Lib Dems call for Labour to clean up Birmingham

Birmingham Liberal Democrats have submitted a motion to Tuesday 27th January Full Council calling for Birmingham Labour to take more action to keep our streets clean, in the midst of a bin strike which has being on-going for a year.

The motion calls for action to reinforce the delivery of enforcement and street cleansing, improve provision of litter picking equipment for members of the community who wish to help, and for the council to ensure it thanks those who go out of their way to clean up our streets and work with businesses across the city. The motion also called for a review of AI use in identifying hotspots and assigning resources effectively, and the introduction of a pilot of smart bin technology with fill-level sensors as seen in other areas across the West Midlands.
Birmingham Liberal Democrats also highlighted the disparity in fly-tipping reports, with Sparkhill and Balsall Heath East having over one hundred times the level of reported fly-tipping than Sutton Four Oaks, allowing for the difference in ward size.
The group also criticised the Labour-run council for the time taken to respond to reports, forcing members to raise specific items in formal questions to the council after chasing via the usual routes did not work, and called for an investigation into why the Council is failing to use its powers under ‘The Littering From Vehicles Outside London (Keepers: Civil Penalties) Regulations 2018’ to tackle littering from vehicles.
Councillor Roger Harmer, Leader of the Liberal Democrats group and proposer of the motion said:
“It is hard to overestimate the anger felt in communities across Birmingham at the levels of litter and fly-tipping on our streets. It’s one of the most visible signs of the failure of the current administration. Far from being the promised golden decade, it’s a time of embarrassment and shame at the state of our City.”
 

Continuing, he challenged: “It will fall to others to put right what Labour have failed to do.”

Seconding the motion, Cllr Mumtaz Hussain, Councillor for Aston ward where in 2023 Deykin Avenue was named one of “Britain’s Grottiest Streets” said:
“Aston deserves streets that inspire, nor corners piled with waste. I’ve placed flowerpots in fly tipping hotspots to show what initiative can achieve; but real progress demands innovation, not improvisation.”