbury Trust’s Economic Justice Programme
The Opportunity in Summary
We wish to appoint a new Learning Partner to our Economic Justice (Birmingham) Programme, to track learning outcomes for the period to the end of March 2027, supporting us and us and our partners to learn from and iterate the programme as we go along so it has maximum impact. We are looking for something more than a standard evaluation: we hope that our learning partner will walk alongside us and our partners as we deliver the programme, learning with us about what works, reflecting on how we approach systems change, and helping us collectively to achieve maximum benefit over the lifetime of the programme and beyond. The following document covers the background to the programme and our Learning Framework, our intended outcomes, and provides an overview of the detail required in any proposal submitted.
We expect the Learning Partner to:
- Have a creative, constructive approach to learning;
- Be based in Birmingham;
- Demonstrate a broad competence and understanding of DEI practice; and,
- Be prepared to operate in an engaging, collaborative, innovative manner with the different groups within the EJB movement.
We will shortlist up to three potential Learning Partners to present their proposals in person in Birmingham on 9 April.
Apply to Debbie Pippard, Director of Programmes, Barrow Cadbury Trust [email protected].
The deadline for receipt of applications is 09.00 on 3 April 2025. We expect the selected partner to start work in April 2025.
Please take a look at the brief, for more information.
We have no vacancies at present.
Financial Inclusion in the UK 2024
The Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management (CHASM) at the University of
Birmingham was commissioned by the Financial Inclusion Commission to undertake a rapid review of financial inclusion. This report provides the findings of that work, focusing primarily on evidence published between January 2022 and March 2024 due to the significant changes in the economy in recent years, including COVID-19 and the cost of living crisis.
The full review looks at financial inclusion both in terms of the types of products and services
required and the groups of people most likely to be excluded, before making suggestions for
potential approaches to tackle exclusion – preferably within the framework of a national strategy.
This annual overview highlights key findings and possible approaches – again with the intention that these
are incorporated into a national strategy for financial inclusion.
Creative Brief: Birmingham Economic Justice Alliance Branding and Communications
24 July 2024
Introduction:
The Economic Justice Alliance (EJA) is a catalyst for realising economic justice in Birmingham. Formed of campaigners, community groups, civil society organisations, and communities impacted by economic injustice, the Alliance supports shared visioning and analysis while celebrating and bolstering the diverse strategies, actions, and tactics we need to win real change.
Birmingham’s economy touches its citizens’ lives in dozens of ways each day. From access to safe, affordable housing, nourishing food, to good jobs, sustainable healthcare and other public infrastructures, economic change is possible on many fronts. It needs to transform to meet the needs of Birmingham’s communities – and we need strong relationships and a shared vision of the future to meet the scale of the challenge ahead of us. By working, imagining, strategising, and acting together, we’re accelerating the pace of economic change in Birmingham.
The EJA is a growing and evolving ecosystem of groups connected by a shared commitment to economic justice. While the groups and participants vary in size, focus area, and strategies, we come together to support a shared vision to improve the lives of people in Birmingham.
The Alliance has recently developed a communications strategy and following on from this it will be launching a new website and other external communications. Ahead of this it is commissioning a creative design project to develop its brand identity and create supporting assets.
Objective:
Develop the creative tools to enable the communication and implementation of the EJA’s strategy in Birmingham.
Create a distinctive brand identity with supporting assets, gaining audience understanding of the mission and theory of change and attracting their engagement.
What is a key thing our audience(s) will believe after seeing this work?
The Economic Justice Alliance gives us a place to build the skills, relationships, and strategies we need to make Birmingham a better, fairer place to live.
Scope of work
We are looking for a branding and communications agency or individual designer that can take a broad and collaborative approach to the project. This involves working with key players at the Barrow Cadbury Trust, People’s Economy (the Alliance’s appointed communications partner) and the Alliance’s steering group to develop a suite of brand and communications assets including:
- Creative brand assets such as a logo, fonts, colour palette, social media branding, creative brand templates (including newsletter assets, documents and powerpoints), website architecture and wireframes, brand guidelines guidelines, illustration, digital assets and iconography.
We have already developed a communications strategy including defined audiences, audience value propositions, tone of voice and a storytelling model that will support this work and be provided to whoever is appointed upon project initiation.
Applications
We welcome applications from freelance designers and brand and communication agencies, ideally based in or with a strong, demonstrable connection to Birmingham and communities experiencing economic injustice. We are looking for applications from people or organisations with experience and track record of working within social impact and social movement contexts.
Timeline
The deadline for expressions of interest is 11:59pm Sunday 18th August.
We will shortlist 3-5 expressions of interest to take forward and reach out to request any further details we require and schedule an interview on w/c 26th August. A decision will be made shortly after with the intention for work to begin in early September.
Submitting a proposal
We are looking for proposals from agencies or individuals explaining:
- Why you are well-placed to carry out the work
- A description of how you would approach the project, including approaches to consulting relevant stakeholders and the number of feedback rounds
- A description of key deliverables that would be provided upon completion (see ‘Scope of Work’ for what we would like to see delivered)
- The resources you have to give to the project (ie staff or freelancers)
- Details about the staff or freelancers on the project including your links to Birmingham and/or communities experiencing economic injustice
- What you need from the Alliance and relevant stakeholders to complete the project
- Timescales – i.e. how soon you could carry out the work if a tender was awarded
- Links to and/or details of relevant recent examples of other similar work you have carried out, in particular in social impact and social movements contexts
- Details of any experience and relevant skills in designing for accessibility
- A detailed quote for the work you propose to carry out
The deadline for expressions of interest is 11:59pm Sunday 18th August. Email to Fatima Iftikhar [email protected].
Budget
£10,000 (inclusive of VAT)
At Barrow Cadbury Trust, we’re working to build an economy that delivers more for people and planet – so we’ve joined forces with dozens of organisations in the Future Economy Alliance to push this up the political agenda.
Today we’ve been in Parliament to launch a new report on the national policy change needed to better support our growing movement and create a stronger, fairer, greener economy. You can read all the details in our ‘Business Plan for Britain’ on the Future Economy Alliance website.
We’re calling on the next UK Government to recognise the importance of working for a purpose beyond profit and make this mission-led approach the national norm. An estimated four million of us work in social enterprise and other mission-led organisations; we’re living proof that business can be a force for good, and we need those in power to unleash our full potential.
It was heartening to see influential people taking an interest at the House of Lords this morning – including cross-party MPs, national journalists and economic think tanks – but publishing this report is just the start. We’re determined to make this a priority for the General Election and beyond.
Arvinda Gohil OBE, chair of the Future Economy Alliance, commented: “Millions of us across the UK work in mission-led organisations that show the way to a stronger, fairer, greener economy. We just need those in power to unleash the full potential of our movement, so that this way of working becomes the national norm. With government and business working in partnership, we can build an economy where all of society profits.”
Lord Victor Adebowale CBE added: “It’s exciting to see champions of change coming together from all business sectors across the UK, united in the work to fix our economy. As a mission-led entrepreneur myself, I hope this message will ring loud and clear in the halls of Westminster: Business as usual isn’t working; we need a new business plan for Britain.”
Barrow Cadbury Trust is very pleased to announce the appointment of Anna Fielding as the Learning Partner for our Economic Justice programme. Anna is a strategist, researcher and facilitator, with a specialism in economic systems change.
She has 20 years’ experience of working for social, environmental and economic justice, across civil society, purpose-driven business, philanthropy and academia, and she has played an important role in the UK’s new economics sector for over a decade.
Anna has specialist training in evaluation and learning for complex systems change, which she combines with a commitment to equitable evaluation, participatory research methods, and critical pedagogy. She has designed and facilitated learning programmes for small and large non-profit organisations, social innovation initiatives and public sector partnerships, and she coaches individuals and teams to embed impact planning and assessment in their work. We are very pleased that she will be bringing all these skills to bear as we develop and deliver our economic justice work.
Can involving the public in economic policy-making help the UK tackle the cost-of-living crisis?
An innovative new project sought to answer that question by offering a group of UK citizens the opportunity to create their own fiscal policy recommendations addressing the challenges of soaring living costs.
The Citizens’ Economic Council on the Cost of Living saw 39 members of the public come together for a series of workshops over a three-week period, drawing on insight from leading economic experts to support their discussion. They worked through various policy scenarios on spending, taxation and public investment and developed principles that they felt were important for government to factor in to decision-making.
The Council’s final recommendations included:
· Crisis-response spending packages should focus on outcomes for the most vulnerable first;
· Windfall taxes are an appropriate response to windfall profits, but investment and small businesses should be protected;
· Taxation should be made fairer by rewarding work and focusing the burden more on unearned income and wealth;
· Targets for national debt/deficit reduction should not stifle state investment strategy.
The study, designed to test the potential of deliberative democracy in UK economic policy, was led by King’s College London and Ipsos.
Dr Christopher Holmes, project director, said: “Economic policy decisions taken now will affect every UK citizen for years to come. That’s why it’s important to find new ways for citizens to be properly represented in the debate.
“In our current era of populism and political polarisation, it’s urgent that we try to rebuild trust in the policy-making process. The Citizens’ Economic Council showed how we might actually do this at a national level.”
Reema Patel, project manager, said: “The democratisation of economic policy is crucial if people are to feel part of the important decisions economists make. Deliberating about issues such as the cost of living, tax, spend and investment is central to creating a more inclusive and participatory future for economics.”
Deliberative democracy seeks to strengthen democracy by embedding ordinary citizens in decision-making processes, and the research team hopes that experiments such as the Citizens’ Economic Council will become a permanent feature of the political landscape in the UK. Experiments in other countries including Ireland and France have shown that such approaches can increase trust in democracy among citizens and foster greater openness to the views of others. The project has received funding from the Friends Provident Foundation and Barrow Cadbury Trust and is overseen by an advisory board which includes Sir Robert Chote, chair of the UK Statistics Authority; Lindsay Judge, research director at the Resolution Foundation; and Geoff Tily, senior economist at the Trades Union Congress. Find out more about the project.
