Waste Disposal: Birmingham
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to expand the remit of her Best Value Commissioners in Birmingham City Council and instruct them to suspend the council trade union facility time given to the Unite trade union whilst the Birmingham bin strike organised by Unite is ongoing.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The response to the ongoing disruption in Birmingham’s waste services rightly continues to be led at the local level. Best Value Commissioners are not directly involved in negotiations between the Council and Unite but continue to work constructively with the Council to ensure that a fair, meaningful and sustainable resolution is found as quickly as possible.
Decisions on trade union facility time are a matter for the Council as the employer. There are no plans to expand the remit of the Commissioners to intervene in workforce matters of this nature. Commissioners were appointed to oversee the Council’s broader improvement journey and to ensure compliance with the ‘Best Value’ Duty.
Ministers, departmental officials and Commissioners have been updated on, but are not involved in, the interlocutory injunctions related to the industrial action. These are legal proceedings initiated by the Council, and it is for the Council to determine how to respond to the operational risks arising from the dispute. The government is supportive of the Council’s work to prevent any escalation in disruption.
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