Bulky waste fee increase ‘punishes’ residents

The Labour-run city council upped the price from £25 to £35 (£33 if booked online) but said they will now take away 10 items instead of six.

But opposition groups have heavily criticised the move along with the fact garden waste collections have gone up by £10 to £50.

The Conservatives claimed Birmingham could receive an extra £45.5m in ‘spending power’ from the government next year, according to provisional figures, and questioned the need for higher charges.

Councillor Deirdre Alden, shadow member for street scene and parks, also pointed to the costly two industrial disputes with bin workers, the most recent of which cost the council around £6m.

She said the increases would hit "hard-working people in the pocket" adding: “What makes this worse is that both these charges are entirely counter-productive, as honest and decent people are punished for doing the right thing, whilst fly-tipping increases and recycling decreases, which just ends up just costing the council even more.

“The reintroduction of free bulky waste and green waste collections would be cheaper and greener for the council in the long run, which is why the Conservatives have consistently argued for this.

“Sadly this short-sighted Birmingham Labour run council have again shown themselves incapable of thinking of anything beyond their desire to tax residents more.”

Councillor Jon Hunt, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, was also critical and said: “These are ludicrous charges often levied on the frail and disabled who are least able to take items to the tip. They should go down not up.”

Bulky waste collections used to be free in Birmingham until a charge was introduced in 2014.

Critics have regularly linked the move to a growing fly-tipping problem in the city with incidents increasing from 12,348 in 2015/16 to 15,993 in 2017/18 according to government figures.

Although Councillor John O’Shea, street scene and parks chief, recently told a scrutiny committee that the issue was trending downwards slightly.

The council confirmed their intention to increase garden waste and bulky waste fees last year during the 2019/20 budget consultation proposals, stating it would generate around £840,000 in additional income for the year.

Confirming the implementation of the new bulky waste fee from today, a council spokesman said: “From October 1, the price changes to £33 if purchased online and £35 if booked by phone.

“For that, we’ll now take ten items instead of the previous six – or up to 20 bags of household waste, which can include garden waste.

“This means people can get rid of more waste in one go in an easy, legal and responsible way, using the services of a registered waste carrier rather than taking a risk of using ‘a man with a van’ who just advertises online with no credentials.

“Our new prices significantly reduce the cost per bulky item – with up to a 19 per cent saving if you make full use of the new number of items.”