Birmingham cuts raft of waste services but will get £6.8m for food waste

However, the council has confirmed that it will receive £6.8 million from Defra for the rollout of food waste.

The council submitted a section 114 notice in September last year effectively declaring it bankrupt. It was submitted due to potential equal pay liabilities, but the council was facing an “in year” budget gap.

It was unable to cover its costs with existing revenues and said its projected deficit for the 2023-24 financial year was £87 million.

Cuts

Some of the headline measures in the budget approved today include:

• Dropping weekly residual waste collections in favour of fortnightly from 2025/26, which would save £4.5 million per year
• Redesigning recycling waste collection rounds and optimising collection operations, saving £850,000
• Increasing garden waste subscription charges from £50 to £60 per year, raising £1.2 million in each of the next two years
• Remove the team undertaking street quality audits and neighbourhood waste contamination, saving £180,000 and £200,000 in the next two years
• Increase bulky waste income and fee increase from £35 to £45. This would raise £440,000 in 2024/25 and £490,000 the following year.

‘Financial challenges’

Cllr John Cotton, leader of Birmingham city council, said: “Birmingham city council is facing a number of financial challenges and I want to apologise unreservedly for both the significant spending reductions and this year’s substantial council tax increase.

“We have no alternative than to face these challenges head on. And we will do whatever is necessary to put the council back on a sound financial footing.

“Our situation has been made much worse by a national crisis in local government finance. A combination of austerity and underfunding – Birmingham has lost over £1 billion in funding since 2011 – added to a rising demand for services and inflation mean that, across the country local authorities are facing some of the biggest budget challenges in living memory.”

Food waste funding

One slight positive however was the confirmation that it will receive £6.8 million from Defra to support the introduction of weekly food waste collections.

This will be split between kitchen caddies (£955,500), kerbside caddies “£1,762,950), communal wheel bins (£526,500) and vehicles (£3,580,500).

In addition, transitional resource funding will be provided from the 2024/25 financial year as well as ongoing resource / revenue funding from 1 April 2026. Further clarification is awaited from Defra on this.