Birmingham residents issued bleak warning over rubbish and rats at budget debate

The Labour-run authority says it needs to make £150 million in ‘savings’ in 2025/26 amid a black hole in its finances, which could mean a second year of misery for Brummies.

Last year saw the crisis-hit council pass through an alarming wave of cuts to local services, as well as a council tax rise of just under 10 per cent, after it declared itself effectively bankrupt in 2023.

What followed was a turbulent and distressing period in Birmingham’s history as the shockwaves rippled across the city – and the council is not out of the woods yet.

Earlier today, March 4, the full council began to debate budget proposals for the next financial year which includes cuts and ‘savings’ that impact bin collections, culture, libraries, parks, street lighting, adult social care day centres and much, much more.

They include existing savings, such as the move to a fortnightly residual waste collection, as well as a number of new ones.

They also confirm that the council plans to push ahead with controversial proposals to close four adult social care day centres, introduce parking charges at three parks and cut grants to regularly-funded art organisations by 100 per cent.

After striking bin men and protesters against the cuts gathered outside the council house in Victoria Square for a demonstration, the opposition parties each put forward an amendment to the budget which they said would protect important services.

Coun Robert Alden, Conservative leader at the council, addressed concerns over rubbish and rats amid the ongoing bin strike during his speech.

Unite the union says industrial action is being held due to the council’s plan to scrap the waste recycling and collection officer role, which it described as “safety-critical”.

Coun Alden told the council chamber that the sight of litter in the streets discourages investment from Birmingham.

“Take a look along any of the arterial routes into the city, be it road or rail and you can see rubbish everywhere you look,” he said.

“This is the city that Birmingham Labour have created and the city they are showing to investors.

“Under Labour’s budget litter will go up, bins will go fortnightly and rats will spread.”

He also said that Birmingham residents face another “double whammy” of higher taxes but less services.

“In reality the only thing bigger than Labour’s budget gap is Labour’s credibility gap,” he went on to say.

On his party’s proposed budget amendment, Councillor Alden said in a statement: “Our Conservative Plan for a cleaner city would keep weekly bin collections, increase street cleaning and scrap Labour’s ‘rat tax’.

“Birmingham is an amazing place, and despite everything Labour have put the city through, we believe it can bounce back and be better than ever.”

During his speech, Green Party councillor Julien Pritchard said residents are “suffering for a crisis they did not cause”.

On his party’s proposed amendment, he said in a statement this week: “Vital services could be funded by taxing wealth.

“We’re trying to give a bit of hope and put back some funding into some of those front line services that really matter to residents.”

The Liberal Democrats at the council also put forward their own budget amendment.

Roger Harmer, leader of the group, argued that the authority was “failing its residents” during the meeting.

‘The impacts [of the council’s financial crisis] are really hitting home across the city,’ he said, adding the current bin strike is the most visible sign.

He continued that the causes of failures at the council “run deep” and go beyond the “headline disasters”.

External auditors recently highlighted several issues and missteps which contributed to the financial turmoil, including the alleged equal pay liability, inadequate budget setting, poor service management, demand led pressures and the disastrous implementation of a new IT and finance system.

But many Labour councillors have also pointed to the impact of funding cuts over the past decade or so and how councils across the country are struggling.

Similar arguments were echoed by by council leader John Cotton when he opened today’s budget debate.

He started by apologising for the impact that residents and communities have felt from the authority’s crisis over the last two years.

But he went on to say that council is now “moving in the right direction” and that recovery continues at pace.

On the proposed council tax hike, Coun Cotton said he was sorry for how it’s set to rise above the “4.99 per cent threshold” once again.

“I want to be absolutely clear – that will not be the case next year,” he added.

Coun Cotton also took time to criticise the previous Conservative government, having previously accused it of neglecting local councils, and praised new Labour ministers.

On the bin strike, a Birmingham City Council spokesperson has said: “This escalation will mean greater disruption to residents – despite the fair and reasonable offer that the council made to Unite the Union.

“To the small number of workers whose wages are impacted ongoing by the changes to the service (of whom there are now only 40) we have already offered alternatives, including highly valuable LGV driver training for career progression and pay, and other roles in the council equivalent to their former roles.

“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.”