Latest news with #DeirdreAlden
BBC News
9 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Birmingham councillors clash over 'arrogant' vision for city
Birmingham City Council's ruling Labour group has come under fire from opposition councillors over a vision for the city's authority's new corporate plan sets out its priorities for the next three years and how it intends to address governance and financial challenges, after it declared effective bankruptcy, in say they want to make the city fairer, greener and healthier, by exploring issues such as housing need, unemployment and child a meeting where the plan was unveiled, leader John Cotton said the vision showed a "determination to right previous wrongs", but the Conservative group said it was "arrogant" and a possible "Labour election pitch". Tory councillor Deirdre Alden proposed an amendment stating that any long-term strategy should be based on the mandate delivered by voters following all-out elections next said the administration should focus until then on balancing the books, resolving equal pay and ending the bin strike, among other priorities."Time and resources should not have been spent now on developing a strategy for the years after 2026," she said."It's arrogant and it starts to look as if council resources have been spent on a Labour election pitch." Cotton described the plan as a "milestone", adding it was a "clear demonstration of our ambitions for Birmingham".Liberal Democrat group leader Roger Harmer suggested the Labour administration was instead a "millstone around the necks of our city".Green Party councillor Julien Pritchard argued the council's plans did not "seem to survive contact with reality". 'No apology for ambition' In response to the Conservative amendment, Cotton said it removed "forward-looking ambition"."I certainly, as leader of this council, make no apology for being ambitious for Birmingham," he told the chamber."I've never stood in this chamber and speculated about what happens in future elections, I think that's a fool's game," he said."But I do know Brummies will not accept a politics and a vision that's built on negativity." The effective bankruptcy declaration triggered a wave of cuts to services and plans to raise council tax by about 20% over two that contributed to the council's financial crisis, according to external auditors, include an equal pay row, disastrous implementation of a new IT system and inadequate housing a bin strike that started with one-day walkouts in January, is now in its sixth corporate plan was approved but the Conservatives' amendment was not passed. This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
The Guardian
20-03-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Birmingham bin strike to continue after talks end without resolution
Talks aimed at ending a strike by waste collectors in Birmingham have ended without a breakthrough. Members of the Unite union in the city launched an all-out strike on 11 March in a long-running dispute over pay, leading to rubbish piling up and bins remaining unemptied for weeks. Residents have complained that rats are rummaging through the waste, leading to fears over public health. Last Tuesday, nearly 400 council bin workers in the city began indefinite strike action. United said the Labour-run city council could end the dispute 'by agreeing to pay a decent rate of pay'. Union officials met council officers on Thursday, but the strike continues. A Unite spokesperson said: 'The talks were inconclusive. There was an exchange of information and Unite asked for clarity on a number of points raised by the council, which are currently being worked on. 'It was agreed that there would be further regular negotiations, but dates for further talks have not yet been set.' A Birmingham city council spokesperson said: 'Birmingham city council and Unite met this afternoon to discuss the current industrial action. Whilst no resolution was reached today, there are points for discussion, the tone was constructive and we are working on the matters raised. 'We have contacted Unite representatives to schedule the series of future meeting dates.' The council had previously said the 'escalation' of industrial action would mean greater disruption to residents despite a 'fair and reasonable offer' made to Unite members. The Conservative councillor for Edgbaston Deirdre Alden said the excess rubbish around the city had caused an 'explosion' in the local rat population. 'I have heard reports of rats in gardens, in rubbish bins and eating the cables in people's cars – it's like something out of the Pied Piper Of Hamelin,' she said. The industrial action was referenced in parliament on Thursday, with an MP saying that 'rats the size of cats', which she nicknamed the Squeaky Blinders, were 'not welcome' beyond Birmingham's boundaries. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The Conservative former minister Wendy Morton told MPs that people in the West Midlands fear fly-tipping throughout the region because of the strikes and that local authorities were taking a 'proactive and determined approach' to tackling it. The union has claimed that the council ending the role of waste collection and recycling officer has hit 150 workers with pay cuts of up to £8,000, which the local authority has disputed. According to the council, the number of staff that could lose the maximum amount of just over and a town hall spokesperson said their 'door is still open' for Unite to 'come back to the table'.
