Auditor blames Birmingham's bins service for millions in equal pay claims and dirty streets

-Credit:Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live
-Credit:Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live


Birmingham's bin services have been delivering a poor service for years at high cost and is 'the source of multi-million pound equal pay claims', according to the city's independent external auditor.

Mark Stocks, from Grant Thornton, has also warned city leaders that they 'have to follow through' on plans to 'delete' a contentious role in the service, despite anger and strikes from unions. Bin workers with the union Unite have vowed to escalate strike action from tomorrow (Tuesday) in a bid to secure a better deal for 150 staff affected by plans to axe their jobs.

The union, representing 350 bins members, have backed a total of 28 days of strike action in February and March to try to force the hand of council leaders over their decision to delete the Grade 3 Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) post. It is being removed despite claims it is 'safety critical'.

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But in his damning report into the council's finances and leadership, Stocks said the post's existence was among the reasons the council was facing equal pay claims. He described the waste and street scene service - part of the city operations directorate - as 'a really poorly managed service'. He told the council's audit committee that it was a service that has not been managed well 'for a significant period of time'.

"That has led to significant impacts on your finances but also on the services you deliver for the people of Birmingham," he said. The financial impact was twofold - it was a 'very high cost service' compared to elsewhere, and it was the source of multi million pounds worth of equal pay claims.

The council is currently embroiled in discussions to settle equal pay claims from around 6,000 workers in female dominated services, expected to run to somewhere between £250m and £400m. "This directorate is, you know, it collects the waste and maintains the parks and streets," said Mr Stocks. "That directorate is literally the source of your equal pay claims, so you have to pay it more attention."

Birmingham bin workers on strike last month (January 2025) at the Lifford Lane Depot in Kings Norton over the loss of the WRCO rol
Birmingham bin workers on strike last month (January 2025) at the Lifford Lane Depot in Kings Norton over the loss of the WRCO role -Credit:BirminghamLive

"Even if not for the equal pay liability, it would have to change because it's not performing for the people of Birmingham. This is a really high cost service and yet the level of, for example, missed bin collections is off the chart in comparison to other councils. And so you need to do something. You have to transform it, and follow through on the on the deletion of roles (the WRCO posts) that you just put through."

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The full annual report into the council's accounts for 2021 to 2024 declared there was 'serious mismanagement in the waste and street scene services (which) led to inappropriate practices and alleged non-compliance by workers with their terms and conditions - resulting in significant equal pay claims from trade unions and commercial lawyers.'

Though their findings on equal pay are largely redacted in the report due to ongoing legal issues, the auditors add: "The council has had a difficult history with matters relating to Equal Pay...it has not yet resolved these matters sufficiently to end its on-going liability and continued action is needed."

READ MORE: Four mistakes that drove 'broke' Birmingham City Council to the brink, from the Games to busted IT

His comments are likely to infuriate bin workers who feel they have been made scapegoats for the failures of senior leaders to eliminate pay discrimination. One said they feared the service had been hung out to dry by councillors and officers to cover up their own failings.

Cllr Richard Parkin, (Cons, Sutton Reddicap) said the council administration had repeatedly ignored recommendations urging action on equal pay risks and the waste and street services for several years. Back in September 2018 the auditors had recommended that the council needed to improve its financial arrangements and 'manage risks around equal pay', he said.

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He told Mr Stocks: "Then you made the recommendation in April 2019 in which you recommended that a commission to review new working practices should be in place within the waste and street service to ensure they are embedded and monitored robustly to minimise the potential for further equal pay claims. That was six years ago...but there was never a contingency plan for equal pay. How can we have any confidence whatsoever that anything's going to change, given the history of things being ignored and the problems today are still out there?"

Mr Stocks said his fuller report into the equal pay issue was due shortly, though likely subject to redactions on legal grounds, alongside a fuller public interest report into the problems the council encountered over implementing a new IT and finances system, called Oracle for short.