Birmingham City Council

Lord Snape Excerpts

Tuesday 1st April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Snape (Lab)]

My Lords, will my noble friend acknowledge that the seeds of this dispute were sown during the period when the Conservative and Liberal party coalition ran the city of Birmingham? Many of the financial problems facing the city over the years were caused by the Conservative and Liberal Government in power in Westminster. On this dispute, will my noble friend acknowledge that the city council has made a perfectly reasonable offer to the union? Among the solutions put forward by the city were the following: NVQ training for alternative work for those affected by the dispute; voluntary redundancy on enhanced terms for those who decline to accept the new terms; six months’ pay protection for the 17 people directly affected by the council’s proposals; fully funded LGV driving training with a guaranteed role at the end for any staff who wish to take it up; and a one-off payment, as an alternative to redundancy, to buy out contracted entitlements. Does my noble friend agree that these are fair and reasonable terms that the union concerned should accept, and that it should reflect on the damage being done to its fellow citizens as well as to the image of Britain’s second city?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

My noble friend is quite right; Birmingham is a proud city with proud people, and I know that they are embarrassed at what they are seeing. It is time that this is resolved. The vast majority of the workforce of the waste service have agreed a way forward by one route or another, whether that is taking voluntary redundancy, accepting new ways of working or many of the other routes that my noble friend mentioned. This now comes down to a small number of people who have not accepted them. That is where the dispute lies. A city such as Birmingham cannot grind to a halt in such a circumstance. We urge everybody to get back around the table and resolve the issues for this small number of remaining members of the workforce, and then we can restore Birmingham to the rightful place it holds as our second city and the pride of the Midlands.