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£11.8m waste fleet investment ‘not enough’

Residents are being "fobbed off" by the city council’s £11.8m investment into replacing bin lorries – a former waste boss has claimed.

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Birmingham City Council\'s waste fleet. Credit - Birmingham City Council

Councillor Majid Mahmood, for Hodge Hill, who resigned as cabinet member for clean streets, waste and recycling earlier this year in the midst of workers taking industrial action, revealed that a draft report he was privy to last autumn stated that a £68m replacement programme over seven years was required.

He also declared that the latest procurement strategy, which will replace around 250 vehicles through lease, hire and purchase over three years, is not "long enough" because it would not achieve "economies of scale", take into account a government consultation on the future of waste collection services or new developments in Birmingham.

Councillor Mahmood put his case to the council’s resources overview and scrutiny committee last week applying to ‘call in’ the fleet replacement programme.

He said: “I would like to know where the £56m has gone?

“We are going to get a sixth of the fleet we would have got originally.

“If that was the officers’ view then [in last year’s draft report], after they carried out all of their due diligence, spoke to the depots, the managers, if what they came up with was £68m, why are we now being fobbed off, why is the city being fobbed off with £11.8m?

“It’s simply not good enough.”

Aged bin lorries breaking down have often been blamed for poor performance.

The fleet replacement strategy was agreed by cabinet in June where it was also argued that more smaller vehicles to navigate narrower streets would be brought in.

Current bins chief Councillor John O’Shea, for Acocks Green, in the re-profiled cabinet role of street scene and parks, defended the investment and also responded to a suggestion that the council had not consulted thoroughly with the bin crews and union representatives.

He said: “The trade unions are fully behind this, they don’t want any delay in the purchasing because they want the wagons out there.

“These people want to be out there doing a good job, the managers are also in support of this. We’ve had those discussions with the workforce.

“We’ve talked to the workforce about this and this is something that comes back from them so we know they want this.

“We literally can’t afford to wait, delays mean another £3m next year in repairs to our vehicles.

“It will do far more damage to trust and confidence if we don’t go ahead with this.

“We’ve talked to the workforce about this, we’ve told the residents of Birmingham we need to do this, we need to get on and do it.”

Councillor Tristan Chatfield, for Weoley and Selly Oak, cabinet member for finance and resources, also explained why a shorter three-strategy had been opted for.

He said: “In terms of going forward it is entirely sensible that we break the spending down into blocks rather than go for a whole purchase at once.

“Not only will this give us flexibility it also allows us to respond to the changing market.

“The £11.8m this year is what is needed to meet the requirements and to be affordable within our capital requirements to ensure the city council does not increase beyond its current level of borrowing.

“It is a very clear financial commitment this council has made.”

The committee rejected the proposal to call-in the fleet replacement strategy, which would have seen it go back to cabinet for reconsideration.

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