Bin strike deal could be signed within weeks, council leader says

The leader of Birmingham City Council has said he hopes an agreement to end the city's long-running bin strike could be signed off within weeks.

Liberal Democrat Roger Harmer was responding to questions from listeners on BBC Radio WM's Hot Seat.

He said the council and the Unite trade union had agreed a proposal to end the dispute, but several stages of approval were still needed before it could be signed off "late September or early October".

The BBC has approached Unite for comment.

The strike, which has been ongoing for more than a year-and-a-half, was triggered by the council's decision to remove Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) roles - a move it said was necessary to make improvements and avoid more equal pay claims.

However, Unite later said the future pay of waste lorry drivers was also under the spotlight given the council's job re-evaluation process.

A new minority administration took control after elections in May that saw Labour lose 48 of the 65 seats it won in 2022.

Harmer, who has been a councillor for 22 years, was elected leader of the new administration amid a promise to make solving the bin dispute the number one priority.

He said he was frustrated with how long it had taken, although it was important to take the time to handle talks properly.

"The process we need to go through is to get a deal arranged, that has to go through various checks, when that has happened, we will take it to cabinet, if they approve it, and Unite approve it, then we have a deal," he said.

During the Hot Seat, Rob in Longbridge also rang up to talk about the 20mph speed limit on Birmingham's road.

"We think residential roads should be 20mph, but the main road network will remain at 30mph apart from in some cases," Harmer said, adding that it was not a new plan.

"Birmingham has a huge issue with dangerous driving and speed limits - you do not tackle that by lowering speed limits.

"If we do not follow the rules, we have anarchy and very dangerous roads, we see too often, serious collisions, life-changing injuries, and fatalities."

He said the council needed to focus efforts on bringing in more average speed cameras and cameras to identify drivers running red lights.

Mick rang BBC Radio WM to discuss flags and Birmingham City Council seeking a High Court injunction to stop unauthorised flags being put up.

Harmer said the authority was not banning the British flag.

When talking about how much it would cost to remove the flags that were already up, he said: "If the council can take them down without security, and we can use usual contractors, it will be a lot less, but I do not have an exact figure."

The leader said if people felt they would like a flag up, they should talk to their local councillor to get one on a council facility in their ward.

"If you have a library with a flag pole, engage with your local councillor, let's see if we can get more flags up legitimately," he said.

Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.