Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 17 March (HL Deb cols 757–758) that “it is not true that commissioners are blocking a viable deal”, whether they will confirm that those commissioners last year blocked a deal that had been reached between the chief executive of Birmingham Council and the Unite union to end the industrial dispute between the council and refuse workers, and if so, what steps they will take to clarify that point publicly.

We have been clear that the government is not a party to the ongoing waste dispute, and this is a local matter that the relevant parties must resolve. Like all authorities, Birmingham City Council has legal duties with which its statutory officers must ensure compliance, including in relation to equal pay and the ongoing waste dispute. Throughout the all-out strike, Commissioners have consistently outlined that any resolution to the dispute must be lawful, must represent value for money and must not exacerbate unfairness relating to equal pay. Commissioners have also set out that any possible agreement with Unite must be approved through the Council's formal processes.