Birmingham City Council sticking with ‘rat tax’ charge despite ongoing bin strikes

The crisis-hit authority’s unprecedented budget last year included plans to introduce new pest control charges for ‘rat in garden and rat in house treatments’ – a service which was previously free.

The move proved divisive, with one Conservative councillor warning of a “golden decade for rats” during a tense debate in the council chamber.

Just over a year later and fears over rats are escalating rapidly as the ongoing industrial action leaves huge piles of rubbish piling up across the city and overflowing bins.

The situation has grown so bleak that the Labour-run council declared a major incident yesterday, March 31, saying there were rising concerns of risks to public health.

Against this backdrop, there have been calls from across the political spectrum to scrap the pest control charge for rats, which rose recently from £24 to £26.40.

The Local Conservatives, who have called on council to go further and declare a public health emergency, are among those who are against the charge, with Councillor Deirdre Alden saying: “The council has a clear statutory duty to collect waste and keep our streets clear of rats and rubbish.

“It is currently failing to do that, and it is Brummies who are being put at risk as a result.”

Earlier this year, Conservative councillor Adam Higgs described the charge as a ‘rat tax’ and told a committee meeting: “I believe that the service should be free.

“We are currently in the midst of a bin strike where residents, through no fault of their own, are not having their waste collected.”

Rebel councillor Sam Forsyth, who defied the city council’s Labour leadership over rat fears and voted against this year’s budget, has also spoken out against the charge.

“For what I hope are obvious reasons, nobody wishes to see this city overrun with rats,” she said earlier this year during a meeting. “Rats carry disease and they frighten people.”

But despite the backlash and reports of a ‘plague of rats’ from one Birmingham MP, it appears the city council will keep the controversial charge in place.

“The council continues to treat for rats for a contributory fee,” a spokesperson for the authority said.

“This is far less than the cost to deliver the service and that charged by some neighbouring local authorities.

“People can also purchase and treat themselves, as supplies are readily available in shops and online.”

Earlier this year, council leader John Cotton was asked whether the authority would consider scrapping the charge.

“Clearly we keep all of our savings proposals under review,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“We want to ensure that we’ve been monitoring the impact of any changes and that’ll certainly be something we continue to do as we go forward through the year.

Industrial action was launched by Unite over the council’s plans to scrap the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) role, described by the union as “safety-critical”.

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

“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 the council has insisted that a “fair and reasonable offer” has been made, with Councillor Majid Mahmood, cabinet member for environment, saying recently: “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.

“We’re here because we are trying to transform and modernise the service.”

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

On the major incident being declared this week, Councillor Cotton said: “It’s regrettable we have had to take this step, but we cannot tolerate a situation that is causing harm and distress to communities across Birmingham.

“Unless we declare a major incident and deploy the waste service’s contingency plan, then we would be unable to clear the backlog of waste on the streets or improve the frequency of collections.”