The Birmingham bins strike heightened fears over rats as heaps of rubbish began to pile up
Birmingham City Council has been urged to permanently scrap its controversial ‘rat tax’ charge after making a ‘welcome’ change during the bins strike.
The crisis-hit authority’s unprecedented budget last year included plans to introduce new pest control charges for ‘rat in garden and rat in house treatments’ – a service which was previously free.
It has since controversially risen to £24 and then £26.40 during the past year and a half.
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The move proved deeply divisive, with one Conservative councillor at the time warning of a “golden decade for rats”.
Fears over rodents have now gripped the city amid the ongoing bins strike, which left enormous mountains of rubbish just metres away from people’s homes in certain parts of Birmingham.
Since the city council declared a major incident, a number of measures have been taken to clear the huge backlog of waste blighting the city, including the extension of opening hours at the city’s tips.
Another move likely to be welcomed by residents is that the Labour-run council’s pest control charge for rats has recently been made temporarily free.
In response, Birmingham Local Conservatives welcomed the authority’s “belated decision” but went on to describe it as a “partial victory”.
Councillor Robert Alden, leader of the Conservative Group, argued: “The charge should never have been imposed and we call on the council to now go further and adopt our costed plan to scrap it permanently.
“Labour’s rat tax hurts the least well off in the city the most and should be scrapped.”
Meanwhile Coun Adam Higgs described it as a “shortsighted and unfair policy”.
“This temporary suspension is proof our campaign was justified but we won’t stop until this charge is gone for good,” he said.
Why was the ‘rat tax’ introduced?
Sajeela Naseer, director of regulation and enforcement at the council, told a council meeting earlier this year that the charge was brought in because the delivery of the free service was costing the authority around £400,000.
“Obviously we’re in a specific financial situation at the moment,” she said. “We followed a lead that has been shown by other local authorities across the country.”
She went on to say that the council had been consulting on a new operating structure within pest control.
“Whereas last year the pest control service was costing the council £400,000, it will now be of no cost to the council,” she said.
“We accept there are citizens who will no longer have that free service but we have done our best to mitigate against the impacts.”
Treatments for rats in the house and garden previously remained free for council tenants.
As the ‘rat tax’ row continues, a full council meeting earlier this month saw a Birmingham councillor confirm she had quit the Labour Party over the council’s pest control charge for rats.
Sam Forsyth, who represents Quinton, told the council chamber: “My opposition to the introduction of that charge is well-known.
“I oppose that charge and as of ten minutes ago, I am no longer a member of the Labour Party.”
The bins strike was triggered by a dispute between the council and Unite, with the union saying plans to scrap a Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) role would force “dedicated workers onto pay levels barely above the minimum wage”.
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However, the council’s political leadership has insisted that a “fair and reasonable offer” has been made and that “not a single worker needs to lose a penny”.
Ahead of talks resuming today, April 23, council leader John Cotton warned the “WRCO role cannot be brought back” and that the authority “cannot and will not entertain anything that would re-open an equal pay liability.”
On the wider financial turmoil affecting the council, external auditors have highlighted several issues including the equal pay debacle, inadequate budget setting, poor service management, demand led pressures and the disastrous implementation of a new IT system.
Labour politicians have also pointed to the impact of funding cuts over the past decade or so.
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