Cabinet member quizzed on garden waste and fortnightly collections

The ongoing bin strike has continued to damage the city, with overflowing bins and enormous piles of rubbish becoming common sights across the city.

The industrial action has been ongoing since January and was triggered by a dispute between the Labour-run Birmingham City Council and Unite, the union, over the scrapping of a certain role.

The strike also means the council’s transformation of the waste service, which includes moving from weekly to fortnightly collections of household rubbish, could be delayed.

This would be a setback for the crisis-hit council, which has described its transformation plans as a key part of its recovery plan and a way to both significantly reduce costs and improve reliability.

As a result of the strike action, the authority has also been forced to refund residents who signed up for its £61.80 garden waste service this year.

Majid Mahmood, the council’s cabinet member for environment, was asked on Tuesday amid this backdrop whether there could be further financial issues along the line for the local authority.

He said: “I would like to apologise to residents who did subscribe to the green waste service.

“We are reviewing the subscriptions made, and everyone should receive a refund in the next few weeks.

“We are looking to deliver that service in the not-too-distant future, but it all depends on the industrial action that’s taking place.

“Similar with the transformation, obviously there would be a cost element if it’s delayed because that’s in the budget itself.

“But we are hoping that we can resolve this dispute.

“I urge Unite to come round the table and talk to us – we’re willing to work around the clock to resolve this.

“We can then, together, deliver the transformation of the waste service.”

Along with the move to fortnightly collections of household rubbish, weekly food waste collections and a second recycling bin specifically for recycling paper and cardboard would also be introduced.

Councillor Mahmood said: “We want to increase our recycling.  

“I don’t want to be seen having the largest council in the country and we’ve only got a recycling rate of 22/23 per cent.

“We need to be in the Champions League, not the Vauxhall Conference.

“I am more determined now than ever before to deliver that transformation.”

These major changes were set to be introduced in phases across the city from next month onwards.

Asked whether the transformation of the waste service could be delayed, Councillor Mahmood said that no decisions had been made but added that the council had to “review all the operations” due to the strike.

A council spokesman said earlier this week that the authority is still “considering its options on delaying the rollout of the transformation of the waste service as a result of strike action from Unite”.

‘Residents deserve a better waste collection service’

Unite organised the strike over the council’s plans to scrap the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer role, which it has described as “safety-critical” in the past.

“The council could end this dispute tomorrow by agreeing to pay a decent rate of pay,” Unite’s national officer Onay Kasab has said.

“The council is forcing dedicated workers onto pay levels barely above the minimum wage while undertaking a difficult and highly demanding job in all weathers.”

But Councillor Mahmood reiterated this week that the council had made a fair and reasonable offer. 

He said: “Not a single worker needs to lose a penny.

“Every worker has been offered the same grade and the same pay within the street scene division of the city council.”

“Residents of Birmingham want and deserve a better waste collection service and the restructure that Unite is opposing is part of the much-needed transformation of the service,” a council spokesman also previously said.

The authority said its routes and working practices were fully risk-assessed and health and safety was “everyone’s responsibility”.

External auditors recently highlighted numerous issues and missteps which contributed to the council’s financial crisis, such as the equal pay debacle, inadequate budget setting, poor service management, demand led pressures and the disastrous implementation of a new IT system.

Labour councillors have also pointed to the impact of funding cuts over the past decade or so.