Government minister responds to calls for Army amid Birmingham bin chaos

The city council declared a major incident over the bins strike chaos earlier this week, with an estimated 17,000 tonnes of uncollected waste sparking fears over rats and public health.

The bleak situation, triggered by a dispute between the council and Unite the union, has left some residents living next to massive heaps of rubbish while some areas have not had a bin collection in six or seven weeks.

The council said declaring a major incident would allow the authority to explore what further support is available from both neighbouring authorities and the government.

Darren Jones MP, the chief secretary to the treasury, was visiting the HS2 Curzon Street Station today, April 3, when he was asked what support the government can actually provide.

He also downplayed the idea that the Army would clean Birmingham’s streets, despite calls to consider this option by Ayoub Khan, Independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, and Roger Harmer, the Liberal Democrat group leader at the council.

“It’s right the city council have declared that major incident,” Mr Jones said earlier. “The situation with bin collections here is clearly unacceptable.

“People pay their council tax and one of the things they expect to happen is that their bins get collected routinely.

“The government is currently in discussions with the leadership here at the city council to understand what help we can give them.

“But as the Prime Minister said in the [House of Commons] yesterday, we’re happy to do whatever we can to get a grip of this and to be able to move on.”

On calls for the Army to be mobilised, he continued: “Look, the government is in conversations with the council – I’m not sure we’re going to need tanks on the ground to get the bins collected.

“I’d be surprised if that was the case but clearly we’ll do whatever we can to make sure we can help the council get a grip of the situation.”

Mr Jones also said the government was taking the major incident declaration “very seriously” and it will do what it can to resolve the situation “as quickly as possible”.

Issuing a statement as the major incident was declared, Birmingham City Council leader John Cotton previously 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.

“I want to thank residents for their continued patience under difficult circumstances and the community groups who have been working hard within their communities to help with clear-up.”

The council said this week that declaring a major incident would initially allow it to:

Quickly increase the availability of street cleansing and fly-tip removal with an additional 35 vehicles and crews around the city.

Work with partners to better manage the risks the city is facing, including health and fire risks and allow for increased data and intelligence sharing.

Initially this will be focussed upon ‘support to allow its vehicles to safely exit and enter depots’.

Explore what further support is available from neighbouring authorities and government to assist in managing the situation.

The council’s plans to scrap the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) role is at the centre of the dispute, which has split opinion among Birmingham’s residents.

“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,” Unite national lead officer Onay Kasab said previously.

But Councillor Majid Mahmood, the council’s cabinet member for environment, said recently that council had made a “fair and reasonable offer”, adding: “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.”