Bin boss insists no final decision made on fortnightly collections

Birmingham Council’s bins boss has insisted no final decision has been made on whether to introduce fortnightly collections city-wide despite concerns from opposition councillors.

Amid ambitions of transforming Brum’s waste service, a pilot with a raft of changes to bin collections was launched in the north of the city during the summer.

It saw the the collection of household rubbish go from weekly to fortnightly, as well as the introduction of a second recycling bin and food waste collection.

A second pilot, which kept the weekly refuse collections, was also delivered to thousands of households across the Hodge Hill and Bromford, Moseley, Kings Norton South and Stirchley wards.

The council’s political leadership – a coalition of Lib Dems, Greens and various independents – has said the findings from these pilots will be considered before a decision is made on the future of the waste service.

But the Birmingham Conservatives have claimed that a draft report – published on the council website by mistake – proposed the service seen in the first pilot should be implemented city-wide.

If that was to happen, it would mean fortnightly collections being introduced across Birmingham in the near future.

However, the council has acknowledged this report – seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service – was uploaded in error.

A separate report, which was later uploaded ahead of a scrutiny meeting next week, makes no specific recommendations regarding which pilot should be adopted.

The Conservative group argued this week that the ‘bin report blunder’ raised a serious question of whether the council’s leadership has already made its mind up when it comes to fortnightly collections.

“The council has backtracked over publishing the report,” Cllr Robert Alden, Tory group leader, said. “But there is no sign it has backtracked over the plan.

“Residents are now told this is simply a pilot being evaluated.

“Yet a draft cabinet report recommending fortnightly collections has already been written.

“That raises the serious question of is the council listening to the evidence, or assembling a justification for a conclusion it already wanted?”

He continued: “Their own evidence shows that despite failing to record missed collections fully, fortnightly bin collections are running at twice the level of missed collections that weekly collections are, 224 collections missed vs 130.

“It also shows that while the weekly pilot saw fly tipping fall, the fortnightly trial saw fly tipping increase.”

“The new administration must stop allowing itself to be railroaded into delivering Labour’s plans,” Cllr Alden added.

Cllr Harris Khaliq, the cabinet member overseeing the waste service, stressed a decision has not been made on the future of the waste service.

“We have been running pilots in areas of Birmingham to test weekly and fortnightly waste collections as part of a review of the city’s waste service,” he said.

“Both pilots have delivered improvements in recycling rates, with the strongest results seen in areas operating fortnightly collections.

“I would like to be clear, no final decision has been made.

“The report being considered by the Neighbourhoods Overview and Scrutiny Committee next week presents the findings from the pilots, including recycling performance, participation rates, resident feedback and costs.

“Any proposals will be considered through the council’s decision-making process.”

He added: “If approved, any changes would be introduced gradually, with residents receiving clear information and advance notice.

“Our aim is to deliver a reliable, sustainable waste service that supports higher recycling rates and meets the needs of Birmingham residents, including those who may require different arrangements.”

On the finances, the council’s report said the “full costs associated with delivering the services associated with pilot one are £14.02 million lower per annum than the services provided in pilot two”.

It said: “The costs associated with pilot two are significantly higher due to the resources required to provide the weekly collection service and the greater cost of processing residual waste.”

But the possibility of fortnightly collections being introduced across the city has proved deeply controversial, with both the Conservative and Reform groups in Brum calling for weekly collections to be retained.

“One of our key commitments as the council’s new administration is to clean up this fantastic city, which is why it’s essential for the changes in relation to waste collection to go ahead, supported by additional measures,” Cllr Khaliq said earlier this year.

By Alexander Brock | Local Democracy Reporting Service