Many residents have been asking about the cost of this year’s bin strike. The answer, according to figures issued by the Council recently, is £6.6m. This is made up of:

1) £2m for agency staff.
2) £1.6m for outside contractors and temporary redeployment of internal staff.
3) £1.3m of extra landfill tax based on an extra 15,000 tonnes of waste sent to landfill – due to the failure to recycle during the strike.
4) £1.2m loss of income from paper recycling which is down by 9,000 tonnes.
5) £0.5m loss of savings from the new operating structure that the strike has put on hold.

These huge costs are, of course, ultimately paid by us, the residents of Birmingham, in higher Council Tax or reduced services.

For now we wait to see if the dispute can be resolved before the Council and Union go to Court at the end of the month – if it isn’t, there is a risk the strike will start all over again.

Meanwhile if you have suffered a missed collection, which the Council hasn’t sorted out, please let me know and I will do my best to help.