Six BIG reasons why the local elections in Birmingham matter so much

Local elections across the country are set to get underway tomorrow (Thursday, May 7) and the results in Birmingham could have big consequences for the city.

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Some of the conversation in the aftermath of the elections will no doubt be about what it means for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour government at a national level.

But the results, which will see all 101 council seats in Birmingham be contested, will also have a direct impact on Brummies’ lives across the city.

This is because the election in Birmingham will decide which party, or coalition, runs the city council for the next four years.

It is a huge local authority responsible for a vast array of services. These include housing, waste collection, libraries, social care, road maintenance, youth centres, planning applications and much more.

And the city has seen in the past few years - through the fallout of a financial crisis and the bins strike - how turbulence within the council can have very real ramifications for residents.

Labour will be fighting to keep control of the council by convincing voters that they can offer ‘fresh ambition’ for the city.

But they face opposition on a complex political battlefield which consists of the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Green Party, Reform UK, independents and more.

Whoever ends up running the city will have to be responsible for the council’s £4 billion budget and make decisions on services for over a million people.

1) Bin strike and waste collection

Birmingham has been in the grip of a bins strike for over a year so finally reaching a resolution will be a huge priority for any new leadership.

The strike, triggered by a dispute between the council and Unite the union, left huge heaps of bin bags piling up during its height and attracted unwanted headlines from around the world.

Unsurprisingly, the industrial action and rubbish woes have been one of the main talking points in the build-up to the local elections.

Coun John Cotton, leader of Birmingham Labour, announced last week that an end to the bins strike was finally “within sight” after an agreement was reached with Unite the union.

But that update was met with scepticism and anger from opposition councillors, who described the announcement as ‘desperate’ and ‘pathetic’.

The future administration at the council will also be responsible for the future of the waste collection service – in particular, whether to go ahead with the move to fortnightly collections of household rubbish.

They will also have the task of resuming recycling collections after they were suspended in February 2025 – around 15 months ago – due to the strike.

2) Council tax

Financial turmoil at the city council has meant Brummies have been hit by council tax hikes in recent years.

An increase of just under 5% was approved earlier this year – but this follows rises of around 10% and another of about 7.5% in years that followed the council’s ‘bankruptcy’.

A painful cocktail of factors contributed to the financial crisis, with Labour figures pointing the finger at ‘austerity’ measures brought during the Tories ’ time in government.

But Birmingham-specific missteps at the Labour-run council, such as the Oracle and equal pay debacles, were also significant factors.

Coun Cotton claimed earlier this year that the council had ditched the ‘bankrupt Birmingham’ tag after closing a £300 million budget gap – but opposition councillors argued the authority still faces huge ongoing challenges.

3) Speed limits and road safety

Birmingham Council has an important role to play when it comes to road safety in your neighbourhood, whether that’s through lower speed limits or traffic calming schemes.

The introduction of more 20mph limits has been talked about by the council recently – its own transport plan has aspirations of introducing ’20mph as the default speed limit for all residential streets’.

Yet, during a quickfire question at the Birmingham Live hustings, only the Green Party appeared to commit to reducing the speed limit on all residential streets in the city to 20mph.

The council has recently taken steps to tackle dangerous driving in the city however, whether that’s through declaring a road safety emergency or cutting limits from 40mph to 30mph on numerous roads.

But whoever is leading the council after May 7 will be expected to do more to improve road safety – and will face calls from campaigners to roll out more 20mph limits.

4) Potholes

Potholes are an issue that motorists across the city face on a daily basis.

Drivers have long complained about the state of the city’s roads, with some potholes turning into mini-lakes following a period of particularly wet weather at the start of the year.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch announced plans for a National Pothole Patrol back in March during a visit to the region and claimed that Solihull is “far better at getting their potholes filled than Birmingham is”.

But both Birmingham and Solihull were recently given an overall ‘amber’ rating by the government’s new traffic light rating system, which ranks how well each local authority is fixing potholes.

The Labour government has said it has backed councils with a “record multi-year investment” to improve the condition of their roads after years of them “calling for long-term certainty”.

It said this allows them to repair potholes effectively and “move away from expensive, short-term repairs”.

Motorists in Birmingham will be expecting to see improvements from their council in the coming months.

5) Housing

An enormous issue the council continues to deal with is a housing shortage in the city.

Speaking last month, Coun Cotton acknowledged it was a “massive challenge” and said the council’s own waiting list is “still 20,000 households”.

That means there are right now thousands of Birmingham residents in limbo as they face excruciating waits for a council home.

It also means children staying in temporary accommodation for prolonged periods.

At the Birmingham Live hustings, candidates across the political spectrum agreed that it was an issue that drastically needed fixing and a number of potential underlying causes were identified, including a lack of council homes and the ‘proliferation’ of HMOs.

For the council’s future leadership, the plight of those stuck for years in temporary accommodation will be a major priority.

6) Social care

Birmingham Council provides services which are used by some of the most vulnerable people in the city.

The choices the authority makes when it comes to these services are hugely important and can be divisive, as seen with the recent closure of four day centres for vulnerable adults – a decision made as part of an unprecedented wave of cuts to local services.

Harborne Day Centre was one of the four closures and used to be a lifeline for many families until it shut its doors last year.

James Cross, an independent election candidate whose family member attended Harborne before being moved to another centre, argued recently that the closure ‘stripped vital, local support from the community’.

“I’ve seen the importance of adult day services and how much they’re needed,” he added. “They’ve gone from nine down to five day centres now.”

Coun Rob Pocock, the cabinet member overseeing the council’s transformation, said back in 2024 that the council “need to save on costs and the remaining centres need to be fully utilised”.

“Citizens using our centres have said they want to have a wider variety of activities outside the day centres and this is what we are also developing, as part of a more modern 21st century service,” he said at the time.

He added that anyone wanting to use a council day centre would still be able to and that no staff were being made redundant.

All the candidates standing in the Birmingham local elections can be found on the city council’s website.