Robert Alden: Birmingham’s Labour council was sitting on secret dossier detailing bin strike public health risks

Cllr Robert Alden is Leader of the Conservative Group on Birmingham City Council.

Birmingham, a city of resilience and pride, is staggering under the weight of a Labour administration that has driven it to the brink of collapse. The latest revelations from Birmingham City Council expose a Labour leadership mired in secrecy, incompetence, and a refusal to face the consequences of their actions. For a city that deserves better, the time for accountability is long overdue.

Recent Freedom of Information (FOI) disclosures have unveiled a shocking truth: Birmingham’s Labour council was sitting on a “secret dossier” detailing the public health risks posed by a four-month-long bin strike. While Labour Leader, Cllr John Cotton, deployed procedural tricks to block an Opposition Conservative motion to declare a public health emergency and discuss our plan to end the strike and clean up the city, his administration concealed briefings that spelt out the dangers to residents. The NHS has confirmed that the council holds scores of Strategic Coordinating Group documents related to the strike’s risks, none of which have been made public.

The FOI revelations are damning. The strike disproportionately endangers the city’s most vulnerable – those in deprived areas, the immuno-compromised, infants, the elderly, and the disabled. Labour’s failure to act left Birmingham drowning in uncollected waste, with rats roaming the streets and communities at risk. This is not leadership, it’s negligence.

While Labour has abandoned its duty, Birmingham’s residents have shown what true community spirit looks like. Across the city, locals have organised litter picks, helped neighbours transport waste to tips, and assisted coordination of mobile household waste collection points. This grassroots resilience stands in stark contrast to a Labour leadership that has left the field, content to watch Birmingham’s reputation crumble.

Labour’s self-proclaimed “Golden Decade” has become a nightmare for Brummies. Since 2012, council tax has soared by 73 per cent under Labour’s watch, while libraries and day centres have shuttered, and refuse collections and street cleaning face cuts. The council is now “effectively” bankrupt, grappling with a botched IT rollout costing over £130 million, an equal pay fiasco rooted in past strike settlements, and a litany of mismanaged projects that have bled the city dry. This is Labour’s double whammy: higher taxes for fewer services.

Perhaps the most galling betrayal is Labour’s broken promise of a judge-led inquiry into the causes of Birmingham’s bankruptcy. In 2023, Cllr John Cotton pledged “openness and transparency,” assuring residents that an independent inquiry would uncover the truth behind the equal pay disaster and other failures. Yet 2024 came and went with no inquiry. Labour’s excuses have shifted – from claiming they were waiting for government action to bizarrely suggesting that commissioner interventions blocked them, despite no such restrictions existing.

This month, the mask finally slipped. In Westminster, Labour’s Local Government Minister, Jim McMahon, dismissed calls from Sutton Coldfield MP, Sir Andrew Mitchell, for a judge-led inquiry, smugly declaring that “this situation does not need a judge; it needs judgement.” In Birmingham, Labour claimed that auditors’ limited public interest reports made an inquiry unnecessary, ignoring the auditors’ own warnings about their restricted scope. 

One Labour figure who missed the party memo was West Midlands Mayor, Richard Parker, who told BBC West Midlands listeners that “John Cotton has promised a judge-led inquiry and is a man of his word.” Sadly residents are seeing a Labour administration that promised an inquiry and are getting nothing but excuses.

The message is clear: Labour has no interest in accountability. If they believed anyone else was to blame for Birmingham’s woes, they’d be clamouring for an inquiry. Their refusal speaks volumes.

The evidence against Labour’s mismanagement is overwhelming. Grant Thornton’s October 2023 report noted that Labour’s leadership was aware of critical issues as early as February 2023 but failed to act. Max Caller, Lead Commissioner, described Labour’s actions as a “controlled disaster,” pointing to a potential £750 million equal pay liability and nearly £200 million wasted on a failed Oracle IT system – both self-inflicted wounds. The Centre for Governance and Scrutiny highlighted a “blame culture” where Labour scapegoats individuals to dodge responsibility. Even the GMB union, no friend of the Conservatives, called Birmingham’s issues “a crisis of the council’s own making.”

Labour’s own Campaign Improvement Board delivered the most cutting rebuke in May 2023: “Budget cuts and the size of the city are used as reasons to explain the situation; however, this does not hold up to scrutiny.” When Labour’s own allies call out their excuses, you know the game is up.

Birmingham’s Labour leadership has failed the city at every turn – on public health, financial stewardship, and basic services. Their refusal to hold an inquiry into a decade of disasters only underscores their guilt. But while Labour may dodge accountability in the council chamber, they cannot escape the verdict of Birmingham’s residents.

In 2026, Brummies will have their say at the ballot box. They’ll remember the rubbish-strewn streets, the broken promises, and the arrogance of a Labour administration that prioritised political games over people’s lives. Birmingham is a city that rises above adversity, and it deserves a leadership that matches its spirit – one that values transparency, competence, and the common good. Labour has proven it is not up to the task. It’s time for judgment.

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