The cost of Birmingham’s bin strike has reached £32.4 million, according to Birmingham City Council’s 2025/26 Provisional Revenue Outturn report.
The report shows the dispute has cost the council:
- £8.3 million in lost income.
- £14.4 million in one-off costs directly caused by the strike.
- £9.7 million in savings the council failed to deliver.
Together, that adds up to £32.4 million. And rising.
This is money Birmingham simply cannot afford to lose while residents are paying more in council tax for fewer services.
Labour allowed this dispute to escalate. Instead of resolving it early, the council was left with missed collections, overflowing bins and a bill of more than £32 million. These costs do not include the financial impact of the reputational damage the strike has caused, or the opportunity costs of attention and resources being focussed on the strike rather than other transformation and service improvement programmes. It is also only the cost up until 31 March 2026, with the strike and its costs still ongoing.
But responsibility now rests with Birmingham’s new Green/Lib Dem/Better Birmingham administration.
The new administration came into office promising a fresh approach and residents are entitled to expect progress. Instead, the strike continues and the cost keeps rising.
The new administration must now get a grip of this dispute. It must reach a settlement that restores a reliable waste collection service while protecting taxpayers from creating another equal pay liability that Birmingham cannot afford.
Leader of the Conservative Group, Councillor Robert Alden (Con, Erdington), said:
“This report exposes the true cost of Labour’s failure. Birmingham taxpayers are now facing a £32.4 million bill because Labour caused the dispute and then failed to resolve it before it spiralled out of control. But the Greens, Liberal Democrats and Better Birmingham Group now run the council. Residents expect leadership, but all we have had is silence. Every extra week this strike continues increases the cost to taxpayers and prolongs disruption for residents.
The new Green/Lib Dem/Better Brum administration must bring this dispute to an end, but it must do so without storing up another equal pay liability that future taxpayers will have to pay for. Birmingham has already learned the cost of getting equal pay wrong. The city cannot afford to make the same mistake again.”.
Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group, Councillor Alex Yip (Con, Sutton Wylde Green) said:
“With £32m the council could have saved weekly bin collections, kept open and invested in all our local libraries, fixed some of our crumbling roads, or limited council tax rises to residents. Instead, it has been wasted on a dispute entirely of Labour’s own making. We have now had a further 3 months of strikes to add on to these costs and the silence so far from the new administration is concerning. They may have inherited this mess but that is not an excuse to allow it to drag on for a single day longer than necessary.”
The Conservatives are calling on the new administration to:
- End the bin strike as quickly as possible.
- Protect taxpayers from any new equal pay liability.
- Restore a reliable waste and recycling collection service.
- Save weekly bin collections
- Put the interests of Birmingham residents first.
