Fortnightly bin collections in Sandwell could become a reality – leader

Sandwell Council leader Councillor Kerrie Carmichael told councillors that the Labour administration was “ruling nothing out” as it battles to balance its books – and that includes a move from weekly to fortnightly waste collections.

And while there have been tens of thousands of missed bin collections across Sandwell in recent years, Councillor Carmichael blamed the desperate situation for the authority on the Conservative government’s “horrendous” funding cuts.

Waste began to pile high across Sandwell in the summer after a dispute between bin collectors and operator Serco over pay halted collections for weeks.

At a meeting of full council, Conservative group leader Councillor David Fisher asked his rival whether she was “proud” of Labour’s achievements given that nearly 20,000 missed bin collections between 2019 and 2021.

He asked Councillor Carmichael to “confirm on the record” that there had been no discussions to move to fortnightly bin collections.

She said at the meeting on December 12: “We’re ruling nothing out basically – about anything in the budget,”

“The cuts from the government are absolutely horrendous and we have to find savings to continue to support the people of Sandwell.

“Nothing will be ruled out.”

In response to Councillor Fisher's question about Labour's record on bin collections she said read out a prepared statement saying: “Sandwell is not perfect and we’re doing everything we can to make it excellent. We do have work to do and I have been clear about that since the day I became leader."

The Labour leader said she was proud of the council’s achievements ‘in spite of what the Conservative government had done in the last decade’ and she was “proud not to be a Tory.”

“You have nothing to be proud of and we’ll make that clear come the next general election,” she added to the applause of the rest of the Labour group.

“Considering that next year is 50 years that Labour has been in power [in Sandwell], you’re still learning from your mistakes,” the councillor added.

The council leader, who apologised for the “extremely unfortunate” disruption caused by the summer’s bin strikes, said each town in Sandwell had recently received a new electric street cleaner and the first of a new fleet of bin lorries had gone into action at the start of December.