Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's statutory guidance entitled, Best value standards and intervention: a statutory guide for best value authorities, published on 8 May 2024, if she will take steps to intervene in the bin collection strike in Birmingham City Council area.

The Department is closely monitoring the situation regarding the ongoing bin collection strike in the Birmingham City Council area and stands ready to play its part in supporting the Council where necessary. The Council should remain responsible for managing local service delivery, as is normal practice across local government, and is working to deal with the backlog of waste swiftly. Commissioners, who were appointed in October 2023 under the previous government to oversee the Council’s broader improvement journey, have been working constructively with the Council to ensure that a meaningful, sustainable resolution is found as quickly as possible. We recognise the importance of this issue for local people and are clear that this must be resolved, with regular services returned, and the accumulated waste and fly-tipping removed from the streets of the city as a matter of urgency.