No "two-tier" bin service for exempt housing, says waste chief

Birmingham City Council's cabinet member for waste has promised there will be no "two-tier" bin service, after a draft report published by mistake suggested that supported exempt accommodation could keep weekly rubbish collections.

The draft, which appeared on the council's website in error, proposed that changes tested in a pilot in the north of the city, including moving household rubbish collections from weekly to fortnightly, should be rolled out across Birmingham. But councillors were particularly concerned by a proposal that exempt accommodation should be allowed to keep a weekly service.

"Never discussed, never agreed"

Councillor Mick Brown, the Labour member for Gravelly Hill, raised the issue at a scrutiny meeting this week. "My understanding is that the report published in error contained a proposal to maintain weekly waste collections for SEA properties. Am I correct to think that, and if so, who requested that?" he asked.

Councillor Harris Khaliq, the cabinet member in charge of the waste service, said it would not happen. "There will be no two-tier service that will give supported exempt accommodation users a different service to the rest of the city," he said. "That was never discussed, never agreed and should never have been published. I'm not aware of where that has come from, and as the investigations follow, the right action will be taking place. But I can assure you that will not be happening."

He confirmed that an investigation was under way into how the proposal ended up in the report.

A sector under scrutiny

Supported exempt accommodation is housing for people with extra needs, such as former prisoners, people recovering from addiction, people leaving care and women fleeing domestic abuse, combined with care and support. It is funded through a higher rate of housing benefit and is exempt from the usual caps.

More than 13,000 properties in Birmingham are registered for exempt provision, with more than 34,000 rooms. The sector has long caused concern in the city, with complaints that some providers offer little real support, that residents are badly matched, and that properties are concentrated in poorer neighbourhoods, with knock-on effects for crime, antisocial behaviour and rubbish.

A recent BBC Panorama investigation found some private companies making large profits from housing benefit while failing to provide the support residents are supposed to receive. The council leader, Councillor Roger Harmer, told the programme there was "a huge incentive for us to crack down on the bad providers", but that closing one property often led to another opening next door, and that housing benefit rules were set by the Department for Work and Pensions. The government says it is bringing in measures to raise standards.

"No final decision"

Two pilots ran this year: one in the north of the city that moved rubbish to fortnightly collections with a second recycling bin and food waste collections, and one in parts of Hodge Hill and Bromford, Moseley, Kings Norton South and Stirchley that kept weekly collections. A separate report published for this week's meeting makes no recommendation on which should be adopted.

The Conservative group said the blunder raised questions about whether the council's leaders had already made up their minds. Councillor Khaliq insisted they had not. "I would like to be clear, no final decision has been made," he said. "If approved, any changes would be introduced gradually, with residents receiving clear information and advance notice."