Birmingham City Council has “wasted” over £53million on consultants prior to the city-wide bin strike which has just entered its seventh week.
The industrial action which is being carried out by the Unite union, has left 21,000 tonnes of rubbish piling up across England's second city.
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The dispute in Birmingham began after the council removed the role of waste recycling and collection officer, with workers beginning a walkout on March 11 and not returning ever since.
The impact on Birmingham residents has been severe, with reports of rats “as big as cats” feasting on uncollected rubbish.
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The dispute in Birmingham began after the council removed the role of waste recycling and collection officer
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The impact on Birmingham residents has been severe, with reports of rats 'as big as cats' feasting on uncollected rubbish
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The local authority is now coming under fire after new data has revealed that it spent £53.6million on external consultants between 2020-21 and 2023-24.
Figures from Conservative analysis of data has shown that the council, which declared itself bankrupt in 2023, spent £17.5million on external consultants in 2020-21.
From 2021-22, this increased to £17.6million, before dropping to £10.4million in the same period the following year.
It spent £8million in 2023-24, during which it declared itself effectively bankrupt by issuing a Section 114 notice, meaning it couldn't balance its budget without external help.
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Workers began a walkout on March 11
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Kevin Hollinrake, the Shadow Levelling-Up Secretary, said: “This is yet another example of Labour’s endless waste of taxpayers’ cash.
“Rat-infested rubbish piles high on Labour’s watch in Birmingham, yet the council’s priority is to fritter away millions of pounds to external consultants, only to see the council still continue to fail residents over and over.”
Last week, bin workers rejected the Labour-led council's latest pay offer by an overwhelming majority, with fresh talks ending without agreement.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner had urged Unite to accept a “significantly improved offer” to end the month-long crisis, which has seen rats running through mountains of bin bags.
Over 21,000 tonnes of rubbish has gone uncollected in England's second city
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The dispute was triggered by the council's decision to remove waste recycling and collection officers from its fleets, which the union says would lead to affected workers losing £8,000 in salary.
John Cotton, the leader of Birmingham city council, has said a deal should be acceptable to the unions and “no one needs to be losing income” as a result.
However, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham, disputed his claims. She said: “How can anyone be asked to lose a quarter of pay? These workers have mortgages, rent and food bills to pay.”
Officials maintain that the ultimate solution remains for Unite to accept the council's offer and end the strike.
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